Phoenix

Chapter 4

Jackson's POV

Something told me that I shouldn't have let Phoenix walk away with those people, but I've learned my lesson by staying out of other people's drama. He doesn't seem like a bad person and even if he was, no one deserves to be bullied. I just don't want to get mixed in with this school's problems.

I've made that mistake before and it backfired.

I sighed and turned around to head inside the cafeteria doors. As I did, someone walked up beside me and linked their arm in with mine. 

I stopped and looked to see who had just done that, acting like they knew me. There stood a girl with long, curly brown hair. She looked up at me with light brown eyes that sparkled under the lights on the ceiling. they almost looked like a hazel or amber under the bright light. Her smile only grew wider, showing her bright white, perfectly straightened teeth. She had darker, mixed skin that tied together with all of her features.

"Hi there, my name's Jewl and your name is Jackson, right?" She said while batting her long eye lashes. 

I mentally cringed and forced a smile, trying to be polite, even though I was irritated. 

"Yeah, how did you know?" I ask, even though I bet I already knew the answer. 

"You're the talk of the entire of the school. We don't get many new students here and you're the only face that I don't recognize," The girl named Jewl explained. "Are you here alone? Do you want to sit at my table? We have an empty seat."

"Um, sure, I guess." I said, but she was already dragging me over to her table anyway. Guess I didn't really have a choice after all. 

The table she led me to was just like all the others, round and blue with a bunch of round seats surrounding it. The white, marble looking floor look just like the white ceiling. The light gray walls made this place almost look like a white room, the only color being the blue tables and the fall colors outside the windows. 

"This is Brenda, Lucy, and Quinn. Girls, this is Jackson," She introduced and her friends all smiled, well, except one. It was hard to pick out which one was which, they all had similar curly hair and pink clothing with boots. Although, Quinn was easy to pick out, she was the only one frowning. 

"I heard you were the one hanging out with Phoenix all morning," Quinn said, clearly unhappy. I wonder why people seem to dislike him so much. What did he do? Or did he even do anything at all. 

"Quinn, stop, I'm sure it's just a rumor. There's no way he would willing hangout with a guy like that," Jewl said with a laugh as if this was all a joke. 

"Why do you guys not like him?" I ask, getting directly to the point. 

"Seriously? Have you seen that kid, he's freaky looking. He looks like a runt human. He's so tiny and his eyes are so weird, it's not normal." One of the girls said, one that I don't remember the name of. 

That's cruel, just because he looks different than everyone else? At least people hated me because they thought I did something awful. Not because I look different than the standards. 

"And Blythe hates him. Nick says it's because on the first day he moved here, he claimed that he tried to pick a fight with them to be the most popular guy in school." Another said. Somehow, I find that hard to believe that someone like him would pick a fight with those guys. Anyone should be able to come to the conclusion. 

"He shouldn't be at this school, he should be locked up somewhere with all the other losers that don't belong here," Quinn mumbled and stabbed her fork into her mess of what I assume was supposed to be the cafeteria lunch.

It took all of my self-control to not reach across the table and slap her, I don' care if she's a girl. How could she say such a thing about someone? She's just like the people at my old school. I hate people like her.

"O-Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Talking about this kind of stuff irritates Quinn. So, do you play any sports?" Jewl asked, changing the subject quickly. She could clearly see that things were escalating, and honestly, if she wouldn't have stepped in, I would have said something that I shouldn't have. 

"I used to play football, but I don't anymore," I answer truthfully. It's true, I used to play before I got kicked off the team. I haven't really had the motivation to play ever since. 

Although, I do enjoy the sport. I've played lots of other sports when I was little and it's definitely my favorite. 

"Have you thought about playing volleyball? We have a football team, but it's not that great. You look like you would be great at anything, you should give it a try," Jewl said, not even trying to hide the fact that she checked me out while she was talking. 

Not that I'm not used to it by now, because I am, but it still makes me uncomfortable. 

"Yeah, you should definitely join the team. I'm sure Blythe would let you in no problem. You have the muscles and the looks," One of the girls that I assumed was either Brenda or Lucy said. 

"Let who join the team?" A male's voice said, approaching the table. Turning my head, I saw that I recognized him. It was the guy that messed with Nix this morning, his cold amber eyes were unmistakable. Behind him were the same people that walked away with Phoenix before lunch. 

"Jackson, wouldn't he be perfect?" Jewl said as he sat down a few seats down from me and the other guys placed themselves in empty seat around the table. 

"Hmm, don't know. I don't think he's up for it," A male a little smaller than me said. He had dirty blonde hair and green eyes, he was the one that always seemed to be right beside the amber one. He slung his arm around the girl named Quinn and she smiled. 

Girls and their mood swings. 

"You're right, Nick, he's not up for it. He should stick to football," Quinn said to who I now know is Nick. It was starting to get overwhelming with all these people. 

I'm okay with big crowds, but I can tell this is the wrong crowd. I need a plan to get out of here. 

"I don't want just anyone joining my team," The guy with the amber eyes said while his eyes stayed on me, staring me down. 

"Wow, you know, I totally forgot that I'm supposed to talk to one of my teachers during my lunch period. It was nice to meet you all, but I'm going to go now," I said and got to my feet before anyone could object. 

