Breathe

Chapter Two
The Beginning

Hello, Clearwater High. I smile as drag my new sandals across the parking lot pavement. I have brand new clothes, brand new shoes, brand new hairstyle, maybe even a brand new me. Clearwater High School in Seattle has a total of 893 students. Until today that is.

I am Clearwater’s newest student, moved from Washington DC. My old high school was a private school and it had around three hundred students, so moving to this public school is quite a step for me. I have never been to public school, but I am sure my parents thought it would help us blend in more. You would think that I hated moving, but I thought that this was a chance for a fresh start. My life at my old school was never the one that I wanted. This time, I am going to try something different.

I take a deep inhale of fresh air and I start walking my way toward the front entrance. There was a large gathering area at the front doors, tables and benches. This made me nervous because I never liked to be stared at or gossiped about. I see lots of girls and I immediately assume that they were queen bees. I see lots of guys in light blue and white jerseys. Today, there must be a football game.

“Hi,” Someone taps my shoulder and I quickly jump around. “Hey! Sorry,” A boy with jet black hair takes a step back. He has a perfect emo-scene hairstyle that fascinates me. “I thought that you were someone else. But-, I have never seen you before. Are you new?” He asks and I nodding, quite hesitant.

“I am,” I say. “Would you mind showing me where the front office is?” I ask and nods.

“I would love to show you. What’s your name by the way?”

“My name is Jordan,” I tell him, shrugging my shoulder straps of my backpack back into the right position on my shoulders. “Jordan Chandler. I’m a sophomore. But I have a lot of junior classes.”

“Jordan. That is a very cool name for a girl. My name is Ryan Foster,” he scratches the back of his head, looking a bit awkward, “What made you move to Seattle and go to Clearwater?”

I shrug my shoulders, “My Dad got reposted for his job, like he always does,” I explain to him, but suddenly, another boy bolts up to Ryan and grabs his shoulders.

“Ryan! We’ve got a problem. I have no history notes. Lone them to me for five bucks?” He asks and Ryan laughs. I stand awkwardly and wait for Ryan to move the conversation back to me.

“Jordan, this is Ross. Ross, Jordan.” Ryan introduces and Ross flicks his attention toward me and his dark hair flicks over to the side.

“Pretty girl?” He demands. “Wait…I’ve never seen you before.”

Ryan rolls his eyes. “That’s because she is new, Ross.”

“New pretty girl?” He gasps at me and I start laughing. Ryan rubs his face with his hand, completely embarrassed of his friend. “Welcome to Clearwater High!” Ross slides toward me and places his arm around my shoulders. “Home of the famous Douchebag Bobcats. May we show you to your…” He hesitates as he attention moves into the parking lot.

Kyle and I both look into his gaze to see what he was talking about. All I see is a massive silver Duramax pull into the School Parking lot and pull right into the closest spot to the door. Why was that spot not taken? It was as if that spot had been waiting for that particular person.

Black smoke is released from the large pipe in the back along with a rip of the engine. I can see the figures of the guys inside, maybe three of them.

“Who is that?” I ask lightly and they both sigh at me.

“That, my lady, is the biggest douchebag of them all. Bren Matthews…” Ross coughs and looks away. He takes his arm away, but my attention is still on this “so-called” douchebag. The driver’s side of the Duramax opens and a guy gets out. He is wearing the matching light blue jersey that half of the other guys were wearing. He has light brown hair, and a dark pair of Ray Bans shades. I can tell by a distance that his jeans are B.K.E. He is a fairly strong-build guy, and last but defiantly not least, very attractive.

“Why is Bren Matthews a douchebag?” I ask.

Kyle and Ross both stare at each other and sigh other time.

“Well, where do we begin?” Ross asks, looking right at Kyle. “Once you see how he acts, how he is, you will understand why.”

“Great…” I groan and turn around. My attention completely takes a left turn as I look around the school’s courtyard. I see there is a girl looking at me. When I catch her gaze, she instantly looks away. She has long dark hair and a very cute shirt on with a new pair of denim. She was looking at me as if I were some kind of criminal. I’ve never received a look quite like that before.

Knowing that I am staring back at her, uncomfortable, she quickly stands up and walks toward a group of teenagers that look like rebels to me.

“Who was that?” I asked Kyle. Good thing that he caught what I was looking at before she vanished into the group of students.

“Well, that’s Fate McSkye. Why do you ask?” He wonders.

“I’m not sure, but she was kind of looking at me funny. As if she knew I were some kind of spider that needs to be killed as soon as possible,” I explained.

“Fate MsSkye sticks to her crowd over there. She is not really into meeting anyone new. Are you sure that you haven’t seen her before?” He asks.

“Positive,” I whisper, “I have my father’s senses. I feel like I am getting dirty looks or just this strange tension that there is someone that is interested in me. Not in a good way, I might add.”

“I am sure that it is all in your head,” he laughs.

“I really hope you’re right,” I nod in agreement. I search around for that girl again, realizing that she is nowhere to be found now. Confused, I continue the conversation anyway.

