Talented (rewrite): Curious {chap. 4}

It was five in the morning. At least that was a little better than four, but not by much. I swung my feet over the bed, rustling the covers. Dallas growled in his sleep, opening his glazed eyes. 1

“You can go back to sleep,” I told him as I tied the laces to my shoes, walking towards the window again. I wasn’t sure, but something seemed to be calling to me, as if I couldn’t stay away. I kneeled down again on one knee, turning the latch to get the window open. I pushed out, my leg already swinging over the sill with the window. 2

A thump told me that Dallas was also curious to what I was doing, and I could feel his panty breath at my side. I looked back at him, only seeing his eyes sparkling up at me. 3

“Be careful, ‘kay?” I warned him, “You might slip if you try and jump over.” 4

The dog seemed to roll his eyes, and I swung my other leg over the sill. I crept over the roof, keeping my steps slow. A sudden slip would make me end up with a broken neck. I was at the middle of the roof, peering over the edge and not daring to make a step further. I moved to the side, making my steps closer to the tree. Only a step further, and I could probably touch the tip of the branch. Then, holding the branch, I could scale down the rest of the way…5

I did just that, keeping my hands securely on the branch. A strong whine came behind me, and I saw Dallas with his front paws over the sill, looking right at me.6

“It’s okay, I’m just going to test something.” I waved him off, nearing the edge of the trunk. I stopped short as I was at the very edge of the roof, peering closely into the darkness. I could swing off the branch I was holding, as it was thick enough, and land in that small nook in the trunk and scale my way down. I smiled brightly at the thought.7

The whine grew higher, and I raced back up the roof – at least ten times faster than when I came down – using my speed.8

“Chill out, Dallas!” I gave him a playful hit on the side of the head, and he returned it by trying to get me a nip. “I wasn’t going to fall or anything.”9

Dallas seemed to roll his eyes as I snapped the latch shut. 10

“You know,” I said conversationally as I began to pick out my clothes for the day, “I found a way so I’m able to sneak out with ease. This window is so great, I’m so glad it doesn’t have a screen. But where to go though… that is the question, isn’t it boy?”11

He seemed to regard it, as if he too were thinking that it was a good idea and plotting my first expedition. 12

“Tomorrow’s Friday, maybe I could try and go out tomorrow night and go for a midnight stroll around the neighborhood. That’d be cool, huh?”13

The dog seemed to sniff in agreement.14

“I bet you could come too, if you don’t squirm, that is. I hate when you pick dogs up and they just try and get out of your hold.”15

He looked like he had some biting comment, but he couldn’t really say it. 16

“Sorry, no diss to your kind.” I laughed quietly in the darkness.17

I was about to change, when I noticed Dallas looking up at me intently. We stared at each other, and it was like the dog was begging me to undress right in front of him. Something felt weird, not right. The way he stared at me wasn’t animal like, but human. I could see the desire, the inner warring he was having with himself at the same time, his eyes never leaving mine. It was like I could see right into his soul.18

“Do you mind?” I tried to throw the creeper feeling off with humor, and walked into my bathroom, shutting the door behind me.19

I noticed the kids walking down my street as I put my bag’s strap over my head. Dallas and I ran downstairs, both of us trying to be quiet so we didn’t wake up my parents. I opened the door, letting Dallas out into the front yard and closing the door behind me. “Bye, Dallas.” I breathed, running past him. 20

With one hand on the brick fence, I jumped over with ease, landing on the other side of the sidewalk without having to open the gate. 21

“Wow! Cool trick, Jessie!” I heard Jason call when I straightened up. My new friends were nearing, and I couldn’t help but smile. Something made me happy that Jason was so impressed with my jump. They walked past as I joined the mob, feeling a little bit better than yesterday. “You gotta teach me how to do that!” He went on.22

“It’s pretty easy, really.” I blushed at his praise. No guy thought I did anything ‘cool’. Mainly because in my gym classes I was faster than all of the guy jocks, and none of the boys wanted competition. 23

“You should join the track team with those moves. Hurtling, maybe.” He pondered. “Why don’t you join the team with me? I need someone to hang with after practices and stuff.”24

