All the Pieces of My Soul

Chapter 4

"Y-yeah, sure" I say as Jaxon walks away to find another partner.

"So what are your hobbies?"

"I like reading." I say as a I adjust my glasses " What about you?"

"Well aside from being fairly handsome, I do enjoy boxing."

"Cool, what's that like."

"It pretty much just helps me deal with pent up anger."

"What could you possibly have to be angry about?" I ask as I try to ignore the glares of all of the girls in the class.

"You have no idea." he replies as his expression noticeably darkens

"Okay class, now for the next part of your assignment, you will be conducting a two page interview on your current partner. It's due Monday. And if you have any other questions see me after school. Class dismissed."

As soon as the bell rings, I grab my backpack and dash out of the classroom trying to get as far away from Julian as possible. Rule one of surviving high school, don't associate yourself with people who attract a lot of attention. I make my way to the girls locker room and change into my clothes for 2nd period which is gym.

"Did you hear about the new boy, Julian Price?"

" He's in my English class. He's so cute." a girl with blonde hair says

"That's too bad, he's mine" another voice that I know all to well says. "Oh and Melody if you think you even have a chance with Julian, just know that he'd never go for a loser like you."

"That's great, I don't like him anyways."

"He wouldn't go for a girl with dead parents anyways." and at that I lose it as I lunge for her and tackle her to the ground. The other girls scream as we roll around on the ground clawing at each other. I wince as her nails dig in to my arm, in response I pull her hair earning a scream in return. The door slams open just as a pair of arms wrap around me and pull me off of her.

"Dude, chill out." Karlie says as she turns me around to face her. "Let's go"

" I hate her" I say as we walk out of the locker room. "I really, really hat her"

"Okay... now tell me what happened"

"So, I was just minding my own business, then she just starts insulting me out of nowhere, just because I happened to sit next to Julian Price..."

"And who's Julian Price?"

"You know, the cute neighbor boy from yesterday."

" Oh My God! Melody. Why didn't you tell me you sat next to him?" she screams earning us a few stares from people in the hallway.

"Because I didn't think it was important, plus no phones in class. Remember?'

"Of course it's important. You're like a few steps away from getting a boyfriend."

"First of all, I don't want a boyfriend. And second of all, no boy could possibly ever like me." I say as we arrive on the yard

" What do you mean? you are beautiful, and any boy would be extremely lucky to date you."

"Then, why hasn't anyone ever asked me out?" I ask as I walk toward the bleachers

"That is simply because you need to open up more to people."

"Oh, and Bethany said something about my parents."

"I swear to God I am going to kill her!"  she says with deadly msli

"Hey Melody!" someone yells from across the field, I turn away from Karlie to find Jax running towards me. I hesitantly wave at him as Karlie gives me a knowing smirk.

"Hey Jax"

"I just wanted to give you my number, so that we could talk." he says as he hands me a small slip of paper.

"Okay, then I'll text you tonight?"

"Yeah sure." he says as he goes to join a group of boys on the opposite side of the field.

"This is the best day of my life!" Karlie yells "You have two possible love interests. I think I might die of happiness."

" Jax is just a friend."

" That's how all of the best romances start." she says just as the coach blows his whistle and the entire class meets him in the middle of the field.

"Since it's 95 degrees out here, I'll take it easy on you guys. You have 1 minute to run 2 laps, if you don't finish in time, then you get to do 10 push ups." he says as he glances around the field. "Now Go!"

Refusing to do 10 push ups, I sprint ahead of the entire class. I finish my first lap, and am on my second one when Jax begins to catch up to me. I turn to him, accepting his challenge, but little does he know that I did cross country for 3 years. I dash ahead of him leaving a trail of dust in my wake. I finish off the lap strong, as I stop in front of Coach Mcclain to catch my breath.

"Why did you quit cross country again?" Coach says as he smiles at me.'

"It just not for me." I say between breaths, just as Jax catches up.

"What took you so long?"

"That's not fair, I demand a rematch" he says as he offers me a glare.

"Maybe next time."

Surprisingly everyone manages to finish in under 1 minute. Once everyone catches there breath, Coach decides that we should play dodgeball. He makes me and Jax the team captains since we finished our laps first. The first person I choose to be on my team is obviously Karlie. We take turn choosing teammates until the teams are even.

Coach places a line of balls in the middle, and then blows his whistle. Everyone runs for a ball. As my team begins to go down quickly, I aim for all available targets until the amount of players on each team. After a while of playing, It's only me and Jax left, and only one ball in the middle. Without hesitation, I run for the ball at the same time as Jax, yet somehow he reaches it first. I stop dead in my tracks just as Jax takes the ball in his hand and throws. It hits me right in the face, somehow not breaking my glasses, but knocking me down in the process.

"Shoot, are you okay?" he asks as he walks over to me

"Yup, I'm fine."

"Well then in that case, I won!" he shouts as he helps me up.

"Class is dismissed, I'll see you all tomorrow."

"he totally likes you." Karlie whispers as we walk to Biology together.

"No he doesn't, we are just friends. end of discussion."

"Whatever you say" she says as we enter Mr. Wilson's class and take seats in the back.