In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I-.
"Hey!" Her soft cover copy of Pride and Prejudice flies through the courtyard as baggy jeaned boys in plaid bump into her from behind. "There's a person reading here." She huffs, getting up from her hunched position on a concrete step, which forms an atrium. After grabbing her book (her page now lost due to its being flung from her hands), she finds the boys who did this and freezes as she recognizes Jax Teller and Opie Winston. Tara freezes, her mouth open slightly and her arms crossing over her chest, her book sitting snuggly in the center of her chest. "Sorry." She mumbles and spins on her heel away from the older boys. She can hear them snicker as she finds her backpack and scuttles away. "Assholes." She says to herself when she's sure she's out of earshot.
She turns a corner and prepares for the lunch period to be over and is glad to be alone for the moment. Whenever Tara is around Jax and his friends she gets jumpy and hot. It's awful and she doesn't care for it much. She leans her back against the wall after removing her pack once again and fingers through her novel to find her place. Tara is an avid fan of bookmarks; losing her place is a nuisance and a waste of time. As she finds her place she happily finishes the sentence she was on, pulls out her tattered butterfly covered bookmark and places it in the crease. A satisfied smile reaches the brunette's lips, though it quickly dissipates as Tara sees the sandy haired boy across from her, mimicking her stance.
"What?" She snaps, shutting her book harshly so it echoes down the deserted hall. Again Tara takes a defensive stance, her arms crossing, her book held close to the center of her torso. Her snarl grows as she watches his smile curl. "Stop bothering me, Jax." Tara almost chokes on his name; she's fairly certain that's the first time she's used it towards him.
"That's a nice bookmark you got there," He pushes off the wall and struts over to her. His white Nikes drag against the concrete beneath him. "Never really painted you as a butterfly kinda chick but can't say I'm surprised I guess." His teeth are still apparent beneath a smile. Little golden hairs sprout from his chin and upper lip. Jax plants himself next to her now, their stances still identical.
Tara's silent for a few moments, unsure of if he's being coy or if he's genuinely interested in the disintegrating bookmark. "My mom gave it to me when I was in grade school, you know before she d-," she paused and looked away from his clear blue eyes. "Before she died." Tara rolled her eyes at herself. An older boy (Jax Teller of all people) was talking to her and the first thing she brings up is her dead mom. How attractive. "It's a nice little memento of her, I guess. She liked books to." She looks back up at Jax accepting that this was the last conversation she'd probably ever have with him.
He's about to respond when a bellowing shout of his name fills the halls. His eyelids close, a tightlipped smile finds his lips and he turns around without another word. Jax walks away, his swagger even more pronounced as he rejoins up with Opie. He takes a split second to turn back to Tara, still up against the wall, book pressed to her chest. The freshman's sure she sees the junior wink at her.