Love on the Brain

Hungry and chatting high school students had loaded the cafeteria, and as her first day at school rolled by, the brunette buried her milk white teeth into her apple. She had her elbows resting on top of the table, meanwhile her darker than chocolate brown eyes swept across the room.

“Okay, so over there you have the football-team. They’re loud and arrogant,” Olivia said, referring to a group of guys that had all just barely managed to squeeze themselves down on the table.

Jade nodded, before her fingers went to cradle her bottle of water. It was a hot day in California, and the brunette was still not used to the drastic change of climate that were between Scranton and Huntington.

“I have biology with one of them, Jeff. He’s actually quite nice,” Sierra, one of Olivia’s friends, commented.

“Yeah, well try to have P. E with them,” Daniel, a guy with grey eyes and blonde hair, said, meanwhile he stabbed his fork into his chicken.

As the small talk around the table continued, Jade’s eyes landed on a group of guys that had occupied a table in the corner of the cafeteria. One of them balanced his apple on top of his index finger, and the way he bounced in his seat made it look like he had trouble sitting still. Jade soon noticed how all of them were dressed in the similar way, with dark ripped jeans and black band t-shirts. Her eyebrows climbed high on her forehead by the thought of wearing so much clothes with the sun beaming happily on top of the cloud-free sky.

“Who are they?” she nudged her cousin, causing Olivia to tug some of her jet-black hair behind her earlobe, before she eventually tilted her head and paid attention.

“Oh,” the sigh was followed by a disgusted glare, and Olivia looked almost offended before she looked away. “That’s Sanders and his friends,” she muffled.

“Oli considers them even more annoying than the football team,” Sierra glanced over at the newest member in their group, and Jade looked surprised.

“Why?” her eyes went back to the group, as she noticed how it was only one girl among them. She had short dark hair that reached her shoulders, and even from her spot, she saw the thick eyeliner that framed her eyes. The girl was lacing her fingers with one of the guys, exchanging few words, before she pecked his cheek sweetly.

“They’re punks,” Olivia said. “I think they play in a band or something,” she sounded utterly uninterested, meanwhile her cousin kept looking at them.

The one who had been bouncing had jet-black hair that pointed into every possible direction. His skin looked rather pinkish and his body was slender. Next to him was a guy who had the same hair colour as his friend, with milk white skin and silver rings decorating his bottom lip. Jade moved her eyes towards the one Olivia had introduced as Matt. His body looked rather broad, and he had short black hair that almost looked like it had recently been shaved. Next to him was his raven-haired girlfriend, dressed in the similar style as the guys.

As Jade rested her gaze upon the group another guy soon sat down next to the girl. His hair was dark and nearly reached his shoulders, and he had sun-kissed skin and tensed muscles. The t-shirt he was wearing fitted perfectly around his broad chest, and Jade soon noticed the pair of worn out fingerless gloves he was wearing.

“Better get to class,” Daniel gathered his trash, and then stuck his book under his arm. “I’ll see you later,” he said to Sierra, leaving a quick kiss on brunette’s lips, as he disappeared from his spot.

“I’m still not used to that,” Olivia confessed to her friend, who was smiling brightly.

“Sorry, honey,” Sierra sniggered, and her cheeks soon caught a bright peach colour. “He’s just so amazing,” she said almost dreamily.

“Please leave it,” the other girl rolled her eyes. “Come on, J. Let me show you to your next class,” she circled her long fingers around Jade’s wrist, as the couple left their seats and said their goodbyes to their friend at the table.

“How do you like Ocean View so far?” Olivia asked, meanwhile Jade slung her backpack over her shoulders.

“It’s okay,” Jade muffled. “So far it doesn’t stick out,” she admitted.

“Well, when you’ve gone through almost every school in the fucking country, it’s kinda hard,” her cousin said, nudging the brunette, who chuckled in response.

“Exactly. Do we have chemistry together?” Jade asked, a hint of hope lurking in her eyes.

“Sorry, babe. I have physics now,” Olivia said, and her cousin could feel her heart sink in her chest.

The halls were filled with students, and as the two of them fought their way through the crowd, Olivia linked her hand around her cousin’s arm, dragging her through the messy corridor.

“Here we are!” the dark-haired announced, a she had stopped in front of a nearly empty classroom.

“You’re lucky. This is your last class of the day,” she said, as she had already studied her cousin’s schedule.

“How’s the teacher?” Jade asked, figuring that Oli knew everything already, as she always had an opinion on everyone and everything.

