Chapter 3
"Hey, sis, how's your day been so far?" Shane asked. He and Stephanie were meeting up in the middle of the courtyard after third period for first lunch.
"Um, it's been ok," Steph replied, thinking of what she'd found out earlier in the parking lot. She looked around. "So... Does Chris have first lunch?"
"Yeah. Why the sudden interest in Chris?" Shane wanted to know.
"Sudden interest? What's wrong with being interested in Chris?" she asked, putting her hand on her hip. "I happen to think Chris is a cool guy."
"Speaking of the devil..." Shane's voice trailed off as the topic of their conversation walked up.
"Where's Trish?" Steph asked immediately.
"She has second lunch," Chris answered, smiling at her. "Thank God for that."
"You don't want her here?" Shane asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No. I mean, she's my girl and everything, but I need some room to breathe once in a while, you know?" Chris asked.
Shane nodded. "I don't like her at all... But you already know that."
"I know," Chris said. He looked at Steph. "Once again, Steph, I'm really sorry about the way that she treated you earlier."
"What happened earlier?" Shane asked with narrowed eyes. "If Trish did something to Steph, I swear she'll regret it."
"Relax, Shane, nothing happened," Steph said quickly. She knew how protective her brother was of her, and he was a natural hothead. She didn't want any problems, especially not on the first day of school.
"As if I'd let something happen to Steph," Chris said. He smiled at her, putting his arm around her shoulder. "You know who was trying to talk to her earlier?"
"Let me guess... Kurt Angle?" Shane asked.
"Oh please," Chris scoffed. "No, it was Paul."
"Levesque?" Shane asked in disbelief. Chris nodded. "Stephanie, listen to me now. Do not get close to Paul. He's bad news."
"I already like someone else, so you don't have to worry about that," Steph replied, sneaking her arm around Chris's waist.
"Who is it?" Shane questioned.
"Why, it's me of course!" Chris teased. "Me and Steph have had a little thing for each other since we met."
"Since she was five? I'm sorry, but ew," Shane laughed. "That's just nasty."
"What's nasty about that?" Chris asked, looking directly at Steph. "I was, like, eight then. That's not so much of an age difference."
Steph met Chris's gaze and she smiled shyly. "Yeah, that's not so much of an age difference. It's only three years."
Shane rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He looked around and a confused look appeared on his face. "Where's Amy?" he finally asked.
"Oh, she met some guys," Steph said with a shrug. "I guess she's having lunch with them today."
"So she's not coming over here with us then?" Shane asked, frowning.
"Probably not," Steph said. "I think she wants to get to know them today."
"Oh," Shane said. He sat down on a nearby bench and looked down at his shoes.
"Is it just me, Steph, or does Shane look a little disappointed?" Chris asked, removing his arm from around her shoulder and observing his friend.
"He definitely looks disappointed," Steph agreed. "I wonder why?"
"With Shane, you never know," Chris said, shaking his head. "I've been one of his best friends for, like, nine years and I don't even know."
"I'm going to find out," Steph said. She walked over and sat next to her brother. "Why do you look so down all of a sudden?" she asked him in a soft voice.
"Down? Who's down?" Shane asked, still looking at his shoes. "Certainly not Shane O'Mac."
"Did you want Amy to sit with us today or something?" she asked.
"No! I mean, no," he said. "I just thought she would want to sit over here today... But it's no big deal." He stood up.
"Where are you going?" Chris asked, arms folded across his chest as he observed the two siblings.
"I forgot that I was supposed to meet C-Dawg at my car," Shane said, already starting to walk away. "We're going to go watch a little TV. Come along if you want."
Chris and Steph locked eyes only briefly before Chris answered. "Um, actually, I think I'm going to take Steph on a tour of the campus," he said. He looked back at Steph. "That is, if you want me to."
"Only if you want to," Steph said. "I mean, you don't have to waste your lunch on me."
"I want to," he said, smiling a crooked smile at her. "Besides, this school is really confusing, the whole layout or whatever. It'll take you forever to figure it all out unless you get a pro like me to show you around."
"Suit yourselves," Shane called over his shoulder as he walked across the courtyard, headed for B-Hall. "The offer still stands if you change your mind."
They both watched him walk away, and then Chris turned to Steph. "So... Are you ready for the grand tour?"
"Sure," she replied. "Let's do it."
The school was pretty huge, and it took Chris almost twenty full minutes to show her just the basic hallways. Soon afterwards, though, they were at the beginning of L-Hall. He turned to look at her. "Come on, there's more stuff to see down here."
Steph walked alongside Chris down L-Hall. When they reached the end of the hall, there was a staircase, the beginning of another hall (M-Hall), and a corner. "Which way do we go?" she asked.
"Down that way is M-Hall," he said, pointing at the hall. "But I want to show you what's back there," he went on, pointing to a place around the corner.
"What's back there?" she asked curiously.
"It's nothing special," he said, shrugging as he turned the corner. "But it's quiet back here. Secluded."
They found themselves behind the cafeteria. He'd been right, it wasn't anything special, but it was quiet. Secluded. No one was back there. There were a few parked cars out there and there was an open gate, but as for other people... There were none.
She looked around, then back at him. "So why are we back here?" she asked finally.
"No reason." He walked over and leaned against a rail. "It's just... You know, we never get the chance to really talk."
"Talk?" she repeated, one eyebrow raised. She walked over and leaned against the rail next to him. "What do we have to talk about?""
"Oh, nothing," he said, standing up straight. He looked at the Rolex on his arm. "The bell's going to be ringing soon and we still haven't gone out behind the gym yet."
"We can do it another day, can't we?" she asked hopefully.
