Jade stood in the doorway, wishing desperately to vanish behind the books which she held high up on her chest. She peered over the tops of them at the new class with her big, seemingly innocent eyes.
"Come on in, class, this is Jade Dracut. Jade, the senior biology class."
"Hi," came soft and muffled from behind the layer of books protecting her mouth.
"You can sit in the seat next to Merton, the one that's empty," Ms S offered as she turned to update her seating chart. Jade slid into the chair, laying the books on the table and resting her chin on them. Merton couldn't help but look at her. Black fishnets covered her legs, a plaid mini skirt was wrapped tightly around her hips, and probably too short for dress code. And she had another corset; this one was gold with black fleur-de-lis stitched on. She was wearing a black dog collar around her long, thin neck, and her hair was loose about her shoulders. Merton could swear he could smell her delicate floral perfume. Everything about her reminded him of fragile glass. And she was smart too. Too good to be true, too good to be true.
Merton sighed, pulling out his notebook and favorite calligraphy pen. Jade watched him, imitating his action by taking out her sketchpad and her inky black calligraphy pen. Merton didn't notice, but Tommy did. He nudged Lori, pointing to the freshman who was mimicking Merton almost verbatim. Lori chuckled, it was cute. One Goth leading another in class work, like some weird parody of a master and apprentice.
"Now class, I'm sure you all know that today, we will be assigning research project partners. Now don't get all excited, you don't get to pick who you work with. I have a nice list right here of everyone. Well, everyone but Jade. But it seems we had a three way with Dingle, Dawkins and Baxter, so I guess it works out," Ms S mumbled as she scribbled something down on the list. "Dingle, I'm putting you with Dracut, and Dawkins and Baxter will be partners." She continued down the list, naming everyone in the class.
Merton sat in his desk awestruck. This chick was beautiful, smart, and now he'd be spending vast amounts of time alone with her. It was perfect! And it was terrible, she was a freshman, Becky's friend, and she probably hated him. He moaned as the bell sounded, releasing them to lunch.
"Merton," a soft voice from behind him wafted into his ear. Merton turned to see Jade, clutching her books and looking very small surrounded by the other seniors.
"Yes?" Merton asked, walking over to where she stood.
"Well, seeing as, well, we're working together, do you mind if I sit with you guys during lunch?" She stumbled over her question as she stared at the floor.
"Sure, why not, I know I'd be honored," Merton smiled as he offered his hand. Maybe she doesn't hate me.
"Thank you, I mean, no offense, but you sister is a tad shallow. I mean, she's sweet, but not a very deep thinker. It's getting trying to talk to her during lunch," Jade sputtered so quickly, Merton wasn't sure he'd caught it all.
"Whatever," Merton said a little more curtly than he meant. He strolled out of the classroom with long strides, forcing Jade to jog to keep up. His mind was flip-flopping with all the new information. He reached he locker, cursorily shoving his books in and slamming the door shut. Jade quickly jerked hers open, carefully placing the books in as though they were precious pieces of art. She shut her locker door, quietly. She looked to Merton, who was waiting for Tommy with his arms folded tightly around his chest. He was nervous. Jade made him nervous. So, did she hate him or what? He didn't know, and that was enough to make him agitated.
He glanced over at Jade, who was now staring at the floor. "Tell me, is the floor really that interesting?"
"Oh," she exclaimed softly, "it's just a-a-a-a custom from where I come from. Fe-I mean, women, they tend to be very quiet, and demure. It's customary for us to submit to the ma-err, guys. We don't look them in the eyes." She was pushing a stray strand of burgundy hair behind her ear.
"I see," Merton thought for a moment. He bent down, so that he was under her face. "You can look me in the eye, it won't bother me." She choked out a giggle and he smiled.
Tommy walked over to where Merton and Jade were standing. He was proud of his friend when he noted that they were flirting. He wished Lori and himself did that more often. Merton had donned his old waistcoat again, but Tommy didn't understand why he wore that thing. Tommy thought it was ugly, butt ugly. He sighed, scratching at his maroon shirt.
"Merton, move, I need to get into my locker dude," Tommy all but laughed as Merton shot up in surprise. Jade was giggling, a sound like little bells ringing. Tommy liked this freshman, she was sweet.
The group of four made their way to the cafeteria slowly, chits chatting amongst themselves. Jade held her own in the conversation but didn't speak much more than necessary.
"So Jade, where you from?" Lori asked, giving Jade a friendly punch to her arm.
"Nowhere special," Jade mumbled, shifting on her feet, rubbing where Lori had hit her.
"C'mon, you can tell us," Tommy whined, jumping up and down like a little kid.
