Jeff Hardy hurried to class, running at full speed through the empty hallways. He stopped at room 404, trying to decide if he should skip or not. As if to answer his question for him, the door swung open with a loud creak.
"Ah, Mr. Hardy. You've decided to join us this period." Mrs. Jamiski's gleamed in joy. "Normally, I'd give you detention, but I'll let this one slide." The english teacher winked playfully at him.
"Thank's Mrs.J." He proudly made his way to the back of the classroom as Mrs. J droned on about prepositions.
"Hey Jeff." Melina Perez flirtatiously waved.
"Hey Perez." He nodded at the brunette. She giggled as he took the only available seat which was behind her. She turned to face him.
"Party tonight at my place. You coming?"
"Now, now. Before asking these questions.. ask yourself. 'Would Jeff Hardy ever miss a party?'" He grinned. "See ya there."
"Yo, Jeff." Jeff turned around to see a blonde girl sitting behind him, but she seemed too absorbed in her notebook to look up. "Over here." Jeff looked to his right.
"Hey Cena." Jeff smirked. "How's the sunburn?" The kid in the Red Sox cap rolled his eyes.
"It sucks. Who the hell falls asleep on the beach, with their hand on their face?"
"Apparently you do since-"
"Mr. Hardy, first you come in late and then you disrupt my class." Mrs. Jamiski winked. "I'd like to see you after class." She then went back to her lesson.
"Hey Jeff.."
"What, John?"
"Randy says to wear protection." John and the kid behind him began cracking up, high fiving each other.
"Haha. Aren't you two funny. Just cause I get straight A's and you two get straight F's.."
"Teachers pet." Randy Orton coughed. He and John began laughing again in unsion.
"You know Jeff.." Melina turned around. "I find teacher pets to be very... hott." She purred. Jeff smiled, turning to John and Randy.
"Hear that? I'm hott." John and Randy exchanged glances before turning away. Jeff grinned at his small victory before staring at the wall until the bell rang.
RING
Jeff jumped to his feet, waiting for his classmates to leave before walking to his teacher's desk. "Hey Mrs. J."
"Hi Jeff. You know, you're one of my best students.." She paused to sit on her desk. "But I can't help but think something's wrong.." She twirled a lose strand of hair around her finger. "If you need to talk.. I'm here." She looked up at him, patting the space on her desk next to her. Jeff shuddered. Maybe Randy was right...
"Nothing's wrong." He popped up on the desk. Mrs. J. placed her hand on his leg.
"Well. If you say so. I know you're my brightest student. And though it seems you don't pay attention.. you do really well. So I shouldn't worry, should I?"
"Nope. Don't worry about me." Jeff stood.
"Okay then. Get to class." Mrs. Jamiski watched him till he was out the door.
"HARDY!" Jeff rolled his eyes.
"Cena. Orton. Go away."
"Wait. I want to show you something!" Randy held up what looked like a picture. Jeff squinted at it. It was him and Mrs. Jamiski, sitting on her desk, her hand on his leg, watching him.
"Take your blackmail somewhere else." Jeff ran a hand through his hair.
"Wait, thats not the best part." John smirked. "Tell him Randy."
"Well, I figured, my sister edits all her pictures. So we can ask her to do a little something.. and well. Lets just say. You'll be very HAPPY to see Mrs. J."
"You wouldn't.." Jeff muttered through clenched teeth.
"Oh, we would. See ya!" The two took off down the hall. Other than their fading figures, he was alone in the hall.
"Shit. Gonna be late again." He started running until noticed a girl walking really slowly, staring at the numbers above the classroom.
"Lost?" The girl spun around, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"Uh.. yeah." She mumbled. Jeff realized she was the girl sitting behind him in english.
"I'm Jeff.." He nodded. "What class are you looking for?"
"221. And I'm Ashley."
"Hey Ashley. Okay. We're in the 400's right now. So. They're all the way down there." Jeff pointed. "If you want, I'll write you a late pass." Ashley stared at him for a bit.
"Don't you have to be a teacher to do that?"
"Well. I happen to be a great signature forger." He winked, pulled a slip of paper from his pocket and scribbled some nonsense on it before signing 'Mr. Reed.", the vice principal's name. "Here you go. This'll let you get off easy anytime." He winked.