“Mr Moore can scare the crap out of you, to be honest. Not that you’re gonna struggle anyway. You’re every teacher’s dream,” she chuckled, and Jade could feel the heat that reached the surface of her cheeks.

“Jesus, shut up,” she said, before playing with the velvet scrunchy she had tugged around her waist.

“Chill out a little, J! You’re totally safe in this class. The only negative thing is that you’re gonna have chemistry with Brian,” she nudged her cousin playfully, leaving Jade with cocked eyebrows.

“Brian?”

“One of the guys in Sanders’ little group. You’ll notice him,” Olivia insured her friend. “He’s apparently the biggest jerk of them all,” she added.

“Lucky me,” Jade rolled her eyes.

“Exactly. But look, I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later,” her cousin said.

“Okay. We can do homework at my place today. I bet my mom would love to see you again,” Jade mentioned.

“I really miss them!” Olivia expressed. “And also, you gotta help me in chemistry,” her cousin looked at her with her darker than chocolate brown eyes, her look nearly begging Jade.

“Sure thing!” Jade saluted her cousin, as she left.

The feeling of safety seemed to escape her like sand slipping through her fingers. A sigh was pushed out of the space between her lips, as the brunette stepped inside the classroom and dumped her backpack next to the feet of her chair. She had picked out a spot in the back, as she had always been one of those who enjoyed working on her own.

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” a high-pitched voice reached Jade’s ears. The dark haired girl looked up from her notebook and into a pair of light brown eyes.

“No,” she brought her backpack closer to her chair, as she watched the blonde girl dump her things next to her.

“Thanks,” a sweet smile curved the girl’s lips, and Jade easily returned the gesture.

Her eyes scanned the girl easily. Her hair was bright and reached her shoulders. She was dressed in a pink tank top and a pair of tight faded jeans. As Jade took in the sight of her appearance, she couldn’t help but think about how she looked similar to the girl she had seen with Matt in the cafeteria. The pointed nose and defined cheekbones looked almost identical, not to mention the way her short hair framed her fair skinned face.

“I’m Michelle, by the way,” the girl spoke again, and all but snapped Jade out of her thoughts.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Jade,” the brunette said, as she met Michelle’s eyes in a brief moment.

“Are you new here? I don’t think I’ve seen you here before,” Michelle admitted.

“Yeah, I just moved here from Scranton,” Jade admitted, and she soon watched how the blonde girl nodded slowly in response.

“Oh,” Michelle seemed taken by surprise, as her light eyes trailed down Jade’s toned skin. “Welcome to Cali! You basically look like you’ve lived here your entire life,” she chuckled.

“Thanks, and I know! I was born in Huntington, but my parents travel a lot due to work. I guess it’s safe to say that I’m home again,” she explained, before pushing some thin strays of hair out of her face.

“Ah, I see! Then I bet the weather doesn’t freak you out?” Michelle sniggered.

“Yes, but no?” Jade giggled back, causing Michelle to join the laughter. “I mean, I knew Cali was hot, but not so awfully hot,” she admitted.

“I can imagine,” the blonde girl muffled. “It’s hot as hell,” she agreed.

A tall slender looking man walked into the class, bringing the door along with him, before he dumped his book on top of the teacher’s desk. He was dressed in a plain shirt and a pair of loose pants. The man had grey hair, and Jade could already tell he was the kind of teacher who had been teaching half of his life already.

“Good evening, students! Today we’re gonna have such an exciting class!” he clasped his hands together and knitted his eyebrows, meanwhile he swept his eyes across the room, making sure he earned everyone’s attention.

“Oh, I bet you must be Mrs Perez!” he announced, and Jade was already impressed by the sound of enthusiasm that followed his words. “Welcome to Ocean View High School! I’d like to speak with you later on,” Mr Moore said, eyeing the new brunette, who wanted to brush off the surplus attention she received from her new classmates right away.

The man soon went to reach out for his book, as he pulled up a paper from his desk. “Now, as I was saying,” Mr Moore returned his attention to the students. “We’re gonna start on this hand-in, which you’re gonna do in pairs. I’ve already paired you up, so let’s just pass this list around and then we’re gonna start,” he continued, before his finger let go of the paper so that it landed on top of a boy’s desk.

“Not exactly how I wanted my first class to be,” Jade admitted to Michelle, as group projects had always been her worst nightmare.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine, I mean, unless you really hate chemistry,” Michelle insured the petite brunette.

“Both of my parents studied it, so I’m kinda not allowed to,” Jade admitted, as Michelle’s eyebrows flew up on her forehead.

“Seriously? What are they working with now?” the blonde girl looked astonished by the information Jade had muffled out.