"Of course," he said, looking intently at her. "Did I tell you that you look pretty today?"
She looked down, blushing. "Thanks. You look good today, too."
He tilted her chin up. "Why blush? I'm only telling the truth."
She forced herself to stare into his eyes, but soon she found herself staring at his lips, those beautiful lips. They looked so kissable. All she wanted to do was kiss him for all he was worth...
"Uh, Steph?" he asked, not moving his hand from her chin.
"Yeah?" she asked breathlessly.
"The bell just rung," he said softly.
"Oh," she said, looking away. "Then we better get to class."
"Right," he said, hastily removing his hand from her chin and putting both of his hands in his pockets. "Come on," he said, nodding his head towards the hall opposite from the way they'd come from. "Where's your next class?"
"I-Hall upstairs. Biology Honors," she replied after looking at her schedule.
"No kidding. So who's your teacher, Ms. Young?" he asked, looking at her sideways.
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"I had her class. She's a crazy old woman, let me tell you..."
They found her class quite easily. He walked her into the class and walked over to the teacher, a wrinkled old woman.
"Ms. Young, how's it going this year?" Chris asked, smiling brightly. His smile was huge and dazzling, and, if the look on both Steph's face and Ms. Young's face, along with the looks on the faces of the entire female population of the class was any indication, it was spell-binding as well. He was such a charming and hypnotizing guy...
"Why Christopher, I didn't think you'd come visit the old bat so early this year," Ms. Young said, chuckling. "You make me feel so special."
"You are special," Chris said, still smiling. He looked at Steph, then back at Ms. Young. "But this girl here, she's really special."
Ms. Young looked at Steph. "You look familiar. What's your name?" she asked.
"Stephanie McMahon," Steph answered proudly.
Ms. Young tapped her chin thoughtfully, looking off into space. "Related to Shane McMahon?"
"That's her brother," Chris answered.
"Your brother is a little hellion," Ms. Young said to Steph, but she was smiling. "He's hilarious, though. One of my best students. Are you sure you want to come up in his shadow here?"
"Steph is an extremely bright person," Chris said, putting his arm around Steph's shoulder. "She's going to be one of your best students, I guarantee it."
Steph leaned against him and wondered why he was being so touchy-feely. He was always sort of touchy-feely with her, but not like this. Not in front of everybody. Not that she didn't like it, though. She loved it...
Suddenly, the two-minute warning bell rang. "Crap. I'm gonna be late!" Chris exclaimed, removing his arm from around Steph's shoulders. He looked at her, then kissed her on the forehead. "I'll see you later, little girl," he said. He gave her another crooked smile, then hurried out of the class, determined to make it to his class on time.
"Christopher believes highly of you, it seems," Ms. Young said. Steph nodded, and the teacher went on. "How about you take a seat so I can start class and you can prove Mr. Irvine right?"
Steph looked around the classroom for the first time and noticed that she didn't know anyone in there. She recognized a few faces. Some of the kids resembled people she'd seen in Shane's yearbook from the previous year when he had been a junior. She spotted an empty seat at a table next to a girl with blonde hair, so she walked over and sat down next to her.
"Hey... Chris Irvine kissed you," the blonde girl said immediately. "You know he has a girlfriend, right?"
"Yeah, I know," Steph said with a weary sigh. Way to kill my high, she thought, frowning slightly.
"How do you know him anyway? You're a freshman just like me, right?" the blonde girl asked curiously.
"I've known Chris since I was five," Steph said. "He's best friends with my big brother Shane."
"Shane McMahon's your brother? Oh my God, he is so hot!" the girl exclaimed. "Boy, I've been wanting to meet him ever since before I got here. He's, like, a legend here!"
Steph eyed the bubbly blonde critically, thinking that she eerily resembled someone she'd met... But who?
"By the way, we haven't formally introduced ourselves," the girl said. "My name's Tyra Stratus."
"Stratus?" Steph asked, her heart dropping into her stomach. "Do you have an older sibling here?"
"I have a sister here. She's a senior, and she dates Chris," Tyra said. She noticed the look on Steph's face and sighed. "I take it from your expression that you've already had a run-in with her and it didn't go too well."
"You're quite perceptive," Steph said, forcing herself smile a little smile. "Yep, I had a run-in with her this morning. Two, actually. The second time she called me a bitch."
"Yikes," Tyra said, looking down at her desk. "That sucks."
"I know. I don't like her very much already," Steph said. "No offense to you," she added quickly.
None taken," Tyra replied. "Everyone says that Trish and I are complete opposites."
"I can tell that much already. You haven't rolled your eyes at me and called me a bitch yet," Steph joked.
"Everyone says that for two sisters, we're nothing alike," Tyra said. "In my opinion, I'm the nice, approachable one and Trish is the menacing bitch."
"Did you just call your sister a bitch?" Steph asked in disbelief.
"Yeah. So what?" Tyra asked, shrugging. "She is a bitch. No use in sugarcoating it."
Steph smiled. "Know what, Ty... Can I call you Ty?" Tyra nodded. "I have a feeling that we're going to be great friends."
Tyra smiled back. "Know what, Steph... Can I call you Steph?" Steph nodded. "About us being great friends? You're probably right..."
A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates. I kept starting this chapter, then erasing it, then starting it again. Ms. Young is Mae Young, just in case that isn't obvious. Just a little interesting information here: Spritzville High School is basically my high school with another name. It's very loosely based around my freshman year (which seems so long ago now that I'll be graduating in 2006). I'm oh-so-familiar with liking the popular senior who has the gorgeous, popular blonde airhead of a girlfriend who has the cool, down-to-earth younger sister... It's official. I'm weird... Anyway, review! Thanks!