<strong>Chloe and James after school.<br/>Apple and Bane JP</strong><br/><br/>The end of school was always a bit of a nightmare. Every single student swarming in the same direction. Chloe didn’t have time to change out of her gym gear, she wanted to make it to Mrs. Woolards class before she left so she could get her phone back. She hopped around and dodged her way through the crowd dressed in her gym shorts and a fitted singlet. Her long dark hair was tied up in a ponytail and her bag was slung carelessly across her shoulder and whacked into people as she pushed her way past them.<br/><br/>Bursting into the classroom, her face still flushed from practice and the run over she marched up to the desk and out stretched her hand. She didn’t even ask she just demanded with her presence and her obvious self-sense of entitlement. The teacher did not even make eye contact she kept her eyes on the tests she was marking and passed the phone over but did not let it go. Chloe tried to snatch it but the teacher held it firmly. “Thank you” Chloe said her face in obvious disgust at the words but they did the trick and the teacher let go.<br/><br/>Chloe turned her beloved device on and found a clear spot in the sun at the front of the school and sat down to wait for her mum to pick her up. She stretched her legs out into the sunshine and waited for her phone to load. The anticipation was about to kill her, she needed to know if James had text.  She had seen him in world history, but the presence of her friends meant that she had to sit with them instead of him. She had smiled and waved and couldn’t help but look over at him throughout the entire class, Her cheeks blushing every time their eyes met. God she had forgotten how long phones took to start up, this is why she never turned it off!<br/><br/>He smiled with the welcome sound of the bell pealing loud enough to be heard all over the school, and he stood up from the OLE class. It was sickeningly easy because his mother, conscientiously minded angel that she was, decided when James was 5 that she would only speak with him in her native language. Of course, the little guy had watched her speaking perfect, if accented English with his father, and he was jealous. But now he was thankful for her efforts. She was a very astute woman, smart, and with only her children’s best interests at heart. He smiled, stretching, having to step away from his chair to do so, flexing his entire body as he sighed softly. Damn. Nothing better than that sweet, sweet bell ringing.<br/><br/>He stepped out of the classroom, wincing at the sudden sound of 3000 kids feeling the same as he, but being far more boisterous about it. His brow furrowed. He looked around. He had his pack, his gear was in there too. Phone was in his pocket...<br/><br/>Aaaaah... phone. He looked at his hand, seeing the number written there. It hadn’t smudged. What kind of pen had she used? No matter. He felt his breath flutter a bit at thinking about her. He hadn’t been expecting history class to be so interesting. Not because of the French Revolution that they Had been studying in depth there. He knew Chloe wouldn’t have sat with him during class. Hell, they had spoken in detention, hardly the finest way to get to meeting each other. He just hadn’t expected her to be looking at him when his eyes trailed accidentally to where she was seated. Small smiles and waves sent his way had nearly sent him into heart arrest, or at least that was what it felt like, with his heart beating like a drum at a rock concert. He almost forgot to breath for a few times. To his own credit, he didn’t blush, at least not noticeably, and he waved and smiled back. He typed in her number and pressed ‘text’. His finger worked quickly, used the cramped keyboard of the phone.<br/><br/>“Hey. Wanna talk?”<br/><br/>Chloe watched as her phone finally loaded up. A tonne of messages were waiting for her, she sat up straight with excitement flicking her way through them to see if any of them were from James. There was one. Her stomach erupted into butterflies. Did she want to talk? Did rain fall from the sky? Of course she wanted to talk! She smiled that idiot smile he always seemed to give her as she tapped out her reply.<br/><br/>“Sure thing! Where are you?”<br/><br/>James almost jumped when the phone buzzed. Almost, mind. She had answered fast. Hadn’t she said that her phone had been taken? His hand dug into the pants of his jeans and pulled the phone out. One new message. He opened and it and, damn, if it wasn’t her. He grinned, and pressed the button that would end with him sending a return. He  typed quicker than before.<br/><br/>“Out here in the hall. Where b u?”<br/><br/>Chloe tapped out her reply quickly. She rarely went half an hour without sending a text she was a pro at getting them out fast and without error.<br/><br/>“Front of the school by the car park waiting for my mum she is 15 mins away. You can catch me if you run”<br/><br/>James caught the message. If he ran? She wanted him to run across the school? Ah well. He wouldn’t run. But he would hurry. He moved through the crowds of kids, taking to the right of the hall, since all of the students were gathered on the left side, where all of the lockers were, putting their stuffs away, and talking to friends about how dorky one prof looked, and how so-and-so’s shirt showed too much of her boobs. James never paid them any heed anyway. He was halfway there in a minute, and he typed out a message for her:<br/><br/>“Almost there...”