What Happens in High School

Chapter Three

So Give Me All Your Poison

Bob’s POV

Max and I had first and second period together. I rode in with her and Ray the morning of the first day and let’s just say it was way more awkward than I would have liked it to have been.

When they knocked on my door I was only expecting Ray, but I was slightly shocked to also see Max standing there as well. I had only met the both of them the day before but I was already in deep. From the first moment I saw her, Max’s image stuck in my memory. Her long, dark hair fell perfectly around her shoulders and down her back. I had blue eyes, but hers made even me jealous. They were a clear, pale, and almost unrealistic blue so perfect I’d never seen anything like it before. She was small and had soft features. Her pale skin contrasted her dark hair like a porcelain doll and made her look even more delicate and perfect, and right when I saw her, I couldn’t look away.

This morning when they came up, I had my tie slung over my shoulders not actually tied. I heard the doorbell ring and yelled that I’d be a minute. So much for not being late on the first day at a new school. I grabbed my jacket and my bag and opened the door to see Ray and Max standing outside waiting for me. I was a little surprised to see her there. I knew her and Ray were best friends but I still didn’t consider seeing her at my house with him. I felt like an idiot as I explained that ties were my enemy.

Max ended up tying my tie for me. The whole time I tried not to be a creep but I found myself watching her face as she effortlessly fixed my tie. I wasn’t sure if she was nervous or just concentrating but she furrowed her brows and bit on her lower lip while she worked. I could already tell she had a lot of character and I wanted to get to know her. She finished and stepped back. We all got in the car and headed to school.

In the car Ray quietly played some Iron Maiden, pretty good band if you ask me, and he asked me of my schedule. I had received it in the mail only a few days before and hadn’t actually looked at it yet. I pulled it out and read it off. “Uh, Homeroom; room 215. US History; room 137. Music; well, in the music room.” I continued to read my schedule to them and when I finished Ray said, “Whoa, you and Max have a lot of classes together.” He told me that we had Homeroom, US History, Spanish, and English together. I wasn’t going to protest that, maybe this could give me a chance to get to know Max a bit better.

When we pulled into school, Ray bolted saying his class was all the way across campus. “I’ll see you guys later.” He yelled as he hurriedly made his way to his first class. This just left me and Max who started walking down the hall, I took this as my hint to follow her. She didn’t say a word, and things got awkward quickly. The halls started to fill up with kids, and they all stared at us, probably because I was the new kid with piercings.

The halls were pretty rowdy and dumb-ass jocks started to shove people around. I tried to avoid them as much as I could but then I was hit from the side. I looked over to see that someone had pushed Max into me. I grabbed her as she fell into me and I felt the electric rush again that I had felt at the music shop as we shook hands. I instantly felt weird and tried to lighten the moment as I brought her back to her balance.

“Whoa, hey are you okay? Too much to drink last night?” I really hoped she didn’t get offended by this. It just kind of came out before I had a chance to think. Luckily she smiled and replied, “Ha ha, no, yeah I’m fine. It’s just, these halls can get pretty crazy sometimes, especially with the jocks goofing off.” Yeah I could tell it would be fun walking through these halls every morning. I was glad though that I was getting Max to talk, it wasn’t much but it was a start. “Oh,” I responded, “well I guess I’ll have to keep an eye out for you.” I wasn’t the best flirt but I guess I did an alright job because, if I’m not mistaken, I could see Max’s cheeks flush a little at my remark. Not too shabby.