JESSA CAITER Surrounded by three or four other cheerleaders, Jessa walked into homeroom. Eyes followed her as she walked to her usual seat in the second-back row; Jessa ignored them. Being exceptionally pretty and the head cheerleader had made her used to attention and stares. Jessa sat in her seat. The other cheerleaders went to their seats; her best friend, Chelsea, sat behind her. "Jess," she said, "are you going to Colton's party tomorrow?" Chelsea, a tiny, pixie-like brunette, was the other flyer in the cheerleading squad. "Of course I am," said Jessa, turning around to face her. "Why wouldn't I?" "Well, because you and Colton only broke up two weeks ago -- " "I'm over it," Jessa interrupted. She didn't like anyone mentioning her ex-boyfriend, Colton Harris, the captain of the football team. Luckily for Jessa, the teacher walked in, followed by a guy Jessa didn't recognise -- he must be new. The only empty seat in the room was right beside Jessa.
Travis Mikael Travis walks in beside the teacher, his head down. He sent glances into the crowd, and noticed the only empty seat. He wasn't sure what was going to happen, only that he hoped that he wouldn't be hurt as much at this school. "Class." The teacher begun. He didn't really listen, it was the same story. They had a new student, be nice, make him feel welcome... and then came the moment when he had to introduce himself. He sighs and looks up and the class. He had hoped that he could say it confidently, but that went down the drain as soon as he opened his mouth. "I'm... Travis Mikael..." he says in a small voice that still carried to the back of the room. He sighs and goes to the open seat, looking down at his desk as he puts his backpack beside the desk.
JESSA CAITER The new boy sat in the seat beside her, of course. She looked him over; he was quite handsome. No one else looked at him. What was there to see? A new kid -- not an uncommon sight in Brighton. "Hey," said Jessa, leaning over the aisle to the boy. Her blonde hair fell over her shoulder. "My name's Jessa Caiter. Welcome to Brighton. What's your next class?"
Travis Mikael Travis looks at the girl next to him. She was quite pretty, his thought of which appeared on his face for a moment before he looked away. "T-thanks, Jessa. I'm Travis, nice to meet you." No matter how shy he may be, his manners were ingrained in him from his upbringing. "My next class...um, english." he says, taking a quick look at his schedule before folding it back up.
JESSA CAITER "English? With Mr Kynton?" Jessa checked the timetable sitting on his desk. "Hey, me too!" she grinned. "Wow, what a coincidence!" The bell rang. Jessa picked up her things and waited for Travis, smiling. "So, Travis -- what's your story? Where did you come from?"
Travis Mikael He nods "Y-yeah... Mr. Kynton..." he glances at Jessa a few times during class, unused to really talking to people. Rather, unused to people spending time on him. This confusion was compounded a bit more when she waits for him outside class, and asks him questions. "Well... I came from Colorado." he pauses for a bit, remembering the mountains that were so near his home. "Specifically Skyline High... I didn't do too well there." 'Not too well' was an understatement. He had been bullied to the point he had tried to commit suicide. His grades were in the toilet and he had no positive personal relationships. So his parents up and moved with him so he could hopefully get better. He wouldn't tell anyone that, not yet, but the hurt was evident in his eyes.
JESSA CAITER Jessa smiled encouragingly, squeezing Travis's forearm. "Well, I'm sure you'll do well here," she said warmly. She lead the new boy to English class. Sitting in her normal seat, there was one of three spare seats beside her. Jessa hoped Travis would sit there. "Hey, Jessa!" called a voice from across the room. Jessa hated that voice. "Yes, Colton?" she called back without looking at him. "How you been, baby?" Jessa looked at him in disgust.
Travis Mikael Travis nods at her words, still unsure. It was his first day after all. But nonetheless he follows Jessa to their next class, head down, and unthinkingly sits in a seat right next to her. An exchange between her and someone named 'Colton' seemed to not be something she enjoyed, but he wasn't sure what he could do, so he takes out his supplies from his bag for class, glancing at Jessa once in a while.
JESSA CAITER English class past uneventfully; Jessa occasionally glanced at Travis. He really was very handsome. When the bell rang, Jessa collected her things and stood up just as Colton came to her desk. With his blue eyes, blonde hair and sporty tan, Colton was the posterboy for "All-American," and everyone in the school loved him. Granted, his popularity had slightly dwindled when his many cheating exploits against Jessa had been publicised. But, hey, this was high school. You could kick puppies and get away with it, as long as you had a pretty face. "Jessa, baby," said Colton. "I take it you're not coming to my party." "Why wouldn't I be?" asked Jessa coldly. "I'm invited, aren't I?" "Of course you are," said Colton. He reached over and took a piece of Jessa's hair, twirling it around his finger. "But you hate me." "Well, my friends are going." Jessa slapped his hand away. "Chelsea, Georgia, Lucy. And, besides, it's not like I'll have to speak to you -- you'll be in your bedroom, screwing some random chick."
Travis Mikael Travis slowly puts his things back in his bag, looking between Jessa and this 'Colton' person. They definitely seemed to have a rocky relationship, and he wanted to help out. But Colton seemed like the kind of person who could make his life at school miserable. Wouldn't likely be something he hadn't handled before, though. "H-hey, Jessa?" he says, louder than he had spoken before, walking to her desk. "I never... actually got a tour of the school... could you maybe show me?" He makes sure to not look at Colton. From what he knew, people like that could see fear. And his eyes were rather scared.
JESSA CAITER Jessa turned to Travis. "Yes, Travis, of course I will," she said warmly. As she lead Travis out of the classroom, Colton called, "Hey, you're already banging the new kid? Slut!" Jessa furiously walked around the corner and threw open the doors to the east courtyard. She shed a single tear, sobbing a little. How could Colton do that to her? To her surprise, Travis was still there. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry," she said. "You didn't need to see me like this. This is so embarrassing."
Travis Mikael Travis looks at her sadly, and shakes his head. "No... no one should go through stuff like that alone." he goes to pull her into a friendly hug, but stops, not wanting to make it worse. "I... want to be here for you, Jessa. You've been so nice..." his voice is sad, and he looks away, not sure what else to say.
┇❖ JESSA CAITER ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ⌊ 16 . | Sophomore . | ▏Jessa smiled, sighing in relief. "Thank you, Travis," she said. "I haven't even known you for a day, yet I can tell you're a better person than pretty much everyone in this stupid school." ▏Jessa wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, ran her fingers through her white blonde hair almost frantically and looked at Travis's timetable, which was still in his hand. "Hey, look at that, we both have gym next," said Jessa. "Completely useless, Mr Preysor will just spend a period explaining how to play basketball. Which is useless. Everyone knows how to play basketball." Jessa looked at Travis with a mischievous expression. "This will be the one and only time I will ever ask you to skip with me but -- Hey, Travis, do you wanna skip gym and get that tour?"
Travis Mikael Travis looks at her, stunned. "I'd love the tour, but I don't really want to get in trouble my first day... people hate me enough as it is..." He says worriedly, torn between fitting in and staying with Jessa.
┇❖ JESSA CAITER ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ⌊ 16 . | Sophomore . | ▏Jessa smiled meekly. "That's fine, you're right," she agreed. "Go to class. Hey, I'll meet you by the cafeteria door at lunch for that tour, okay?" ▏Jessa walked away. She went to the library; the librarians loved her.
Travis Mikael Travis watches her walk away sadly. "Of course." He says before hurrying to Gym... which he hated, like he thought he would. And so it was that lunchtime came, and Travis found himself outside the cafeteria door, waiting for Jessa.
