"Welcome To Springdale"
First Week of School pt. 2 by Draconious
Authors Notes: This whole of this series of stories takes place during the events of Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 7, and immediately afterwards. This is the story of one town that has just received a new slayer. Springdale is not Sunnydale... but something is very wrong.
*Thoughts are like this*.
********************
Samantha Jones woke up early, getting cleaned up before trying to solve the hardest dilemma she had had for a long time. *The black dress with strappy sandals... or the baby tee with worn blue jeans?* What to wear for the first day of the school year could be a major decision! It could effect you for the rest of the year!
After staying unresolved on the issue until she was almost late for the bus, she finally decided on the baby tee/ jean combo, and quickly got dressed.
Rushing down the stairs, she grabbed her faded denim book bag and raced out the door, intent on buying breakfast at school.
Arriving on the corner that served as their bus stop; Sam looked around, Amanda nowhere in sight. Looking down the street lined with suburban houses, she saw that the bus was nowhere in sight.
"Come on, Amanda. You have like five minutes..." she said to herself. She sat on the concrete and opened her planner, looking over her class schedule, looking up occasionally to make sure the bus wasn't coming.
"Hey!"
"Gah!" Samantha jumped and turned on her best friend, outrage painted all over her face. "God, you scared me to half to death! I thought you were going to miss the bus."
Looking over her friend, Sam decided she had made the right clothes decision. Amanda was wearing a dark blue dress that ended about half an inch above school regulations, her shapely legs nicely tanned from all the summer activity. Her black leather bookbag was slung over one shoulder.
Sam nodded at her choice of clothes. "You're going to get in trouble for that dress. It's a bit short."
"Nah... I'll claim I didn't realize it had gotten so short. Grew over the summer, you know? Always works on the first day of school."
Amanda looked over her best friend, smiling at the Tee that they had bought together at the mall. It had a picture of an angel and the word "heavenly" written across the top of it, on Sam's chest. It showed just a bit of stomach, whenever she stretched.
"Besides, that baby tee will get you in as much trouble. You know you're not allowed to show any tummy on the school grounds." They both shook their heads at stupid school rules.
"Oh well. I'll just tell them I grew during the summer. I have it on good authority that you can get away with that on the first day." Sam said, and they both laughed. The bus arrived shortly thereafter, and they both climbed aboard, grabbing a seat near the back.
At first they were quiet, just listening to the din around them. They both listened in as two guys were talking in the seat in front of them. One of them, Tom, had a black eye.
"Yeah, he just grabbed Jim by the arm and tossed him across the room. I jumped on his back, but he pulled me over his shoulder and pushed me against a wall. Suddenly, there was a knife at my throat, and my friends stopped jumping him. Man, that guy could fight!"
"You almost pissed yourself, didn't you..." He stopped when his friend punched him in the chest.
Sam looked at Amanda, a confused look on her face.
Amanda nodded. She whispered, "New guy. Heard about him yesterday from Justine. He apparently moved in last week, but no one has seen him much. Showed up at Cobalt Dreams last night and suddenly a fight starts. About 6 guys jumped him, but he cleaned the floor with them, ending it when he held Tom at knife point."
"Why didn't Wolf stop it?" she asked, wondering about her Master's actions.
"He came out to stop it, but it had happened so fast, and when he got there the guy was already gone. He must be a fast runner."
They nodded, tuning out as the bus continued picking up students.
********************
Entering the school building, Amanda pulled Sam towards the principles office, where schedules were posted in folders marked alphabetically. They got theirs and moved to a less crowded spot.
Ripping hers open, Amanda waited to compare hers to Sam's.
"Same homeroom... and we have Math together... P.E. ... Same lunch period too." Amanda said. She continued "but I have History in 3, where you have Business. Also, I have Chem in 6, you have ... Office Monitor? How'd you get that?"
"Cushy job filing papers... and no homework? How could I turn it down? I'll be running errands while you are pouring water in acid."
Amanda smirked. "Acid in water. I don't want to burn the school down."
Sam looked confused. "Huh?"
Amanda smiled. "It's a good thing you don't have chemistry this year..." Sam shrugged. They headed down the hall towards Mr. Tomlinson's homeroom, room 102.