"Why didn't you do that instead of coming to class late?" Ashley asked, taking the paper in her hand. Jeff hesitated a moment before answering.
"I don't know.. you have a really good point there. Maybe I'll use one for now. Gotta go, bye." He took off down the hall. Ashley rolled her eyes. Good grades, good looks, good personality. Nobody's perfect. So when would his flaws show? Ashley sighed and made her way to her class, gripping the note in her left hand. She walked into the classroom which was sculpture. She went to her teacher, Mr. Perry, gave him the note. She bit her bottom lip, hoping he wouldn't notice anything strange. But he just glanced at it before dismissing her to a table. She gave a sigh of relief before sitting with a bunch of quiet girls. But once Mr. Perry was done talking, she found out they were anything but quiet.
"I don't want to take this class. It's so gay." One blonde tapped her manicured nails on the paint splattered table.
"Stacy, its not so bad. Would you rather having algebra this period?" Another blonde shrugged.
"Trish, you don't understand. This class is messy. If I mess up these clothes, I'm dead. Torrie knows what I'm talking about, right Tor?"
"Uh kinda.. but it could be a lot worse. Seriously. We get to talk, and sit with our friends." The third blonde spoke. Ashley just looked at the artwork hanging up on the walls, some of them weren't too bad.
"Hey.." Ashley felt eyes on her. She looked up. All three girls at her table were watching her. "Are you new or something? I've never seen you around." The girl named Stacy asked.
"Uh yeah. I moved here two weeks ago. But decided not to start school till the last semester.." Ashley spoke.
"Oh. That's cool." Another girl smiled. "I'm Trish. The one that doesn't shut up is Stacy. And she's Torrie."
"Hey!" Stacy rolled her eyes. "I do shut up. I'm just expressing my feelings toward this class. And personally, I think this class sucks."
"We only have two minutes left. So calm the hell down Stace." Torrie giggled. Ashley felt left out, each girl had their hair perfectly straight, perfectly manicured nails and were wearing mini skirts. Ashley had her blonde her into a pony tail, her nails had chipped black nail polish on them, and she was wearing capris, along with a Pink Floyd shirt. She glanced at her black DC shoes, deciding she was nothing like these girls. The bell rang and Ashley sprung up from her seat, being the first to run out of the classroom, hoping to find the cafeteria in time. Fortunately the smell of French fries wafted in the air which was enough for Ashley to follow. She looked around, trying to find an empty table. She had no such luck. There were about 25 circular tables in various colors with matching chairs. Each table had been taken.
"Great." Ashley muttered. She was about to ask some girl that was sitting alone if she could sit with her until someone poked her shoulder. Ashley spun around, mumbling a sorry and moved out of the way for whoever wanted to pass.
"You look pretty lost." Ashley looked, it was Torrie from the art room. "Why don't you sit with us? We don't bite." Torrie grinned. Ashley shrugged, not like she had any other options.
"Sure. Thanks." Ashley took a seat next to Stacy. She and Trish greeted her while Ashley dug some crumpled money from her pockets. She walked over to the lunch line, studying her choices. French fries. Sandwiches. Nachos. Chips. Hamburgers.
"Hey there, new girl." Ashley turned around to see Jeff from earlier.
"Hi." She smiled before going to grab a hamburger.
"I suggest the sandwiches. Or the chips. Don't by hot lunch here. Unless you want to get lost on your way to the nurse." Jeff winked.
"Uh. Thanks." Ashley grabbed a ham sandwich and turned to get a drink.
"Any suggestions on the drinks?" She went to look at him but he was too busy talking to some red head.
"Come on Amy. Get your own lunch. I'm not made out of money."
"Me either. My parents took away my allowance from last night.. Please? Just this once?!" She begged.
"Fine. Only this time." He dug a five dollar bill out of his leather wallet.
"Thanks! You're the best, Jeffy." She hugged him and messed up his hair before running off. Jeff just sighed.
"Were you saying something?" Jeff curiously asked Ashley.
"Uh. No." Ashley paid the cashier for her sandwich and water before looking for her table.