“No!” I said with a little too much alarm. 25

He looked at me with confused eyes. 26

“I mean, uh, no. My parents don’t want me doing sports and stuff.” I mumbled.27

“Why not? You’d be awesome.”28

“They just… don’t want me doing stuff like that. Sorry, maybe you could find someone else…” Great, now I had to push people away – create less opportunities for myself – because of my speed and how I didn’t want to leave yet another new place. I wished my parents would let me do what I loved most, instead of restraining me this way. Then again, the normal speed that I run at times isn’t exactly the normal jog. Maybe it was for good reason…29

“That’s cool.” Jason shrugged it off, to my relief.30

“But that shouldn’t stop you from joining.” I encouraged him.31

“Yeah… Alright.” He smiled, and we walked in silence.32

When we neared the school, I saw Virgil and his friends get out of the jeep. I grabbed Rachel’s shoulder so she would lag behind with me.33

“Hey, Rachel?” I asked as lightly as possible.34

“Yeah?” She smiled at me.35

“Melina said you’re an expert on Virgil, right?”36

“Of course I am.” She said with enough pride that it actually sounded like an accomplishment rather than an obsessive compulsive disorder. 37

“Can you tell me about his friends?”38

“Oh yeah, totally. The boy over there is Touchstone, a sophomore. His parents are, like, hippies or something. He’s going out with that girl, Catalina. She’s in the eleventh grade, but mostly keeps to herself. Touchstone is really funny too, I heard from my sister who has a class with him that he’s the usual class clown.” Rachel shrugged, “I wish I could know.”39

I nodded, processing what I’d just heard. 40

“Why do you ask?” 41

“Oh, uh…” Why had I asked, exactly? “I don’t know. I was just wondering.”42

That’s when I noticed the girl that was known as Missy Hollins right in Virgil’s face. She looked really mad, and Virgil wasn’t the least bit interested. Rachel caught where I was looking. 43

She sighed grudgingly, “She’s at it again.”44

“Huh?”45

“Missy,” She made the word and the face along with it sound like the girl was garbage. “I swear she’s out to ruin him. She always makes this huge scene about something he did or didn’t do, so it’s always like he’s the bad guy.”46

Suddenly, Missy pushed Virgil. I heard some gasps and an ‘ooh’ which made me realize we weren’t the only ones watching. Virgil, I guessed, didn’t react the way everyone wanted to. Instead he grabbed his backpack from the front seat of the car and slung it over his shoulder, trying to get past a pissed off Missy.47

“Awfully pessimistic, isn’t he?” I muttered.48

“I wonder what they’re saying…” Rachel mused.49

“I think we’re going to find out, regardless.” I observed as Missy followed the blond boy inside the school, passing us and our deliberately slow pace.50

“Come on!” Rachel grabbed my arm, dragging me into the school after her.51

“I just cannot believe you, Virgil!” The cheerleader shrieked. “You can’t just stand a girl up like that! I think it would only be gentlemanly of you to at least apologize!”52

“First of all,” he said in a bored voice, “I didn’t make plans with you. You’re the one who said to meet you at the theater and didn’t even give me a chance to tell you I had other plans –”53

“With Summer?” She accused.54

I hadn’t heard Virgil’s voice, though at a random thought I’d wondered what it had sounded like. It was smooth, like a stream or wind blowing through grass. Well, those were the images that came to mind when I thought about it. It was almost intoxicating to hear.55

“Of course not,” He shook his head, “With my text books. You keep distracting me in Spanish –”56

“Are you calling me nothing but a distraction?!” 57

“Uh, yeah, pretty much!” He said in exasperation. I had a feeling he didn’t want to be in this conversation. The way he spoke, moved. I usually couldn’t read people so quickly, but Virgil seemed different somehow. Like I had to study him.58

“Ouch.” Rachel hissed in my ear, and all I could do was nod in return.59

Missy was too stunned to speak, spluttering like the blond that she was. 60

“Bye, Missy.” He said as the bell rung, walking away. 61

“This discussion is far from over, Virgil!” She growled.62

“It is from my standpoint.” And that, ladies and gentleman, is how he ended it. A sudden wave of jealousy raced through me. I’d tried doing something like that before, but it didn’t work out at all. How could he be so cool, so poised, and have things work out in his favor? Well, I guessed if you had the looks, you also got the last word.63

My new school day passed in the same boring fashion. First period I have algebra, second I have biology, third I got stuck with P.E., fourth I had social studies… 64