Three boys were walking up the hall. They all wore black jackets, of the leather or trench coat variety. They walked as if they owned the place, with people jumping out of the way as they passed. A short guy with dyed black hair in the leather jacket looked at Amanda, staring as she walked past. She shivered, avoiding his gaze.
"What was up with that?" Sam asked.
"I don't know. They were kinda creepy, you know?" Amanda replied. Sam nodded as they turned into the classroom.
********************
The three guys continued up the hall. A football player rounded the corner and stood in their way, waiting for them to get out of his way. He made varsity and was not going to be intimidated into moving aside.
The guy in the trench coat pushed him towards a locker, where he banged loudly. The varsity linebacker put a good-sized dent in the door as he slumped into unconsciousness. The black haired boy in the leather jacket laughed as they entered a classroom.
********************
*Homeroom is a bore*, Amanda thought. She looked over at Sam, who was unfortunately sitting across the room. They had assigned seats, and having to sit in a room full of relative strangers away from her friend for 2 hours was killing her.
*Fill out the paper... Fill out the paper... God, I wish he would just hurry up already instead of explaining every form.* She shook her head in irritation.
Fifteen minutes later, the first, and longest homeroom ever ended. Sam stood up and immediately came over to Amanda.
"That was like torture. The school board should be tried as criminals for making us sit through that. At least from now on homeroom is only 15 minutes long." Sam looked at Amanda. She seemed a little out of it.
"Still shook up from those guys?" she asked.
Amanda looked up. "Yeah, they were just... you know?" Amanda was lacking the words, for the first time in her life.
"Uh-huh. Come on, let's go to our lockers before class." They found their lockers on the wall down from homeroom. The locker next to Amanda's had a very large dent in it.
After verifying her combination, Amanda looked closer at the dent. There was a bit of blood in it. "Eww... I wonder what did this?"
Sam gave it the once over. "Looks like someone's head. Wander whose?"
They shrugged. "I'll see you in math." Sam said as she turned to head down the hall. Amanda looked at the deep dent. *Someone must have hit awfully hard to have done this...* she thought.
She turned and headed to class.
********************
Amanda entered the computer lab, choosing a nice computer for her to sit at. Looking around, she didn't see anyone she recognized. Other students filed in, taking seats and talking. She checked out the computer, noting that it wasn't too bad, for a model donated to the school.
The class was soon filled with students and the teacher walked in. Mr. Sims took a moment to look over the student.
The female students took a moment to look over Mr. Sims, as well. It was a widely held belief that Mr. Sims was the most attractive male teacher at Springdale High. He had a fit body, distinguished silver-gray hair, and tailored clothes, not to mention a deep voice that made some girls swoon.
All in all, Amanda was not that impressed. Sure, she thought that he was hot, but she compared all guys to Jake, and no one came close in comparison, at least in her heart.
"Good morning Class." The deep voice boomed.
A few raggedly uttered "Good morning" back.
"I said GOOOOD MORNING CLASS!!!" His voice seemed to vibrate the desks.
"Good Morning!" was the more enthusiastic response.
"Welcome to the first day of class. As some of you know, those things on the desks in front of you are computers, and I am going to teach you how to use them, program them, and if we have time... build them. Now, here is my syllabus, and here... wait for it..." he smiled... "are some more forms to fill out."
The resulting groan rivaled Mr. Sim's voice in volume.
She was working on some of the forms when the door opened and a secretary peeked in.
"Mr. Sims?" He looked up from where he was helping a student.
"Yes?" his deep voice said.
"Oh, my..." the sixtyish secretary said, fanning her blushing face, "Oh... Uh, we have a late arrival; just got his paperwork filed. He's in your class."
"Okay.. Send him in, he can sit next to Mrs. Stevenson."
The door opened wider and a guy walked in. The secretary pointed out the empty seat next to Amanda, and he came over.
Amanda was filling out her paperwork, and hadn't noticed the new classmate yet.
The rest of the class did. He was about 5'6", rather thin, with short black hair and a handsome face. Wearing a dark gray denim jacket and black jeans, he walked over to the empty chair, sitting his book bag down. He sat down and familiarized himself with the computer. Turning towards his companion, he smiled, looking at the attractive girl.
