Archaic (2 page)

She was right. I would know some of them.

"I've got to go or I'll miss the bus," I said. I emptied my cereal into the trash, gave Anne a quick kiss on her cheek and grabbed my school bag, rushing out of the house.

Once I was outside, I put my earphones in and randomly selected a song from my iPod. The bus stop wasn't far from home. After about ten minutes of waiting, I got on the bus and headed toward school. As one of the songs from my latest playlist sounded through my earphones, I stared out of the bus and took in the scenery. Despite the tranquil music, I was slowly getting more nervous the closer we got to school.

I'd worked myself up into a bundle of knots by the time the bus stopped outside. It was an old building made out of stone, and had a big sign above the front entrance that read 'White Cloud High School.' I was still early, so there weren't that many students littering the hallways as I made my way to the office to collect my schedule. It was still hard to believe I was going to the same high school my mom had attended.

A friendly-looking woman with glasses sat behind the counter as I entered into the front of the school. The office looked similar to the rest of the building, with brick walls and dark wood furniture. It was cozy and small, reminding me of the town in general.

"Ava Delaney?" she asked, looking at me with a little recognition in her eyes.

"Yes," I replied cautiously, because even though she seemed to know who I was, I had never met her before.

"You look just like your mother," she said, before adding, "I went to school with her."

"Um, thanks," I said, unsure of what to say.

She ruffled through some papers and then handed me my schedule and a map of the school with the number of my locker written on it.

"Thank you," I replied and walked out of the office and into the now busier hallways that were starting to fill up with students. With my schedule in one hand, I readjusted my bag's strap and walked down the hallway toward my locker. Some people stopped talking to stare at me, but I ignored them and kept my head down, attempting to walk straight to my locker.

It took me longer to find my locker than expected. I'd had to retrace my steps a few times before I finally found it. I kept the books I'd need for the next few classes and put the rest in my locker. I spun the combination and then started to walk toward my first class. As I made my way down the hall, people were whispering around me.

When I got to the classroom, I was the first student in the room. I walked to the back of the class and sat down in a seat closest to the windows. The other students filtered into the classroom, but I ignored them and kept my gaze focused on the view outside the classroom. I could hear people talking and chairs scraping against the floor as students began to take their seats. Once the noise settled down, I took a quick glance around the room and saw a girl with long brown hair and toffee brown eyes with her focus firmly on me.

"Ava?" the girl asked, like she was trying to place me.

I studied the girl close and realized I knew her.

"Stacy," I murmured and she smiled as the recognition set in.

"I forgot my mom mentioned you'd moved in with your grandmother," she added.

I'd met her a few times when I'd spent time at Anne's house. I think the last time I'd seen her had been about four years ago. Any chance of catching up was cut short when the science teacher entered the class. According to my schedule, his name was Mr. Lang. He began talking in the front of the class and took my attention away from the girl beside me.

An hour later, the bell rang for the next class. I packed my books quickly into my bag while Stacy stood waiting for me.

"What class have you got next?" she asked. I opened up my schedule to check as we walked out of the class.

"It looks like I've got Spanish," I replied as we continued to walk together down the hall.

"I've got biology and it's right next door, so I'll walk with you," she offered.

Just outside the classroom, my steps slowed when a guy walking past caught my attention. Stacy seemed to be looking in the same direction.

He was by far the most gorgeous guy I had ever seen. Standing well over six feet tall, his black shirt hugged his lean build and I was almost certain I could see the outline of a six-pack on his stomach. Dark jeans hung loosely on his hips and his tousled, nearly jet-black hair framed the most beautiful face I had ever seen.

Everything about him was perfect. He looked like a model who'd just stepped off the front cover of a magazine as he made his way through the hallway while we continued to openly stare at him. In our defense, most of the female population in the small vicinity had stopped to do the same. I felt my heart flutter to life as my eyes stayed glued to him, unable to pull my gaze away.

He seemed oblivious to the attention as he strode purposefully with two guys walking on either side of him. His two friends were also good looking, but they were nothing compared to him. They both had dark brown hair, and all three were about the same height. One of guys had short hair, and he had the biggest build. The other follower had slightly longer hair that just reached past his ears.

Finally, when they disappeared into the crowd and down the hallway, I turned to Stacy who was shaking her head at me with a knowing smile.

"Who was that?" I asked, unable to hide my interest or the fact that my heart was beating a million times a minute.

"The guy in the middle with the short hair is Jared Walker," Stacy said as we began to walk in the opposite direction from where Jared and his friends had gone. "The guy with the longer hair is Tyler Miller and the other guy is Danny Johnson."

Jared Walker
. I repeated his name in my thoughts.

"It's hard not to look," she admitted, before she pulled herself back together. "Let's get to our next class before we're late. I don't think perving over guys will be a good enough excuse."

I smiled but could feel my heart beating erratically at the after-effects of having laid eyes on Jared Walker. Trying to settle my heart, I pushed thoughts of him out of my mind as I walked beside Stacy while we made our way to our next class.

By the end of the morning, we'd caught up on what had happened in the years since we'd seen each other. Her parents had divorced and she now lived with her mom and she saw her father every alternate weekend. I couldn't imagine my parents anything but in love and blissfully happy.

"Come on! It's time for lunch," she said enthusiastically as she looped her arm through mine and dragged me toward the cafeteria. So far my day was going better than I'd expected. In the cafeteria, Stacy and I collected our food. She scanned the tables and then pulled me along until we came to a table where another girl was seated already.