But my schedule got changed in fifth. Because I’d taken a different course of language arts in California, they put in me in a senior class. To say in the least, I was worried. Dealing with a bunch of people at least four years older than me didn’t seem all that great, and being called ‘freshman’ all period wouldn’t exactly help my self esteem-o-meter. And I would face them right after lunch. 65

Fear gnawed at my stomach as I sat down with my friends, staring unhappily at my food. It didn’t look too good with my stomach already tied in knots.66

“You gonna eat that?” Tyson, who I learned was on the football team, pointed to my food and asked. I pushed my tray in his direction, thinking it would be a waste of money if someone didn’t eat it. 67

“Jessie, what’s wrong?” Melina, who I realized could pick up emotions like hearing a pen drop in a silent room, asked quietly.68

“My schedule got changed,” I muttered, tracing the patterns on the tabletop, “Meaning next class I have literature with a bunch of seniors.”69

“Really? That kinda sucks.” It was a poor sympathizer, and I don’t know how she did it, but she realized that I could talk more with someone who was blunt rather than evasive. 70

“Yeah, and I’d rather not have people yell ‘hey freshman!’ for an hour.”71

“Do you have a game plan?” It was like she could read my mind as I scrambled desperately for one. Time was ticking away as I spoke to her.72

“Nope. Maybe I’ll just go in with the crowd, stand awkwardly by the teacher’s desk until she – or he – tells me where to sit, and listen to people ask how old I am.”73

“Let me see your schedule,” She said as I pulled out the folded piece of paper, “It’s Mr. Carner.” She said lightly, and it made me feel a little better now that I knew what gender my teacher was. That made the situation a little brighter.74

“Plus,” she went on, “It’s right near my geometry class, so I we could walk together.”75

“Really?” I had never met someone who would go out of their way for me. It was… nice. Really nice. I knew I needed to pay her back in some way, but how…? 76

Suddenly, the bell rang for lunch to end. It made me start, and I sucked in a deep breath. My pulse had already begun to quicken. The more I thought about these situations, the worse they became, and now I had a feeling I was on the brink of having a full-scale panic attack.77

“Come on, Jessie.” Melina smiled, standing up. Her smile seemed to radiate confidence, and that was a little better too. Geez, I was never usually this nervous. It sucked. But hey, didn’t Melina say she had geometry? So if she had a class full of sophomores, I could take care of myself with a bunch of seniors, right? Then a thought hit me from earlier that morning.78

“Hey, Mel?” I asked as we walked through the hallways.79

“Yeah?”80

“You said you had geometry. That’s probably with a bunch of sophomores, huh?”81

“No, not at all.” She said sarcastically with a laugh as we walked up the stairs.82

“Do you have a kid named Touchstone in your class?”83

“Oh yeah, I guess Rach kinda got to you about all of Virgil’s little friends. Sometimes she gives OCD a whole new meaning.”84

“It’s all right, I asked.” I smiled, “I was just wondering.”85

“You know, it’s kind of weird.” Melina thought aloud, “I don’t really like talking about people unless I know them, but when it comes to popular people, you feel like you know them. Is that just me?”86

“No, not at all.” I agreed with her quickly, using her words from before but in a more serious way. “I couldn’t think of a better way to say it myself.”87

Melina smiled, and stopped in front of a room. I looked at the plaque by the door, realizing why the sudden halt. 88

Mr. Carner89

Literature90

“Oh, joy of joys.” I muttered sarcastically, turning back to Melina. “Thanks. I’ll see you when school’s out, alright?”91

“Sure, Jason will just love to hear how you’re in a lit class with a bunch of seniors.”92

“You and him have the same class next?” I raised an eyebrow.93

“Yeah. Guess you decided to hang with the smart crowd.” She laughed, walking down the hallway. Leaving me behind… To the sharks…94

How fitting. I couldn’t help but think, That I decided to hang out with the ‘smart crowd’.95

I sighed, turning around. I placed my hand on the door knob, turning it to walk inside. My nerves calmed as I entered the classroom, like all worries melted away. Well, not all of them. There were only a couple of kids in the classroom, either too busy to notice me or didn’t care. There were large windows in the classroom, letting in more light than I’d expected. 96

The teacher – who I could only assume was Mr. Carner – was sitting at his desk, filing through a bunch of papers. Probably essays. 97

“Um…” I began, “I’m the new student you were expecting in this class. Jessie Mathews?” 98

