He Doesn't Look A Thing Like Jesus; But He Talks Like A Gentleman

Luckily, on Thursday Chase had gym instead of chemistry. Jasyn was still in the class but there was about sixty to seventy-five kids in more that surrounded them making it so much easier to avoid the tall, dark haired, female Barakat.
"Okay," coach Dempsey announced to the classes as they entered the large gym, changed out of the clothes they'd worn to school into their sweats and shorts to participate in gym class. "Today we'll be playing dodgeball," she said causing the juniors in the class to groan.
"I want half of you over here," she motioned to her left, "and the other half of you over there," she motioned her hand in the opposite direction. It was quite predictable how the gym class split up.
The jocks, cheerleaders, and competitive kids all headed to the left side of the gym, Chase included. On the right side of the gym, the stoners, partiers, and the kids who just couldn't care-less, slowly headed over.
"Really guys?" the gym teacher addressed the class. "Are we going to do this every class?" she asked irritated, yet no one responded. Eight in the morning gym class was usually unresponsive so she was used to having to take a little more authority.
"Ok," the coach said making an imaginary line in between the scattered jock-like group. "This half of you over there," she directed the half of her side that Chase wasn't in to the other side of the gym. Then she repeated the same thing on the other side of the gym, and to Chase's delight, Jasyn remained standing opposite of her instead of beside her.
When the game started, Chase did what she always did. Avoid getting hit, but making no attempts to pick up or throw a ball at the other side. With the mixture of the two teams, the game seemingly appeared even. People getting out every direction on both sides. Each team shrinking rapidly.
Before the distracted Chase realized it, only she and a large football player remained standing on her team. The other side had about five people left. Four boys, all setting their energy on getting the large male to her left, out. And one girl, Jasyn Barakat, standing there in her own world paying no mind to the game.
"Come on Chase, get in the game!" her already teammates that had already gotten out were encouraging her. That's when an evil thought crossed Chase's mind. Getting the ball closest to her off of the floor, Chase put all of her weight behind as she pegged the ball, as hard as she could, right at Jasyn's face. The ball made such an impact an audible crack and thud could be heard echoing through the entire gym.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" Jasyn yelled in pain as the coach violently blew the whistle.
"I SAID NO AIMING FOR THE FACE!" Coach Dempsey screamed.
Chase placed an innocent look on her face, "I have no aim." Chase shrugged. The coach nodded in agreement and shook the issue off. Chase had never had any trouble in school and did not come off as a malicious girl.
"LIAR!" Jasyn screamed, Chase was smiling until she saw Jasyn's face. Her nose was already swelling, blood pouring from it. Her eye was swollen too. Chase's mouth turned into a small "o" and she could barely make out the coach trying to persuade Jasyn to go to the nurse.
Jasyn started running towards Chase, and she knew the girl was about to kick her face in. But looking at Jasyn's face, Chase couldnt help but think she deserved it a little bit. Closing her eyes, as Jasyn got closer, Chase waited for impact.
However it never came. Instead when she opened her eyes, Jasyn was being held back by her cousin, Zack Merrick.
"Zack. Let. Me. Go." Jasyn's voice was calm but had an edge to it.
"No." he simply said in a caring voice. "You know what your parents said happens if you get into any more trouble," he reminded her lightly. Jasyn nodded and you could visibly see that her body had lost all of it's tension. She seemed to deflate in Zack's arms.
"You should go to the nurse, come on," Zack said leading her off. The class watched as the two cousins exited the gym, and then stood around waiting for what they were going to do next.
"Just, just do whatever," Coach Dempsey said placing her hand up to her head closing her eyes in frustration. "Just don't leave the gym."
People all around came up to Chase to thank her for distraction. Although she gave everyone a half smile, she couldnt help but feel bad, and wonder if her and Jack's short-lived friendship would already be over.
+++
"Whoa-ho-ho." Alex exclaimed as Jasyn entered Mrs. Desmond's class with her head down. "I can honestly see the resemblance between you and your dick brother now," he said cheerfully in reference to her swollen nose that was three times bigger then it's normal size, as she begrudgingly sat beside him yet refusing to look him in the face. Mrs. Desmond took out the sacks of flower and started handing them out. She placed one of the smaller sacks on Alex's desk and it had a sticky note attached to it. Alex looked through the side of his eye to see if Jasyn was currious too, but she was absolutely paying no mind. Alex pulled the sack close to him. The post-it note was blue and said, Premature infant. Boy.