“Well, I better find my classes before my parents show up.”

“Wait, what about school?” He asks.

“Well, my parents brought me here for the morning. They are picking me up at lunch to go home and help them move in. We have got my whole entire family helping. I am going to get to see my new house.”

“Well, if you want any help, I would be pleased to.” He says. “We should probably get you to your first class,” he says, looking at my schedule. “Health! You have the same class as I do, 1st hour.”

“Really?” I smile. “That’s great. I am happy to know that there is someone that I know.”

There is nothing worse than walking into a new class at a new school where no one knows who you are. I have done that a number of times.

“Yeah, c’mon, it’s this way,” He leads me down the school halls and we take a turn at the end of the lockers. We walk into a class that is about full. I notice the girl at the back of the class is the one that I caught staring at me earlier. She takes a glance at me but then jumps back around to talk to the boy that is sitting in the desk behind her.

As I look at him, I am instantly attached. He has dark short hair and crystal green eyes that remind me of my birthstone of August. He is wearing a plain white t-shirt and a dark pair of jeans.

As the girl named Fate takes a second look at me, she starts giggling and looks back at him. I sharp feeling of terror falls down my spine as I get the feeling that I am being made fun of. In one of the middle seats, there sat that Bren Mathews, the jock that was driving the silver Duramax and the one Kyle had a problem with. To make matters worse, he is staring at me too, and grinning. Trying to not show my tension, I walk toward the teacher.

“Ah!” He points at me. The teacher is quite young and quite good looking, too. “Jordan Chandler, is it? The Principle told me a lot about you. A sophomore in junior classes, that is quite impressive. We are honored to have you here.”

I prepare to reply but Kyle beats me to it.

“Yes, sir,” Kyle answers and shakes my shoulder.

“Welcome to Clearwater High, you can have any seat open you want,” The teacher says.

Of course, the only two seats that are open happen to one next to Bren Matthews and one in front of Fate Mcskye. I look at the classroom again and Bren waves at me, and then points down at the seat next to him. I hesitate and then Kyle speaks to me.

“I would suggest not sitting next to him,” Kyle says in front of the entire class.

“Hey!” Bren points his finger at him. “Emo, you forgot that no one cares what you think,” he says and the entire class gasps and then “oohs” at Bren ridiculous and rude comment.

“Bren! Say something like that again and you can go have a chat with the Principle, again,” Mr. Kinderson says.

Fate rolls her eyes. Embarrassed, I quickly walk through the aisle and looked at a seat right in front of Fate. I hesitate again, but she leans forward.

“Seriously, you can sit there, it’s not owned,” she tells me. Now that she gives me the word, I drop into the seat in front of her.

Bren Mathews is a douche. I wished that I had stuck up for Kyle, but I didn’t know what to say. I also don’t want to make a scene on my first day, if I do that, than no one will like me.

“Anyway, does anyone want to catch Jordan up on the chapter we were on?” Mr. Kinderson asks the class.

“Dicks and vaginas, how special they are,” Bren replies, texting on his phone, right where the teacher could see.

“You can already tell what is on his mind…” Fate sighs, staring down at her notes.

“Bren, go to the office,” Mr. Kinderson finally hit the breaking point, “I’m over it.”

“That’s what we were talking about, are you kidding me?” Bren demands back at him, “I said what we were actually talking about.”

“No, we are on nutrition. And I don’t want to see your phone out in my class again, go,” He orders and points at the doorway.

“Oh-my-god,” He groans and growls and slowly pulls himself out of his seat. He takes his backpack very aggressively. The desk moves with him about a foot, rubbing across the floor loudly along with his aggression.

“Principle Evens, big man, is going to do something about it,” He stomps out of the classroom, and I could feel the relief wash across the room like an ocean wave. I will always remember that stupid football jersey he was wearing. Number 3. I will remember to boo that player whenever I go to Clearwater football games, if ever.

Once the evil was finally out of the room, Mr. Kinderson continued the lesson. As he began drawing the food pyramid, Fate taps my shoulder and whispers up to me.

“Be careful of Bren. Because of the clues that I am getting here, you’re his next target. Never give into those blue eyes,” she says. “Tell your father about him. That should set him astray.”

“What?” I whisper back at her, turning my head. “What do you mean my father? What do you know about my father?”

“Oh, give me a break, kid,” she whispers, “The United States has a terrorist attack at the Gobal Dome right after the Executive’s Speech, and now two days later, we get a new girl in the city, where the 2nd Dominion Agency is, happens to have the last name Chandler…” She sighs and leans back up to whisper. “Unlike a lot of people in this room, I know who you really are,” she says. She returns back to her position and continues to write down notes. I turn back around in my desk with wide eyes.

“Dude, don’t worry,” she says. “My family thinks…he’s very smart.”

Why do I get the feeling that what she just told me wasn’t true…?

“My father, thank you very much, is a business owner. So you can stop your words right there before you regret it,” I warn her.

First hour finally concludes, and next I have gym. Fitness Ed. As I walk into the locker room, I am afraid. But thankfully, a lot of girls welcome me when I walk in. Almost all of them say hi to me, giving a large weight off my shoulders.

