Psycho (Under Editing)

Chapter Two - May Sixth

I had woken before my alarm once again. I had purposeful set it for later, so that I could maybe get more sleep. But that rarely ever happened. It was school, a Monday to be specific. Another day filled with suffering.

I rushed into the shower and groomed myself well. Having short hair is a hassle at times, especially with my untameable mane. After much struggle, I looked decent. I was taught to take some pride in my appearance, mom's motto, one that she lived her whole life by. It worked for her, so it should have worked for me. Should have, having been the main words in that statement.

I quickly rushed out the house door, my school bag on my back and a half eaten plum in hand. I was trying to lose weight, I'd been stress eating too much junk lately. I hopped onto my bicycle and rode off. I have always enjoyed bicycle rides, I enjoyed the way the wind whipped past me, as if it's force could have magically banished all my troubles.

Alas, the bliss always had to come to a stop. I parked and locked my bicycle into place before walking in. There was an odd buzz in the hallways for a Monday, so when people looked eagerly at me after I pushed the school doors open, I was confused. Once they realized that it was only me, they dropped their gazes and went about whispering to their friends. Rude much. "Oh don't be so excited to see me." I muttered, earning a few laughs.

I rushed over to Mel and Lex, I was just about to ask them what was going on before they beat me to it.

"Babe is it true?" Lex grabbed my shoulders

"What?" I asked, confused and a little unnerved from everyone's excitement.

"That Jess Andrews is actually coming back to Lake Ridge High." Mel started, flicking my forehead as if to reprimand me for not really paying attention. I rubbed the spot, hoping it wouldn't leave a mark.

"He is just a random dude guys, why are you all so hyped about him?" I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't deny the fact that everyone's excitement had made me a little curious as well.

"He is freaken JESS ANDREWS! The ultimate mystery man. Who wouldn't be?" Lexy almost shouted. She did have a point there. I just nodded silently. After a few seconds of chatting away I heard everyone quieten down from behind me.

I held my breath in, willing myself not to turn around. I wanted to take a peak, but held myself back. I was about to walk away when Mel gasped. "Wasn't he at the parlor yesterday?" And that's all it took for me to spin around.

There he was with the exact same leather jacket as yesterday. He had a bag loosely hanging on his right shoulder, with a blank face to match, almost as if he didn't even want to be there in the first place. As he walked passed I couldn't drop my stare, much like all the others. I took notice of a beauty spot on his neck and then unconsciously my eyes flickered to his lips. His hair was gelled lightly and messily, giving him a bed hair look that had a few of the cheerleaders breathing heavily. I was shocked to see even Mel checking him out.

I elbowed her jokingly, making her give me a soft scoff. "I can appreciate God's work, can't I?" But I couldn't quite agree with her, he definitely didn't seem anything but unholy. No one could render a crowd as speechless as he could without having said a single word. It was the look in his eyes. The looked that told you that you're screwed. I was quite certain that I was indeed, I wanted to know more about him. For someone who was supposed to be my neighbor, he was a complete mystery. That only fed my curiosity even more.

He scanned the curious faces and I'd like to say that his eyes lingered on me for a second longer, but it was probably my imagination. Yesterday was probably a fleeting memory to him.

The bell rang, breaking the spell he'd cast on us and left everyone rushing off. Not much had changed since he left, so all the poor girls who were hoping he'd ask for directions would just have to hold back those tears and stuff their breasts back into their shirts.

I settled into my English class, pulling out everything I needed as the teacher entered. Just as we began, like every cliche story, we were interrupted by a single knock. It was a knock that had everyone looking at the door and whispers flying around. By the way the teacher's eyes widened, I already knew who it was, as if everything else wasn't proof enough.

He didn't speak, didn't apologize for being tardy. All he did was hand a note the teacher, who said a few random things to him, and he then went for the first available seat he could see. I was hoping he'd sit near by, but my luck wasn't as great as it had seemed.

I sighed before we all found ourselves back to work, though not a lot of the students were actually paying attention. But oddly enough Jess was, he was listening intently to the teacher, he had definitely changed so much. Gone were his delinquent days. His figure was now a lot more leaner than four years back and he had stopped bleaching his hair. The only thing that remained was his unconscious devilish charm.

I watched for a little longer. He moved to look into his bag causing his shirt to shift and the mole on his neck to show. His dark hair shimmered under the lights dimmed glow. He was definitely beautiful. As it turned out, just like my mother, I was a sucker for pretty faces.

Class ended abruptly and everyone began to file out when I was stopped by the teacher along with Jess. I gulped, feeling a sudden adrenaline rush as I approached the teacher's table.

"Mr Andrews this is Miss Mathew, she will be helping you to catch up with all of the school's syllabus so far for this year." Maybe my luck wasn't as bad, I thought to myself with a gasp, drawing a curious stare from Jess.

"Sure thing sir, just leave it to me." I didn't know why my sudden nervousness made me ramble as fast as I did, but it happened and I heard Jess chuckle. That sound alone made me freeze. That was another mental picture, that I promised to never forget.

"I know that I can always rely on you Miss Mathew. Say hi to your parents for me, will ya?" The teacher gave me a kind smile and dismissed us.

As soon as we left the class I felt a light tug on my bag. I swirled around to see Jess, both hands in his pockets. "You know you don't have to help me catch up. I can manage it all on my own." He said. I paused focusing in on his voice, my ears tuning in for longer than normal.

"What?" I asked in a stupor, having not paid any attention to the actual words he'd said.

"You don't have to help me." Jess repeated. "I may not look like an honor student, but I can handle a few catch up studying." he joked. I wondered if he still remembered me from when we were kids, I knew in the odd few neighborhood get togethers we barely paid each other any heed.

"No, it's fine. I will help. After all, it will look good on my college application." I joked right back. He gave me an earth shaking grin, saluted and walked away. That was odd. He had many faces to him. It made me curious as to which one was the real one. And so began my insatiable fascination in him.