Chapter 1

"Jared! Dinner!."

My mother yelled at me from the kitchen. I ignored it, my eyes stuck to the letter in my hands. I gasped as droplets hit the letter. I hadn't realized I'd been crying.

"JARED. NOW."

I dropped the letter and turned, running out of my room. I wiped my tears on my sleeve, embarrassed and not wanting my family to know that I'd been crying.

"Dude, you alright man?"

My friend's voice shook me out of my reverie.

CLANG

"FUCK!" I yelled as I crashed into the metal, support beam. A couple of girls giggled nearby. I blushed and looked down at the ground. My friend Bryan grinned at me and offered his hand in support.

"Thanks." I patted the dust off my jeans. I noticed that Bryan was staring at me. "What?"

Bryan blinked. His face turned serious.

"Dude, you've been out of it ever since Katrina broke up with you."

Sigh. Not this shit again. Bryan must've seen the look in my eyes.

"Look man. Its over and done with. You gotta move on.You're still young! You got all of high school to get another girlfriend."

I grimaced. "I gave my whole life to her Bry. I don't know what I did wrong." I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"That's why you've got to get out of your shell. Go hang out with your friends."

I felt a pit form in my stomach. "What friends?" As much as I hated to admit it, I think I knew what had pushed Katrina away from me. I had been so infatuated with Katrina that I neglected my old friends. "You're probably the only person I'd consider a friend. But we've known each other since we were little. So you don't really count."

Bryan looked at me with pity in his eyes. "I told you J, it's not a good idea to get too attached." He lightly patted my shoulder. "Cheer up bro, I think this is actually good for you. You've been so lost in this wonderland fantasy with Katrina that you haven't really gotten to experience high school. Cherish your moment here. Time flies by quickly."

He glanced at his Junior friends waiting nearby. "I've gotta bounce J, but seriously. Cheer up! Things can only get better from here."

He's right. I gotta pull my ass out of my head. I gave him a faint smile. "Thanks Bryan." I was grateful for his support.

Bryan smiled when he noticed the improved look in my eyes. "Gotta watch out for my favorite freshman," he grinned. He gave me a little wave as he turned and went to his friends. Watching him for a second longer, I felt a twinge in my stomach as he laughed with his friends. Sometimes I wished that we were the same age.

Ringgggggggg

Oh shit I moved quickly, realizing that I was going to be late.

Thankfully, my Biology teacher Mrs. Allan did not care too much about tardiness. I managed to squeeze myself into an open seat near the back of the room. As Mrs. Allan took roll, my mind started to wander. What a way to start off high school.

My name is Jared Cook. I'm 14 years old and I've been a high school Freshmen at Mission San Jose High School for about a month now. I had just come out of a six month relationship with my ex Katrina. It was rather childish the way we broke up. Her best friend Andrea came up to me one day and handed me a letter. Inside, Katrina had written some cheesy song lyrics about "Never Forgetting You" and "I Will Always Love You" and stuff. Yeah, it was extremely corny but hey, what'd you expect? We were both Freshmen.

Anyways, since high school started, I had not really gotten to meet new people. Instead, I always either had my hand around Katrina's waist or over her shoulder. She was my everything. I even had plans to finally kiss her at the upcoming Homecoming Dance. It was kind of why the breakup had hurt so much. I was completely caught unaware.

"Jared Cook?"

I blinked, my mind snapping back to reality as Mrs. Allan called my name.

"Here," I chirped. As she continued down the list, I sank back into my chair. Hmm?

I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I turned and looked right into the eyes of the girl sitting next to me. She quickly turned to face Mrs. Allan as she realized I had caught her staring, blushing as she did so. I glanced at her briefly wondering if I should say something. However, Mrs. Allan started to lecture and I lost my nerve.

Damnit.

This day had been a failure. Although I had tried and see if I could meet some of my classmates, it seemed like everyone already had their groups and cliches formed. As I walked through the quad, I looked at how every group was segregated in their own area.

I stood awkwardly in the middle of the quad, not sure where to go.

"Hey Jared!"

I turned to see Bryan and his Junior friends standing nearby.

"Come and meet some of my friends."

I took one last glance around the quad and thought. What the hell.

I walked over. "Hey."

"Oooooo. He's cute," smiled a girl who was seated. "Is this your little brother?"

Jared explained to his friends that we were close family friends and that I had come out of a relationship which is why no one really saw me around. As he talked, I stared at the girl who had called me "cute." Her long black hair was tied back in a ponytail. She was wearing a maroon tank top with white cutoff shorts. My eyes wandered down her long legs that ended at a pair of brown boots.

I looked at her face and noticed that she caught me staring. Her eyes twinkling, she gave me a smile.

"Oops!" She said as her phone dropped onto the ground. I watched, my eyes captivated, as she bent over with an exaggerated slowness to pick up her phone. My eyes shot down as I was given a nice glance down her shirt. She had very nice developed breasts, and they were much larger than an average Asian girl's. When our eyes met again, I could tell that she had done it on purpose and I blushed furiously.

Chapter 2 »