<span class="bbc_u"><em><strong>September 5th, 2012, Before school</strong></em></span><br/><br/>Susan. Susan was forced to have the day off “sick” because her grandmother was sick in hospital and the family needed to say their good byes. Not like Susan cared all that much she would much rather be at school. Just one day off was hard enough to come back from. Not so much the school work that was enough but it was the social side of things that were the most damaging. Lots of things could happen in a day.<br/><br/>“Just arriving now” Chloe tapped out as she started to walk down the street to the school. She was dressed in tight blue jeans, A white shirt and her favourite pair of chucks. Her hair was loose and her face was clean.<br/><br/>“Are you with any one? Is Ashley angry I am not there?” Susan replied.<br/><br/>“No. I don’t know. I miss you.” She replied strolling slowly into the school grounds. She really did not want to see Ashely if she was going to be completely honest. Not without Susan and especially not after her little fight with Chantee yesterday. Changing direction so she wouldn’t have to walk past where the girls all displayed themselves in the morning she text James instead. Just his name on her screen was enough to pull her smile out of hiding.<br/><br/>“You here yet?” She asked<br/><br/>James moved out of bed, his eyes bleary. He hated getting up early. He really did. Even though he tried to do so every day, he wished he could just sleep in. He wasn’t much of a morning person anyway. Nevertheless, he trudged out of bed, and put on his clothes. He looked around in the dark for the switch, missing a few times before finally getting it. The light flashed on and he blinked and winced, scowling at the bulb in his room before grabbing the clothes and putting them on, slipping into the kitchen. He debated whether he should have some breakfast here, at home, since Helen was probably going to want to hang with Isi instead of him. He quelled the small squirt of jealousy that had sprouted, and he quickly slapped together a sandwich, eating it with a glass of orange juice. He was out in a minute.<br/><br/>He moved at a better pace, determined to get to school earlier than he had the day before, even though he was leaving later. His thighs burned, as did his calves, as he worked quickly breathing in through his nose, and exhaling with his mouth, sweat starting to gather on his brow. He growled as he was halfway there, looking at his watch, and he was already ahead of schedule. He took a second for a breather, and kept moving onward.<br/><br/>Right when he came in view of the school, his phone buzzed and he stopped right on front of it, picking it out of his pocket. He felt his chest clench a mite when he saw who was the sender. The afternoon before had been perfect, even though he had only performed the simpler jumps and manoeuvres. She had enjoyed the show, and his friends had liked that he had brought a girl over, He liked it too, but tried not to show it over much. Afterwards, he had walked her to her home, and had promised to call her later.<br/><br/>“Am now. Where are you?”<br/><br/>Chloe smiled as he text back almost instantaneously.  She paused in the empty corridor she was walking down and leaned against the wall tapping out her reply.<br/><br/>“The scary cold corridor by the maths rooms (: Wanna hang out before the bell?”<br/><br/>She wondered what kind of reaction she would get from the girls for not turning up at the front of the school to gossip and judge like they usually would do. But without Susan it seemed pointless, she was well aware without Susan she was nothing. And after her tiff with Chantee and her failed stunt with Helen she really did not want to face them without Susan. Would James know how pathetic she was? Did Helen tell him? Chloe chewed on her bottom lip now suddenly nervous to see him.<br/><br/>James’ phone buzzed in his hands, indicating an almost instant response, and he looked at what she had written. Scary cold corridor by the maths rooms? He ran his mind over the blueprint of the school that he had looked at a while back, and maybe, just maybe, he knew where she was talking about. All the different social groups had a different name for the different places inside the school, after all, and it was irritating sometimes, like now. He shrugged, and went for his first guess, arriving there, shivering a bit as he rubbed his muscular arms, and looked around,” You here?” He asked aloud. He recalled that he had forgotten to text her back, saying that he was getting over there.<br/><br/>“Anybody?”