Middle School: The Seventh Year

Chapter 1

"Hey," Jordyn said as he opened my bedroom door. "You're starting middle school tomorrow, huh?"

"Yeah," I said, looking up from my sketchpad. I quickly closed it, realizing I was drawing pictures of Claire Anders, and rolled off the bed.

Jordyn is my older brother. He's a freshman in high school, and looks pretty good with his straight red hair and light freckles. He looks a lot like Archie from my favorite television series, Riverdale.

"What do you want?" I continued, sprinkling fish food into my goldfishes tank. I had named my fish after the members of my favorite band, BTS.

"I just thought you might need some pointers, man," Jordyn said, running a hand back through his hair.

"No," I quickly shut the door in his face.

He had been trying to give me pointers for the past couple weeks now, and it was starting to get on my nerves.

I went over to the floor length mirror by my desk and stared at my reflection.

I'm tall for my age, twelve, about five foot six, and have straight brown hair cut into a 'bed hair' look. My eyes, which are dark, almost black, have long lashes lining the edges. I have silver braces , and wear band t-shirts, jeans, and high top sneakers.

Basically, I look like I would blend in with all the other boys. Except for my height.

"Dinner!" Mom called from downstairs, and I ran down, even though I wasn't really in the mood to eat leftover sloppy joes.

*****

"Hey!" a small grey pebble hit my window.

I finished combing my hair, and rushed downstairs to grab a breakfast bar and my backpack.

"Hey, Luke!" I grinned, running down the walk to my best friend.

Luke is five foot three, average height. He has wavy brown hair and light brown eyes. Today he wore a white polo shirt, black jeans, and bright red Converse high tops. I picked up my skateboard from the lawn, dropped it on the pavement, and we were off.

"So, are you going to talk to Claire today?" Luke asked, grinning as we sped down the street.

"Only if she talks to me first," I replied, my face turning beet red. "What about Audrey, Luke?"

Luke turned a ripe shade of red and looked away from me. "Maybe."

We stopped at the school grounds and picked up our skateboards. I looked up and my throat tightened. The school was huge, almost four stories tall.

Luke nudged me and I turned to see what he was looking at.

Claire and Audrey were walking down the football field, laughing. My breath caught in my throat and I ran a hand back through my hair.

I like Claire. A lot. She has straight, shoulder length black hair and pale skin. Big, bright green eyes are rimmed with long, beautiful lashes.

Audrey is Claire's best friend. Luke and I have made plans to go on double dates since we were about eight years old.

Audrey is pretty, with beautiful dark red waves tumbling down her back and fair, pale skin. Almost like a ghost. She has these beautiful icy blue eyes and a smile that would blind anyone.

Claire Penny and Audrey Jernigan have been best friends since they were about four years old, and together they have won many junior beauty pageants.

I had always scribbled Claire's name, but with my last name. Kyle and Claire Reich.

Luke's eyes bugged out of his head and he made a choking sound as Audrey and Claire ran over.

"Hey, Luke! Hey, Kyle!" Claire grinned at us and hoisted her heavy backpack up.

Audrey rolled her eyes and whispered something to Claire, than left to another group of girls. I recognized them as Margo, Chloe, and Alexandra. Alexandra is my sister, and Margo is Luke's cousin. We both don't really know Chloe, though.

Margo doesn't look like Luke at all, with her straight, bright orange hair. Actually, Alexandra looks a lot like Luke with her wavy brown hair and light brown eyes. Chloe turned and gave us a weak smile. Her normally cheerful blue eyes were dark and her beautiful platinum blond curls looked limp.

"Hey, Claire," I said, trying to keep my cool. "That bag looks heavy. Want any help?"

"Oh your a lifesaver, Kyle," Claire bit her lip and heaved the backpack to the ground. "It's heavy though."

I pulled the backpack straps, and hoisted it over my shoulder. It was very heavy, with the weight of my own backpack combined with her backpack, straining my back and neck.

We finally got to homeroom, and Claire sat next to me and Luke. Luke was being very quiet, I realized.

"Hey, what's up, Luke?" I asked as Audrey walked into the room and flipped a scent of red licorice my way.

"Oh, nothing," he said and started doodling in his notebook, avoiding my gaze.

I was about to ask why it seemed like he was mad, when my teacher, Mr. Upton, started roll call.

Homeroom dragged on and I watched the clock as the hands slowly moved towards second period.

Finally, the bell rang and I sprang out of my seat. Claire and Luke walked the opposite direction, to there lockers and I ran up to the third floor to mine, using the banister to pull myself up.

At my locker, a big guy was waiting. I recognized him as Mike Ravitzky from church.

Mike is heavy, tall, and very strong. He has menacing black eyes and black hair shaved into a buzz cut. He wore a muscle tee with loose jeans, motorcycle boots, and a heavy black belt.

"Hey," he called, nodding in my direction. He began walking toward me, backing me up into the corner.

He turned to the crowd of kids who were watching and scowled. "Get away, or I'll punch in your face like his is going to be if he argues."

The kids cried out and fled. We were all alone in this hallway.

"What did I do to you?" I cried, all the way backed up against a locker. The lock dug into my back and pain shot through me.

"I saw you hitting on Claire," he cracked his knuckles. "Claire's mine, twerp. MINE."

I nodded quickly and ducked underneath his arm, my heart pounding in my chest, I ran towards the door to hallway 2B.

"Watch your back, Reek!" he called after me as I broke into a run.