"Hello Amanda." She jumped, startled at being addressed, and turned to look at the guy. She stared in complete shock.
"Oh my God... Jake!"
********************
Sam struggled through her first English class. It was incredibly boring. She had expected the first day to be light, but less than 15 minutes in and the teacher, Mrs. Credish, was already rambling on about Prepositional Phrases. What is a prepositional phrase, anyway? I wonder if it will be on the test... maybe I should have been paying attention when she was talking... she thought.
Looking around, she observed the other students. She knew the dangers of stereotyping people, but she fell into the trap of doing so anyway.
Spotting a guy doodling comics on the page he was supposed to be taking notes on, she thought *Spaz...*
A girl one row up from her was brushing her hair out. After she was done, she got out a compact and checked her makeup, not noticing the glare she received from the teacher. *Cheerleader wannabe...* As she put away her compact, she got out a brochure on the cheerleading squad and started reading it... *Yup... I was right.*
A guy up front was sprawled out, his head tilting to the side as he fell asleep. *Slacker...*
Across the way, a guy with slightly long hair was looking around as well. He had deep, clear eyes, from what she could see. He was wearing a gray shirt and khakis. *Hello handsome... Where was he hiding?* As she watched him, he noticed. She immediately turned to the teacher, hoping he hadn't noticed her noticing him... but he had.
She looked back a moment later to notice him noticing her still. She got goosebumps, with him staring at her. Trying to sneak a peek at him, she stretched, turning in midstretch to glimpse in his direction. *Yup, he's definitely staring... of course stretching in this shirt might have helped...*
"Ms. Jones." Sam didn't hear her name being called.
Ms. Jones!" Sam jumped, turning to face the teacher.
"Yes?" she asked, innocently.
"I believe your shirt is too short. You know the rules..."
Sam floundered for an excuse.
"Uhm... I guess it got too small during the summer?" she smiled innocently, sweating it out.
"Just don't let it happen again." The teacher frowned.
"Yes ma'am... " She smiled inwardly, then sighed that she hadn't made it past 3rd period without getting called on the shirt.
Turning for a last second, she confirmed that he was still looking at her.
********************
"Oh my god, Jake! When did you get back from New York?!" Amanda asked, her eyes tearing up at the sight of her first love.
"Two days ago. Dad got transferred here to open a new branch of the firm, and like his luggage, I got dragged along. It's great to see you again." He looked her up and down, smiling a slight smile... Her blue dress had slid up her thigh a bit while working at the computer. "You've.. grown." He shrugged at the loss of words.
"Well, so have you. I mean.. wow! When did you get in such good shape... and the clothes? You're pretty spiff."
Looking around, Amanda realized the entire class was watching their interaction. She blushed and looked up at Mr. Sims. He was watching with an expression of interest.
"Please go on. I'm writing a paper on teenage romance and this is some great stuff... mind if I get a camcorder?" He smiled as the rest of the class rolled with laughter.
"No.. that's okay.. how about these forms huh?? Jake, fill out your forms." She quickly returned to filling out the paperwork, the blood slowly draining from her face.
********************
Class ended, and Amanda followed Jake out into the hall.
"So..." she said, not knowing where to start.
"Yeah... I didn't expect this to be so awkward.. I guess we didn't get to say goodbye very well." He said, leaning against a locker.
"Well, you did stop by and say, 'goodbye' with absolutely no warning."
"Well, to be fair, I only had about 1 hour notification before leaving across the country!" He said, getting a little heated up in defending himself.
"Well... yeah" Amanda conceded. "I loved you, but you've been gone for almost 3 years. Where does that leave us now?" She looked at him, pouting slightly.
Something inside Jake's brain snapped at her expression. He quickly leaned down and kissed her, stopping her next sentence.
********************
Sam was walking to meet Amanda so they could go to Math together. She had lost the cute guy before he could follow her, him creeping her out just a little much with the obsessive staring. She turned the corner and saw Amanda... making out with a guy.
"Amanda?" she said, walking up. Her friend eased up on the lip lock she had with the admittedly cute guy.
"Hey Sam..." She turned to Jake. "This is my best friend Sam... Samantha. She moved in shortly after you left. Sam... This is Jake." She said with a smile on her face.
