Chapter One- Welcome To Highschool Kiddos!

"Hurry up or you're going to be late sweetie!"

Rhys awoke in panic as a strong reality came crashing down on him. It was his first day of his new school, Perion High and boy was he nervous. He had moved to the bustling town of Haven, it was a big town sure but no where near as giant as the concrete jungle that made up his old city that went by the name of Elpis. His mother had thought the move would be necessary, as Elpis held too many bad memories. It had been where his father had died, car accident. Rhys was in it too, and lost an arm in the process. He didn't complain, it just made things like dressing himself slightly more difficult, but he was always up for a challenge. A few days after they had moved in, Rhys' mother Andrea suggested bringing over a cake to the next door neighbour, to which Rhys groaned at. "I heard they have a son your age, he might be cute honey!" His mother had always accepted him for who he was, and it made life a lot easier. Rhys was still bitter over his last relationship with a girl that lived in the city, it hadn't ended well. He brought over the cake anyway and handed it to the boy. He guessed he was cute, in that nerdy way, but not really his type. As in return for the cake, the boy-Vaughn agreed to show him around the school on his first day, so Rhys rushed down the stairs and slung his bag over his shoulder before he kissed his mothers cheek and ran out the door. Vaughn was standing there just about to knock before he grinned sheepishly and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Good morning Rhys!" He chirped "Ready for your first day?"

"Uh, ready as I'll ever be I guess." Rhys combed his hand through his hair as he made an attempt to sound optimistic.

"You sure you want to go with that outfit man?" Vaughn glanced up to Rhys' shirt and raised his eyebrow. The height difference was massive, and Rhys was loving it.

"Aw, what's wrong with what I'm wearing?" He pouted.

"It's just uh, a tie? Seriously? You don't need to be that formal man, and take off the vest, c'mon now."

"Vaughn I'm not changing. I think my style will class up this school...or something."

"Alright, it's your funeral." He shrugged and started walking down the path.

"Hey Vaughn, do you think people will make fun of me, for...you know." Rhys glanced at his bundled up sleeve, right arm only a memory now, and sighed.

"No, no! Well maybe Ja- no! No one will. I mean I think. I mean that would be a pretty asshole thing to do. But the people I hang with? No way, you'll be okay as long as you stick close."

Rhys appreciated that Vaughn was trying, so he smiled and started following him up the path. They lived pretty close to the school, so they didn't need to worry about a ride, but after seeing the rows of beautiful cars covering the parking lot of the school, he felt a little homesick. He had a car back at Elpis but it had to be sold to pay for moving fees, plus, driving would be way too difficult now. There were students everywhere surrounding the halls, and he felt all eyes burning into his arm, or lack of. He looked down and went to walk up to his locker, but somebody was leaning on it.

"Let's just come back to your locker later Rhys." Vaughn whispered and tugged at his side.

"I have to get in there Vaughn, my time table is in there. I'll just ask him nicely to move over. It'll be fine." Rhys assured him and made his way over. The guy leaning on it was tall and lanky- he had one arm behind his back and against Rhys' locker at the other one cupped in a girls' cheek. She looked like she was enjoying it and Rhys could understand why. He was a good looking guy, she was a good looking girl. They were a good looking couple.

"Rhys no seriously do not talk to him that guy is Ja-"

It was too late, Rhys had already made himself known.

"Uh, excuse me." Rhys gulped. Yep, all confidence had gone. The guy turned to him and looked Rhys straight in the eyes. His left eye was blue, and his right eye was green, and Rhys decided they were rather pretty before he quickly returned to focus on the matter at hand. He looked Rhys up and down quickly before he smirked and removed his hand from the girls cheek.

"Hey, I haven't seen you before, what's your name?" His speech pattern was strange, each word got louder towards the end, each letter spoken with a suave confidence that Rhys had always searched for in himself.

"I u-uh. My name is Rhys. And...and you're in the way of my locker, and I would like to get into my locker. So I mean if you could move, like just a tiny bit out of the way, that would be uh...great." Rhys voice kept losing and finding its volume as the guy traced his face with his eyes. God those eyes were pretty.

"Reeze was it? Well listen here cupcake, because I'm only going to say this once. The name is Jack, kiddo, and I'm the king of this school. So I don't move for anyone, not even a pretty face."

"It's Rhys. R H Y S, and I really need to get in there sorry, my timetable is in there." He was fumbling with his words now, and that compliment wasn't helping his case.

"Oh just give him a break hon. It's the kids first day." Came a sultry voice. It was that girl who Jack was holding. She had shoulder length hair that flipped at the ends and she wore a bit too much makeup for Rhys to get into, but nonetheless gorgeous. Plus she was being nice to him, so he thanked her with a small nervous smile.

"Mox the kid can figure it out himself, let his short dweeb show him around or something, I'm not moving."

The girl huffed, frowned at him and stormed off.

"Chicks, eh?" Jack chuckled, moving slightly out of the way of the locker. Rhys didn't bother to thank him as he opened his locker and checked inside. He picked up his time table and looked over it before Jack came up behind him and yanked it out of his hand. Rhys stayed silent but just sighed deeply, frustrated.

"Oh it's your lucky day pumpkin. We have English together, right now. Oop, and science."

"Great." Rhys deadpanned.

"Oh, it looks like we have different English classes." Vaughn chimed in, keeping his distance from Jack. Great, now his guide was leaving him. "Oh! But we have math straight after that! I'll meet you here after English so we can walk to class together. See you man!"

"Wait, you didn't show me where my English class was." Too late, Vaughn had already bolted as fast away from Jack as possible. Rhys sighed again, completely forgetting that Jack was basically pressing against his back until he felt a hard slap land on his shoulder. He let out a small yelp before he could catch himself and instantly felt embarrassed.

"Guess I'm your new guide, hm? Just follow me kiddo, it's not that far."

Rhys grumbled and followed Jack down the hall, he felt awkward and shitty and his shoulder was already starting to bruise but he felt privileged to be shown to class by the so called "king of the school." He resented Jack for calling him "kiddo" though. Rhys was eighteen in December, so he was hardly a child, and Jack wouldn't be much older, he thought. As they walked through the hall and made their way to class Rhys could feel all eyes on him, but instead of embarrassment, he almost felt prideful, like he was better than everyone. He turned to Jack and grinned.

"So uh, thank you for walking me to class."

Rhys got shot a death glare and instantly regretted his words. The next thing he knew, Jack had shoved him against a nearby locker and pressed his wrist to his neck, holding him there. The nearby students fled instantly to their classes. So much for help.

"Let's make something very clear kid." He pressed his wrist harder into Rhys throat and Rhys gasped for air.

"I'm not doing this to be nice. I'm not nice. Not to you, not to my girlfriend, not to anyone. I'm not a nice guy. So the sooner you realise that, the safer you will be. Got it?"

Rhys nodded to the best of his ability and Jack let go. Rhys grabbed his own throat and made sure he was still in one piece as he caught his breath.

"Alright babe. Let's get to class, don't wanna be late on your first day do we?"