“Hey,” A very pretty girl with blonde hair and eye glitter jumps toward me. She has a killer face for a girl and a thin body, wearing a white cheerleading shirt with red shorties. I had no doubt in my mind that she is popular.

“I’m Cassie. You’re Jordan. Are you still going to tryout for gymnastics? My mom knows your mom. That’s how I know, I don’t want you getting the feeling that I was stalking you or something.”

“Oh, no! I don’t think that at all,” I explain, “And yes, I was hoping to join tomorrow.”

“Prefect! I’m so excited for you. Have you ever thought about cheerleading?”

“Oh, I don’t know about cheerleading. We’ll see, maybe in a few months,” I said, changing into my fitness clothes, an “I <3 LA” t-shirt and a pair of black shorties. “Do you have a bobby pin? Maybe two?”

Cassie hands me two black bobby pins while she was holding her hair up on the top of her head with a hair tie in her mouth.

“Thank you,” I say, pulling my hair up.

“So I heard that Bren Matthews was talking about you,” she says and my heart jumps to my throat.

“What do you mean, what did he say?” I asked with tense fingers, tying the shoelaces of my nikes into place.

“He just said that you are very good looking,” she laughs. “That happens when new girls come, though, girls that haven’t been here long enough to know what he has done.”

“Why? What has he done?” I ask.

“Bren Mathews has done a lot of things…if you know what I mean by that,” She laughs, “And by things, I mean girls.”

“Ugghh,” I groan and rub my hands across my face. “Nice. One of those.”

“Yeah,” Fate appears behind me, scaring me. “One of those. He’s an asshole; you’re starting to worry me that you are even talking about him. I’m just trying to protect you, sweetie.”

“She brought him up,” I point at Cassie.

Suddenly, a whistle blows and echoes throughout the locker room. We all jump as the female gym teacher walks into the locker room, smiling. “Let’s go, ladies! Ten laps and then dodgeball!”

All the girls in the locker room groan except for me. Seriously? I love dodgeball! We play it at my old school all the time! Not to mention the countless family reunions that we’ve played dodgeball and I kicked my brother’s butt!

We all jog into the gym and begin sprinting our laps. I find myself passing all of the girls and catching up to Fate at the front. She takes a glance at me and runs faster. I increase the speed of my feet and keep up to her, side to side. I am actually glad that I have a completive buddy to have in my P.E class. We both reach ten laps at neck and neck, noticing that we are almost a full lap in front of the rest of the girls.

“Good effort, girls!” The gym teacher lunges toward us and pats our shoulders, more like, smacks our shoulders. “Jordan, it’s nice to have you with our class. You’re doing great. Keep it up, girl.”

Fate and I are both panting as we walk toward the center of the gym and begin our stretching.

“So I am assuming that you like sports,” she starts another conversation with me, while stretching her leg out and reaching for her toes, “you seem pretty athletic.”

“My parents are very strict about how we take care of our bodies. Not only did they raise us to be athletic, they raised us to be healthy,” I explain to her.

She sighs and then she starts whispering, “You’re father is John Chandler of the Dominion, isn’t he?”

I sigh and begin doing the same stretch that she is doing. “Why do you think that?”

“Because you look like him, and you’re in all of the advanced classes. You have to be in the C.I.A before you can get in with the Dominion Officials, and your father’s the lead. So I am just guessing that you get your knowledge from your dad.”

“How do you know so much about the Dominion?”

“I guess that I just like researching,” she says and stands to her feet. “Don’t worry. I am not going to tell anybody. It’s our secret, I promise.”

There really was no reason to keep denying it. She’s not going to believe me anyway. Even though my father would kill me if someone like her knew. Not even my best friends in Washington knew what my father did.

“Thanks,” I say, standing up with her. That clearly gave her the intuition that she is right about me, so I figure that is all she really need to know.

“Can you tell me why your family came here?”

I shook my head, “No, sorry, I’d really rather not. I think you already know enough.” I tell her.

“Okay, ladies! Who is ready for dodgeball? The boys just finished their workout, so we’re going to get started.”

Wait! Boys?

Just as I thought I escaped the drama and the obnoxiousness, a group of boys come rushing into the gym, one among them is Bren Mathews, of course.

“Woo!” He shouts and raises both his hands toward the ceiling. His shoes are a bright blue pair of those new Jordans. He is wearing long gym shorts and a t-shirt that is ripped along his sides, all the way down to end of his waist, where everyone can see the sweat roll down the sides of his clear abs.

That strange moment where you feel fine, then in the next second, you want to die.

This is no doubt that Bren Mathews makes me nervous. But, I am almost sure that it is not in the way that most would expect. I am not going to tell you that Bren Mathews is not attractive, because clearly that is a lie. I was scared of him. I knew that he could clearly rip a girl’s heart apart, as well as destroy her reputation.

“Why didn’t you tell me that he was in this class?” I demand at Fate.

“You didn’t ask,” she says, “Just ignore him, relax.”