A/N:I promise this is not going to be as canon as last time!
Disclaimer: Read Disclaimer from 1st chapter.
Chase woke with a start. He yawned, put on his baggy pants, t-shirt and light jacket. He was sure to wear a sweatband on his right hand to cover up what needn't be seen. He got up to crawl out of his window, clambering on his bed. He hit solid wall. He finally opened his eyes to a squint. 'Oh Yeah,' he thought. He was in his brand new apartment. He glanced at the clock, sighing slightly. 5:30 a.m. He wouldn't need to go to his new school for 2 hours. He rolled his eyes. It's not like he was going back to sleep. He grabbed his already packed backpack and walked out of his bedroom. It felt strange, having an actual room instead of a freezing basement. He almost didn't like it. Almost. He saw his Grandma passed out on the couch, at least 7 bottles of beer around her elderly self. Despite himself, he felt a twinge of concern. 'She's too old for this shit,' He thought. He shook himself and headed out the door and down the steps of his apartment building.
As he went outside, he saw to headlights turn on and a car pulled out of a parking position from the street, following him. He gritted his teeth in frustration. That was his parole officer. He was being followed, and he didn't like it. He went to the darkened school and sat on a cold bench outside the gates.
Two hours later, people started coming. Chase cast his eyes down. He would say he didn't like the 'look' of these people, but truthfully, he was afraid of them. Years of being beat up every day at school or by the local gang left him antisocial. He had never interacted with anyone other than his parents positively, and that was more than 11 years ago. Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He instinctively raised a fist and turned around. "Don't be raising your fist at me, boy!" growled Smith. Chase put his fist down as the man held out his muscular hand. "Bag. Now." Chase rolled his eyes and handed the man the bag. "Really" He hissed, infuriated. "You couldn't have done this 2 hours ago, when no one was here?" Smith was equally as angry as he rifled through the red bag. "My orders where to check your bag at 7:30 a.m." he responded. "Whatever," Chase said, snatching his bag back as it was held out to him.
Chase was told to go to locker N1111, which, in case he forgot, was next to 'make it shine.' He wasn't sure what that meant, but he did notice something weird about the lockers. They were all decorated! He saw a Refrigerator, a Piano, and the 2 weirdest were of what looked like splotches of spit-up food, and one covered in freakin' scissors! He eventually found his locker, a blank one, next to one that said 'Make it Shine!" 'Oh' thought Chase, realizing what the Dean meant. He glanced at his locker combo, but it wouldn't work. He had never used his locker at his old school, so he had never opened it. Suddenly, two girls walked up to the 'Shine' locker and they appeared to be arguing. "I told you Cat, they couldn't grow puppy flowers! It's not possible!" The tall one said. She had on a purple shirt and black pants. The shorter one had red hair. Like, really red hair. She was short, smiling, had an orange tank top on, and was wearing a red skirt that clashed with her hair. Then the one called Cat suddenly noticed him and literally bounced over, covering the 2-foot distance between them. "Hi I'm Cat! Only I'm not a cat, I think," She looked momentarily confused before continuing, "What's your name?" Chase looked scared. "Um," he stuttered. "Oh, hi Um! Do you like puppy flowers? Tori says they don't make them, but I swear I saw some on the way to school today!" Chase frowned. "Nice Piercings!" She said, pointing at his ears. Suddenly, the one called Tori moved forward and smiled in a friendly way. "I'm sorry. She's like this some times. Well, all the time, really." Chase looked at Cat who was reaching out to touch his earring. He immediately tensed. He was on the street, a Thug reaching out to pull him down by his ear… "Stop, Cat!" Tori said Sternly. Cat whipped her hand away and said she was sorry. "Look, why don't you go get some cupcakes or something?" Tori said patiently. "WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!" Cat screamed, running away. Tori shook her head and extended her hand. "Tori, Tori Vega." Chase stared at the hand in between them, unsure of what to do. "Well?" Tori aid, suppressing a giggle. "Shake it!" Chase grabbed Tori's wrist, shook her arm up and down, and turned away to try to open his locker again. "Your Funny!" Tori laughed. Chase wasn't sure if this was good or bad, so he just nodded. "Hey, you need help opening your locker?" Tori offered. "No," Chase said bluntly. "Oh, okay." Tori said, practically breathing confusion. She watched as he took out a binder, which had a small mallet in it. (He had to sneak it passed Smith somehow.) Tori gaped as he rose the mallet, aiming for the lock. She grabbed his wrist. He tensed again. He was on the floor, his arm being twisted. He heard a snap and he blacked out….. He swung around. "What?" He hissed. She now looked scared. "You don't want to be doing that, do you? You'll get in trouble!" Chase was genuinely confused. "Really? How do I open it?" Tori smiled. "Where's your code?" Within minutes, Chase knew how to open his locker, He dropped his mallet in it and smiled. "That's nice." And it was. He vowed that he would learn everything he could. So He could have that nice feeling again. Tori smiled as she gave him a little hug. "What's your name?" She asked. Chase opened his mouth to say, but the bell rang. Tori ran to class, "Tell me later, K?" Chase was left still thinking about the hug.
