"So Tutoring is cancelled today." Reggie said as the gang got settled into their assigned seats in the biology classroom. Thankfully, they were bunched up together in the far right hand side of the room. More and more students filed into the room as the four of them got out their homework and notebooks.
"Really? Wanna hang out in the A/V club after school?" Twister asked from behind her.
"Sure. I didn't know you could bring friends in with you."
"Only special circumstances." Twister said.
"So I'm a special circumstance, huh?" Reggie said in amusement.
"Always." Twister said confidently. Otto was next to him making a quick gagging motion before Reggie threw an eraser at his head. Sammy chuckled under his breath.
"Alright class, Listen up." The teacher, Mr. Hallman, spoke up after the late bell rang. "We have a new student starting today. Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?" He asked a guy who was sitting a row behind Reggie and Sammy, one seat down from Twister and Otto. The boy shrugged and scratched the back of his head as he stood up from his seat.
"Uh. Hi.. My name is Jamie Holden… Most people call me Jay..." He said in a gentle tone of voice. "I just moved here from Nebraska." Jamie was rather tall, had black hair that touched his ears and had long bangs framing his face. For someone who came from Nebraska, he was pretty pale. The class applauded for a second, Jamie gave a nod to the class before sitting back down in his seat.
"Welcome to Ocean Shores High School, Jamie. I'm sure you will enjoy yourself here." Mr. Hallman greeted before he took a dry erase maker into his hands. "Now, we are going to start a rather interesting chapter on Biodiversity. Doesn't that sound fun?" He started to write down key points of the topic on to the giant dry erase board in front of him as he started the lecture. Everyone started to take the notes down in their notebooks.
"Hey." Reggie heard a whisper from behind her shoulder. She twisted around to see who it was and it was Jamie. He had switched seats with the classmate next to Twister. "Sorry, but do you have a pencil I could borrow? No one else does." He whispered to her. She looked at Twister and he shrugged before she opened her backpack and retrieved a second pencil. She held it out to him and he took it with a grateful smile, "Thank you, you're a life saver." Reggie just smiled politely and returned to her note taking.
During lunch period, the gang gathered at their usual spot under a tree in the courtyard. Otto and Twister were engulfed in a conversation about a new trick Otto wanted to try out. Sammy was on his laptop and Reggie was reading a set of notes before the test she had next period.
"Hey." A familiar voice said. Reggie looked up from her binder and saw the new guy, Jamie. "Um. I'm sorry.. for bothering you but I wanted to give this back to you." He held out the pencil, freshly sharpened.
Reggie took it back with a relaxed smile. "Thanks. You know, I never usually see these coming back. Did you find one you could use until the day is over?" She asked, He shrugged and pulled out a pen from the front pocket of his jeans.
"I totally forgot I had this until now." Jamie said, clearly embarrassed.
"It happens all the time." Reggie said. "My name is Reggie Rocket, by the way." She held out a hand to him, He hesitated but shook it lightly. "This is Twister, Sammy, and my brother Otto."
"Nice to meet you all. I'm Jamie." He said as he shoved his hands in his jean pockets, but caught himself again, embarrassed. "But… you already knew that…"
"You like to be called Jay right?" Otto asked. Jamie nodded. "I don't blame you. It fits you better."
"I always thought 'Jamie' was a girl's name." Twister said mindlessly, Jay made a face at him like he didn't know how to react to that statement. Reggie punched Twister's shoulder. "It's a good name though!" Jay seemed amused with very little facial expression, He gave a short laugh.
"I believe the name is unisex… If it isn't then I guess I was meant to be a girl or something." Jay said, insinuating humor. Otto and Reggie chuckled at the remark. Jay smiled a little. "Well, I guess I'll see you around..."
"Wait, if you aren't doing anything, you are welcome to hang out with us until lunch period is over." Reggie said before Jay walked away from the group.
"I-I don't want to intrude…"
"You're not intruding, believe me." Reggie said with a half eye roll and motioned for him to sit down with them. Jay sat down between Otto and Sammy. "Having a good first day?"
"Better than I anticipated…" Jay muttered. Reggie gave him a questioning look. "I mean… I-I never was fond of moving in the first place…"
"I get it." Sammy said as he typed away on his laptop. "I was the same way when I moved here… but it's a cool place to live once you get used to it."
"Where are you from?" Jay asked.
"Kansas." Sammy said with a shrug.
"Was it nice there?"
"It's okay… There is snow every winter and the summer is pretty hot. It was an adjustment moving here for sure."
"Oceans and whatnot." Jay said understandingly.
"Yeah. Pretty much." Sammy said with indifference. Jay sensed his slight hostility and moved himself a little away from Sammy.
"I.. don't really know what to do here…" Jay confessed quietly. "My family just got here two days ago."
"Good thing you're with us then. Right, Reg?" Otto said with an elbow hitting her shoulder.