"Jake?" Sam said, her eyes widening. So this was the god Amanda has been talking about for so long. Nice. Definitely a hottie.
"So I guess you guys are hitting it off.. huh?" Sam asked, feeling a little out of place.
"Just like old times!" Jake said, a smile on his face. "I gotta go... gonna be late for class. Nice to see you Samantha. Amanda." He leaned in and gave her a little kiss on the lips. Then he turned and headed down the hall. Both girls watched his retreating backside.
Turning to Amanda, Sam asked, "Amanda?"
"Yeah?" She was a little dizzy and weak in the knees.
"How was it?" Truth be told, Sam was a little jealous. She was lacking in the guy department.
"Oh god, he's a good kisser."
"Was he that good before he left?"
"Huh... no, I guess not." Amanda was confused as to where Sam was heading.
"I wonder where he learned..." Sam's voice trailed off as Amanda frowned.
********************
Math class went fast, as boring as it was. Amanda and Sam sat next to one another, but the Vulture teaching the course was very strict about talking, so Sam didn't get a chance to speak to Amanda about Jake. All classes today were only 30 minutes long, making up for the 2 hours spent in homeroom. It made the classes go faster.
Heading to Business Class, Sam's stomach rumbled. It seemed like lunch was taking a long time to get here. Entering the classroom, she sat in a desk and waited for it to be over. After this class was lunch. Half hour to go... I can do it.
Looking around idly, she noticed someone set beside her. She looked up and was startled.
"Hey."
"Hey Jake. Small world."
"Yeah. It's nice to see a familiar face... even if it is only 1 hour familiar. Still, I guess we'll be getting to know each other since you're her best friend, and I'm her..." Jake floundered for a word.
"What?" she asked, smiling.
"Oh... I guess ex, though it hurts to think of it like that. It's more like we just had a really long distant relationship."
Sam smiled at him. "So you didn't have any relationships while you were living in New York?" Sam stopped smiling as a look of horror came over Jake, followed by sorrow.
"Jake, I'm sorry... I didn't mean..."
"No... I had a girlfriend. I cared for her, but didn't love her. She understood about Amanda and our star-crossed love... She died about 4 months ago in a bad car accident we were in... It still hurts sometimes."
Sam didn't know what to say, so she just grabbed his hand and held it while class began.
********************
Amanda waited in the lunchroom for Sam to appear. She had gotten to the line early and had gotten a salad. She was saving a space in the ever- crowding room for her friend.
She frowned a bit when she saw Sam entering the lunchroom holding Jake's hand. She had been friends long enough with Sam not to fly off the handle at her holding her boyfriend's hand. *Is he my boyfriend? What are we to each other?*
Amanda quickly saved a spot for Jake, too. In five minutes, they had all sat down.
"Sam... Why were you holding Jake's hand?" Amanda asked in an even tone, showing that her emotions were being carefully controlled.
Jake jumped, and then started to explain, "I told her something that really upset me... and she was comforting me from it."
Amanda just looked at him, waiting for him to explain.
"She asked if I was involved with anyone in New York. I told her that I had a girlfriend. I cared for her, but didn't love her. She understood about you and the situation with us... how I still loved you and always will. We were in a really bad car accident about 4 months ago and she ... died. It still hurts sometimes. I really did care for her." His voice cracked a little bit.
Sam reached for one of his hands, Amanda taking the one closer to her.
"It's alright. I'm sorry I was so accusatory." Amanda said, rubbing his hand.
"It's okay." Jake looked around, hoping no one saw him emotional display. "So, what is this stuff we're eating, anyway?" He was trying to change the subject.
"It's called Hamburger Surprise." Sam answered, scooping up a spoonful of the oily sludge.
"What's the surprise?" Jake asked, smiling.
"I don't think it's hamburger..." Sam said, a slightly nauseous look on her face as the oily meat splatted on her plate.
"Shoulda went with the salad." Amanda said, smiling as she ate her salad.
TBC...
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Authors Notes: Sorry for the delay in updating. I had to basically redo the whole section in another fashion when I realized I was rushing the plot along. If you are enjoying the story, please review!
Coming soon: The serial Rapist(s) ... and Sam gets called (you knew she was a potential, right?)
