The New Kid

Chapter 4- Jessica Greene: The Phoenix High Dream Girl

The next day, I was hanging up pictures in my room. A knock came on my door. I turned to my door, "It's open!" The door opened, and Drake walked in. He was on his phone with someone.

"Hey Drake," I said.

"Uh-huh...I'm at the new kid's place...Yeah, he's gonna go to PH... Scott Wynter...You wanna meet him?...Y'all at Starbucks?...See you in ten," Drake spoke.

I raised an eyebrow at him. He put his phone in his pocket, his eyes were widened, "Bro, you won't believe this."

"Won't believe what?" I asked.

"The cheerleaders wanna meet you."

I raised an eyebrow, "Okay...why do they want to meet me?"

Drake shrugged his shoulders, "Let's go and see. Maybe you'll make friends with them."

I grabbed my wallet and walked down the street to the south side of Phoenix. Along the way, Drake and I passed Phoenix High. The sign said: Phoenix High School: Home of the Pharaohs. It looked much nicer than Speedway High where I went to in Indy. It was almost three stories tall.

"It looks nice," I said.

Drake nodded, "Yeah, it's really nice on the inside."

We finally arrived at the Starbucks where the cheerleaders were, and Drake led me inside. We were greeted by a bunch of waving cute girls. Drake elbowed me, "There they are."

We walked to them.

"Hey Drake!" a brunette greeted.

Drake dragged me next to him and he put his arm around my back, "This is the new kid: Scott."

"Hey Scott!" a blonde girl greeted.

I smiled, "Hey."

"My name's Kelsey Wilson. Everyone calls me Candy," she replied.

I was going to ask her where that nickname came from, but I got my answer when she pulled a Hershey's snack bar out of her bra.

Candy was pretty though. She had blonde hair and hazel eyes. She wore a ponytail and held it with a black headband. There was a small black purse tucked under her right arm. She had on a red cardigan, black leggings and red Adidas.

"My name's Jessica Greene," the brunette said.

Out of all the girls sitting at the table, she was the prettiest one. Her black hair flowed down to the top of her shoulder blades. Her eyes were blue as lapis lazuli. She wore semi-intricate eyeliner wings and velvet red lipstick. She wore a white crop top with a retro MTV logo planted in the center of it, black track pants and white Vans hi-tops.

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I went up to the counter with Drake, even though I had wanted to stay and talk to Jessica. While Drake and I ordered, I looked back and saw the girls eyeing me. I smiled at them. Drake chuckled, "You have a crush on Jessica Greene: The Dream Girl of Phoenix High?"

I nodded, "Who wouldn't?"

That was just a ploy. I couldn't fall for another girl ever again. Not after Adelaide Queen. She would be upset with me.

I'm sorry, Scott, the note's contents echoed in my head. I turned my head from Drake and shut my eyes really tightly, trying to get that out of my head.

Drake made that tsk-tsk sound, "Sorry to smash your dreams, but Jessica is currently off the market."

I felt a tinge of disappointment, "Dammit. She taken by you?

"Nah. I wish though. She's Cameron White's girl."

"Who's Cameron White?" I asked.

Drake waved his arm as to say "I'll tell you later". We grabbed our drinks and pulled up some chairs and sat at the end of their booth. I was introduced to the other cheerleaders, who were Savannah Langley, Tiffany Cade, Michelle Sanders, Megan Anderson, Hannah Richardson, and Bianca Conley.

"Hey Tiffany, are you related to someone named Topher Cade?" I asked.

Topher Cade was my favorite cousin. We were both similar in many ways: good social standings, calm demeanors and sharp tongues. He was the same age as me, but I was born about four days before he was born. He lives in a small town called Winston, Indiana. I had lived there for about four years before moving to Indy since Tyler got a promotion at his brokerage company.

"I don't think so. Is he like your cousin or something?" Tiffany asked.

I nodded, while taking a sip of my chocolate chip frappe. Candy looked over at me, "So Scott, what brings you to Phoenix?"

That question made me a little uneasy. The whole incident was still fresh in my mind. Of course, I couldn't tell a group of cheerleaders what'd really happened. If I became their friend, I'd tell them later.

"My parents are getting divorced; my mom got custody over me," I lied.

"I'm sorry that's happening," Candy replied.

I fumbled with my dad's wedding ring and pulled it out of my pocket. I held it out to show the girls. They each had the same surprised look on their faces, "He gave me his wedding ring before my mom took me to my sister's."

Jessica chuckled, "You don't just give your wedding ring out like that."

"Same thing I said," Drake said.

While talking to the cheerleaders, I would sometimes glance at Jessica. Sometimes our eyes would meet. We looked at each other as if we were Tony and Maria from West Side Story. In those glances though, I looked past those shimmering eyes, and it felt there was a broken soul behind them. It seemed like she didn't have anything to hide. Of course, maybe she was making some sort of façade.

"So, are you all the cheerleaders at Phoenix High?" I asked.

"No. We're just the junior team," Savannah said.

I nodded. Savannah also gave off that same broken soul vibe. Soon, they decided to call it a day and got ready to leave. As we were leaving, Jessica slipped me a folded piece of notepad paper.

"Is tomorrow your first day?" Jessica asked.

I nodded. She smiled, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then, new kid." She caught up with the other girls, and they turned and waved to me. I unfolded the note. Inside the note, there was their numbers, and their social media. I handed the note to Drake.

"Not bad, new kid. Somehow, you got the cheerleaders to like you," Drake said.

I chuckled, "Always was told I was charismatic."

Drake rolled his eyes, "Whatever. We probably should stop standing here looking like dumbasses. Let's go home." Drake began to walk down the sidewalk past the school back to our apartment.

"Hey, before you go, I want to tell you something," Drake said.

"What's up?" I asked.

With a concerned and firm tone, Drake said, "You gotta watch out for Cameron White tomorrow. He's a hell of a protective boyfriend."

"Okay...why do I need to know this?" I asked.

"He isn't really afraid to mop the floor with a dude when he just looks at Jessica. Now, the thing is that he's afraid of me. I got your back bro." Drake opened the door to his apartment just a crack when I asked why Cameron was afraid of him. With a devilish grin, he replied:

"I don't take shit from nobody."