No Time To Bleed

School the next morning had me a bit excited.

Lion seemed like a nice enough guy and I could never have enough friends.

After getting to my locker, I took out my books and notebooks. It seemed to be a warm enough day outside.

From Ryant's father, I knew that we had our first class together. Today was his first day at school.

"Haha! What a dork! I heard his dad had the name of some animal! His locker is right next to mine!"

And you better believe it was Jessica's voice. I slammed my locker shut and bit down my lip.
Maybe this was morning I'd actually punch this girl.

"But, the boy's little brother was so cute. I could wait a few years for that piece."

I turned and saw her dab some lip gloss on her lips. I made sure to glare at her as she passed.

The bell rang and I trotted off to my first class. Room 213 and I took my desk near the right side of the room, iPod draining out my ears as I tapped my foot.

Why had I been so excited about today again?

“Hey, can I, um, sit here?” a timid voice came out. I could hear since my music's volume had been turned on low.

I turned to see a boy. Tall height, probably near six feet. Smooth brown skin. A long nose. And lanky, lanky limbs. And brown eyes that shined in the sunlight from the nearby window.

He gave me a sheepish smile and I laughed. He seemed to be nervous.

“Sure.”

He set his books down which seemed to be a lot more than other people had, notebooks, some books on writing.

“I hope this class isn't that hard. I actually have to get good grades this year.” he murmured.

I smiled. “Statistics isn't that hard. He just happens to move really fast when he's teaching.”

His eyebrows creased together and his cheeks seemed to sink in. His expression was hilarious.

“Do I have something on my face?”

I shook my head. “No! No! You're just funny. What's your name?”

He removed his hand from the book readily and held it out for me to shake. “Ryant Brown.”

My head cocked to the side. “No way. I think my aunt had dinner with your dad last night. Your Dad's Lion?”

“Yeah, he is. So, you meet him? Did he say anything embarrassing about me?”

“No. He was really nice. Just weird. He was asking me all these questions.”

Ryant nodded. “He tends to do that. He's a psychologist.”

“Really? He seems more... I don't know.”

“That's what people say a lot of the times. My brother, Max, has a hard time figuring out whether or not he's a secret agent or a guy who sits down and listens to people's problems. Max is a little more out there than most people.”

A few more people came into the class and sat down.

“Your little brother thinks his dad is a spy?”

“Long long story. Things are weird at my house. Just glad we finally got the chance to move.”

I nodded, a warm feeling running through my stomach. I remember what his dad had said about their mom.

That must've been hard for them.

I also remembered Jessica teasing him.

“Wait, I never told you my name. I'm Jasmine.”

He laughed, a deep chuckled and did this smile.

I had to say, there was something about this boy that made me want to protect him. He just seemed so... nice and untouched.

“What's your last name?”

And I did something then that surprised even me.

“Jasmine Rushman.”

I told him my last name.