My second offering. I love Jeff / Maria pairings so I thought I'd give it a go.
I'm not sure what I think of this first chapter. If you like it, please review!
Maria counted her footsteps. Maybe she could beat yesterday's record and not get any abuse for two whole minutes. Wishful thinking.
"Hey Maria, love your shirt." Came the antagonising voice of Michelle McCool.
"Really?" Maria muttered half - heartedly.
"I think I wore it when it was actually in fashion!" cackled the tall blonde.
Maria shook her head and quickened her pace to make it to her locker.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't see the jocks hanging around by the lockers. That was the thing with high school. There were only a few real bullies, but the other kids would join in, so that they wouldn't be bullied themselves.
Grabbing her books, Maria decided to head for her first lesson, which was English. This was a good one, as it usually involved silence while reading or watching a film version of a Shakespeare play. Maria found somebody had arrived before her.
"Are you waiting for this class?"
"Yeah, I'm early." Replied the boy sitting against the wall.
"I like your picture." Maria pointed at the sketch he had done on a scrap of paper.
"Thanks. I like art."
"So do I."
"Do you draw?" he looked up at her with green eyes.
"Yeah. Well mostly I sketch designs. I want to be a fashion designer." Maria blushed, feeling as if she had given too much away. The boy nodded.
"That's cool. You make that?" He nodded towards Maria's hooded jacket.
"Yeah, took me a while."
"I'm Jeff, by the way." He carried on sketching.
"Maria." She replied.
Suddenly Maria heard footsteps and turned to see the teacher approaching.
"Good morning Maria."
"Good morning Mr Matthews." She replied.
Maria entered the classroom and sat down beside the window towards the back of the class. Jeff sat on the opposite side, right at the back of the room.
The door opened and Cody Runnels walked in.
He was one of those guys, who would laugh at people with his friend Randy Orton. Strangely enough, he would arrive early in class to read comic books.
"What do we have today Cody?" Mr Matthews asked him.
"Spiderman." Cody replied, not looking up from the comic.
"Do you two want to make a start on Hamlet?" Mr Matthews asked Maria and Jeff.
They nodded and began reading, while the classroom began to fill up.
Soon it was lunchtime. Maria had long since given up on using the dining hall. She took her own lunch and sat at a picnic bench behind the art classrooms.
She finished half of her sandwich and pulled out her exercise book. She had begun a design last night that she wanted to work on.
"Hey Maria!"
Maria looked up and saw her old friend Mickie James.
"Are you on your own?" Maria asked quietly.
"Well duh!" Mickie pulled a face.
"Your boyfriend might wonder where you are."
"Look, I came to ask if you wanna swap half of your sandwich for half of mine?"
"Ok. I don't mean to be rude." Maria sighed. Mickie hugged her.
"I wish we could all get along. I really do."
Mickie and Maria were friends from preschool. They had both suffered taunts in high school, but Mickie's stopped when she began dating Randy Orton.
He was in the football team and had a reputation.
"What class do you have after lunch?" Mickie asked.
"Biology." Maria muttered, concentrating on her design.
"You want me to walk with you?" Mickie asked, knowing Maria's answer.
"No, I'll be ok."
Mickie nodded and turned to walk away.
"You know where I am if you need me…"
Maria kept her head down and sighed. Mickie was trying to do the best by everyone.
She must have been engrossed in her design that she jumped when the bell rand for the end of lunch. Maria picked up her belongings and headed to her class.
The biology teacher was called Mrs Kendall. She was quite strict and insisted on a boy – girl-seating plan. Maria had to sit next to Mike Mizanin.
"Hey, it's my girl Maria!" he grinned as she took her seat.
"Hi Mike." She offered him a smile.
"Hey John. I know it's biology, but we don't need a demo!" Mike shouted to his friend John Hennigan, who was in an embrace with his girlfriend Melina.
"Ahem! Mr Hennigan, Miss Perez." Mrs Kendall stood with her arms folded.
The two reluctantly pulled apart and got their books out.
"Today we're going to…Mr Ziggler, put the mirror away."
"You don't know perfection when you see it." Dolph smirked and sat back on his seat. Mrs Kendall stood with her hands on her hips.
"Are we about done?" she raised an eyebrow.
