CHAPTER5
1298 Words
Jasmine
One whole week had passed since the wolves lost the cup.
Slowly, students were starting to forget I existed- finally.
Of course, no one was ever going to forget Northridge's first loss in years.
No one was going to forget the almighty Damon slipping for the first time ever.
But I didn't care about any of that.
I just wanted to go through this school without attracting the wrong attention.
"The wolves had early practice." Nancy followed me to my locker.
"Ugh!" I groaned.
"Nance, can we not talk about hockey? I'm really not interested." I banged my head on my locker lightly but not because my friend was talking about hockey.
I just wanted to forget the feeling of his breath on my neck, his tongue on my skin, his hand holding mine....
I could not forget what had transpired between me and Damon in Professor Baldwin's office.
"You should be."
I glanced at her when I heard the way she sang her words excitedly.
"Listen, if there's another hockey match, I'm not going to attend. I told you already Nancy, I don't like sports. Especially hockey."
I pushed my locker with so much force, it banged a little louder than I wanted it to, attracting a few pairs of eyes.
I immediately wanted to disappear.
"Hey," Nancy ran after me.
"There's going to be another tournament but this one's going to be a friendly match with another school," she handed over a flyer.
"What does this have to do with me?" I didn't bother to take it so she practically shoved it into my hand.
"The cheerleading team have opened slots for applications. Auditions start Friday."
"Again, what does this have to do with me?"
"We're going to attend." She jumped in front of me, stopping me in my tracks.
"Oh, hell no." I walked right past her, shoving the flyer back into her hand.
"Common, this is a great opportunity for us." Of course, Nancy argued.
"Wrong. This is a great opportunity for you. I'm fat, Nance. Seriously, I would be a meme in less than a second if I showed up at the auditions. Common, imagine me doing a backflip!"
"Imagine the whole school watching me dance. It's going to be an absolute disaster. Moreover, everyone on the Cheerleading team is skinny. I'm not about to set myself up for mocking, thank you very much."
"Don't say that," she cooed.
"Look," she pointed at the flyer.
"There were no requirements stating you had to be skinny. You've had your face in a book all semester. Don't you want to try something new?" She blinked at me cutely but I was not having it.
The whole school had their attention on me for only a few days and I almost died.
Auditioning to join the cheerleading team with my weight was practically signing my death sentence.
Not only would I play right into the eyes of the wolves again, I would become a generational meme!
Sighing, I placed my hands on her shoulders,
"I know you just want to make sure I'm having fun and I appreciate you for that Nance but trust me, this is a terrible idea for you. I think you'd make a beautiful cheerleader though."
Thankfully, she didn't push the suggestion further.
"If you say so. How's things with Professor Baldwin?" She wiggled her eyes.
"Oh please, Nance. He's just helping me with my writing project. Don't be ridiculous! He's like.... what.....27 years older?"
"Age is just a number." She singsong.
"Damn! I'm late to dropping off my history project." She stopped in her tracks, checking her watch.
"I'll see you later." She gave a quick hug before hurrying off.
"Later!" I yelled after her.
"Ouch!" I tilted to the back when I bumped into something hard.
I struggled to push my weight forward but it was already too late.
I found myself falling.
I shut my eyes and waited to feel the pain, to hear the students around laughing at me but none of that ever came.
Instead, I felt one strong arm wrap around me and pull my body forward, preventing me from falling.
When I felt the floor under my feet again, I opened my eyes only to see an unfamiliar face staring down at me in a very uncomfortable proximity.
"I'm sorry." I quickly snapped out of the trance his boyish beauty had me locked in.
I broke out of his hold and bent to pick up my books that had fallen out of my bag.
"No, I'm sorry. I hit you and almost caused you to fall." He bent too and helped me.
"And then saved me." I smiled at him as we rose to our feet together.
For a whole minute, we just stared at each other.
He was handsome- dark brown hair, grey eyes and a very warm smile.
It was surreal having anyone other than Nancy smile at me like that.
"Louis," he introduced himself, extending a hand.
"Jasmine." I took it and smiled.
His smile seemed to falter for a moment but he fixed it so quickly, it felt like I had imagined it.
"That's a very beautiful name. It suits you beautifully." His voice dropped to a lower tone as he covered the distance between us.
"Haven't seen you before."
I tried to wiggle out of the handshake but he kept holding my hand.
"I transferred last semester."
"Hmmmm." Was his only response.
His nose seemed to twitch like he was trying to sniff me without making it so obvious.
"You smell...nice."
My face turned red instantly.
"Oh, thank you. Victoria's secret." I whispered the last two words and almost felt stupid for it until he laughed.
"I know we're just meeting for the first time but is it okay if I took you out to dinner?" He scratched the back of his neck nervously.
"Dinner?" I must have misheard him.
"Yeah, dinner. I mean it's okay if you think it'd too sudden but...." His voice trailed off as he lost his words.
It felt like a dream.
The only boy who ever invited me to anything only did so because his original date bailed out on him.
"You want to take me to dinner?" I still couldn't believe this was happening.
Louis was so handsome- the kind of guy that would have girls giggling.
And he wanted to take me out to dinner?
"Mm-hmm." He nodded.
Before I could answer, someone grabbed my arm and yanked it from Louis.
Blue jersey covered my vision as his big body appeared in front of me, separating me from Louis.
When he turned slightly to glance at me, I saw the hatred still burning in his eyes.
"Jasmine will not go out to dinner with you." Damon told Louis who surprisingly scoffed at him.
No one in the school could even look him dead in the eye.
"Louis...." I tried to warn him but Damon just pulled me back to him.
He pulled me to the front so I stood in front of him.
Taking his hand away from my arm, he wrapped it around my waist and refused to take it off.
The smile on Louis' face was gone.
He glared at Damon with the same fierceness and for a split second, I saw a bit of resemblance.
"Recklessly lost the school Cup yet still an asshole." Louis chuckled, causing Damon to snarl and tighten his hold on me.
Louis came closer and crouched a little so he was staring directly at me.
His expression softened a little when he looked at me,
"Well, brother, how about we let Jasmine decide for herself."
B.... brother?
These two were brothers?
"Jas, will you go out with me or listen to this loser?"
- Writer