"Don't get lost!" Jeff joked before walking to his table. Ashley sat down in the orange chair, opening the saran wrap the kept her sandwich fresh.
"So Ashley, are you coming?" Ash glanced up from her sandwich.
"Coming where?"
"To Melina Perez's party?" Stacy asked anxiously.
"Uh. I wasn't invited." Ashley shrugged, not actually caring about some popular girls party. Stacy and Torrie began laughing at Ashley as if they shared a joke that Ashley didn't get. Trish rolled her eyes.
"Don't mind them. You don't have to be invited to a party here. As long as you know when and where, you pretty much have the right to go. Its tonight at 8 until 11. Are you coming?"
"I don't really have anything to wear and.."
"Nobody gets dressed up, I promise. Just wear what you want." Trish gave a thumbs up. "We can come pick you up if you want."
"Or we can dress you up.." Stacy grinned at Torrie.
"Or you can just wear what you want." Trish raised an eyebrow.
"Uh. I guess I'll go if your going.." She scribbled her address and number on a napkin and slid it to Trish.
"Good. It will give you a chance to meet some more people, since your new." Torrie entered the conversation.
"Yeah. Maybe you will meet a cute guy." Stacy elbowed Ashley rather roughly. "But make sure you check with us first. We have the dish on everybody." It then occurred to Stacy that these were the girls that were middle class. The lived on gossip and malls. Could she really be friends with these people? Maybe she was being to judgmental, after all, they were nice enough to offer her a seat and ride to the party.
"Have you seen anyone you might.. like?" Torrie asked, leaning over her snapple.
"Me? No. Plus its not like I would have a chance." Ashley threw her garbage out and sat back down to see all girls staring at her.
"What?" Ashley sipped her water before throwing that into a recycling bin.
"Your really pretty!" Stacy announced. Trish and Torrie nodding.
"Yeah. With a little blush here, eyeliner there, you can be model-beautiful."
"You think?" Ashley looked in the mirror Trish handed to her, not seeing anything extraordinary at all.
"Why don't you come to my house before the party?" Torrie asked. "That's where we're all getting ready."
"Uh why not?" Ashley said, taking a chance. She didn't feel like losing the only friends she had. As the bell rang, signifying the end of lunch, Ashley was handed an address. Be there at 7." And then the three girls all walked together down the halls, having no idea their little nick name, the fearsome threesome was about to be the fearsome foursome.
Ashley walked into her house, throwing her bag onto the couch, she made her way through a maze of boxes and into the kitchen.
"Hey mom?" No answer. She scribbled a note on the whiteboard that hung on the refrigerator. 'First day went swell. Out for a walk. Then gonna go to a friends to get ready for a party. Be home around 11. I have my cell with me. Love you!'
She grabbed an apple and rinsed it off before heading out the front door. She walked to the beach which was a little over a 20 minute walk from her house. So far Florida was turning out to be better than New York. People actually liked her here. Ashley sat on the warm sand, digging her toes in it, watching the sun dive beneath the ocean slowly. She leaned on a boulder and slipped her headphones on, getting lost in the music
Lick. Lick. Ashley stirred in her sleep, before sitting abruptly. She looked down at a giant golden retriever who was licking her feet. She jumped to her feet, looking at her phone. 6:30. She better start heading to Torrie's. She spent a minute petting the collarless dog, looking to see if an owner was looking for him. The part of the beach she was on seemed to be pretty empty. She petted his head for a few seconds before slipping her flip flops on and walking away. She made her way down Torrie's street, which was a 10 minute walk from her house and a half hour from the beach. She glanced up at number 19. A big, brick house. She rang the doorbell, waiting for it to open.
"Hey, you're the first to arrive. Come on in." Torrie held the door open. Ashley slipped in. "Want food?" Ashley shook her head. "Lets go wait for the girls to come in." Within the next 5 minutes, everybody was sitting in Torrie's room, dancing to music and piecing together a bunch of outfits.
"Here Ashley, try this on." Stacy handed her a denim skirt and a Hollister polo.
"Uh. This isn't really my style.." Ash apologized and handed it back.
"Oh come on, Ash. You've turned everything we gave you down." Torrie sighed.
