Chase your fate

chapter 4

The weekend passed slowly.  After a lot of debating, he was able to convince them to let him fix the jeep.  Mostly because it was a lot more convenient for them that he was able to drive.  He ended up being grounded for a couple of weeks, so, he was only allowed to drive to school, work, and whatever errands that they didn't want to run.  He could live with that.  It's not like he really had a social life to be grounded from anyway.  Outside of occasionally hanging out with his best friend, Kiira, there wasn't really a lot on his schedule anyway.

He pulled into the school parking lot on Monday morning, shutting off the jeep and grabbing his bag.  At least Kiira's family got back from vacation last night, so he wouldn't be alone.  He walked into the hallway, doing the exchange at his locker, looking around to see any sign of her.  He grinned when he saw her and her boyfriend Ethan walking hand in hand down the hallway, heading his way. 

Most people had avoided Chase for a long time.  In elementary school, he had been the most popular boy in school.  A cute kid with bright brown puppy eyes and dimples.  He also had been the kind of kid that only cared about himself.  He had no problem making the outcasts remember that they didn't belong.  His small group of friends going along with any idea of torture that he could come up with.  Then, after a bad dirt bike accident had left him laid up all summer long with nothing to do but eat and watch old movies with his mother, he returned to school, no longer the cute popular boy, but a newly overweight kid who no longer fit in with his crowd.  The biggest problem that he had, wasn't so much that his old 'friends' were no longer his friends, but the fact that he had treated others so bad before, that now, he had no one...  He was completely alone, now being made an outcast by his own.  

That had been when the fighting started.  It didn't take long for him to feel the sting of the insults that he used to dish out.  And the more he watched his old friends, the more he began to hate himself.  Until one day it finally snapped, when his old friends, Chris, Walt, Alex and Luke were harassing a boy named Liam Hayes.  The four of them, relentlessly trying to push him over the emotional edge.  These had been his best friends only a year ago.  It turned his stomach, knowing that he had been just like them.  As the tears began to sneak out of Liam's eyes, Chase spoke up.  "Hey... why don't you guys leave him alone?".  With that, their attention left Liam and turned to Chase.  When all was said and done, the 4 boys left him on the ground, bloody and beaten, laughing as the final kick to the face split his lip, leaving him with the scar that he now tries to cover beneath the goatee.

That had been the beginning.  In the months that followed, he had caught up with them, one by one, and had gotten his payback.  He loved the thrill of the fight.  The problem with being a good fighter though, is that everyone wants to find out how good you are.  And, in time, he just got sick of the fighting, so he began keeping to himself.  Until fate decided that he had been alone long enough.

It was midway through his 8th grade year that his english teacher had paired him up with Kiira, Lenora, and Natalie for a writing project.  The thing that most people didn't know, was that Chase had a wild imagination, and he loved to write.  Many times, he would write poems and stories that only he saw.  He had become so used to being alone, that he had withdrawn from conversation.  And it had become very difficult for him to speak to people.  His soft, high pitched voice, didn't help ease his comfort.  At first, Lenora and Natalie were very put off to be put in a group with ... 'him' .. but Kiira was the type of person that would have none of it.  She was relentless in making sure that he had input on the story they were working on. Until one day, he finally opened up, letting his imagination take over, getting caught up in the excitement of creating a new world in the story, and that... was the beginning of their friendship. 

Kiira's eyes lit up like a christmas tree when she saw him at his locker.  She let go of Ethan's hand and ran to him hugging him "CHASE!".  He laughed softly, hugging back, then stepping away a bit. "Hey Kiira, how was vacation?" "Well, 16 hours in a minivan with my parents was just the joy of my life" she giggled a bit "but it was really awesome!  You're never too old to chase Mickey Mouse around the park, right?".  He looked back at Ethan, nodding hello, receiving a nod in return.  "How about you.... Did i miss anything while I was gone?".  "N.... no .. not really anything important."  "MMhmm....." she gave him that crooked grin of hers "how about what we talked about?"  his face blushed deeply as he turned looking anywhere except at her "Um.. uh.. n....no....".  She pushed his shoulder.  "God.... sometimes... you're the dumbest smart person I've ever met.  You need to at least say hi to her.  What do you have to lose?".  He smiled, shaking his head a bit. "Um... my dignity.. my sanity... ummm"  "Your virginity" she tried not to laugh as his face went from slightly blushed to firehouse red "oh my god....".  With that, she laughed outright... "God... it's so funny when you get all awkward.  I was joking.  Dear god Chase. just tell her she's pretty.. something. Or, ya know... you could just walk up to her and say .... um .. hi?"  "oh yes... that would surely sweep her off her feet and into my arms.. yeah..."  he shook his head.  "Hmmm... never know..." she said as her eyes looked over his shoulder, she grinned. "Get ready Chase... I'm totally going to push you."

He turned his head, just in time to see her.  His heart skipped a beat, like it always did when she was around.  Devyn Adler.  She was beautiful.  Not in the way of a supermodel, or anything like that, no, her beauty was simpler.  She was just a little taller than Chase, but only by a bit.  He had heard her refer to herself as a fat girl, but, he thought she was perfect.  And her face.  God, her face, was beautiful, with her brown eyes, full lips that looked soft as clouds and sweeter than honey.  All framed in raven black hair that went down to the middle of her back.  She took his breath away every time she walked by.  Then he remembered Kiira's words just a little too late.  He felt the shove, lost his balance and stumbled just enough to bump into Devyn.