"Ava, this is Kennedy," she said, introducing me to the girl already seated at the table. Kennedy was very pretty, with short brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Hi, Ava," she replied with a friendly smile as she scooted over so Stacy could sit by her, and I took the seat opposite them.

I relayed the reason I'd moved in with my grandmother and Stacy told her how we knew each other. In my short conversations with them, I'd already worked out that Stacy seemed to be bubbly and outspoken, and seemed to say exactly what was on her mind whether it was appropriate or not. Kennedy was the more reserved one. Stacy's attention turned to a guy she had a crush on. Kennedy was listening patiently as my attention drifted from them to scan the cafeteria.

It didn't take long for my eyes to settle on Jared, who was sitting with four students. My eyes drifted over the people who sat with him at the table. My curiosity made it impossible to pull my gaze away from him.

A strange feeling settled inside me when my eyes fixed on the two girls who were now talking to Jared and his two friends. Jared sat beside one girl, who had the most vibrant red hair I'd ever seen--it was straight and reached past her shoulders. His friends sat on either side of the other girl, who had short dark brown hair, which suited her narrow features and sharp cheekbones perfectly.

The strange feeling that had settled inside of me grew stronger when the redhead leaned closer to Jared. He leaned closer and whispered something into her ear and a smile tugged at her lips.

"The girl with the short hair is Neve Miller, Tyler is her brother. The one flirting with Jared is Felicity Young." I turned to look back at Stacy, who began to explain who was who at the table. "There are rumors going around that Felicity and Jared are together, but you never really see them kiss or hold hands."

I couldn't tear my gaze away from the group even as the bell rang. Stacy stood up first, but only when Kennedy joined her did I finally drag my gaze from the group of must-be-models and got up from the table, hitching the strap of my school bag over my shoulder, and followed my new friends out of the cafeteria.

I wanted to give in to the temptation of looking back one last time as I walked to the exit, but I kept my eyes fixed in front of me.

CHAPTER TWO

The rest of day went by quickly. The few times I saw Jared, I felt a flutter of excitement, but our eyes never met. There was something about him that pulled at me, and I found my eyes searching for him in the hallways between classes. It was so unlike me; I'd never felt this type of pull to a guy before.

Stacy and Kennedy had swapped numbers with me at the end of the day. They programmed their numbers into my new touch-screen phone my mom had bought me six months ago. I waved the two girls off just outside the school as I made my way to the bus.

It was only a short bus ride to my grandmother's house. I dumped my school bag at the entrance and walked into the kitchen to get something to eat. I reached for a green apple and took a bite before I headed upstairs to do homework. For the first day of school, we didn't get a lot of homework but there was enough to keep me busy for half an hour before I was done. It was still early and Anne wouldn't be home until later. She did most of her work from an office in town although she did travel often to the city to fulfill appointments with her bigger clients.

I couldn't help my thoughts from drifting back to the gorgeous boy I'd seen at school. He seemed to be the typical hot guy that knew it and walked around with an ego to match. I don't know why I couldn't stop thinking about him. I knew enough about guys to know that one who looked like him wouldn't be single. I remembered what Stacy had said about there being rumors that he was with Felicity, and if their intimate interaction at lunchtime was anything to go by, those rumors were true. How sad was my life that I was fascinated with a guy who didn't even know I existed?

My experience with guys was limited. I hadn't even been kissed before. I was shy around boys. I hadn't met a guy who'd actually affected me like Jared had. The effect on me had been instant. I'd felt my heart flutter to life at the sight of him. Was it the start of a crush?

I let out a frustrated sigh. I needed to stop thinking about him and the only way to do that would be to keep myself busy. The less free time I had, the less time I had to think about him. With my mind made up, I pushed all thoughts of Jared out of my mind. I glanced at the bedside clock. I still had some time before Anne would be home, so I went downstairs and switched on the TV.

Later the door opened and I stood up to greet Anne as she arrived home.

"Hi, sweetheart," she said, setting her briefcase down beside the table in the entrance and shrugging out of her coat.

"Hi," I greeted her, giving her a brief kiss to her cheek.

"How was your day?" she asked as I followed her into the kitchen.

As I began to relay the events of my day, she began to make supper. She was making spaghetti and meatballs, which was one of my childhood favorites.

"I saw Stacy today," I told her.

"How is she doing?" she asked as she put the spaghetti into the boiling water on the stove. "The last I heard, her parents were getting divorced."

"Yeah, they're divorced. She's good, though. She lives with her mom on the other side of town."

I talked as Anne finished up with the cooking. I got the plates out and dished up our food before we sat down by the kitchen table and began to eat our food.

"So good," I murmured between bites. Anne was an amazing cook.

She smiled at my enthusiasm for her food.

"So were there any cute boys?" she asked, taking me by surprise. It was so weird to hear my grandmother talk about boys like that.

There was only one who stood out for me, and cute wasn't the word I would use to describe him.

"Not really," I said, trying to get away from the subject of boys. I didn't want to talk about the guy who I hadn't been able to stop thinking about.

Her knowing smile widened. She could read me well. Like an open book.

"How was work?" I countered, trying to steer the conversation away to safer subjects.

"It was good," she answered, allowing me to change the subject.

I had no idea exactly what her job entailed and I was pretty sure even if she explained it I wouldn't understand anyway.

"You'd better call your parents and let them know how your first day at school went," she said as we started clearing up the dirty dishes on the table.