Red Skies | The Prime Archives #1 ✓

one

Chase didn't like parties.

He never did and he probably never would. There were always too many people for him. Too many intoxicated teenagers, to be specific. And the music usually sucked. Actually, it always sucked. He preferred staying home and eating a box of pepperoni pizza while watching old MMA fights.

Sadly, he wouldn't be doing any of that tonight. He was going to be too busy attending the big Forest Bash—dubbed that by the pretentious students of his new high school, River Hill High: Go Sentinels! Now that he was thinking about it, the school's mascot was pretty much the only thing he liked about the place.

When Theodore Holland, his only real friend, told him about the party, he had no intentions of going. If the guy asked him to, Chase could've drafted up a list of a hundred things he'd rather do. Besides, who in their right mind throws a party in the forest? Especially at night. Had it not been for Theo's incessant pestering, he wouldn't have even considered it.

Eventually, his friend made a point that made him change his mind.

When Chase continued expressing his disinterest in going, Theo pulled out his final card and revealed a certain someone would also be going. That someone went by the name of Stella James. Even though he'd only been at River Hill for a few weeks, as the school year only started in September, he knew who she was. Everyone did. In fact, it was kind of hard not to.

She was their school's senior class president, valedictorian, and the school's reigning state gymnast champion. Upon first hearing about her, courtesy of Theo, he wrote her off as some uptight, preppy, rich kid from the suburbs. So far, he'd been right.

But there was something about her that piqued his interest.

The first time they met hadn't gone the way he anticipated. He'd just decked River Hill's golden boy, Bryson Baker—who happened to be Stella's boyfriend—in the nose after he witnessed the guy steal Theo's inhaler. Even though he got a week's worth of detention for it, he wouldn't have changed a thing given the chance. After all, he would've never met Theo had he not stepped in. Plus, his father always told him to stick up for the little guy, especially when no one else did.

Stella had immediately come to her boyfriend's rescue after he dropped to the hallway floor like a sack of coins, his nose dripping red.

He remembered how his heart fluttered when he met the gaze of the hazel-eyed, bronze-skinned beauty. If he thought he had any semblance of a chance with her before, it was gone after that day. That didn't mean his crush went away. He decided to push his feelings aside, though, as he knew they'd never amount to anything.

While Bryson was a douchebag, Chase wasn't in the homewrecking business.

Besides, she was literally the most popular girl in school. He was just the new kid with a penchant for getting into fights on his first week.

He shook the thought from his mind and exited his beat-up pickup truck—a hand-me-down from his father. While his old man was rarely around due to his military commitments, he figured the truck was enough to make up for it. It wasn't, really, but he wasn't one to complain—what his dad did for a living was important work and he knew that.

Looking around, he moved away from the impromptu parking lot.

Had it not been for Stella and his annoying friend, he would've been back home snuggled up with the leftovers his mom left in the fridge while catching up on his favorite shows. A wistful sigh left his lips at the mere thought of it.

It wasn't too late for him to turn back.

''Chase! You made it.''

Okay, now it was too late.