He looked up, taking off the giant reading glasses perched on his round nose. He nodded once, then looked back through his files, pulling out a clip board. I guessed idly that was the seating chart. “Yes, you can sit in the back, second row.” 99

Nothing else needed to be said, really, and I followed his instruction quickly. The very back of the classroom wasn’t as far away as I’d thought, and set my stuff down beside me, trying to be as quiet as possible. The silence was nice, while it lasted. The only sounds heard were papers rustling every now and then, and the zipping of backpacks once other students came in. 100

Something inside me made me clutch my fists as Missy Hollins entered the room with a team of cheerleaders behind her. Half of them left as soon as she entered the room, and I tried to keep my gaze anywhere but on her. 101

Thought, I noticed she entered the room with a ditzy, almost airy grace that’d make any guy notice her. Her friends didn’t have that same aura, and they followed at her sides like a pack of starved dogs, all talking to her at once. She sat on one of the desks, laughing at some poor joke one of the girls had said. And then by the curse coming from the north, south, east, west, from the ocean, the land, the sky, and maybe Hell itself, our eyes unfortunately locked.102

Missy turned into a deadly viper, not the light hearted blond that just waltzed in. Her eyes were cold, and I couldn’t help but feel a small sense to ask ‘what do you want?’ Keeping a low profile was the game here, if I wanted to make it out of this shark tank alive.103

She walked up to my desk, and I tried to act like I didn’t notice her. I almost sighed and rolled my eyes when she stopped at my seat. How cliché would this be? Was the only question that ran through my mind. Plain girl versus cheerleading goddess.104

“Hi!” She beamed, only making my insides lurch. Her perfume was toxic, the sweet scent of flowers was almost like taking in straight sugar. 105

“Hey.” I replied. At least that was better than ‘hi.’106

“I’m Missy. Are you a new student?” It was almost too perky, that smile set in her face. A smile that reminded me of something deadly, trying to brainwash you. Like a snake, the way it would hypnotize you and kill you. 107

“Yeah, I’m Jessie.” I said slowly, taking in her expression the way a scientist would study an animal, though I tried to mask it. 108

“What grade are you in? Not to seem rude, but you don’t look old enough to be a junior.” She chortled. Not to seem rude… I played back in my mind, the whole inside of me quaking with cold fury. 109

“No, I’m not a senior.” I laughed lightly. I would have rather said ‘Not to seem rude, either, but you look like a bitch. Am I wrong?’ I had a small feeling there was a challenge creeping into my voice, “I’m actually a freshman.”110

“What are you doing here then? Maybe you’re in the wrong class.” She seemed to instantly coddle me, but it was all in the wrong ways. One way of coddling was being polite, but she was dancing on the border of being a bitch. No, come to think of it, she had probably just overstepped that border. Now I could fully understand why that boy was such a jerk to her.111

“I was ahead of the curriculum where I came from,” I informed her with a bite in my tone. “So here they put me in a class that was like the other one.”112

“Oh.” She shrugged, golden curls bouncing. She was doing this to me on purpose, acting all cute and naïve for me. It wasn’t going to work, her stupid little viper spell. And then I realized more of the seniors had come in the room, and the bell rang for class to start. Missy had already skipped back to her seat, and I couldn’t help but glare at the back of her head.113

“Bitch…” I mumbled, moving so I could see the teacher ahead of me properly.114

“You took the words right out of my mouth.” 115

I froze, my pen slipping slightly out of my fingers. My eyes were locked on the teacher, but I couldn’t hear him. The way he had said it didn’t seem like he was being rude, just simply agreeing with me. But I didn’t mean for him to notice. Especially not him. Then again, he wasn’t all that interested in her as far as I could tell. Then I wondered if I should say something…116

As I thought of these questions, I looked out of the corner of my eye at the boy sitting beside me. The one I hadn’t noticed before. Especially when I should’ve realized Missy had been glaring over my head when she walked up to my desk, the only reason why she would make a move like that. Because I was – by some small chance – a threat to her prize, and what she thought was her prize alone.117

Virgil Parker was sitting next to me, looking ahead at the teacher with a smile that looked absolutely superior. That look made a small part of me burn, but with what I didn’t know.118

“Sorry,” I mumbled, shrinking back into my chair.119

“You have nothing to apologize for,” As if his smirk could get any wider, “I couldn’t agree more, to be honest.” He chuckled lightly.120