"Ok," Mrs. Desmond started when all the flour sacks were handed out. "Each pair has received a sack of flour. On it is a post-it note telling you the sex and age of your 'child'. I want each of you to agree upon a name today, and decide the appearance of your child. Now nothing outrageous here. Make sure it's realistic based on yours and your partner's appearance. By the end of the class period I want a sheet with yours and your partner's name, the chosen child name, and a short description." As soon as she finished her directions, the class began to work.
Alex sat there, tapping his fingers annoyingly on the desk, waiting for Jasyn to break. Anxious, Alex waited and kept looking at the clock. Only thirty seconds, yet to him it felt like 30 minutes.
"So," Alex gave in leaning towards Jasyn, "Did you get in a fight with a sailor?" he asked in reference to her swollen face, and black eye.
"No actually," she turned to Alex, "Chase took the pathetic route and hit me in the face with a dodgeball."
Alex's eyes widened, "Chase did that." he said letting it process. Alex had no idea that his cousin could be so brutal and felt a pang of sympathy for Jasyn. Only for a moment though.
Jasyn rolled eyes her, "Yeah. Whatever. Let's decide on a name. What's the sex?"
Alex being a typical guy, heard only the word sex. "Sex?"
"Yeah, the baby's sex. Like gender," Jasyn said with a 'duh' inflection in her voice.
"Oh, uh," Alex was actually a bit flustered, "boy. He's a premie."
"Aw, poor little guy," Jasyn said sympathetically and instantly blushing, and Alex could tell by her, "or whatever," that followed the comment that she was feeling embarrassed that she was clearly getting into the project.
"How about Alex Jr," Alex suggested with a cocked eyebrow, and he could tell by the fire in Jasyn's eyes that he got her worked up. Alex couldnt get over the way that although he barely knew her, he still knew how to push her buttons and he really enjoyed the way that he could get such a reaction out of her.
"How about, no. Sorry, my fictional child will not be named Alex to feed your ginormous-,"
"Well, I wouldn't say it's ginormous, but it's big," Alex continued leaning toward Jasyn, who pushed him as far back away from her as she could.
"Ego." she finished flatly, then let out a large sigh, "How are we ever going to decide on a name? We can't decide on anything!" she exclaimed in agony.
"How about Jason," Alex shrugged, "with an o."
"Nice try, but I wouldn't name a kid after me either," she said lightening the tone a bit.
Alex feigned irritation yet on the inside was intrigued. "OK, what names do you suggest?"
Jasyn shrugged.
"Oh, come on," Alex encouraged, "what names come to mind?"
"I don't know...Jeremy, Jameson, Jarred, Jacob..." Jasyn trailed off.
Alex started to chuckle, gaining a death glare from Jasyn. "Is 'J' names a family thing?" he asked in spite of his temporarily forgotten hate for her family.
"You told me to pick! So I don't want to hear it from you, you fuh-,"
"Jameson." Alex said simply remembering that there was big brother was listening in through their 'child'.
"Ok," Jasyn said agreeably writing the name down on a piece of paper that Alex hadn't noticed that she already had out. Since she was paying no attention to him, Alex took this opportunity to take a look over Jasyn's body. Slowing in the chest area he continued downward, but then made a path with his eyes back up to her eyes right at the right moment, when Jasyn looked up.
The two looked into each others eyes with no words for ten seconds, before Jasyn averted her gaze and began to speak. "So um. What is he going to look like?"
"He should have your eyes," Alex said. It was a line and Alex laid it on thick waiting for her reaction anxiously.
Jasyn didn't give him much of one though, just a shrug. "Blue." she turned her face back to the paper in front of her, putting her pen to the paper. "And brown hair, with tons of blonde highlights, like you," she added smiling.
"One hot baby," Alex got a grin. The two sat smiling at each other, and Mrs. Desmond came over to them. "I'm impressed that the two of you are getting along so well!" she cheerfully encouraged. However unknowingly to her, her actually narrating the rare event caused an adverse, discouraging effect instead and the smiles on their faces faded. "Now, actually since you've been the most agreeable and finished first, I'll continue your group on to the next step. I want you to make up a list of supplies you think a baby 0-6 months would need and how much you think that each of those items cost. Next class I will reveal all of the items and prices so you can formulate a difference between the two costs." she said handing out a paper that looked like she had xerox copied two sheets from a checkbook beside each other, and walking away.
"I'll do it," Jasyn offered taking the paper and not making eye contact with Alex at all. "Alone." she added as Alex tried to look over her shoulder at the sheet.
Alex placed his fingertips together making a sort of makeshift tent with his fingers awkwardly looking around the room wondering what he was going to do with the next twenty minutes of Health class.
+++
"Hey," Chase looked at the ground as she approached Jack Barakat.
"Hey best friend," Jack said cheerfully moving over on the bench at Jack and Chase's spot in the park. After school she'd only gone there to clear her mind, but something in her core, an inkling, told her she may have been met by the person she wanted to, but was afraid to see.