Chase entered Sikowit's class five minutes late. Hey, when a man's gotta pee, a man's gotta pee. Tori leaned over to Beck, Jade and Andrea and whispered. "That's the new kid. I don't think he's from around here." "Why's that?" asked Andrea in an equally hushed tone. "Well, he flinched if your hand came within two feet of him, and he didn't know how to open his locker. He almost hit it with a mallet. Jade looked up at this. "Where'd he get a mallet and where can I get one to beat you over the head with?" Tori rolled her eyes "From his backpack." Jade raised her eyebrows and said; "I like his earrings." Beck said, "Could he speak well? He might be from out of the country." "Only 1 or two words, but he was shy. He was almost afraid of us!" Toris whispered. "And his name's 'Um'." Cat put in. Jade patted her head, rolling her eyes. "Class, this is our new student. Well, mystery boy, what's your name?" Sikiowits announced. Chase looked at the class and mumbled a name. "Say it louder now. "Chase Brighton." This time he said it barely audible enough to hear. He expected them to laugh for having such a stupid name, but they didn't. "Well, Chase, please find a seat. I suggest finding one with a friendly group so you don't end up like that young gentleman over there." He pointed to a boy with a thin frame and dirty blonde hair and glasses. Beck raised his hand in greeting. "Chase, over here." He recognized Tori and waved to her awkwardly. She smiled brightly back and nodded encouragingly when he looked like he was about to take the seat next to Andrea, but he instead sat in between Cat and Jade, casing Tori to facepalm. Jade nodded at Chase and stuck a hand out deliberately. Boy, was this all making Tori mad! She had told Jade he had personal space issues, why did she have to bother him like this? Chase tensed and pretended she wasn't there. He was having his hand crushed under a super-human grip while having sticks and rocks thrown at his back…. Jade noticed this and pulled away. She hadn't expected that reaction! One of pain and sorrow. Jade knew immediately he had a messed up past and vowed she'd get to the bottom of this. "So, Chase, since you were late, will you please read what the board says?" The board read: 'Remember to donate to Japan by the end of the week, and I like puppies!" Chase strained his eyes and started to read. "Ree-no-ro-no-re-re-memb-er." He tried. He noticed everyone looking at him funny and he turned red. 'Of course, dummy, you can't even read Bob books yet!' Sikowits, noticing his embarrassment, played off the situation nicely, telling SinJin to read it instead. Jade had an idea. She took out a blank notebook and scrawled: "Can't Read." She knew it seemed stalker-ish, but she had to figure this guy out.
"Hey, Chase!" called Jade after school, watching Chase walk around like he was about to die any second. Chase had learned all of there names. Beck was tall and muscular. Chase was afraid of him . Andrea was also muscular, but he and Chase were about the same. Tori was nice and could help him when he needed, Cat was amusing, and Jade was okay when she wasn't snapping at people. Robbie was a great ventriloquist, but he swore 'Rex' would be 'Sawdust' the first chance he got. "Mind if I walk you home today?" This could be one of her chances to get to know him better to figure him out. When they had asked him where he was from, Chase said 'somewhere,' when Cat asked him his favorite food, he said 'edible'. Chase shrugged. He walked down the street, eyes going back and forth, as if awaiting impending doom from all directions. After 5 minutes of walking, Jade asked, "What's your favorite kind of music?" "Rap and Hip-Hop." Chase responded, beaming at the name. Of course, Jade thought, glancing at his pants, shoes, ears, and flat-bill elmo hat. "Can I ask you something?" Chase asked out of nowhere. Jade was shocked. She was supposed to be asking questions! "Sure," she said invitingly, trying to get him to talk. "Where are all the Thugs? Gangs?" He asked. Jade raised an eyebrow. "We don't have many of those here." He nodded thoughtfully. Jade was astounded. 7 minutes, and she already had two clues, two astounding pieces of information!
Jade glanced around her for the millionth time to see the same police car following them. "Why is he stalking us?" She growled. Chase looked away and said "Bye, Jade." Jade was actually sad as Chased opened a door to an apartment complex. He was growing on her. Oh Well.
Chase walked into his apartment. His Grandmother was still passed out on the couch. Chase walked to his room, and, tired, fell asleep.
Jade was in Beck's RV. Beck was on his laptop, doing homework, while Jade was reading her list;
Can't Read
Appears to be able to write, which is weird
Finds Cat amusing
Afraid of Beck
Wondering where Gangs were
Likes Rap music
Lives with Grandmother
Has earrings.
Nice eyes.
She wasn't sure why she put the last part in, but hey, it was true. She put her notes away and layed down I'm close Chase, oh so close. And she fell asleep in Beck's RV for the night.
A/N: So, Detective Jade, You like? Should he end up with Jade, Cat or Tori? Please do some R/R