"Actually, I can't, really, can we just forget it?" Jade pleaded with the group as she opened the heavy woods doors into the cafeteria. Tommy shrugged, and continued into the cafeteria. Lori smiled at her, following Tommy.
"After you, milady," Merton attempted to be gallant. Jade giggled, and stepped into the noisy room. After grabbing trays of food that seemed hardly anything but appetizing, the four sat down and continued their meaningless chitchat. Merton noted that Jade wasn't eating much, as a matter of fact, she hadn't eaten anything. Not a bite. Merton shrugged it off; true ladies didn't eat much in front of others. Maybe she had had a big breakfast, or being with seniors intimidated her. Whatever, it didn't matter. Maybe he'd have a chance with her. Maybe she didn't hate him. So many maybes…
Merton couldn't concentrate much that day. History just didn't hold appeal it usually did. Besides, anything he missed he could easily make up on his own. He didn't even notice the strange new kids that were bugging out Tommy. He looked down to his notepad, realizing he had written Jade's name over and over again. With little hearts. He quickly flipped the page with a quick glance around to make sure no one had seen his little ode. This was getting ridiculous, Merton thought. Putting so much into one person couldn't be a good idea. But she had such nice legs. A stupid grin worked its way across her face. Merton couldn't wait for the final bell to ring.
Tommy stared at that clock, he swore it ran slow, just for him. Only 3 more minutes 'til he was out! Tommy glanced at Merton who was in La La Land more than usual. It was Jade, he was sure. Tommy looked further back in the class to where the new kids sat. The predatory aura radiating from them still gave him the creeps, but at least they were leaving him alone. For now. Tommy looked back to the clock. 2 min! God, this class was taking forever!! Tommy glanced at Lori, who was staring out the window at the positively lovely day it was outside. Her foot was taping, Tommy knew she was just as ready to leave as he was. Tommy hoped Merton wouldn't hang around for a nice long talk with the teacher like he usually did. Tommy didn't know if he could be kept up in this room for one more second than he had to be. 1 min and a half, Tommy sighed. He glanced up at the calendar the teacher had so kindly tacked up on the wall. A little circle was half full at the bottom of the day's box. Quarter moon, Tommy wondered which one it was, first or last. That took the last minutes of the day. The bell sounded, and Tommy Lori and Merton rushed out of the classroom, jarred back and forth by the surge of their fellow classmates.
Jade was waiting out in front of the school. She twirled a strand of her hair idly around her finger as she read from a thick book. She glanced up, looking for something, exhaled shortly, and returned to her book. Merton saw her, leaning against a tree trunk. He bolted away from Tommy and Lori, who were still arguing about whether or not to go to the Factory tonight. He was breathless by the time he reached where she was standing. The tree was pine, the needles cross-hatching across her form.
"You're out of shape," she murmured, not taking her eyes from her book.
"Yeah, well, I guess skipping PE can do that to ya," he wheezed, bracing himself against the tree she was leaning on.
"I guess so."
"So, what are you doing tonight?" Merton asked, standing up a bit taller.
"Homework," Jade sighed. " I have to play catch up with the senior material. Shouldn't be too hard. Have you gotten to Goethe yet?"
"Not in class, persay, but I happen to be a big fan of his," Merton explained with an overtly confident smile.
"That's nice," Jade mumbled. "Listen, you should really be going here soon…"
"Why? I mean, we haven't even talked about when we're going to work on the paper…"
"Tomorrow, your place," Jade cut him off. Merton was a bit thrown off, that was the curtest thing he'd ever heard out of her. Ever.
"I wouldn't call that a discussion but…" Merton attempted again.
"Then don't," she retorted. "You really need to leave now…"
"Hey, it's free country, I can stay here if I want."
"Fine, whatever. Here's my ride." Jade slammed her book shut, sending a small cloud of dust into the air. She tucked the leather bound manuscript under her arm, and began walking to where the arched sidewalk met the curve of asphalt.
"But there's no one…" Merton was cut off by the loud rumble of an old van storming up the black river of asphalt towards Jade. The gray "land tank" screeched to a halt, leaving the smell of burnt rubber behind it. The van was covered with spray painted quotes and sayings, which glistened in the afternoon sun. One of the blackened windows rolled down, and a head popped out. It had short black hair, and lots of eye-makeup.
"Jade, you better get in here NOW!" it screamed.
"Coming Seika," Jade hissed, shifting her messenger bag's strap about on her shoulder. "Talk to you later Merton." Jade smiled as she turned.
"Wait," Seika shouted, "We're gonna come to you!" Seika laughed maniacally as she pulled her head back inside the van.
"Oh shit," Jade moaned, resting her hand on her forehead.
"What?" Merton asked.
"Just go, please, take Tommy too," Jade pleaded again.