<br/><br/>He slid outside the doors, into the parking lot, and saw her there waiting. He slipped in behind her, lightly, agilely, moved in beside her,” Hey there.”<br/><br/>With his impending arrival Chloe got to her feet and suddenly noticed she still had not changed from  cheer practice. She tugged the hair tie from her hair and flipped her head upside down, fluffing out any kinks and then quickly styled it with her fingers. Her gym gear would just have to do she did not have time to change. She smiled at his text and was about to tap out a reply when he came up beside her making her jump slightly.<br/><br/>“Hey” She smiled “That was quick.” She drank him in, eyes wandering over his physique, lingering on her favorite bits. Then she blushed slightly and looked down at her shoes. “How was your day?” She asked bringing her gaze back up to meet his.<br/><br/>He watched her reaction at his arrival, smiling as he moved over to closer to her. Not too close. He still wasn’t sure just what the girl thought of him, and he didn’t want to impose himself on her. He looked up and smiled, bringing up the right half of his lips in a charming half-smile. He didn’t know that it was charming, of course, but it was anyway. Gave him that sort of youngish rogue, and yet innocent look. He never practiced it. It just came naturally, he supposed.<br/><br/>“I am a rather fast on my feet,,” He said, chuckling,” My day was good, thanks for askin’. How was yours?” Awkward, dumb ass. Awkward. You couldn’t come up with something better than that? He thought to himself.<br/><br/>Chloe couldn’t wipe the smile off her face, he could be talking about stomping on kittens and she would still wear the smile. “Been lonely without my phone, But generally a good first day” she nodded and looked over her shoulder to make sure her mum or worse yet Jessica wasn’t around. “Did you make it through the day without any more fights?” She teased.<br/><br/>He smiled at her mention of missing her phone, knowing that he would feel the same way if he was parted from his own,” Been there,” He said with a chuckle. He looked up when she asked if he had been in any more fights. He had missed the joking tone in her question, and he didn’t like being made fun of like that. But when he saw her eyes, he saw that she was playing around, and he smiled, and even laughed a bit,” I barely got by,” He said, a mock-serious expression on his face,” But I powered through. I am very proud of myself,” He smiled then, not able to keep up the seriousness in his face.<br/><br/>“So... uh...” He looked around,” Does your mom have to pick you up now? We could walk home, I think? I need to pass by the track for a bit...”<br/><br/>Before he even got the last word of his question out Chloe had her phone out and was texting her mother. She knew she would be pissed about having to turn around in the after school traffic but it was worth it. I mean the hot guy was offering to walk her home, that was just stupid to refuse. “No, I mean yes, I mean yes please” Chloe nodded blushing at her fumble of words “That would be nice” Her house was a good fourty minutes walk away but she decided she wouldn’t tell him that much until they were over half way there. “What do you do at the track?” She asked.<br/><br/>Well, he was, again, pleasantly surprised to find that she was eager enough to want to walk home with him. It seemed like a good plan. They would get to talking, and away from her bothersome friends that seemed to have decreed, for some reason, that he was not cool enough to be dating material for her or the other cheerleaders. He shook his head. Sometimes, high school just sucked. Sucked, and not in the nice way either. He shoved that thought away. For now, he was walking home with Chloe, and all seemed awesome for him at the moment.<br/><br/>“Well, it is a racing track... I kinda hold Parkour as a hobby, and sometimes my friends and I head over there to practice. It’s not a track, really. Just an abandoned building site. A bit run down, but perfect for our purposes,” He decided that now was probably not a good time to tell her that that was where he had injured his ankle, and maybe she hadn’t even noticed that it had been injured at all.<br/><br/>Chloe nodded even though she had no idea what parkour was but pulled her bag up on her shoulder and followed his lead anyways. “Umm….” She felt stupid asking “I don’t actually know what parkour is…” She said rather quietly “Is it some kind of sport?” She guessed it had to be something physical you didn’t get a rocking body like James had unless you were physical a lot.<br/><br/>Okay. He decided to stop expecting of her, and he would stop being pleasantly surprised. Well, maybe being pleasantly surprised was a good thing, so he smiled. He hadn’t thought that she would be interested in his hobby at all,” Well, it was invented by the French, as the name suggests, and basically, it is the art of getting around fast,” he smiled,” It involves a lot of jumping, climbing, and stuff like that... if you’’re interested, I could show you a couple moves. I am a bit rusty, haven’t practiced for a few weeks, so... yeah,” He finished and looked over to her,” What are your hobbies? Other than cheer leading, I guess...”