Hello Jax

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A loud pounding filtered through Nina's ears as she finally made eye contact. The palms of her hands clamed up and she carefully, without being too obvious, rubbed them nervously along her jeans. Why was she so suddenly so anxious around someone she didn't know?

Like Mr. Harris kindly reminded her, she was head leader of the student welcome program. She was great with greeting others, even those as handsome as Jax.

Was it his appearance that made her so on edge? Or perhaps the medication she had been taking? Either way, she realized she had been giving him an empty stare for far too long and he frowned waiting for her response.

Not only did she look like a nervous mess, she looked like a freak too.

"What?" She swallowed the lump forming in her throat, "I mean," Nina shook her head, gathering herself, "What did you say?" She finally got out in a confused question.

Jax smirked as he bowed his head, trying to conceal it. It was clear he noticed how tense she was and he was kind enough to attempt to hide his amusement.

"I said I got you," he reiterated as he bent down into his backpack, pulling out a notepad, "I'm a total science geek. So don't look so disappointed about being my partner, I got you," he joked, with the friendliest smile Nina had ever seen.

She watched as he turned away and began copying what Mr. Harris had began writing on the board in front of them. Nina smirked, pleased with the idea that she might have a chem partner who might actually do their fair share.

She loved Trish, but she was not good at playing the role of a student.

Soon, Nina felt herself calm as she turned to start her notes as well. Her eyes, carefully glancing over to Jax's fingers as they worked along the notebook paper. His handwriting was small, but neat and organized as he numbered the pages like a syllabus.

It was impressive and soon she felt as if she came across too crass.

"I'm Nina," she offered, moving her eyes back to her own notes, "And I didn't mean to insinuate that I was disappointed with being partners," she reassured him, although she made it seem as if she didn't want to welcome him as she argued her fate with Mr. Harris right in front of him.

Jax shook his head and chuckled quietly, "It's okay, I get it. I wouldn't want to hang around the new kid all day either. Who wants to babysit a loser on his first day of school," he sulked jokingly, and although Nina knew he was only being funny, she still felt terrible for the first impression she gave.

"No, stop it!" She giggled a little too loud, which surprised her as she bowed her and looked back to see Trish raising her eyebrows with a look of interest. Jax chuckled back and it was the last exchange they had as Mr. Harris began his lesson plan for the day.

His pairing choices hadn't been so bad after all.

As chemistry ended, Nina packed up her things and made her way to her next class. Although there was a sea of people walking in front of her, passing along side her and behind her, there was a particular set of footsteps she'd recognize in any crowd and with any shoe choice.

Nina rolled her eyes, almost wanting to laugh, "Yes Trish?" She asked turning back to see her riding boots jogging up to her. After catching her eye in chemistry, Nina knew her friend would be dying to question her about the new hottie.

It was like clock work.

Trish peered down at Nina, though she was only a few inches taller she appeared to tower over her with her thin frame, "Don't think I didn't see you and Mr. Man having a sensual moment back there."

"Mr. Man?" Nina raised an eyebrow.

Trish poked her long finger into Nina's shoulder, "You know, the hot piece of ass that you got to sit next to? Yeah, well I heard he's loaded and his family just moved from..." she trailed off in perplexed thought, "Actually I don't know, I stopped listening to Ruby Hanson when she said he was single," Trish's eyes lit up like stars at the information she had gotten.

"You heard? How the hell did you find that out in one class period?"

"It's high school baby, word spreads fast. Anyway I want you to invite him tonight," finally admitting what she really wanted, "Put in a good word for me while you're at it."

To kick off the school year, the wealthiest senior in the class always throws party. Nina and Trish attended every single one besides last year, due to Nina being in the middle of her battle for a diagnosis.

They all thought she was dying, so of course she was excused. But this year, she was ready to make up for lost time.

The bell rang, causing Trish to throw her over sized purse over her shoulder, "Well, early bird gets the worm," she yelled as she and her knee high boots walked down the empty hallway in no hurry at all.

"Doesn't count if you're late!" Nina shouted back, laughing to herself. She sighed as she clenched her books tight to her chest, noticing that she was now the only was in the hallway. The school was built in the Victorian era, which mean long, wide hallways with vaulted ceilings. During the day, when their were warm bodies in it, it felt cozy.

But when empty, it was just eerie.