“They’re scientists. Both of them are working on finding an antidote for breast cancer,”

“Shit, that’s so cool! I bet you’re nailing this crap then,” her lips curved into a sincere smile, meanwhile Jade could feel the same heat from earlier that stretched out on her cheeks.

A girl with thick glasses and curly hair left the paper on top of Jade’s desk, as the brunette soon claimed the paper in her fingers and allowed her eyes to sweep over it.

Oh God. I'm with Brian.

“So, whose the lucky one?” Michelle asked, her fingers already lacing around her pencil.

“Uhm, he’s name is Brian or something,” Jade spoke in a low voice, still trying to swallow the fact that she got paired up with the one Olivia had pointed out as the worst.

“Oh, Brian! He’s a friend of mine!” Michelle announced, just as Jade’s eyebrows knitted on her forehead.

“Is he?” Jade sounded genuinely surprised.

“Yeah, or he’s a friend of my sister, but sometimes I hang out with them,” she corrected herself, before bringing some of her blonde locks behind her earlobe.

Just as Jade was about to open her mouth again, the sound of the classroom-door opened, revealing a dark haired guy with thin lips and a firm jaw. His cheekbones were well defined and she could see smudged eyeliner that framed his hazel brown eyes. He had a little shining piercing in his nose.

“Ah, Mr Haner. How nice of you to join us today,” the irony was all but dripping from Mr Moore’s voice, and Jade understood perfectly well what Olivia meant when she said the man could scare the crap out of you.

“What are we doing?” Brian muffled, his fingers buried inside the pockets of his baggy jeans.

“We’re starting on a group-project,” Mr Moore wasn’t even looking at the boy, as his eyes scanned through his papers.

“I’m on the same group as Val’s sister,” the brown haired guy announced, throwing a look into Michelle’s direction.

“He doesn’t know your name?” Jade glanced over at Michelle, completely taken aback by the guy’s attitude.

“I mean, he’s closer to Val than he is to me. I guess it’s fair to say we haven’t spoken that much,” Michelle sounded like she was excusing his behaviour.

“You don’t get to choose this. You’re paired up with Mrs Perez, so go to her desk,” Mr Moore only bothered to point him into the right direction, meanwhile a sigh left Brian’s lips.

Jade felt her jaw tighten by Brian already. This was gonna be one hell of a ride.

“I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this,” Jade whimpered to Michelle, meanwhile the blonde girl collected her things.

“He’s really nice once you get to know him,” she insured her, before bringing her bag over her shoulder and looking over at the girl she had been paired up with.

Brian glanced over at the empty spot next to Jade. Despite the fact that he wasn’t quite the observant type, he was pretty damned sure he’d never seen this girl before. Her hair was light brown and pulled into a high ponytail. Her skin was sun-kissed, her lashes long and dark and her lips rich and pinkish. Brian soon noticed the button denim dress she was wearing and her long smooth legs that had been crossed under the desk. As he plumped down next to her, the smell of peach darted into his nostrils. Brian felt almost taken aback by how amazingly good she smelled, before he glanced over at her with raised eyebrows.

“Did you listen to what I just said?” Jade asked, looking over at him and wondering what was going through his mind, as he seemed almost uncomfortable.

“Not at all,” he confessed dryly, causing Jade to press her lips together, almost like she had to prevent herself from punching him.

“I’m Jade,” she announced. The way she said it made it sound so extremely better than he thought it would.

“Brian,” he muttered back, trying to not let her notice how he was completely off guard.

“We’re apparently teamed up together, so let’s get to work,” Jade had already found the right page in her book, as her elbows landed on top of her desk.

Brian soon grabbed his chemistry book and dumped it on the desk, causing the girl to slightly jump in her seat by the sound of it.

“When are we handing in this shit?” he glanced over at her, and noticed how Jade seemed almost offended by the way he had worded himself.

“Two weeks,”

“Then what are you bitching about?” Brian cocked his eyebrows.

Jade’s eyes widened and it was almost she saw red the second the words left the tiny gap of his thin lips. She clenched her fists in her lap and scolded at him.

“Look, Brandon,” she started.

“It’s Brian,” he corrected her.

“Whatever. I’m not bitching just because I wanna get this over with, stop acting like a pathetic child,” Jade hissed, before she returned her gaze to the book.

Brian sniggered. He leaned back in his chair and shook his head, before he picked up his phone and paid all of his attention to his little screen. Jade could once again feel her jaw tighten in frustration, as her pen nearly pierced through the thin paper in her book by all the pressure she had applied with her hand.

This really was a nightmare.