Crash (PTB Writing Challenge #1)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Walking into English, I thought about Bianca. She used to be nice before we all got to high school. Of course, that was a few years ago, but I remember that she used to smile more. Not that she doesn’t smile now, she just doesn’t mean it 90% of the time. Back in middle school she had braces and a genuine smile. I was still my same old shy self though, so we never really spoke. On days like this, I wish we would have. Maybe then she would have stayed the same and I wouldn’t be making snide remarks to get her away from me.

I sat at my usual seat in the corner near the teacher's desk. It would seem like a spot that would get a lot of attention, but it really wasn't. Most people tend to stay away from the teacher and gravitate towards the back, or near the door if they are in a hurry. Also, I didn't have to worry about getting too much attention from the teacher since she - and all my other teachers - knew that I could answer all of their questions.

I was scrolling through my book list, thoughts of middle school still circling around in my head, when I felt someone staring at me. I nervously looked up, and my eyes met an incredible pair of eyes that seemed to fade into two different colors: dense dark green on the outside, and watery blue circling the pupils. They belonged to a tall, handsome kid with shaggy brown hair and a solid build. He wore a dark red V-neck and loose-fitting blue jeans that complimented his body perfectly.  

I broke the connection between us and realized something strange: the majority of the class was staring at this boy, staring at me. A few murmurs went around, and I realized this must be who the girls were talking about earlier.

"Hi", he says to me from the front of the classroom, a few feet away. I looked around anxiously and managed a "Hi" in response. A big grin spread across his face, and I noticed the skin next to his eyes wrinkled when he did it, and he got one dimple on his left cheek. I gasped. Since when had I been holding my breath?

He strode over and positioned himself in the seat next to me, and a mischievous grin took hold of his face as a look of horror appeared on mine.

"You can call me Jackson", he says in gruff voice that didn't help the shaking in my knees.

What do I say, what do I say? I was the worst with this kind of thing. I could feel my face and ears burning. Why would he do this to me? Now people would start staring at me. I sputtered a response as best as I could in an attempt to ease the tension.

"Ok." Ok?! Wow, real smooth Amy.

"Ok? So you won't tell me your name?", he feigned insult with his hand dramatically shielding his heart, but his eyes twinkled with mischief. He had a way of making me feel even more nervous than usual, which was saying something. My second attempt at speaking wasn't much better.

"Umm, well, no. I mean... my name's Amy. Amy Hayes." Why did I say my last name? Of course, I just had to introduce myself like a freaking second grader.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Amy Hayes. But if you don't mind, I'll just call you Amy." He chuckled as he said it; he must have found my embarrassment amusing. Who did this guy think he was?

Luckily, before I attempted to respond, my English teacher stood up and called for the class’ attention. I breathed an audible sigh of relief and my cheeks began to cool down.

"Well, let me just start by wishing all of you a good morning", Ms. Leemon began, "and I don't want to embarrass anybody, but we do have a new student. Everybody say hi to Noa-"

The boy named Jackson quickly stood up and interrupted her, "Jackson is fine ma'am", he laughed a little sheepishly and added a, "Sorry."

Ms. Leemon quickly recovered from the interruption. "Oh that's alright. Well, everybody say hi to Jackson then."

A few people mumbled a “Hi,” and I noticed a small group of girls in the back of the class had begun to whisper excitedly. Apparently Jackson noticed too, because in turning around to say hi to the class he directed his attention towards them and winked.

The girls seemed to experience a range of emotions from excitement to embarrassment, followed by even more whispering. Satisfied, Jackson sat back down in his seat next to me.

Ms. Leemon started up again, cheerful as usual. "Now that that is dealt with, your assignment for today is to read the next chapter in Paris Wife and write me a reflection. In your reflection make sure to include any three literary elements that scream out at you." At least today's assignment was easy.

"And Jackson-" she added, "…if you have any questions, you'd do right by asking Amy there. She knows everything about everything." She winked at me and shined me a well-meaning smile.

Oh crap.