Draconious
First Week of School pt. 2 by Draconious
Authors Notes: This whole of this series of stories takes place during the events of Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 7, and immediately afterwards. This is the story of one town that has just received a new slayer. Springdale is not Sunnydale... but something is very wrong.
*Thoughts are like this*.
********************
Samantha Jones woke up early, getting cleaned up before trying to solve the hardest dilemma she had had for a long time. *The black dress with strappy sandals... or the baby tee with worn blue jeans?* What to wear for the first day of the school year could be a major decision! It could effect you for the rest of the year!
After staying unresolved on the issue until she was almost late for the bus, she finally decided on the baby tee/ jean combo, and quickly got dressed.
Rushing down the stairs, she grabbed her faded denim book bag and raced out the door, intent on buying breakfast at school.
Arriving on the corner that served as their bus stop; Sam looked around, Amanda nowhere in sight. Looking down the street lined with suburban houses, she saw that the bus was nowhere in sight.
"Come on, Amanda. You have like five minutes..." she said to herself. She sat on the concrete and opened her planner, looking over her class schedule, looking up occasionally to make sure the bus wasn't coming.
"Hey!"
"Gah!" Samantha jumped and turned on her best friend, outrage painted all over her face. "God, you scared me to half to death! I thought you were going to miss the bus."
Looking over her friend, Sam decided she had made the right clothes decision. Amanda was wearing a dark blue dress that ended about half an inch above school regulations, her shapely legs nicely tanned from all the summer activity. Her black leather bookbag was slung over one shoulder.
Sam nodded at her choice of clothes. "You're going to get in trouble for that dress. It's a bit short."
"Nah... I'll claim I didn't realize it had gotten so short. Grew over the summer, you know? Always works on the first day of school."
Amanda looked over her best friend, smiling at the Tee that they had bought together at the mall. It had a picture of an angel and the word "heavenly" written across the top of it, on Sam's chest. It showed just a bit of stomach, whenever she stretched.
"Besides, that baby tee will get you in as much trouble. You know you're not allowed to show any tummy on the school grounds." They both shook their heads at stupid school rules.
"Oh well. I'll just tell them I grew during the summer. I have it on good authority that you can get away with that on the first day." Sam said, and they both laughed. The bus arrived shortly thereafter, and they both climbed aboard, grabbing a seat near the back.
At first they were quiet, just listening to the din around them. They both listened in as two guys were talking in the seat in front of them. One of them, Tom, had a black eye.
"Yeah, he just grabbed Jim by the arm and tossed him across the room. I jumped on his back, but he pulled me over his shoulder and pushed me against a wall. Suddenly, there was a knife at my throat, and my friends stopped jumping him. Man, that guy could fight!"
"You almost pissed yourself, didn't you..." He stopped when his friend punched him in the chest.
Sam looked at Amanda, a confused look on her face.
Amanda nodded. She whispered, "New guy. Heard about him yesterday from Justine. He apparently moved in last week, but no one has seen him much. Showed up at Cobalt Dreams last night and suddenly a fight starts. About 6 guys jumped him, but he cleaned the floor with them, ending it when he held Tom at knife point."
"Why didn't Wolf stop it?" she asked, wondering about her Master's actions.
"He came out to stop it, but it had happened so fast, and when he got there the guy was already gone. He must be a fast runner."
They nodded, tuning out as the bus continued picking up students.
********************
Entering the school building, Amanda pulled Sam towards the principles office, where schedules were posted in folders marked alphabetically. They got theirs and moved to a less crowded spot.
Ripping hers open, Amanda waited to compare hers to Sam's.
"Same homeroom... and we have Math together... P.E. ... Same lunch period too." Amanda said. She continued "but I have History in 3, where you have Business. Also, I have Chem in 6, you have ... Office Monitor? How'd you get that?"
"Cushy job filing papers... and no homework? How could I turn it down? I'll be running errands while you are pouring water in acid."
Amanda smirked. "Acid in water. I don't want to burn the school down."
Sam looked confused. "Huh?"
Amanda smiled. "It's a good thing you don't have chemistry this year..." Sam shrugged. They headed down the hall towards Mr. Tomlinson's homeroom, room 102.
