Crushin'
Chapter 1
"Another first day of school..." Edward thought, "and it looks to be just as dull a year as ever."
One of the drawbacks of living in a small town was the sameness of everything. It was hard to keep from standing out when one was smart instead of athletic, and geeky instead of popular, and standing out was NOT a good thing by Edward's way of thinking. He was trying very hard to keep from drawing attention to himself for his final year of high school. He didn't date much (if at all), didn't go to parties, and made straight A's without even trying. Of course, he didn't get invited to parties, so staying home was easy, and if he had tried, he could have graduated several years early. However, he felt that it was hard enough being a genius among people his own age, and being an overly young college student would have been more pressure than he could stand. It was hard enough being a foster kid who lost his parents at age thirteen. The car accident also took his little sister and grandmother, so he went from well-loved to alone in one fell swoop.
The first half of his day went by in a blur: English, Calculus, AP History, and study period. He chose his usual lunch spot – tucked into the far corner of the room, where he could alternate people-watching with staring out the window at the crazy squirrels. He wondered if all the buzz around school that morning meant something interesting was about to happen, or if it was just the usual catching up that people did after the summer break. He never could understand why his classmates seemed to have so much to say to each other the first week back to school – most of them lived within walking distance of their friends' homes, so they had every possible chance to see their friends during the summer as well. Perhaps it was just his usual social ineptness that made it impossible for him to relate.
As the bell rang and he gathered his books to head off to Biology (which he was taking again just to fill out his schedule due to the dearth of offerings at his small school), he overheard one of the girls whispering to her neighbor. "Have you seen the new boy? He's hot!" Edward rolled his eyes at her comment, but began putting the pieces together. "No wonder there's been so much excitement this morning! In a school this size, every new student is gossip fodder for weeks. And our biology teacher is new, too. The gossip mills will grind for weeks with two new people around here."
He slid into his seat, narrowly missing the outstretched feet of the football player sitting behind him. He felt sorry for the big oaf – they just didn't make school desks to fit guys that were already 6'4" in high school. Of course, that wasn't a problem for Edward. Although he was six foot, his slender build folded into a desk much more easily then Emmett's bulk. As he waited for the teacher to begin class, he heard the whispers die out suddenly. That was unusual enough for him to look up just as a stranger took the last seat available – the one next to him. Startled, Edward had an epiphany. "Perhaps senior year will be more fun than I thought!" The young man sharing his workstation might cause trouble for him.
"Hello, I'm Jasper."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Edward. Welcome to small town hell." The uncomfortable look on Jasper's face had clued Edward into how difficult his first day had been so far. He obviously would have preferred not to spend so much time as the center of attention.
"Is it always like this when someone new arrives?"
"I'm not sure. I was the last new student to start school here and that was seventh grade. It took weeks for the commotion to die down."
"Oh, lawd. I don't know if I'll survive weeks of stares and giggles."
"That might be an easier fix than you think. Just pick out one of the girls to date. At least then, they wouldn't all be speculating on what your "type" is and which one can get your attention first."
Another problem of living in a small town where everyone knows everyone's business is how hard it was to date. So many people were either related or had already dated each other. In many cases, girls refused to date the exes of their close friends, so that narrowed the field even more. This was just one more reason why Jasper's arrival created such a stir.
Jasper made a face and blushed a little. "I don't think that solution will work for me." Just as Edward started to ask him why, the teacher arrived and began calling roll.
The rest of the day passed in a blur as Edward speculated about Jasper's reaction and answer. Biology seemed to be the only class they shared, which struck Edward as strange since he was sure Jasper was also a senior. There were not very many class options, so most of the time he saw the same people hour after hour. Just another mystery wrapped in the attractive package that had arrived in his life. Perhaps he could spend part of this first week solving some of that mystery. It was much more interesting than his classes.
After returning home to the usual emptiness, Edward wandered into his music room. The one thing in which he took the most pleasure was his music. Piano, guitar, playing, composing, or just listening to music filled most of the empty hours in his life. His foster parents both worked long hours, and his "siblings" were popular, so he was home alone much of the time. Homework was almost non-existent, since he usually finished it all at school rather than lugging home his books every day. Today he felt like playing the piano, so he sat down and began to play scales to warm up his fingers. As he began playing one of the many classical pieces he knew by heart, he thought about his family. His birth parents had both been musicians, and he loved the legacy of music he had received from them. His piano had been his mother's, and was the same one he had used from the time he had begun to play. He often thought about her as he sat at it, and wondered what she would have thought of his life.
He knew he was just skating by, not really doing anything with his life and not making any plans for his future. He just wasn't sure what he wanted to do after high school, but knew that he needed to start getting serious about getting out of town. He had always thought he wanted to leave, but after day-dreaming all afternoon about the new kid, he knew that his small town was NOT where he wanted to stay. He could just see the problems it would cause if it turned out his suspicions about himself were correct. He had often wondered if the reason he didn't date was because he just wasn't into girls, and after finally meeting someone that he thought he might be interested in, he felt his thoughts were confirmed. "I might as well admit it to myself at least. I'm pretty sure I'm gay."