My Fair Lady

Jakob opened the heavy oak door to the office and sauntered inside. He leaned over the counter and kissed the secretary on the cheek before jumping back down to his feet. "Morning Mrs. Hunt. You're looking exceptionally ravishing today." He winked at the secretary.

Mrs. Hunt blushed so deeply her pale, chubby cheeks looked like a cluster of red cherries. "Well thank you Jakob. It was most certainly a dull summer without your little remarks that make me feel like a schoolgirl again."

She giggled the high pitched giggle of a little girl. "Oh, I haven't told you. My daughter had her first baby over the summer. I'm a Grandmother now." She held out a framed picture of a little baby dressed in pink.

"What? You're too young to be a Grandmother Mrs. Hunt." He looked at the picture. "Aw. She looks just like you. She's gonna be a knockout when she gets older. I'll be sure to stay away to keep myself out of trouble."

"You do that." Mrs. Hunt took the frame back. "I take it you're here to do the private tour."

"Yeah." Jakob's tone was forced as his smile dropped a bit. "Where are they?"
"Miss Moss, your tour guide is here." Mrs. Hunt crooked her finger at a girl sitting on the waiting couch a few feet away. "Jakob, this is Chloe Moss, a new scholarship student. Chloe, this is Jakob Armstrong. He'll be the ambassador showing you around Hillcrest."

"Hi." Jakob said smoothly.

"Hi." Chloe answered back. Her voice was low and slightly shy. She stood and came over to where Jakob was. She was almost the same height as Jakob, maybe a few inches shorter. Her thick brown hair fell naturally around her shoulders. She wasn't dressed in top designers like the other girls who went to Hillcrest. Instead, she was dressed in regular middle-class fashions. Her makeup was light and not applied by a professional. Her blue eyes looked around, nervous at her surroundings.

"Uh, I'm Jakob and I'm going to show you around." He held the door open and allowed her to exit the office first. "Uh, how much of the school do you all ready know?" He asked, wanting to know how much of an in depth tour he would have to do.

"Not much." Chloe admitted as they passed a row of gleaming lockers. "All I really know is the fine arts department. The rest is just a mystery."

"Yeah, well, it's not that bad. Hillcrest isn't a particularly large school so you probably won't get lost or anything after the first few days. Fine Arts? Is that where your scholarship is? If you don't mind me asking."

Chloe laughed lightly. It was a deeper, throaty laugh than the higher octaves Jakob was used to hearing. "I don't mind. I have a dance scholarship. I would of have a vocal as well but I'm not very fond of choirs." She looked down at her shoes and bit her lip nervously.

Jakob sensed her nervousness. "Cool. So are you from around here? I mean, I haven't seen you around before or anything." He tried to make her open and lighten up a bit by injecting common ground questions.

"No, I'm not." Chloe met his eyes. "I'm originally from Boston but I grew up everywhere."

"Everywhere huh? Like where everywhere?"

"Well, I was born in Italy, spent the first three years of my life in Boston and I lived on the road ever since, but our center was in Boston. My parents were the owners of a traveling theater troupe." She told him before Jakob had to ask.

"Awesome. So, have you ever been to, like, regular school? Oh, this is the English ward by the way." He pointed to a row of doors with teachers going over the student handbooks for homeroom.

"No," Chloe said as she brushed a glance at the doors. "This is my first time. I was always home-schooled by my Mom. They wanted me to get the 'school experience' and socialize and stuff with people my own age."

"That is so weird." Jakob laughed lightly. He couldn't imagine going to school for the very first time at a high school.

"Yeah and it's a little scary." Chloe remarked as they continued down the hall.

"Don't be scared, I'll protect you " Jakob said in a super hero-like voice and he put his arm around her shoulders. Chloe gave a little nervous laugh at the gesture. "So, what class are you in?"

"I'm a Senior." Chloe said, her shoulders still a little tense from his arm being draped across them.

"Sweet. I am too. Can I see your schedule." He took the offered piece of paper, his arm leaving her shoulders. "Let's see, Dance, English IV, Chem I." He pointed to it. "You may be in there with my friend Lauren. She's a bit of a ditz, but she's a good person. She's also on the dance team. Do you know her? Lauren Akin?"

"I think I may have met her." Chloe murmured as she adjusted her purse on her shoulder.

"Yeah, she's a trip. Hey, we have Music Appreciation together and World History. So you'll have me twice a day and for lunch since History is our lunch period." He grinned at her. "I'm giving you a shitty tour aren't I?"

"Well, considering it's been twenty minutes and all I've seen is the office and English ward, yeah. You're doing a pretty crappy job, but it's okay." The bell rang around them and students began to file out of the doors.

"Time for second period but since I'm giving you a tour, we're excused. Plus, they don't do anything but go over rules and hand out textbooks. Nobody wants to do anything the first day, teachers included." Jakob pointed to a group of students who seemed relatively normal to Chloe.

"Those are some other scholarship students. They're a little on the weird side though. One of them's life goal is to prove velocity and another's is to kiss the Homecoming Queen and not get beat up by her boyfriend."

"Well, that's not that weird." Chloe tried to reason.

"Hey Jakob " A guy slapped hands with Jakob and continued down the hall.

"Yeah, but it's not normal." Jakob waved to another group of calling people and pointed out a group of guys wearing Hillcrest athlete wear going down the hall. "Those are some of the Varsity jocks. You need to be careful around them. Some are great guys and some are complete dicks so just watch out for them."

"Aren't you one of the Varsity guys?" Chloe asked as they began up the steps, the crowd had thinned to only a few people being late for class.

Jakob shrugged. "Yeah. Why?"

"Well, which one are you? The great guy or the dick?" Chloe looked at him.

"Probably a bit of both. But, that's just me." The continued down the hall silently except for Jakob pointing out classes and such. Jakob noticed her quietness. Her earrings weren't of Tiffany's quality but were pretty dangling down her neck all the same and her nails weren't fake or tipped, but painted a soft pink color of which some was chipped off. She was defiantly not from around here.

"So, uh, how much of Oakland have you seen? I'm a much better tour guide for interesting stuff than school stuff." Jakob said as they made their way back downstairs to Chloe's next class. The bell for third period was about to ring.

"Well, I got here about two weeks ago and all I've really seen is, like, basic stuff and the college campus since we live in one of the houses. My dad is the director of Fine Arts and my mom is the dance instructor there. So, not much. Why, are you offering your services?" Chloe met his eyes, apparently more loosened up than when he first met her.

"Maybe." Jakob waved his hands indifferently. "If you're interested I could take you around tonight and show you, like, basic Hillcrest hot spots and places to eat and such. But only if you want to. I mean, you know, it's up to you."

"I'd like that Jakob." Chloe bit her lip.

They stopped in front of a classroom and Jakob leaned up against the wall. "Okay then. I'll pick you up, like, around six-ish." The bell rang and people began coming out of the rooms. "Uh, I'll see you around Chloe."