Mine

Avery

Jess and I walked Matthew to the front office. I quietly kept to one side of Jess, him to the other. Jess walked with her usual confidence to the door, and practically swatted Matthews hand away, as he tried to reach for the handle before her. I heard down south, it was a thing for men to hold doors open.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Chivalry is dead, Matt." Jess gave him a warm smile to show that she didn't take it to heart, but Matthew shook his head and grabbed the door after Jess, pulling it back. He waved his hand at me.

"Chivalry will never be dead, after you ma'am." That accent was so darn cute...

"Thank you," I said quietly, ducking inside "I appreciate it." Jess strode ahead passing many people who waved to her, ignoring me, and Matthew. Jess was the only thing that mattered to kids at this school, and not even a new face could break attention from her. Jess wasn't mean, just popular. Typically she would've smiled and waved back to everyone like a princess in a parade, but her goal was to get to the office. When Jess had a goal, nothing could distract her. Matthew and I simply followed in her wake to the front of the school.

"Mr.Douglas, I have sniffed out a new face this fine morning. He was mentally scarring the shyest person in this school," stated Jess referring to Matthew, and his little banter with me and my car a few moments ago. I felt a blush rising in my hot cheeks, as my eyes turned down to examine the fading red carpet.

"Welcome to the school, Matthew Peeves, I assume." Mr.Douglass, the office receptionist gave a curt nod in Matts' direction.
"Yes sir. I was here yesterday touring. I just need a schedule, but my parents already have me applied here, and everything. Dr.Ruster said I just need a printed off schedule, and I should be good to go." The thing about Matthew, is in the five minutes I had known him, I noticed how confident in everything he did was. Nothing phased this kid. I believe it's what they called in old western movies "southern charm." I had never been down south. This was all a new concept.

"Seeing as how you have already met Miss Lane , and Miss Devorse, and have classes with them, I assume they'll be teaching you the ropes, or should I assign you a guide?" Matthew turned a dazzling smile on me.

"I think I'll be okay with these two, sir. Thank you." I felt my cheeks growing hot, and avoided eye contact, giving a small nod to Mr.Douglas to let him know Jess and I could handle things from here. He handed Matthew a sheet of paper with a list of his classes.

Jess grabbed the paper, and checked the list."Come on Miss Lane, and Mr.Peeves, we have a world history class to catch," stated Jess, turning on her heel to lead the way to our first class, which we apparently all had together. "You know how Dr.Doom is if we're late." Jess and I were walking side by side, with Matt trailing behind us. He spoke up.

"We seriously have a teacher named Dr.Doom?"

"Avery, explain. I can't talk nicely about that man, and to suite our southern friend here, I will follow his morals of 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.' Right?"

"Right."

"Go Avery."

I sighed and began the story, speaking quietly. "His name is actually Dr.Doon, but Jess hates him. He failed an essay she wrote, because it wasn't descriptive enough-"

"Twenty five pages, I wrote for that man's stupid paper! Twenty-freaking-five! I wrote 8 more pages than Lilly Marcus, the Valedictorian! I should have gotten an A plus plus on that! But NOOOOOO, it should've been eighty more pages to get the point across that China fell to freaking communism! That teacher just doesn't like me, because I'm better than his precious Lilly. He gives her every thing!"

"And you're just chopped liver?" Matthew spoke up.

"Assuming that's an expression meaning worthless to him, then yes. Matt. I think I'm going to like you."

That inexplicable Jess effect, that made everyone weak in the knees made my face feel hot. I prayed to God that she would let me have this one...If I could ever work up the courage. She looked at me, and winked. She knew I was thinking in depth about the new kid. She had this little rule. If he didn't see her first, she wasn't hers to keep. This rule was thrown out the window most of the time, seeing as I coward away from anyone who gave me attention, but I didn't pass out this morning in my car when he approached me. So that must mean something to her. Jess really was a good friend. But I didn't want her exactly forcing Matthew on me.
I needed to do this on my own. But what if I was just being ridiculous. He probably just saw I was the only person in the lot, and needed help. I was reading into things. This boy and I would never end up together. I was planning things out in my head. What was wrong with me?

Two minutes before the bell rung, I slid into my seat, setting my bag down on the floor next to me. Jess gracefully sat down, crossing her legs. She unraveled her scarf from her neck, and shimmied her coat off, hanging both on the back of her seat. She grabbed her notebook out, and a pen, dating her paper for the inevitable notes we were going to take. She was flawless. I made a vow to work on being more like her. Our fashion lessons went well in fifth grade, when she taught me that makeup was not a bad thing and that my style was more than just sweatpants and baggy hoodies. Maybe I should enquire her for some "how to be perfect, by Jess Devorse" lessons. I took my own coat off, and crossed my legs as well. I picked at my sheer black tights, glad I looked decent enough to impress the new guy.

At the thought of him, I glanced up. He was standing in the doorway of the class, looking like he knew what he was doing. I knew he must be screaming on the inside though. Where to sit. Was there assigned seating? Do I let the teacher introduce me? Are people staring at me? These were the questions I would be thinking if I were him.

"Matthew, darling, come sit next to Aves." Jess leaned over and pointed a finger across my desk, pointing to the empty seat that had not been filled all semester. He strode over, as the five girls in the first row gapped. "Take a picture ladies, it'll last longer. He's Avery's boy toy anyways."

My mouth dropped, and I felt the color drain from my cheeks. I didn't dare look over to those beautiful eyes, but I heard a slight chuckle from him. Jess gave me a sly smirk. "Oh, Avery, our cowboy friend hasn't taken his eyes off you all morning, isn't that right Matthew," she said leaning forward, and looking past me.

"Well, she is stunning. I think it's too soon to give a verdict though," he replied. Jess sat back grinning. I still hadn't broken eye contact with her, but I knew his eyes were boring into the back of my head. I faced forward, still ignoring him, and looked at the girls in the front row. They gaped at me. I averted my eyes down to my bag, grabbing my pen, and notebook.

It would be a long day.
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AN: So sorry this took so long to get up! I had written something from Matt's point of view, and it just didn't flow as nicely, so I had to re write it, and then decided I needed to make it longer. Then of course editing! If you guys see any grammatical issues, or anything that looks weird, please let me know! I am human, and I do make mistakes! But I'm trying, and this is the first book I've written. I hope you guys are enjoying, and I'll try to update more often! Thanks for the love and support! Xoxoxo~Kamryn J. Harrison