“But she’s your girlfriend. That was a little too out of line.” I disagreed. 121

“First of all, she isn’t my girlfriend. Especially with that little spat she threw at me in the parking lot today. Even if you’re new, you must have heard. And second, I would have called her that myself, but that would seem too rude.” He corrected me, a gleam of frustration in his eye.122

I stayed silent at that, listening to Mr. Carner droll on about Beowulf. Crap, I hadn’t read that before, and was a little afraid to, for that matter. But part of my thoughts kept drifting to the boy beside me. So maybe he hadn’t had sex with all of those girls as they had said, and he was just letting them get their scorn out because he didn’t find them necessarily appealing. The way he’d spoken seemed a little old, but he made it work. It was like he was well educated. 123

Another strange thing was the way he seemed to be so annoyed over the fact that I had said Missy was his girlfriend. In fact, it seemed like he’d been repulsed by the idea. I had to smile at that. 124

The bell ringing for class to end was like a godsend, though I’d had nothing to fear. At least I hadn’t been attacked, or hassled with a hundred questions. I stood up, walking to the front of the row again and hoping I would be the last to leave. Or maybe seniors had more things to do than pick on a freshman. Wouldn’t that be nice?125

“Mr. Parker. Ms. Mathews?” The teacher suddenly called out, and I quickly looked back at him. I’d thought Virgil had left quickly, but it turned out he was one of the few last ones. Maybe he was trying to avoid Missy. But had we gotten in trouble? For what? Talking for two seconds? Yeah, that seemed like the end of the world. Geez, Jessie, great way to destroy the endangered forests of the world.126

“Yes?” Virgil didn’t seem at all fazed as he walked up to Mr. Carner’s desk. I followed suit quickly, staying as calm as possible.127

“Would you be kind enough to bring Ms. Mathews up to date on what we’ve been working on? She needs to catch up on her reading and you have one of the highest grades in the class…” Oh, so I was being pawned off now? Great. Just great.128

“Sure, it wouldn’t be a problem at all.” He answered for me, his brown eyes darting back to me for a second.129

The teacher grunted something in agreement, and turned back to his computer. He looked back at me, handing me the ominous cover of Beowulf. I turned to walk away, leaving the room that seemed just a little too crowded. 130

Suddenly, someone grabbed my shoulder. A tingle of electricity shot through my arm. It was weird, making me feel like I had a muscle out of place. It was a strange feeling, but it stirred the pit of my stomach, making it not exactly uncomfortable. I turned to see Virgil, his eyes boring into mine. My breath caught in my throat, giving me no time to react as he spoke.131

“Hey, I’m not really in the mood to get here early, so can we just meet up somewhere after school Friday?”132

It took me a moment to recover, already a little annoyed. What was wrong with me? He’s just a guy! “Yeah, that’ll be fine.”133

“Do you know where the Smalls Café is?” He pressed.134

Yeah, I did. I’d seen it plenty of times. I wasn’t terribly unaware. “Yeah. I’ll meet you there…”135

“You probably don’t have your license.” He assumed almost too correctly.136

I rolled my eyes, flicking through the pages of Beowulf. “No, I don’t.” I sighed. How embarrassing would it be for my parents to drop me off? I’d be dying.137

“That’s cool.” Virgil shrugged as he followed me in the hallway to my next class, “I could pick you up after I drop Touchstone and Catalina off – we usually carpool.” He added quickly, as if he tripped up and just realized it. “Where do you live?”138

Uh… Crap! “Swallowhill.” I replied quickly, remembering the name of my neighborhood. “Twelve, twelve Mason Street.”139

“Yeah, I know where that is.” He thought, “Pick you up at three?”140

“All right,” I looked back at the first couple of pages, “I think I’ll need all the help I can get.”141

“It’s fine.” He was lucky he was so nice, “What I just don’t get is why they’d put a freshman in a class for seniors.”142

“You heard me talking to Missy?” I was a little surprised.143

“It’s a little difficult not to notice when you’re receiving a death glare that has the same chill as the arctic.” He joked, and I couldn’t help but laugh. It turned out my assumptions were right.144

“Three, tomorrow?” I clarified, when I had to go to my next class.145

“Yeah, see you Jessie.” 146

Again, I was surprised that he knew my name.147