"Yeah." She said looking up from her notes.
"Why? You guys from here?"
"Yup." Otto said with confidence.
"Born and raised." Reggie added. "And we can introduce you to the best grub in town after school is out."
"That sounds great!" Jay said with interest.
"I have surf." Sammy said as he closed his laptop and set it in front of him. "The coach just emailed me and we have an extra practice to do right after school. Sorry, I can't go with you."
"Its fine, Squid." Twister said. "I have A/V but only to drop off some edits. I should be able to leave the club meeting early."
"I guess we could wait for you." Reggie said with a smile, Twister smiled back. Jay bounced his gaze between the two of them as they lingered in their exchange before Reggie leaned back into her hands as she looked down at her notebook for the last time before tossing it into her backpack, looking like she had no hope in the world. "This honors class is going to be the death of me, I just know it. I might as well just give it up…"
"Statistics?" Sammy asked. Reggie nodded.
"It's going to throw my entire GPA off with the grades I've been getting recently."
"Just do some extra work." Sammy said, attempting to comfort her. "It's only the beginning of the school year."
"Mrs. Burstrom has been eating me alive every day since school started, I don't know how much of her I can take before I break down." Reggie said as she laid down on the grass where she was sitting. Sammy, Otto, and Twister cringed sympathetically. "She is the devil in green pumps."
"Don't feel too bad.." Twister said. "I have Ms. Sweet for English."
"She isn't that bad." Reggie muttered. "She was one of my favorite teachers."
"She is… just so." Sammy said. "She is very particular. Too bad English is your worse subject."
"I am learning a lot…" Jay spoke up after being absent from the conversation he was observing. "I take it that you have Stats next?" he asked. "I do too. Is the teacher that bad?"
"She has a reputation for being hard on the students in her class." Otto said.
"That rep has been true thus far. So brace yourself." Reggie said with a sigh.
"Consider me braced for impact." Jay said with a grin. The bell rang loudly through the campus, the students around the grounds were shuffling to get to their next class including them.
"Come on, I'll show you to class." Reggie said as she hitched her bag on her shoulder. "See you guys later."
"Later." The three of them responded as she and Jay left the group to head down in the opposite direction.
"I should warn you that it's a test day and she will just shove you in a seat and hand you a textbook. Don't take it personally."
"I never take things personally if it's from a teacher." He said with crossed arms.
"Good. You may survive."
When they entered the class room, He introduced himself to the young looking math teacher in forest green heels. She gave him a quick look over before shoving a thick book into his arms and said in a haughty, stern voice, "Second row, Third seat down. You will complete the entire first and second chapter while everyone else does their test."
After classes were done, Reggie and Jay were hanging out and talking in the empty hallway across the way from the A/V club room where Twister disappeared about ten minutes ago.
"So you are a senior. Your dad moved you here after a divorce from your stepmom. You moved here from Nebraska. You are insanely amazing at math…"
"I wouldn't say I was amazing… but I'll take it. I also enjoy History."
"You blew Mrs. Burstrom out of the water with how fast you completed the chapters, I think you qualify..." Reggie laughed. "You are into rock music, You enjoy reading, and …Do you skate?"
"I did a long time ago… Not so much recently. Why? Do you?"
"Oh, man. Skating is one of my favorite things to do, next to surfing and writing." Reggie said with a small laugh. Jay laughed a little with her.
"You do just about everything, don't you?" He asked her.
"I wouldn't say everything… but I do a lot." She said with a shrug.
"Oh, come on." Jay said with an eye roll. "You skate, you surf, you play hockey, you have your own successful magazine! You were on TV! You're like superwoman over here."
"It's whatever. That TV thing was a onetime deal years ago. I only got it by chance. I didn't do much that was special."
"You still did it." Jay said. "It's a life experience that not many people have at your age. It's impressive with how good you are with people."
Reggie sighed and ignored the blush that was creeping up her face. "I'm just comfortable with myself. I'm not that special."
"I… I beg to differ." Jay said slowly, Reggie snapped her head in his direction. The blush grew and turned numb as she felt herself go light-headed from that comment. What was his angle? "I mean… I'm not usually impressed by people anyway but damn… I wish my life was as eventful as yours." Reggie calmed down at the explanation.
"Now you're just saying that."
"Like hell I am." Jay said with a laugh. "Honestly, who do you think you're talking to? I'm not a brown-noser of any kind."
Reggie laughed at the response, "I'm getting a good idea as to what kind of person you are."
"Oh yeah?" Jay asked. "What is that?"
"Oh, I'm not telling you until I know more."
"That's barely fair." Jay complained.
"Oh, it's fair." Reggie said with an amused expression, Jay just laughed a little more. "What's funny?"
"Your expression."
"My face is funny?"
"Very much so."
She stared him down for a second before they both erupted into laughter. Twister came out of the class room and watched the two of them laughing.
