Chapter Two

The strangeness begins and where will it lead? More Chapters soooon!

    Loveless by Charlotte Willow. I’d finished the book in just a day, but the whole time I read it I felt as though I knew exactly what would happen next.
    I threw my backpack over my shoulder and pushed open the door. “Bye mom!” I called. I shut the door behind me and ran down the porch stairs and stood at the corner to wait for the bus. It was already 7:09 and the bus typically came at 7:05. I looked back and forth but didn’t see any sign of it. I waited a little longer, but it still hadn’t appeared. Jack walked over to me, limping a little.
    “Hi!” I said smiling at him. He looked back at me, returning my smile.
    “Did we miss the bus?” He asked.
    “Hmm I think we did.” I said casually. I had already been waiting ten minutes and it was yet to arrive.
    “Shoot. Do you know your way there?”
    “I think so.” I said, slightly confused by the question. “You know it’s too far to walk and we’d be awfully late if we did.” He stood staring at the sky for a moment. He didn’t say anything so I suggested we call my friend’s mom to see if she could give us a ride.
    “I think I have a better idea.” He grinned really wide at me and I realized how cute he was. “Follow me.” He said and took off in the direction of our houses.
    “Hey! Where are you going?” I ran after him and soon caught up. He stopped in front of his house and pulled a key from his pocket. He stuck it in his front door and went inside. I waited outside for him and he stumbled back out with his red bike. It had been fixed and gotten new tires.
    “We’re biking?” I asked, wondering how we were both going to fit on the one bike.
    “Yeah, here you stand on the pegs.” He pointed to two small pegs sticking out of the back of the bike.
    “No way! I’ll fall!” I rejected his idea. I had tried riding on the pegs of my friend’s bike before and it always resulted in me getting scraped up.
    “Come on!” He pleaded with me. It was strange how we had become friends so quickly. I already felt so comfortable around him. I pouted and shook my head again.
    “Well how do you plan to get to school then?” He teased. He got on the bike and rid closer to me and smiled at me real big again.
    “Alright” I gave in.
    “Great. Put your hands on my shoulder.” He directed me. I stepped up on the first peg and cautiously put my hand on him. His shoulder was muscular and warm, it made me less nervous. I put my other leg on the bike and struggle to keep my balance with my backpack. I steadied my hands on his shoulders and he pushed off. We wobbled a bit at first, but he caught his balance quickly.
    “You okay?” He asked. To be honest I was totally freaked out about falling, but I tried to act cool.
    “Yeah I’m good.” I said, my voice shaking a little.
    “Then would you mind not grabbing my shoulders so tightly?” He laughed at me.
    I lessened my grip realizing I had probably been suffocating him. I laughed a little embarrassed and explained the way to the school. He got the idea quickly and he picked up the speed.
    The wind blew through my hair and I felt like I was in an old romance movie. One where the girl rides on the boy’s handle bars and smiles as they ride into the sunset. Of course this was a little different though.
    We arrived at school rather quickly and I jumped off the pegs. “Thanks.” I said, unsure of what else I should say. We still had five minutes till class started so I didn’t need to rush yet.
    “Nah, I kinda owed you for the other day.” He said.
    “Right. So where’s your first class?”
    “Biology. Room 322.”
    “I can show you there if you’d like. It’s kind of a big school.” I suggested. He nodded and we walked inside together and I led him to the third floor where his locker and classroom were. It was only a minute to the bell when we said our goodbyes and I dashed down the staircase to math. I walked in the door just as the bell rung and sat down in my desk feeling tired already.
    Jack ended up being in my world history class, but we never got a chance to talk. He had smiled at me though when he came in.

I took the bus home, but my friends pulled me into a seat before I could sit by Jack. I talked with my friends the whole way home, but I wasn’t really listening. I kept thinking of Jack. He was sitting behind me and I could feel his eyes on me the entire time.

When the bus reached my stop I got off and waited for Jack. He hopped off the bus smiling brightly at me.   

“Hi, Iris.” He said and we started walking to our houses.”

“How was your first day?” I asked.

“Good, I guess. Not much different from my old school, though everyone seems nicer.”

I walked stepping on all the cracks on the sidewalk as I had since I was a child. I didn’t look up at Jack as we kept walking and he suddenly stopped. We were just two houses from mine now.  I looked back at him and his cheery expression had turned sad.

“Do you always do that?” He asked staring at my feet.

“Stepping on the cracks? Yeah, it’s just a habit I’ve had since I was little. Weird isn’t it?” I said. He didn’t answer, but started walking again. His face was still sad and I didn’t understand why.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him.

“It’s nothing. I’ll see you later.” He walked ahead and went into his house leaving me alone on the sidewalk. I felt a strange ache in my heart and I stood there for a moment. I’d been having this feeling a lot lately. It was sort of indescribable, but I got it whenever I as around him. This time it was stronger though. Almost painful.