This chapter takes place about a year and eight months before Jaime gets the scarab, just so ya know.

When They Met

"Just a little longer," Jaime whined as he and his best friend trudged along to their last class of the day.

"Yeah. Just a month and it'll finally be summer vacation," Tye added just as sluggish as Jaime. As the two continued on, Jaime's eyes caught a group of girls surrounding someone. It wasn't until one of the girls moved that he noticed it was the new girl. Jaime knew all of those particular girls for some time now, but didn't know much about the new girl as she has only been at their school for about a month. Their 'leader', Amanda, was the head of the pack talking to the new girl. And from their expressions the conversation didn't look like it was a very pleasant one. Just as they were getting close enough, Amanda gave the new girl a small shove then turned around and led her followers away. "Those girls. They've always got to be picking on someone."

"I wonder what they were talking about," Jaime wondered out loud. His eyes left the group of retreating girls and over to the new girl. She was standing there, eyes glued to the ground and her balled up fists were shaking. "Hey."

"Don't bother, bro," Tye said as he grabbed Jaime's arm. "She hasn't really talked to anyone since she's got here. She doesn't seem to be all that friendly."

"Doesn't mean she should be treated bad."

"We don't know what that was about. Come on. We've got to get to class anyway."

"Tye," Jaime said as his best friend released his arm and began to walk away. He was about to turn and follow when a couple students walked past the new girl.

"You don't belong here!"

"You're so pathetic. I bet you're just like your horrible dad." The students said before one of them bumped into the girl's shoulder and walked off. Jaime narrowed his eyes brows at them and started to walk over and confront them. That's when the girl rushed passed them all. She was fast on her feet but Jaime still was able to get a glimpse of the tears she was trying to hold back. Jaime immediately followed her. As he dodged his fellow students he caught up with Tye and hollered at him as they passed each other. "Tye! I'm not going to make it to last period! Take notes for me!"

"Hey! Jaime, what's going on?!" Tye asked but Jaime didn't stop to answer him as he rushed passed.

For a while Jaime was able to keep the girl in his sights until she turned a corner. When he turned the same corner she was gone but the park was in view. He assumed she ran in there some where. He walked around for a while then began to wonder if he was even right about her running into the park. He shoved his hands into his pockets and turned to leave in defeat. That's when he heard soft sobs. He followed them and found her sitting under a tree. Her bag was on the ground a few feet away from her. She was hugging her knees and crying.

He rubbed the back of his neck and wonder know what he was suppose to say or do. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. But I can't just leave her now. Jaime summoned up his courage and walked over to her. He squatted down and placed a hand on her shoulder. She gasped and jerked up. "H-Hey. Are you alright?"

"Fine!" The girl snapped as she averted her eyes from his. Jaime just stayed quiet as he studied her. He knew she was lying. So while he waited for her to calm down he took the time to really look her over. He assumed she was about an inch or two shorted than him, she was well built and judging from how fast she was running she's some kind of athlete or use to be considering she wasn't on any sports team at school. Her hair was bleached blonde with streaks of blue. He wondered if her hair was that blonde naturally or if she dyed it like the blue. Her eyes were also blue. Almost crystal blue. He's always heard songs talking about baby blue eyes but never seen anyone with eyes close to the color. And her skin was very golden to the point he wondered if she was a swimmer or a running. Those were the only sports he could think of to give her this kind of coloring. "You can release me now, Jaime."

"Oh! S-Sorry," Jaime blushed as he quickly pulled his hand back. "Wait. You know me?"

She nodded slightly,"By name and face. We have most of our classes together."

"Hm. Guess I didn't notice. Sorry," Jaime blushed slightly.

"Doesn't matter. You'd probably just join Amanda in blaming me for…," Her eyes widened a bit before she stopped talking.

"Join Amanda for what?" Jaime asked.

"You…don't know?" She asked.

"Don't know what…um…it's Ria, right?"

"That's right," Ria nodded.

"You wanna tell me what's going on?" Jaime asked as he sat down in front of her and crossed his legs.

"Might as well. You'll find out sooner or later," Ria sighed. "At least coming from me you'll hear the truth instead of a rumor."

Jaime waited patiently for her to continue. "The reason I moved here, to live with my grandma, was because of my parents and Lena, a girl from my old school. My parents have always argued but in the past few years things just got worse. Finally things boiled over last year when it came into the light that my dad was having an affair with Lena's mom. Also, it turns out that my 'friends' knew that my dad was having an affair with her mom and didn't even tell me. They did talk about it behind my back. It seems like my life has been nothing but secrets. When my dad moved out, and into Lena's house to be with her mom, Lena started a bunch of stuff at home and school. She 'took over' my dad and my friends. He spoils her like no tomorrow and she gloats about it nonstop…"