Three boys were walking up the hall. They all wore black jackets, of the leather or trench coat variety. They walked as if they owned the place, with people jumping out of the way as they passed. A short guy with dyed black hair in the leather jacket looked at Amanda, staring as she walked past. She shivered, avoiding his gaze.
"What was up with that?" Sam asked.
"I don't know. They were kinda creepy, you know?" Amanda replied. Sam nodded as they turned into the classroom.
********************
The three guys continued up the hall. A football player rounded the corner and stood in their way, waiting for them to get out of his way. He made varsity and was not going to be intimidated into moving aside.
The guy in the trench coat pushed him towards a locker, where he banged loudly. The varsity linebacker put a good-sized dent in the door as he slumped into unconsciousness. The black haired boy in the leather jacket laughed as they entered a classroom.
********************
*Homeroom is a bore*, Amanda thought. She looked over at Sam, who was unfortunately sitting across the room. They had assigned seats, and having to sit in a room full of relative strangers away from her friend for 2 hours was killing her.
*Fill out the paper... Fill out the paper... God, I wish he would just hurry up already instead of explaining every form.* She shook her head in irritation.
Fifteen minutes later, the first, and longest homeroom ever ended. Sam stood up and immediately came over to Amanda.
"That was like torture. The school board should be tried as criminals for making us sit through that. At least from now on homeroom is only 15 minutes long." Sam looked at Amanda. She seemed a little out of it.
"Still shook up from those guys?" she asked.
Amanda looked up. "Yeah, they were just... you know?" Amanda was lacking the words, for the first time in her life.
"Uh-huh. Come on, let's go to our lockers before class." They found their lockers on the wall down from homeroom. The locker next to Amanda's had a very large dent in it.
After verifying her combination, Amanda looked closer at the dent. There was a bit of blood in it. "Eww... I wonder what did this?"
Sam gave it the once over. "Looks like someone's head. Wander whose?"
They shrugged. "I'll see you in math." Sam said as she turned to head down the hall. Amanda looked at the deep dent. *Someone must have hit awfully hard to have done this...* she thought.
She turned and headed to class.
********************
Amanda entered the computer lab, choosing a nice computer for her to sit at. Looking around, she didn't see anyone she recognized. Other students filed in, taking seats and talking. She checked out the computer, noting that it wasn't too bad, for a model donated to the school.
The class was soon filled with students and the teacher walked in. Mr. Sims took a moment to look over the student.
The female students took a moment to look over Mr. Sims, as well. It was a widely held belief that Mr. Sims was the most attractive male teacher at Springdale High. He had a fit body, distinguished silver-gray hair, and tailored clothes, not to mention a deep voice that made some girls swoon.
All in all, Amanda was not that impressed. Sure, she thought that he was hot, but she compared all guys to Jake, and no one came close in comparison, at least in her heart.
"Good morning Class." The deep voice boomed.
A few raggedly uttered "Good morning" back.
"I said GOOOOD MORNING CLASS!!!" His voice seemed to vibrate the desks.
"Good Morning!" was the more enthusiastic response.
"Welcome to the first day of class. As some of you know, those things on the desks in front of you are computers, and I am going to teach you how to use them, program them, and if we have time... build them. Now, here is my syllabus, and here... wait for it..." he smiled... "are some more forms to fill out."
The resulting groan rivaled Mr. Sim's voice in volume.
She was working on some of the forms when the door opened and a secretary peeked in.
"Mr. Sims?" He looked up from where he was helping a student.
"Yes?" his deep voice said.
"Oh, my..." the sixtyish secretary said, fanning her blushing face, "Oh... Uh, we have a late arrival; just got his paperwork filed. He's in your class."
"Okay.. Send him in, he can sit next to Mrs. Stevenson."
The door opened wider and a guy walked in. The secretary pointed out the empty seat next to Amanda, and he came over.
Amanda was filling out her paperwork, and hadn't noticed the new classmate yet.
The rest of the class did. He was about 5'6", rather thin, with short black hair and a handsome face. Wearing a dark gray denim jacket and black jeans, he walked over to the empty chair, sitting his book bag down. He sat down and familiarized himself with the computer. Turning towards his companion, he smiled, looking at the attractive girl.
