Chapter Three(continue)

Jayde and Blaine are already waiting for us when we arrive. The cafeteria's courtyard is the more beautiful of the courtyards in school. All four of them are nice, but this one is by far the best. The gardening club has put a lot of time into the upkeep. There are seven black, round, thermoplastic tables are evenly placed on the open space of ground along the sidewalk. Jayde and Blaine are perched on top of one. Bushes of various colored hydrangeas running across the bottoms of three white-painted, stone walls. The fourth wall, which has no door like the other three, is solid red brick and has a waterfall of trumpet vines flowing down it. The high glass ceiling lets natural light into the courtyard, but also allows us to still be able to eat here when weather is inclement.

"Hey, guys!" Jayde yells out as she jumps down from the table and runs up to Olivia and me, her tight cocoa colored ringlets bouncing. She wraps us both in a hug, her chestnut eyes sparkling with elation, and she squeals, "I've missed y'all so much this summer!"

Neither Olivia nor I had seen Jayde all summer, or Daniel, or Blaine for that matter. Daniel's family had planned a vacation cruise for the summer and had invited all of us to join. His dad is the owner of our local carpet factory and honestly, they're pretty loaded. They're always surprising Daniel with all sorts of lavish gifts. Daniel, being the best friend that he is, always gets his family to include us on their extravagant outings. Most of the time Olivia and I join them, but we didn't this summer. A cruise isn't exactly the best place for Olivia; the noise, the crowds, the ever-moving ship. Olivia insisted that I go, but I made excuses to stay, for her. I couldn't leave her all alone all summer.

We both attempt to hug Jayde back, but it ends up turning into an awkward flailing of arms until she lets us go.

"I guess I don't exist," Daniel pouts, running his hand through his sandy hair.

"Oh, don't be a whiner, I just spent the whole summer with you! Come here!" Jayde exclaims, jumping on Daniel, wrapping him in a hug so tight his face starts to turn red.

Daniel starts swatting at Jaydes back, "I tap out. Let...me....go," he gasps out.

Jayde lets go of Daniel and lets out a chuckle, "Oh, was that too much hugging?"

"No, I just can't have you wrinkling my shirt," he motions towards his black and white striped button-up.

"Sorry, mon cheri," Jayde replied, kissing Daniel on the cheek while showing off her fluency of French. Jayde already took two years of French and has basically perfected it, like everything she does. Blaine, however, still hasn't quite gotten the hang of it. He barely passed last years French II class. Jayde tutors him now, just enough that his dad thinks he's fluent. Her and Blaine's father promised them a trip to Paris after graduation if they both learned French by the time we graduate next year. They're both planning to take a gap year and roam Paris unless they get sports scholarships to the college they want. They're both applying to Big Pine University; we all are. We are all trying to stay together wherever we go. It's only a couple of towns over, so it's close to home. It's also one of the best colleges in the state. Jayde and Blaine are so much alike, like most twins are, but also so wildly different.

"Why don't y'all two get married already?" Blaine hollers from his seat atop the courtyard table.

Daniel laughs, "Well, buddy, you and I both know if I were into girls, your sister would be my first pick," he replies in a heavy southern accent, slightly mocking Blaine's, while sliding an arm around Jayde's waist.

"We're going to be late to class if we don't hurry up," Olivia pipes in.

"Crap," I exclaim, looking at the clock, "We've got five minutes, let's compare schedules."

We all compared schedules. Daniel and I have no classes together. We probably would have, but he failed a couple of classes last year and has to retake them.

Olivia takes all her classes in her homeroom for the first four schedule slots, then she works in the office for an hour after lunch. It's supposed to help her gain more work and people skills. We both have painting for our sixth class.

I don't have a single class with Blaine, which isn't any surprise. We usually don't. To my surprise though, Jayde and I both have Chemistry third period together. Jayde and Blaine are on sports schedules, which means they take all of their base classes, math, science, English and history, the first four classes of the day. Then they have weight training/gym/practice for their last two schedule slots, which also includes an extra hour of practice after school as well. Blaine is on the football team, whereas Jayde runs track.

Everyone in school has lunch during fourth block, so at least I'll get to see everyone then.

"I've got to bolt, y'all. Krista is waiting for me," Blaine announces as soon as we're done comparing schedules and rushes towards the east door, "see y'all at lunch!"

Krista Shaw, head cheerleader, is Blaine's girlfriend and the longest relationship he's ever had. They've been together just over a year now. Before Krista, Blaine use to jump from girl to girl, always finding a way to mess things up. At first, we weren't sure Krista was going to stick around, but she has. She's really straightened Blaine out this past year.

"We all need to be going. Walk with me, Mere?" Olivia asks.

"Yeah, let's go. We will see you guys in class or at lunch," I say to Jayde and Blaine before walking out with Olivia.

Olivia's homeroom is on the way to my first class, Local History. I drop her off and half jog to class to ensure I'm not late. I walk into class just as the bell rings. While looking around for a place to sit, I notice the guy from the parking lot sitting in the back with an empty seat beside him.

Bingo.