Rush

Chapter Two

The new guy

The next two weeks leading up to the big night merge together. Between soccer, homecoming court practice, and spirit week, it is all just chaotic. It's finally Thursday, and homecoming is tomorrow. As I walk to chemistry, my last class of the day, I begin to get the eerie feeling that someone is watching me again. Glancing over my shoulder, I see the creepy guy from the parking lot walking behind me! Here. In the hallway of my school. I take the long way around in an effort to lose him, and by the second turn he is gone. Rounding the third corner, but still looking over my shoulder, I collide face to chest with a brick wall. "Oh babe, I am so sorry!" It's my brick wall, my sweet Leo. "Are you okay Myah? What are you doing over here? Don’t you have Chem right now?"

"I...uh...yeah, I do. Um, have you noticed anyone strange hanging around the school? An older guy, maybe my dad's age?" I stammer, not too hopeful though considering Leo spends most of his time in the field house.

"Yeah, actually" he says.

I instantly feel like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders.

"He just enrolled his son here, Jackson. I heard my mom talking about him. I guess he is heading up the new Agricultural Department in Springfield."

Leo's mom is a part of Father's staff.

"Oh" I said with a sigh.

I knew they were doing some building in Springfield, but I still don’t know why Jackson would drive 30 minutes here instead of going to Springfield High School. The bell jolted me back to reality. Leo and I said our goodbyes, and I wandered to class. As I enter the room, I look up to see the most gorgeous guy sitting in my seat. Don’t get me wrong, I love Leo, but seriously! Does Channing Tatum have a younger brother? Because I am pretty sure he is in Honors Chem, and looking right at me. I tear my eyes away from whom I can only assume is Jackson, and take an empty seat in the back of the class. Why is he here? And why does his dad creep me out so much? I’m not sure, but I intend to find out.

Class ends and I meet the girls at our lockers. Before I can ask, Alyvia starts to spill the details on our new mystery guy. "His name is Jackson Baker, he's a senior and just moved here from Vegas! His mom and dad got divorced, so he moved to Springfield when his dad got a job there." As if she could read my mind, Alyvia told us that Jackson decided to make the drive here because we have a better football team, and had a spot waiting for him.

"You got all that in one period?" Taylor asked.

"Yup!" Alyvia proudly chirped. "Plus have you seen him? He's totally gorg!"

As she gushed over the new guy, I spotted Leo and Parker walking towards us with Jackson in tow. They were all laughing at something Jackson must have said, as Leo playfully jabbed him in the shoulder.

"Hey ladies" Parker says as he drapes his arm around Taylor.

"Hey" she mumbles rolling her eyes as she shrugs his arm away.

“Are you guys ready for the game tomorrow?" I ask.

"Oh yea!" Leo replies. "Jackson has a killer arm on him! I think we found Parkers replacement, I mean back up."

We all laugh, but the look on Parkers face shows his legitimate concern. He has been our quarterback since freshman year, skipping the freshman team and going straight to JV. Though he thrives in competition, my twin senses tell me he feels like he is going to have a hard time against Jackson. He must be good.

"Is everyone set for the dance then?" Alyvia chimes in.

Making sure everything goes according to plan is one of her strong suits.

"I've got my date" Leo says proudly, flashing me a sweet smile.

He is so cute.

"I’ve got mine" Parker says as he puts his arm around Alyvia.

She giggles at his display of affection; Taylor rolls her eyes again. She and Parker have a love hate relationship. People always assume that they are the siblings and I am the tag along friend. Alyvia and Parker have been dating for about two months, since the Back to school Bash.

"Well I have my dates" Taylor smiles at Alyvia and I.

I can’t even remember the last time Taylor had a boyfriend. She doesn’t want one. She is perfectly happy living her life as an independent "almost" woman. And then I see it. It's so minute that I almost miss it. Jackson definitely just snuck a glance at Taylor; and she gave him a small smirk back! No one else seemed to notice it and Taylor wasn’t looking at me, but Jackson was. To my surprise, he flashes me a toothy, boyish grin and blushes!

Oh Taylor so has him hooked! I want to ask her about it, but I don’t dare do it now. I once asked her crush to dance with her at a school event. She thanked me by chasing me through the hall to the bathroom and cornered me in chastisement.

No, no this can wait until we are alone. As the boys leave for football practice, us girls walk towards the parking lot together. I drape my arm around Taylor's shoulders and mumble "I saw that" in her ear. She gives me a sharp look, glances back at Alyvia, and mouths "later". We don’t try to keep secrets from Alyvia even though she feels that way, but if we were to even mention Taylor's interest in a guy, she would have their wedding planned and children named by the end of the day. I agree to Taylors request to wait, but make a mental note not to wait too long, giving her time to talk herself out of whatever just happened. The three of us get in our separate vehicles and head home.

I pull into my driveway and see the unfamiliar sight of both parents's cars home at the same time, and early. Pondering what the occasion could be, I walk into the house to find Father standing in the fourier in a tuxedo, and Mother hemming his pants leg. "Well, how do I look? I’m not going to embarrass you am I?" He said sheepishly. "Oh Father no! You look handsome!" With all the excitement this week, it slipped my mind that Father and Mother would be walking me across the field at the homecoming game tomorrow.

Even though they worked a lot, Parker and I couldn’t ask for more supportive parents. At least one of them managed to make it to every single sporting event since we were kids, even alternating between the two of us if we had games at the same time. I have always been close with Mother, but Father is my best friend. We share the same sense of humor that Parker and Mother have never understood. He isn't your typical mayor either.

Father owned a small store in town, and did everything in his power to help out the community. Leo's mother nominated him for mayor, so when no one ran against him he won by default. We didn’t go buy an elaborate house or fancy clothes, he puts every dime back into our town and they love him for it. I love him for it. Now he stands before me, clearly uncomfortable, but he is doing it for me. I give him a hug and a peck on the cheek to show my approval, then hop up the stairs to get my things ready for tomorrow night.