"But Tommy isn't…"
"Hey guys," Tommy burst in. "What's up?"
"Nothing, now go," Jade snapped.
"Hey hey, back down there tiger," Tommy said, backing up. "Lori just wanted me to ask you if you wanted to join us at the Factory tonight."
"I'd love to, really but I just can't, now please go!"
"Why?" Tommy asked, folding his arms defensively over his chest. "Why should we leave? Are you embarrassed of your parents or something? Is that it?"
"No no, it's much more complicated than that, please just leave," Jade was practically begging as she saw the van pull a dangerous U-turn in the student parking lot.
"Well, now I'm not leaving, I'm curious now." Tommy defiantly refolded his arms.
"Fine, your funeral," Jade muttered as the van came to a smoking halt in front of her. The sliding side door was already open, revealing the lack of seats in the interior. Jade stiffened as she walked towards the van, feeling Merton and Tommy's eyes on her back. One of the passengers inside jumped down to the asphalt, sauntering over to Jade, oozing confidence.
"Jade, my love, I have not seen you all day…Where have you been?" He said as he slipped his arm around her waist. His black leather coat clashed with her corset. He looked over behind him where Tommy and Merton stood.
"Who are they?" he asked, readjusting his grip on Jade's waist.
"Just some friends," Jade muttered, shrinking as faraway from him as she could in his grasp. He turned the rest of the way around, facing the twosome.
"Hey, you're those kids from history, aren't you?" he asked.
Tommy was instantly uncomfortable. It was one of the new kids, the ones that made him think of predators. And this one had his arm around Jade's waist. Tommy swore he could hear Merton's heart breaking. Again. Don't wolf, don't wolf out…
"Jason, please, they're not bothering me. Merton here is helping me in class, they're not our enemies, and they're not targets." Jade growled, flinching where he touched her.
"That's for me to decide, and you know it. Now, stop it dear, no more flinching," Jason laughed as Jade wriggled away from him. She finally got free and marched into the van, sitting herself down with as much dignity as she could muster. Jason snickered as he watched her, a smile cracked even wider across his pale face. He ran his hand through his platinum blonde hair, staring back at Merton and Tommy with his icy blue eyes.
"Boys, you understand turf, right? Well, Jade is mine, so back off!" He warned.
"I seem to recall that slavery was abolished in…Merton, what year was slavery abolished?" Tommy asked, looking behind him to where Merton had sat on the ground by the tree.
"In 1865, the 13th amendment was adopted, abolishing slavery in the US," Merton groaned, rolling his head up so he was staring straight into the sky. He had given up.
"In 1865, slavery was made no more," Tommy stated, shaking his finger at Jason.
"That's nice, but this has nothing to do with you and your little constitution, alright?" Jason laughed, raising his eyebrow.
"But you said she was your turf," Tommy stumbled, confused.
"She is, and don't forget it, punk," Jason laughed as he turned to go back into the van.
"Hey," Tommy shouted back, "I'm am NOT a PUNK!! I don't wear plaid and I have no idea what anarchy is!" Jason laughed harder as he pulled the van door shut. The van sped off, leaving the two in a cloud of exhaust.
"Great comeback Tommy," Merton snorted in disgust.
"Hey, it's better than nothing," Tommy shrugged.
"I should have known she had a boyfriend, how could I have been so STUPID!" Merton hissed, hitting himself in the head.
"Hey hey hey now, you're not stupid, okay. You're the furthest thing from stupid. Girls confuse everybody, all right. Especially us guys. Plus, if you ask me, she was leading you on a bit," Tommy, offered, wrapping his arm around Merton's shoulder.
"Great, now I'm a toy for the new girl to play with," Merton snipped sarcastically. Tommy sighed; nothing would comfort Merton right now.
"C'mon, let's get to the Factory and get you a drink," Tommy sighed, pulling Merton to his feet.
"I guess," Merton mumbled, readjusting his coat. He shoved his hands deep into his coat pockets…there was something in there. Merton pulled it out quickly, a little folded piece of paper, from Jade's notepad.
"Whatcha got there?" Tommy asked, pointing to the old looking folded piece of paper.
"I don't know, but I think it's from Jade's ledger," Merton said as he unfolded the note.
"Since when does Jade have beer?" Tommy asked, wrinkling his brow.
"Ledger, not lager. It's kind of like a fancy not pad, if you will."
"Oh, ok," Tommy pretended to understand.
Merton finished smoothing out the last fold in the goldish paper. It had something written on it with black ink. Sloppily too. With loopy handwriting.
I'm sorry Merton; I'll try to explain later. Just understand that now is not an easy time n my life and the last thing I want to do is get you involved, and get you hurt.
Jade