"Maybe our outfits aren't her taste. Just try this on, please." Trish begged. She handed her a black tank top with skinny jeans and black and white striped keds. The all agreed it was simple and locked her in the bathroom, refusing to let her out until she put it on. After refusing to wear it for a few seconds, she realized it wasn't getting her anywhere and slid it on.
"Guys, I don't know." Ashley slumped.
"Cute and simple!" Stacy smiled. "Its not that bad, is it?" Ashley checked out her reflection.
"But my hair isn't good enough for this so I guess I'll change.." She went to talk back into the bathroom.
"Sit." Trish demanded. Ashley did so. Trish began straightening her hair. Once it was pin straight, she put it half up, half down.
"Much better!" Torrie grinned.
"Anymore complaints?" Trish smirked. Ashley sighed.
"Guess we covered all the bases." Stacy smiled.
"Just one more thing!" Torrie ran to her dresser and pulled out white beads. She wrapped them around Ashley's head twice.
"Nice! I guess we're all ready now." Trish wrapped her hand around Ashley's wrist and pulled her outside, followed by Stacy and Torrie.
"Lets take my car." Stacy pointed to her red mustang. The girls agreed and hopped in, blasting music and singing along loudly. In less than 10 minutes, they pulled up to a house. Trish opened the door, followed by Stacy, then Ashley, then Torrie. All the furniture was pushed back in the living room, to be able to dance. Loud music poured out of speakers. A giant group of people were grinding one another, and some people sat on the couches, looking awkward. Trish led them into the kitchen where Melina was sipping a drink and listening to some story a kid was telling her.
"Hey Melina." Trish waved.
"Hey Trish, Stacy, Torrie. Glad you could make it. And who is this?" She pointed her chin towards Ashley.
"That's Ashley. She's new." Torrie answered.
"Oh, nice to meet you. Help yourself to food and drinks." She pointed to a table littered with bags of chips and cans of beer and soda. Ashley eyed a soda, but didn't say anything, just incase everyone drank beer, and sodas were the immature thing to drink.
"Here." Trish handed Ashley a pepsi, grabbing the rest of the girls one also. "Let's dance." She started walking to the living room. Ashley stared in horror.
"Actually. I think I'm gonna go find the bathroom." Ashley looked around a minute, hoping they wouldn't notice how lame her excuse was for not wanting to dance.
"Second door down that hall." Stacy pointed before disappearing with her friends. Ashley just stood by the table, ignoring the bunch of drunk guys passed out on the floor. She stuck her hand into the chip bowl and scowled when she found they were soggy with beer.
"Hey, what brings you here?" Jeff Hardy grinned.
"The wonderful food." She motioned to the chips. Jeff chuckled before eating one.
"They're not that bad." Ashley wrinkled her nose.
"Wanna dance?" He glanced around.
"Uh. I don't dance. Sorry." She turned away.
"PLEASE. You owe me for helping you find away to class."
"I didn't ask for your help." Ashley shrugged.
"But I did write you a late pass so you wouldn't get in trouble. That, you owe me for." He grabbed her hand before she could reject and pulled her toward the music. He began dancing while Ashley stood there, arms crossed. He the grabbed her arms and made her dance. She pretty much knew she looked like an idiot, and began dancing. The way Jeff danced made her laugh. He stuck his ass out and shook it, keeping his hands at his sides. As time flew by, Jeff laughed before whispering to her.
"Gotta go. Curfews suck. By the way, you look great tonight. See you at school." He winked before walking to a few other people to say goodbye.
"ASHLEY." Ashley turned around where Trish was dancing with a guy, John Cena, Ashley though his name was. Trish then turned to John and whispered something to him. He shrugged and walked away. "You two are HOTT." Ashley nervously laughed as Torrie and Stacy grinned, trying to show that they were right. She was pretty.
"Okay. Just shut up. I don't wanna hear a word out of any of you. Now take me home."
"I'm only listening to the second part of that. Details, please." Torrie poked her stomach.
"Nothing to say. We talked a little bit in school and we just started dancing." Ashley told them. "It's not big deal." She shrugged. But she knew this was a big deal. She knew that the only thing that would be on her mind for the rest of the night was Jeff Hardy.