"You came," Jack noted happily as a silence fell upon them.
Chase furrowed her brow, avoiding Jack's sincere dark eyes, "Were we planning on meeting?"
"Well...no. But I've been coming here for the past couple days waiting to see if you would show up so we could do our secret friends thing!" he sounded with excitement, "oh and speaking of which, " Jack took his hand and quickly put it on Chase's butt feeling around.
"What the-?!" Chase was shocked, until Jack's hand returned to it's original spot with Chase's cellphone this time. He flipped it open and punched in a number. Then silence. Until a moment later, a shrill electronic song began playing, causing Chase to cover her ears.
"Ouch!" she exclaimed as Jack smiled taking out his phone, the source of the deadly noise and hitting a few buttons before returning Chase's phone back to her. As soon as the phone hit her hand it began vibrating, yet Chase ignored that and began to start to put her phone back into her back pocket.
"Aren't you going to check that?"
"I wasn't going to," Chase said, but still taking the phone out and opening it up. It was a text message from a number she did not recognize.
I gotchurr numberrr :)
"I'm guessing that's you." Chase held up the screen facing Jack.
"And now you have mine," he said cheerfully.
Chase was feeling guilty. She was sincerely starting to like Jack, and he was putting everything he'd ever learned out of his head and for some reason decided to be friends with her. And if Chase was being honest with herself, she truly didn't have a lot of true friends. Sure she had plenty of acquaintances, but she could count the people that she normally hung out with on her fingers of one hand. She didn't even need her thumb. Chase, didn't like to let people in, afraid of their ulterior motives, which was quite ironic since Jack was supposed to be her sworn enemy.
"I'm sorry I fucked up Jasyn's face." she blurted cringing her face waiting for the reaction.
Jack's smile fell. "You did what?" he asked, Chase was just happy that he wasnt yelling. yet.
"I gave her a black eye, and a swollen nose. And I'm sorry. And now you have a reason to hate me," she sighed.
"Why?" Jack asked simply. Not yelling, not happy. Just a simple question with no inflection.
"Because I pegged your sister in the face with a ball."
"No, why did you do it?"
"...i don't know. I just. Well I...we...our class was playing dodge-ball. And I just kind of threw it at her face."
"Was it worth it?" Jack asked, straight face still using a monotonous tone.
"No. I mean, not really. I felt like crap actually." she admitted honestly.
"Ok." Jack said, and Chase waited for him to get up and stomp off but he stayed sitting there. It shocked Chase. Anyone else would get up. Wouldn't they? He said earlier that he had no reason to hate her, and here she had given him one. Plain as day. An out. And yet he stayed there, so obviously that wasn't the true reason. She started to get suspicious. "Why?" she asked using the same blank tone he had used.
"What?" he asked curious. "Why are you doing this? It's not like you took an interest in getting to know me before. What do you want from me? Tell me and save yourself the trouble."
Jack's face got red, and Chase could tell he was trying to control the anger in her voice, "You're accusing me of using you? Really Chase?"
"OK," Chase blew out the air in her mouth. It was the other option then, the one she would have preferred it to not have been. "Then it's because you feel guilty...I shouldn't have told you I was a virgin. I didn't want your sympathy. I just, I needed to tell someone. To make it more real..."
"It's not because I feel guilty. It's because I like you."
I like you.
He liked her. There was so many different interpretations of those three little words. But Chase had a feeling that it meant more then he just liked her as a person. More then as a friend. She had a feeling that he was interested in her. And she could not for the life of her figure out why. Sure, Chase had had boyfriends here and there yet she had never expected to hear that saying from a boy like Jack.
"Why?" She asked. It seemed that why was the word of the day.
Jack gave Chase a smile. One that seemed to melt her heart.
"Because you're hot." Chase scoffed at Jack's reason, "And because you're sweet. And you're the only girl who doesn't put up with my crap. And whether you do it or not on purpose, you make me laugh. And I know nothing will probably ever come out of this, but I just thought that you should know. You're liked."
Chase started tearing up. She wasn't upset or overjoyed, it was just because of having such an emotional day. Then, embarrassed at the fact that every time she ran into Jack these days she was crying like a emotional wreck, she let out a sarcastic scoff.
"Are you trying to get me to have sex with you?" Jack asked, causing a true laugh out of Chase. "WHAT?" she asked shocked.
"Well," he said scooting close to Chase. "You see a pretty girl crying, and it's instinct to cheer her up." his lips were so close to her ear she could feel them. "And that's" he said backing away from her, "How I know how."
"Friends," she said flustered. "We're friends."