"Hello Amanda." She jumped, startled at being addressed, and turned to look at the guy. She stared in complete shock.
"Oh my God... Jake!"
********************
Sam struggled through her first English class. It was incredibly boring. She had expected the first day to be light, but less than 15 minutes in and the teacher, Mrs. Credish, was already rambling on about Prepositional Phrases. What is a prepositional phrase, anyway? I wonder if it will be on the test... maybe I should have been paying attention when she was talking... she thought.
Looking around, she observed the other students. She knew the dangers of stereotyping people, but she fell into the trap of doing so anyway.
Spotting a guy doodling comics on the page he was supposed to be taking notes on, she thought *Spaz...*
A girl one row up from her was brushing her hair out. After she was done, she got out a compact and checked her makeup, not noticing the glare she received from the teacher. *Cheerleader wannabe...* As she put away her compact, she got out a brochure on the cheerleading squad and started reading it... *Yup... I was right.*
A guy up front was sprawled out, his head tilting to the side as he fell asleep. *Slacker...*
Across the way, a guy with slightly long hair was looking around as well. He had deep, clear eyes, from what she could see. He was wearing a gray shirt and khakis. *Hello handsome... Where was he hiding?* As she watched him, he noticed. She immediately turned to the teacher, hoping he hadn't noticed her noticing him... but he had.
She looked back a moment later to notice him noticing her still. She got goosebumps, with him staring at her. Trying to sneak a peek at him, she stretched, turning in midstretch to glimpse in his direction. *Yup, he's definitely staring... of course stretching in this shirt might have helped...*
"Ms. Jones." Sam didn't hear her name being called.
Ms. Jones!" Sam jumped, turning to face the teacher.
"Yes?" she asked, innocently.
"I believe your shirt is too short. You know the rules..."
Sam floundered for an excuse.
"Uhm... I guess it got too small during the summer?" she smiled innocently, sweating it out.
"Just don't let it happen again." The teacher frowned.
"Yes ma'am... " She smiled inwardly, then sighed that she hadn't made it past 3rd period without getting called on the shirt.
Turning for a last second, she confirmed that he was still looking at her.
********************
"Oh my god, Jake! When did you get back from New York?!" Amanda asked, her eyes tearing up at the sight of her first love.
"Two days ago. Dad got transferred here to open a new branch of the firm, and like his luggage, I got dragged along. It's great to see you again." He looked her up and down, smiling a slight smile... Her blue dress had slid up her thigh a bit while working at the computer. "You've.. grown." He shrugged at the loss of words.
"Well, so have you. I mean.. wow! When did you get in such good shape... and the clothes? You're pretty spiff."
Looking around, Amanda realized the entire class was watching their interaction. She blushed and looked up at Mr. Sims. He was watching with an expression of interest.
"Please go on. I'm writing a paper on teenage romance and this is some great stuff... mind if I get a camcorder?" He smiled as the rest of the class rolled with laughter.
"No.. that's okay.. how about these forms huh?? Jake, fill out your forms." She quickly returned to filling out the paperwork, the blood slowly draining from her face.
********************
Class ended, and Amanda followed Jake out into the hall.
"So..." she said, not knowing where to start.
"Yeah... I didn't expect this to be so awkward.. I guess we didn't get to say goodbye very well." He said, leaning against a locker.
"Well, you did stop by and say, 'goodbye' with absolutely no warning."
"Well, to be fair, I only had about 1 hour notification before leaving across the country!" He said, getting a little heated up in defending himself.
"Well... yeah" Amanda conceded. "I loved you, but you've been gone for almost 3 years. Where does that leave us now?" She looked at him, pouting slightly.
Something inside Jake's brain snapped at her expression. He quickly leaned down and kissed her, stopping her next sentence.
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Sam was walking to meet Amanda so they could go to Math together. She had lost the cute guy before he could follow her, him creeping her out just a little much with the obsessive staring. She turned the corner and saw Amanda... making out with a guy.
"Amanda?" she said, walking up. Her friend eased up on the lip lock she had with the admittedly cute guy.
"Hey Sam..." She turned to Jake. "This is my best friend Sam... Samantha. She moved in shortly after you left. Sam... This is Jake." She said with a smile on her face.