"Okay guys, I'm starved. Let's go to the shack." Twister said as he approached them. "Like, now."
"Finally!" Reggie said as she stretched her body as she got up from the floor. The two of them updated Twister on their conversation and talked the entire way to their destination. Twister kept out of the loop in silence, peering at his wrist watch every minute or so.
"Welcome to the Shore Shack." Twister said as they walked in and took a seat at the bar. "Sup Tito?"
"Hey! Not much, little cuz." Tito said as he walked out from the back room. "Who's the new cuz?"
"This is Jay." Reggie said. "He just moved here and we offered to show him around."
"You must be the one moving into that one house on Floral Avenue." Raymundo said as he came around from the back room as well and he was covered in ice scrapings. He must have just finished cleaning out the big freezer.
"Yes, sir." Jay said softly.
"Sir." Raymundo said to himself. "I like that… Sir." He laughed.
"Don't expect me to call you that, brudda." Tito said with a hefty laugh.
"Floral Ave is a couple blocks from us." Reggie said.
"You moved in next to Eddie!" Twister exclaimed. "I suggest you get on his good side, you don't want to end up being a servant to the netherworld... trust me."
"The what?" Jay asked.
"You'll find out." Reggie said with a sigh. "Eddie Valentine is very eccentric. He's a good guy, but weird."
"Weird isn't bad." Jay said with a hint of interest. "Mrs. Valentine seemed nice. We met her when we arrived."
"Never said it was but we are used to it because we grew up with him spouting his netherworld business." Reggie said with a tone of caution.
"Mrs. Valentine is hilarious." Tito said as he wiped down the chopping board with a disinfectant. The gang hadn't hung around the Valentine residence since middle school, but they were sure the family still remains as they were. Happily abnormal. "You'll enjoy having them next door to you." Jamie just smiled politely and fiddled with his hands a little.
"Hungry?" Reggie asked him.
"Huh..? Oh.." Jay laughed a little. "Yeah, A little."
"I think I will have a basket of fries." Twister said as he turned his attention to his watch.
"I'll have my regular order."
"I'll just have a cheese burger and a soda, please." Jay said.
"Coming right up." Tito said as he slapped some burgers on the grill and tossed a bunch of fries in the deep fryer.
"Are you okay, Twist?" Reggie asked, Twister snapped his attention from his wrist watch to her. "You keep looking at your watch every five seconds."
"Oh, Yeah. I-I'm just meeting my dad somewhere in about an hour…Running errands… or something.."
"Okay." Reggie said quietly. "So, I guess we aren't hanging out tonight?"
"We're hanging out now." Twister said mindlessly as Tito rang the service bell and slid the basket of fries down to Twister. Reggie just arched her eyebrow at his sudden nervousness. He was acting really weird all of a sudden and now he doesn't want to go out. Reggie was afraid to connect the dots of this situation, so she chose to ignore it. The service bell rang twice and two baskets flew their way and Ray served three drinks to the trio.
Twister left early before Otto suddenly appeared right before closing time. Reggie and Jay were wiping down tables and flipping the chairs over them.
"Where have you been all day, Otto?" Reggie asked as he waltzed in with a confident grin on his face. "We waited for you to show up all afternoon."
"That info is none of your beeswax." He muttered before casting a look at Jay's direction across the way from where he was standing. "Soooo… Where's Twist? I thought he would be here."
"I don't know…" Reggie said, sounding cold. She didn't mean for it to come out like that. Otto cautiously looked around and stepped in front of her.
"You guys.. didn't fight… Did you?" Otto asked in a whisper. Reggie squinted at her younger brother in disbelief, she didn't know why he was asking that question.
"What? No! We didn't have a fight..." Reggie said calmly but her mind wandered around the topic. "Twister left to do some errands with his dad.. Or something.. I think…"
"Something's bugging you." Otto stated. "Did Jay do something?"
"No, Otto. He's just hanging around since he didn't want to go home. So we are helping close the shack." Reggie said as she turned to pick up the hook-on-a-broomstick so she could close the rest of the storm doors. "Back to my question, what have you been doing all day long? I thought you were going to meet us here for dinner after skate practice was over."
"…Plans suddenly changed."
"And you show up at closing time, You were preoccupied for that long?… What was it? Did you suddenly discover a new move or something?" Reggie laughed as she pulled a storm door down to lock it.
"Something." Otto answered in a serious tone that made her smile fall as she gave him a look that mirrored his serious gaze.
"What?" Reggie asked, this had to be huge news and this waiting was starting to bug her. Otto smiled a little
"Okay, you know what? I'm not allowed to tell you… yet. – ow! Hey! Watch the dreads!" Reggie gripped one of his dreadlocks, she didn't normally like having secrets kept from her. She pulled his head down to her height. "OW! Okay! Clio is in town! Release me, please!"
A high level of excitement poured into her and soon she found herself running towards the Rodriquez household.