<br/><br/>Chloe watched as James arrived at the opposite end of the corridor. He was hot. Oh so very bloody hot. She had almost forgotten just how hot he was. Her nervousness forgotten she walked forward out the shadows, her arms crossed over her chest and her hands rubbing at her upper arms to try warm her up “Hey, you got here quick” She smiled quickly closing the distance between them. “I forgot to thank you for yesterday” She said with a light blush “I had lots of fun, Thanks”<br/><br/><br/>He smiled when he saw her, half afraid that she might have found something more important to do, or someone more important to be with. It wasn’t jealousy, right? It was just... He shook his head. It was nothing, and that was that. He saw her trying to warm herself up in the chilly room and he, reflexively, moved in closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, and pulling her close. His body was still warm from the run, and he smiled, not quite sure why he had done that, but it felt more snug than he had anticipated. He smiled again, blushing a bit, hoping she wouldn’t see,” I had fun too, so no need to thank me, Chloe.”<br/><br/>Chloe froze as James moved in, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. It wasn’t something she was used too but he was warm and he smelled amazing and her instincts soon took over, guiding her tightly into his side, she breathed him in and absorbed his warmth. With the corridor being deserted she was completely at ease, but within the next few minutes people would start to trickle through on their way to home room. “Thanks” she mumbled twisting her fingers, always reaching for the ring on her finger that was now absent “Your friends seemed real nice” She said looking up at him from her snug spot in his side “Maybe you could take me there again sometime….if you wanted too…”<br/><br/>He enjoyed their closeness, her moving in to press herself against him. He smiled, feeling protective and very comfortable with her in his arms. But then he felt her stiffen, like she had seen a rattlesnake. And, while rattlesnake wasn’t quite the description that he would have put forward for the kid that moved into the hallway, it was pretty darn close, at least in James’ experience. He moved away, not too far away, leaving a hand on her shoulder,” I would like that very much. Uh...” No, he should say that. That was a bit too far,” I... uh, maybe sometime without my or your friends around?”<br/><br/>She swallowed hard and looked at the floor. She loved being a cheerleader, would give anything and everything to keep her spot. Being a cheerleader was meant to make her happy and it had for the most part but she had never factored a boy into the equation before and it wasn’t going well. She didn’t like that they had to keep their distance from each other, not anymore, She had been quite comfortable tucked under his arm. She shot the stray kid a death glare, he wasn’t any one of importance she couldn’t recall ever seeing him before but she would remember his face now and if he didn’t leave soon he was going on her list of things to torment. Turning her attention back to James “I liked meeting your friends…” She muttered but then shook her head and looked up into his eyes “But we could do something else? Just you and me…..”<br/><br/>James was indeed interested in something like that. His friends were pleasant enough, but whenever him and Chloe had been speaking, he could hear them whispering and could practically feel their eyes drilling holes into them, as if trying to determine what the two were talking about. He hated gossippers like that. It made life so very complex.  He looked back at her, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze,” I would love that. What do you say... uh, meeting up after school again? We can get something to eat, maybe a movie?”<br/><br/>Chloe was so excited she had never been on a date before, every fibre of her being was desperate to tell Susan, or any one really that she was going on a date with James! Keeping him a secret was going to be harder then she originally thought. Nodding enthusiastically with a bright grin she answered him “Sounds great! What class do you have last? I have PE so I might be a little late with cheer practise and all but I can just text you when I am done?”<br/><br/>James smiled in response to her own enthusiasm, nodding, and listening to what she was saying. His last class was his portuguese course, and if she came off early, he would be able to push things off for a bit, and go off to meet her. If she took too long, it was not a big deal. He nodded,” Sure, where do you want to meet? Parking lot?”<br/><br/>“Sounds good” She smiled casting a wary look over her shoulder as more kids arrived. She looked back at James, concentrating on his lips. She was so tempted to kiss them. She was allowed to do that now right? The thought made her stomach quiver and her hands shake. She was too nervous  to fulfil the fantasy, especially with all these people around, instead she stepped up on her tip toes to give him a brief hug, whispering in his ear “I’ll see you later James” She pulled away with a smile “I will text you in class, okay?” She gave him a wave as she left, making her way to home room.<br/><br/>James nodded and returned the hug warmly,” Okay, Chloe. Talk to you later,” He smiled and waved back. Odd how she made him feel all warm inside, he mused, and turning, went to find his own class.