"We never had a problem with each as we were on the swim team with each other since we were little. Not until two years ago I became the best swimmer on our team. I even got scouted and made plans to become a professional swimmer. When I tried to get help with Lena's bullying and my parents no one believed me. Dad didn't believe his 'precious' Lena could be so mean. And mom was too busy with her new 'boyfriend' to notice anything. It made me wonder if she was always having an affair while my dad was. She just moved on so quickly. Anyway, they said I was being a 'drama queen' and needed to grow up. Everything was just to hard that I wasn't enjoying anything. I was…am depressed about everything…"

"I just couldn't take it anymore. My grandma seemed to be the only one who cared. So I had my school transfer everything to Rio Grande High School then left. My parents didn't even notice I was gone. It wasn't until my grandma called my mom that anyone noticed. I thought a new school and new faces would make things better. I was wrong. Turns out that Lena's cousin is Amanda and they're exactly the same. Amanda has just picked up where Lena has left off. I just…I just want it to stop," Ria tried to brush away her tears but more quickly appeared.

Jaime opened his mouth then quickly closed it. He didn't know what to say, but wanted to do something to make her feel better. He also felt guilty that he didn't noticed her pain before. No one, including him, was being fair to her. He moved beside her and pulled her to his side. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. For the way your parents have treated you, the way your friends treated you, for the way everyones here's been treating you…including me."

"I-It's not your fault. You didn't do anything wrong. You didn't even know," Ria sighed as she calmed down and leaned into his embrace.

"That's no excuse for not noticing what was going on and for not stepping up to try and stop people from treating you so bad. I'm sorry," Jaime apologized. "You don't have to be alone now. I'll be here for you."

Ria lifted off him and looked into his eyes. He was surprisingly calm and determined. He smiled at her as he reacted up and brushed her tears away. "There. No more tears now. I give you my word that I am here for you and I will never keep anything from you."

Ria raised an eyebrow at him. "Ok. I'll prove it to you. I'll tell you everything about me. I warn you though I'm not very exciting."

Ria could constant a small 'tsk', but quickly followed by laughter. Jaime blinked in confusion but soon joined her in laughing. After a few minutes their laughing subsided and she looked at him. "Alright, Jaime Reyes, speak to me."

Jaime returned her smiled before he began to tell her everything about his life. Ria sat quietly as he told her everything. They ended up talking beyond Jaime's life to the point that they didn't even noticed the sun was on the verge of setting. It was the incoming thunderstorm that finally caught their attention. Jaime looked up at the darkening clouds. "We better get home before it's starts raining. Your grandma is probably worried about you."

"I doubt it," Ria laughed. "Grandma is always on the go. Tonight she's suppose to go dancing with some friends."

"Dancing? How old is she?"

"She'll turn seventy next week."

"Dang! She must be super human," The two teens laughed. They were interrupted by another, closer, clap of thunder. Jaime stood up and held out his hand for her. "We should get going."

Ria nodded and took his hand. He helped her up then grabbed her bag as they walked past it. They walked at a quickened pace until about two blocks from Ria's house. That's when it started raining. It wasn't a down pour but it was heavy and steady. "Well, thanks for walking me home."

"Not a problem," Jaime smiled at her. Things turned a bit awkward when she looked down at their still connected hands. Jaime quickly released her, both blushing slightly. Both seemed to forgot to release the others hand when Jaime helped her up in the park. Jaime took her bag off his shoulder and handed it over to her. "H-Here."

"T-Thanks," Ria took it as she brushed a wet strained of hair away from her face. "What about your bag? I'm guessing you left all your stuff at school when you followed me."

"It's alright," Jaime said as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Tye most likely dropped it off at my place before heading home."

"Tye? That long haired boy you're always with?"

"That's him. He's my best friend," Jaime replied with a nod then things turned quiet for a minute. "Well…I should be heading home."

"In this storm?" Ria asked as she looked at the sky from the porch. "You could stay here until it passes."

"I wish I could. My parents are going out tonight so I have to watch my sister," Jaime added an apologetic smile to his answer. Ria nodded in understanding. "How about we hang out this weekend?"

Ria pondered it for a moment then smiled. "Sure. I'd like that."

"Great! I'll see you…Wait! Let me have your cell number and I'll give you mine," Ria handed over her phone to him and he programmed each with the others number. "There. I'll let you know I'm home when I get there."

Ria only nodded as he waved and headed back into the rain. "See ya tomorrow."

"Yeah," Ria said to herself as she watched him disappear into the rain. She sighed and reached into her pocket to get her house key. Once she closed the door she leaned against it. The house was dark and lonely. She lowered her eyes to the floor, already missing Jaime's presences. She jerked up and shook her head. No way it was because he wasn't there. She just, technically, met him. And even though he just spend a couple hours telling her everything about him she still didn't know him. It would take time for them to actually become friends.

She pushed thoughts of him aside and attributed her loneliness to her grandma not being home. Even though her grandma was always on the go they still spent more time together than she did with her parents. Here, in El Paso, was more or less favorable to living with either of her parents. Still her mind wanted to stay on Jaime. She sighed as she flipped on the light. "Maybe I should get a dog."