<br/><br/>“So you weren’t lying when you said you were quick on your feet” she giggled and nodded when he offered to show her some moves “If you think I could, I am not as strong as you, obviously” She said poking at her tiny bicep “But I do keep fit for squad” She walked along beside him, her eye caught his hand swinging by his side and she wanted nothing more then for him to hold her own. “Hobbies?” She said looking back up at him as they walked blushing a little in case he noticed her staring “Nothing” she said with a shake of her head “The squad takes up the majority of my time.”<br/><br/>James nodded, absently flexing his own arm when she poked at hers. It was a reflex. Not something that he did intentionally. He didn’t even notice that he did it,” Of course I meant it,” He chuckled softly,” I mean what I say,” He nodded sagely. He couldn’t believe it when she said that she had no hobbies,” What do you do for fun then?”<br/><br/>“The squad is fun” She said with a very honest nod “All my friends are on the team, what more could I want?” She asked and as she said it she blushed and looked away. A boyfriend perhaps? “I worked real hard to get my place, I know every one thinks we are all varnished nails, perfume and high pitch voices but we put in a lot of time and effort. We are athletes too you know.”<br/><br/>He nodded. Of course she was an athlete. He didn’t tend to go to the games, but sometimes he did, when friends coerced him into doing so, and he had seen some of the acrobatics that these girls could pull off. He looked around and saw nothing to distract her from what she was saying, so he simply gave it to her straight,” Of course you are. I have seen the stuff that you girls do and it is damn impressive,” He flexed his arm again,” But not quite in the league of what me and my friends do,” Definitely not me, he finished the sentence in his mind,” Completely different. A couple of my friends should be there now. They can give off a better show and I can, I think. Not for long, though, until I get back my rhythm.”<br/><br/>Chloe smiled watched him intently as he spoke. He was obviously very proud of his parkour, what ever it is. Chloe almost tripped over her own tongue as she noticed the muscle in his arm flex. What she wouldn’t give to grab that arm, or better yet have it grab her. “What do you mean when you get your rhythm back?” She questioned “You look fit to me” She said trying to fight off the small blush on her cheeks<br/><br/>He smiled,” I am always fit. It’s not a matter of fitness, though,” He could have gone on and on and on about how good parkour was, but he didn’t want to bore her about it,” Well, reflexes have been dulled with lack of practice, certain muscles have gone a little soft for the same reason,” He frowned suddenly. ‘Soft muscles’ could easily be misinterpreted,” I mean... you know...” He scowled, words starting to be formed with more difficulty.<br/><br/>Chloe grinned “No its okay, I understand” She said trying to put the hot James out of his misery. “Will your friends mind if I am there?” She asked and then bit her tongue. She should probably ask if they wouldn’t mind not telling Jessica or Ashley she was there but she didn’t want to insult him.<br/><br/>James shook his head thoughtfully,” No, not really... I think they will actually enjoy the fact that a girl is watching them,” He caught her worried look,” Oh, and don’t worry... none of them study around our school, so none of them are gonna tell your friends,” He meant it in the best way possible, but he felt wrong saying it. Like he was debasing himself.<br/><br/>Chloe felt really bad now “Its not that I am shamed…its just…” She sighed and pulled her hair back off her face “Girls can be bitches you know? Especially some of the ones I associate with,” She looked to James to make sure he wasn’t insulted. She really did like him, or at least what she had seen so far and she was excited to learn about this parkour thing he liked so much. She reached out and touched his wrist lightly with her fingers, brushing them down his palm and snuggling her hand into his. Her stomach clenched and her nerves tingled. She hoped the gesture was enough to show what she felt and that he wouldn’t reject her.<br/><br/>She reached out to touch his hand and he smiled. He could have been angry. He could have been pissed off that she would be ashamed to be seen with him. But he knew precisely what she was talking about, since he had talked with Helen about it a few times. The girls on the cheerleading team could be bitches, in the bad sense of the word, and, even though, physically, he classified as something that they might be interested in, he hung out with the wrong people, namely, his friend Helen. He didn’t feel like she was a dead weight in his climbing to the top of the social ladder in school. He felt more like she was saving him from getting involved with that crowd. He really wouldn’t have fit in with them anyway. Well, until now. Until he was talking to one of them, and saw that she was... well, beyond nice. But, since she seemed more the exception of the rule, he was still thankful to Helen for that. He took her small hand in his larger one, and gave it a gentle squeeze,” I know. Don’t worry about it.”<br/><br/>Chloe sighed linking her fingers with his. It was such a simple act but it made her legs weak and her heart almost arrest in her chest. The world seemed a little brighter and her senses more alert due to the little burst of adrenaline his touch gave her. And in that moment she wanted to open up and tell him all her deepest darkest secrets. But she bit her tongue and just enjoyed his contact and wore the smile he gave her with pride.<br/>