"Jake?" Sam said, her eyes widening. So this was the god Amanda has been talking about for so long. Nice. Definitely a hottie.
"So I guess you guys are hitting it off.. huh?" Sam asked, feeling a little out of place.
"Just like old times!" Jake said, a smile on his face. "I gotta go... gonna be late for class. Nice to see you Samantha. Amanda." He leaned in and gave her a little kiss on the lips. Then he turned and headed down the hall. Both girls watched his retreating backside.
Turning to Amanda, Sam asked, "Amanda?"
"Yeah?" She was a little dizzy and weak in the knees.
"How was it?" Truth be told, Sam was a little jealous. She was lacking in the guy department.
"Oh god, he's a good kisser."
"Was he that good before he left?"
"Huh... no, I guess not." Amanda was confused as to where Sam was heading.
"I wonder where he learned..." Sam's voice trailed off as Amanda frowned.
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Math class went fast, as boring as it was. Amanda and Sam sat next to one another, but the Vulture teaching the course was very strict about talking, so Sam didn't get a chance to speak to Amanda about Jake. All classes today were only 30 minutes long, making up for the 2 hours spent in homeroom. It made the classes go faster.
Heading to Business Class, Sam's stomach rumbled. It seemed like lunch was taking a long time to get here. Entering the classroom, she sat in a desk and waited for it to be over. After this class was lunch. Half hour to go... I can do it.
Looking around idly, she noticed someone set beside her. She looked up and was startled.
"Hey."
"Hey Jake. Small world."
"Yeah. It's nice to see a familiar face... even if it is only 1 hour familiar. Still, I guess we'll be getting to know each other since you're her best friend, and I'm her..." Jake floundered for a word.
"What?" she asked, smiling.
"Oh... I guess ex, though it hurts to think of it like that. It's more like we just had a really long distant relationship."
Sam smiled at him. "So you didn't have any relationships while you were living in New York?" Sam stopped smiling as a look of horror came over Jake, followed by sorrow.
"Jake, I'm sorry... I didn't mean..."
"No... I had a girlfriend. I cared for her, but didn't love her. She understood about Amanda and our star-crossed love... She died about 4 months ago in a bad car accident we were in... It still hurts sometimes."
Sam didn't know what to say, so she just grabbed his hand and held it while class began.
********************
Amanda waited in the lunchroom for Sam to appear. She had gotten to the line early and had gotten a salad. She was saving a space in the ever- crowding room for her friend.
She frowned a bit when she saw Sam entering the lunchroom holding Jake's hand. She had been friends long enough with Sam not to fly off the handle at her holding her boyfriend's hand. *Is he my boyfriend? What are we to each other?*
Amanda quickly saved a spot for Jake, too. In five minutes, they had all sat down.
"Sam... Why were you holding Jake's hand?" Amanda asked in an even tone, showing that her emotions were being carefully controlled.
Jake jumped, and then started to explain, "I told her something that really upset me... and she was comforting me from it."
Amanda just looked at him, waiting for him to explain.
"She asked if I was involved with anyone in New York. I told her that I had a girlfriend. I cared for her, but didn't love her. She understood about you and the situation with us... how I still loved you and always will. We were in a really bad car accident about 4 months ago and she ... died. It still hurts sometimes. I really did care for her." His voice cracked a little bit.
Sam reached for one of his hands, Amanda taking the one closer to her.
"It's alright. I'm sorry I was so accusatory." Amanda said, rubbing his hand.
"It's okay." Jake looked around, hoping no one saw him emotional display. "So, what is this stuff we're eating, anyway?" He was trying to change the subject.
"It's called Hamburger Surprise." Sam answered, scooping up a spoonful of the oily sludge.
"What's the surprise?" Jake asked, smiling.
"I don't think it's hamburger..." Sam said, a slightly nauseous look on her face as the oily meat splatted on her plate.
"Shoulda went with the salad." Amanda said, smiling as she ate her salad.
TBC...
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Authors Notes: Sorry for the delay in updating. I had to basically redo the whole section in another fashion when I realized I was rushing the plot along. If you are enjoying the story, please review!
Coming soon: The serial Rapist(s) ... and Sam gets called (you knew she was a potential, right?)
Draconious