She started to head up to her room when she stomach reminded her that she hasn't eaten since breakfast. Skipping lunch was common for her as she didn't want to be around her school mates do to events surrounding her parents and all, classes and hallway passings were enough as it was. She changed her course to the kitchen, dropping her school bag on the floor by the couch. Once in her destination, she got a craving for tacos and searched the kitchen for ingredients. She was in the middle of cooking up her chicken with her cell rang. She was a bit surprised to see Jaime's name and number. She assumed he would just text her as that seemed to be what people cared for about doing these days than actually talking to each other. "Jaime?"

"Hey. Just calling to let you know I'm home."

"Ok."

"Something wrong?"

"No, no. I just...thought you'd send a text."

"I thought about it, but decided it'd be better for you to hear my voice." Ria was caught off guard to the point she forgot she was cooking. The shrieking of the fire alarm brought her back to her senses. She quickly removed the pan from the stove and opened the window over the sink then began to fan the fire alarm with a towel. "Ria?! Are you alright?! Is that the fire alarm?!"

"I'm fine, Jaime. I was just cooking dinner. Scorched the chicken is all. Everything's fine," Ria said felling a bit silly and embarrassed at that point.

"Been there. Done that. And speaking of which, my sister is hungry too."

"Should I let you go?"

"No. I can talk."

They ended up talking all though their dinners until about nine o'clock when both of them realized they had homework to do for the next day. "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow at school."

"Yeah. School," Ria replied feeling down again.

"Don't worry about it, Ria. I'll meet you in front of the school and we'll go in together."

"Thanks, Jaime."

"Good night, Ria."

"Good night…Jaime." The second Ria's phone disconnected from Jaime she felt alone again. She shook her head to dismiss those thoughts, ran her hand through her hair then grabbed her bag and headed up to her room to tackle her homework. "I really need to get a dog."

Then next day Ria walked up to her school and looked around. She sighed when she couldn't find him. He's probably inside already. "Hey, look! It's her!"

Serene clenched her hand on her backpack strapped as friends of Amanda gathered around her. "What a loser!"

"Yeah."

"Why don't you just go back home already? No one wants you here!"

"No one wants her at home either," The girls laughed. Ria was about to turn and run back to her grandma's when a firm arm appeared around her shoulders.

"I want her here," Jaime's voice was stern and a bit threatening.

"So do I," Ria looked up to see not only Jaime standing beside her but also Tye. The girls back down from the two boys. "If your bratty queen bee and the rest of you wannabes have a problem with our friend then you have a problem with us."

Not knowing what to say, the girls tossed their hair over their shoulders and walked off. Ria blinked in confusion. Jaime tugged on her a bit to get her moving. "Come, Ria. We don't want to be late for class."

The three remained silent as they walked through the halls of the school, which were now filled with students whispering to each other about the three new friends walking together and most likely talking about what just happened outside the school doors. Ria barely noticed when Jaime released her shoulders and went over to talk to a boy. The boy smiled and nodded. "Come on, Ria."

Ria didn't reply when Tye spoke to her. She just silently followed him over to Jaime. "Mark said it was alright for you two to switch seats."

"Great," Tye nodded before sitting down one seat from where he usually sat beside the window.

"Go ahead and sit," Jaime said pointing to Tye's former seat.

"O-Ok," Ria said totally confused. She still remained confused and quiet as Jaime and Tye talked casually with some of their other friends. She quietly observed them for a few minutes before realizing what they did. Tye was sitting in front of her and Jaime was sitting to her right, the window on her left. They had created a sort of barrier around her. Why did they…

"Ria?"

"Huh?" Ria pulled out of her thoughts and looked up at Tye. He was turned around in his seat.

"Jaime called me last night."

"O-Ok?"

"He told me everything."

"I see," She lowered her eyes to her desk.

"I hope you don't mind that he did."

"It's fine," Ria looked up at him and smiled. Tye began to open his mouth but was interrupted by the teacher who entered and started class. And that's about how things went all day. Ria was always with Jaime or Tye. They made sure she was never alone.

"We should do something this weekend," Tye said at lunch. The three friends were sitting outside, under a tree.

"I'm out of ideas, ese. How about you, Ria?" Jaime asked.

"Well…I was thinking about adopting a puppy," Ria smiled at them.

Author's Notes: As said in the description, this is going to be a 'short story'. Either three or four chapters, haven't really decided yet but I'm pushing for four. I'll try to make the chapters fairly long so it feels like the story has some meat, depth and growth for the characters. I'd make it longer if my creative drive wasn't still dead, but sadly it still is :'( I've wanted to do this story due to a fangirl crush on Jaime at the moment :3 Just got done watching the dvds 3 That and I've noticed that our boy doesn't have any fanfics where his girlfriend is just a civilian, or that I've found. Poor boy doesn't have many at all, but the ones he does have his girlfriend is always a hero too or a villain.