P.E was in the farthest end of the school, the old wing. No one was ever seen there unless they had to be. As Nina made her way into the large cement bunker they called a locker room, Mrs. MagGee, the manly coach stood at the foot of the door. She brought her bright blue whistle to her mouth and blew with all her might, right in Nina's face.

"I don't want any slackers in my class this year Miss. Wood. I hope you can keep your motivation high since your troublemaker friend isn't going to join us this semester."

Trish failed gym three times, so the school decided to give her a stress test to make up for the credit, which she also failed. The superintendent made a special deal with her father for free Botox if she allowed Trish to formally be opted out from any physical education class, even though she was technically an athlete.

Nina forced a smile, though her teeth were gritting, trying to pretend like her ear drums hadn't just burst from the whistle, "Of course Mrs. MagGee."

"Get dressed and meet us on the track in 5," The butch woman blew her whistle once more and stormed out the door.

Nina sighed, cursing under her breath and looked at the hideous gym attire hanging from her small grey locker. She walked over to it and slowly took off her shirt as the heavy door opened on the the other side of the lockers.

She reached for the button on her jeans when she suddenly noticed no one entered. Lifting her head, she looked around her immediate area for a moment, waiting in silence for someone, anyone to announce their presence.

The sound of dripping water met her ears, perking them.

Was that happening when she came in?

Each drop felt like it was getting louder, until the sink was running full blast, "Hello?" Nina shouted.

She inched towards the bathroom, only to once again find no one there. Her small footsteps moved towards the running water, looking around just incase. With a swift move, she reached to turn it off and listened.

This felt familiar.

The same uneasiness she felt before her body shut down and dove her into a sea of nightmares.

A loud bang radiated through the air and a small shriek left her lips. With shaky hands, Nina hustled back to her locker and threw on her ugly uniform, not caring that it was backwards. Panicked and incredibly frightened she busted through the door, letting the sunshine blind her from where she was going.

Before she could put her hand up to shield the beaming light, she collided with someone.

With Jagged breath, Nina looked up to see her lab partner standing in front of her. Jax's hands were clasped firmly around her upper arms as he held her wobbly frame.

"Nina?"

Pushing her hair behind her ears, she swallowed her fright, "Hey," she managed to let out, taking a quick glance back at the locker room.

Jax frowned, following her gaze for a moment, then meeting hers once more, "Is everything okay? You look a little spooked," his tone seemed concerned.

Nina nodded once more, smiling lightly as she always did to hide the truth, "This part of the building has a lot of eerie history behind it. You can only hear so many ghost stories before you start to believe them," she joked, shrugging her shoulders. Finally realizing that he had been holding her this entire time.

Without seeming ungrateful, she wiggled herself from his grip.

He noticed though and in response, dropped his hands by his side and took a step back to give her space.

"So you believe in ghosts?" He laughed lightly, diverting from their awkward predicament.

As her smiled faded as she looked down at her feet, "Something like that," she admitted, looking back up at Jax.

Not exactly ghosts, but the type of monsters that lie beyond consciousness. A deserted plain between awake and asleep where anything and anyone can get her, where everything feels real. She didn't want to slip back into that desolate darkness, she couldn't.

"Listen," she began, not wanting to ruin the good day she had been having or bother trying to explain to someone she had just met that she was kind of a freak, "There's this thing tonight, it's like a tradition on the first day of school and my friend wanted to know if-,"

"Your friend?" Jax asked with a slight lift of his lips and eyebrow.

Nina stopped and smirked back, but quickly frowned at the way he asked the question, "Yeah," she dragged out, "My friend wanted to know if you wanted to come. And as the leader slash non leader of the student welcome program I have no choice but to suggest that you be there. It's the perfect environment for someone who knows absolutely no one."

A moment of silence passed as Jax continued to smirk down at Nina, not bothering to make an effort to reply. A small patch of tension was building as they gazed at each other, a sensation she was familiar with, but with someone else and she felt it was time to end the conversation.

Laughing as she broke eye contact, she moved past him, "And that is quite possibly the worst advice I have ever given someone who was new," she joked, knowing she advised him to attend a party where he would surely get the worst impression possible of every single student in attendance.

But she did this for Trish.

"I have to get to class, or I might lose my hearing," Nina stuck a finger in her ear, jiggling out the ringing from the whistle from the earlier, "But consider coming tonight, it'll be good to meet some new faces."

Nina smiled, backed away and waved as she booked it to the track all the while secretly hoping they he might reconsider so she didn't have spend the entire night without Trish, whom she knew would disappear with Jax.

Wishful thinking.