"You tell me." He replied, still smirking.
"Once more and you'll be on your way to the principal's office."
Dolph made a motion of zipping his mouth shut.
"Where were we?" the teacher asked as Maria looked at the clock. It was a long day.
Maria was in her final class of History, when a secretary came in with a note for her.
"Meet Miss Lock in her classroom after the final bell."
Maria was curious. Art was her favourite subject, so it was unlikely she'd had bad grades. At least she wouldn't have to face all the other kids on the way home.
Maria walked casually to Miss Lock's art room. Seeing Maria at the door, Miss Lock waved at her to enter.
"Glad you made it Maria." She smiled, quite happy about something.
"Did I do something wrong?" Maria asked, confused.
"No! I wanted to ask for your help."
"With?"
"The school production. I wondered if you wanted to be in charge of costumes?"
"Wow, that sounds great." Maria grinned.
"It saves me working on my own. Now that I have helpers." Miss Lock smiled.
"Who's helping?"
"Ashley Massaro is doing props and Jeff Hardy is painting the set."
"Sounds good." Maria grinned.
As if on cue Ashley walked into the room.
"Sorry if I'm late. I hate boys. Oh hey!" Ashley stopped ranting when she saw Maria.
"Hi, I'm Maria."
"Ashley. Are you the same Maria that went out with Phil Brooks?"
"Yeah. Why do you ask?" Maria frowned in confusion.
"That's who I'm having boy trouble with." The blonde replied.
"Oh." Was all that Maria could say. She would rather forget that she ever dated him.
The door opened again and in walked Jeff Hardy.
"Glad you made it Jeff." Miss Lock called from her art cupboard.
"Hey Hardy!" Ashley chirped and gave a thumbs up to Jeff.
"Hello Ash. Oh, I know you…" he pointed at Maria.
"We met this morning, outside English."
"Maria, right?" Maria nodded.
"Oh good, we're all acquainted." Miss Lock grinned.
After a fun hour of planning their work, Maria, Ashley and Jeff left to go home.
"See you guys tomorrow." Ashley yelled as she ran over to Phil's waiting car.
"Do you have far to walk?" Jeff asked Maria.
"Not really, I'm just glad all of the idiots are already home."
"I think I'd better drive you home." Jeff said, motioning to a black pick-up truck.
"You don't have to."
"I'd feel better. I'd worry if you walked by yourself."
"Ok then." Maria sighed and walked over to the passenger side.
Jeff turned the engine on and the radio came on. It was rock music.
"You can turn it off if you don't like it." Jeff said.
"No I do. I have a CD by this band." Maria nodded to the music.
"Really?"
"Why is that a surprise?" Maria asked, still nodding her head.
"You seem quite girly, so I just assumed…"
"Don't judge a book by its cover." Maria smiled at him.
"Yeah I should know that!" he laughed. His multicoloured hair and black nails set him apart from all the preppy boys and the jocks.
Maria pulled out her cell phone when it beeped.
"Something wrong?" Jeff asked.
"It's just my brother wondering where I am." Maria sighed.
"Older?" Maria nodded. "Yeah, my brother's like that too."
"What does he do?" Maria asked.
"College. He spends all his time there now."
"So you live on your own?"
"Not all the time. Matt comes back a few days a week. That's when he's not staying with his girlfriend Eve." Jeff shrugged.
"It sounds like the opposite of my house." Maria grinned.
Jeff raised an eyebrow at her.
"Well there's me, my brother, mom, dad, our dog…"
"What kind of dog you got?"
"Black Labrador Retriever. His name's Star." Maria smiled.
"Sounds like a girl's name." Jeff frowned.
"I think we pulled the name out of a hat."
"I'll have to meet Star sometime."
"Maybe you can come over at the weekend?" Maria looked at Jeff.
"I might do that." He replied.
"This is my street anyway."
"Oh, tell me where to drop you off."
"Just on the next house." Maria said, picking up her bags.
"So I'll see you tomorrow?" Jeff stuck his head out of the window.
"Sure. See you then." Maria waved and skipped up to her front door.
Star came to meet her as she walked into the hall.
"Today was a good day boy, a good day."
Maria actually felt hopeful for the first time in ages.