"Aw, alright," Jewl said with a small pout, clearly disappointed. That didn't last long though before she smiled again. "Will you sit with us again tomorrow?" 

"Yeah, I'll see you later," I agreed, but that doesn't mean I'll keep it. I just want to get out of here. I headed out of the cafeteria, ignoring everyone else's conversations on my way out. 

As soon as I stepped out of the doors, that's when I realized something important. 

I never got anything to eat. 

I sighed in frustration and walked down the hall, not really knowing where I was going. I knew that I needed to find somewhere to be by myself for a little while so I can get through the rest of the day and maybe even find some food. 

I glanced over the red lockers all aligned on the walls, wondering if I should go to find mine. They showed it to me this morning, but I totally lost track of where it was. Every direction I looked at had the same design to it. White floors that matched the same ones in the lunchroom. All the lockers were red except for the few that had been decorated on the outside.

The classroom doors were all the same light oak wood with the teacher's names on plaques beside it. The ceilings looked to be way higher than they should be, even a giant would be able to stand in here and still probably have headroom.

I was hoping that since I was moving to such a small town, that the school would be older looking with more of a history, but everything looked modern. It was disappointing honestly. 

The further I walked, the hungrier I was getting. My stomach started to growl at me to fill it up and satisfy its needs. 

Maybe I could leave and go find a place to eat nearby. Then again, there's only around fifteen minutes left, I'll definitely be late coming back. 

My grandma would be upset if she found out that I was late so many times just on my first day. She would think that I was trying to skip classes again. 

I sighed once more, giving up on the idea of getting anything to eat. I'll just eat a bunch whenever I get home. I glanced around the school again and paused whenever I heard a creak down one of the corridors. I walked around the corner and noticed the door leading outside had been opened.

My eyes met a pair that I could never forget. One that was one of the brightest blues I've ever seen, the other a brown with little gold specks around the pupil that even I could see from a couple feet away. 

They were mesmerizing, I don't know how anyone could ever think that they're freaky. I bet they're just jealous that they're eyes aren't as beautiful as his. 

I didn't just call a man's eyes beautiful... Did I? guys can be beautiful, can't they?

Before I could really question it though, I noticed the redness around his eyes and on the tip of his nose and his cheeks. 

I glanced from the door to him. It's freezing outside, why would he be out there? 

Did those guys lock him outside? 

I glanced over him again, his eyes were now glued to the floor, his arms were wrapped tightly around himself and his hair was a mess as if it had been messed up on purpose and his clothes weren't exactly as neat looking as they were earlier. 

There we no marks on his pale skin except for the redness from the cold. So if they didn't beat him up, then did they..? 

My mind was brought to the joke that I had made this morning when I first saw Blythe. Now I really regretted it. What if they really did make him do such a thing against his will? 

"Nix?" I questioned, but he didn't respond, he just started to walk past me as if I wasn't even there.  Maybe he doesn't want to talk about it... 

I know I didn't want to talk about whenever people asked me what was wrong. 

So I decided instead of questioning what had happened, I should talk about something else. But leaving him alone just did not seem like a good option right now. 

"Hey, do you know where I can get some edible food? The cafeteria food is crap," I say, hoping to get some kind of reaction out of him. I remember in the last class, he kept doodling pictures of food on the worksheet we were supposed to be working on. So I assumed he really liked food. 

My assumption was confirmed whenever he stopped and looked back at me with the cutest little smile I've ever seen despite his red face.

"Of course, I would never eat such slop. I can't believe they even consider that stuff to be food," He said while shaking his head. His voice was raspy, unlike how smooth and quiet it was earlier, I could now tell that he wasn't just red from the cold. He had been crying.

"Where?" I ask, trying my hardest not to bring up something that might upset him further. 

"My locker, it's full of snacks and goodies. I even have a mini battery-powered fridge in there," Nix said and I was surprised. I never thought that someone as small as him would have such a passion for food that he kept a fridge in his locker. 

Wait, how does that even fit?

"You come prepared, don't you?" I question with a small chuckle while he started to lead me in a direction that I assumed to be towards his locker. I watched him as he walked, his legs were shaking, but he acted as if he was fine.

"Mhm, if I have to be here almost every day for the next four years, might as well prepare myself, right?" He said as he we reached our destination as he started to put in his combination. 

"I guess you're right," I said with a grin, amused by his food obsession. Although, my slight worry for him didn't subside. 

"You know; I don't let just anyone into my stash, but since it's your first day, you can have whatever you want," Phoenix said as he opened the door to his locker, revealing the contents inside. 

It was filled with almost every snack I could think of, and the bottom rested the fridge that he had mentioned earlier. 

He's something else. 

"How did you get all this stuff inside of here?" I ask, I'm sure the school wouldn't allow him to get away with something like this if they knew. 

"I fill it up after school or during lunch and I never open it if anyone is around," He said with a small shrug as he opened a rice crispy treat and shoved it into his mouth. 

"Is that way you've been dragging your bag and coat around all day?" I asked and he just nodded in response since his mouth was full. 

I chuckled and shook my head at him. I was amazed, despite him looking so down just a minute ago, he seemed fine now. Food must be his cure.

"Well, I'm thankful because I'm starving," I said and grabbed something myself, trying to hurry and fill my stomach before the bell rang.