The clock in Kwan's English class was evil. It had the habit of moving at a snail's pace and every once in a while if you looked really closely you could see the hands moving backwards. Alex tapped her pencil against the opened English book in front of her but her attention was on the evil clock hanging up above the chalkboard. Thirty minutes. 29...28...27...
"If you'll clear off your desks we're going to have a pop quiz on last night's homework." Kwan said with a sadistic little smile causing half the class to groan in protest. Naturally it was the half that hadn't done last nights homework and thanks to Amy, Alex was a part of that group.
Alex took the test from the kid in front of her and quickly looked over it. Yep, she was screwed. She jotted her name quickly at the top before moving on to the first question. She was half way through the test when the door opened and the office assistant walked in, followed by a boy her age dressed in baggy pants and an oversized sweatshirt. Shaggy brown hair peeked out from underneath a backwards baseball cap and a pair of Oakley's sat on top of his head reflecting the florescent ceiling lights.
Alex watched as Kwan took the schedule card from the office assistant's hand and looked over it. She cleared her throat drawing the whole class's attention then with a tight smile offered, "Class, we have a new student all the way from Montreal, Jason Hogart."
"It's Jay." the boy corrected, not even trying to hide his irritation.
The office assistant excused herself, backing out the door and shutting it without anyone noticing. Alex smirked as she slid down in her seat, resting her feet on the back of the chair in front of her. Normally the kid would have turned around and given Alex an annoyed look but today his full attention was on the new kid and his apparent bad attitude.
"Welcome to D.C.S." Kwan said. "Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself."
Jay cocked an eyebrow and without hesitation replied, "I'd rather not."
The smile slid from Kwan's face and Alex had to choke back her laughter. She covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to hide the smug smile that had turned up the corner of her lips. This guy was good.
"Then have a seat?" Kwan continued, indicating the empty seat in the front row.
The new kid walked right past the front row and plopped down in the empty seat right beside Alex in the back. He slung his backpack down and slid into the seat as Mrs. Kwan instructed the rest of the class to finish their quiz. Alex watched as the new kid flipped up the earphones of his disc man and hit the play button before she turned her attention back to the test in front of her.
00
"Who is that?" Amy asked, leaning up against the locker beside Alex's.
Alex turned her head to see who Amy was talking about. The new kid from Kwan's class was walking down the hall with some of the Montreal boys. Alex knew them by sight from parties but wasn't entirely sure of their names.
"New kid." she replied, turning back to her locker and shoving some books into it. "Jay, I think. He's in my English class."
Amy sighed, watching as the boys drew closer. Alex rolled her eyes at her best friend. The girl was completely boy crazy. She shut her locker and turned back to the boys, "Hey new kid." She called out. Once he turned to look at her she added, "There's a party in The Ravine tonight. You should check it out."
Jay nodded and flashed a killer smile that caused his blue eyes to flash gray as he kept on walking. Once the boys had passed, Alex turned back to Amy and asked, "Can we go now?"
00
The moon was full giving light beyond that of the barrel fires set up around the clearing. A senior had his car pulled up, blasting a ripped hip-hop mix from his decked out stereo system. Coolers stocked full of liquor and beer sat open beside a number of beat up lawn chairs, most of which were occupied by a variety of Degrassi and Bardell students.
Alex leaned against a tree scanning the crowd. Amy had disappeared to make out with one of the Bardell basketball players in the back of a beat up Honda Accord. It was pretty much a standard routine.
"Bored?" A voice asked, drawing Alex's attention away from the crowd.
"I was wondering if you were going to show up." she said, looking straight into the new kids eyes.
He chuckled, "And pass up all this fun?"
"What, not wild enough for you? Let me guess, they do things better in Montreal." Alex teased as she took a drink from the beer bottle in her hand.
"Something like that." he replied with a little nod. "Although I've got to say I'm liking the Toronto chicks."
"Oh yeah?" Alex questioned, cocking an eyebrow. "Anyone in particular?"
Jay nodded, "There was this cute brunette in my English class but I didn't catch her name."
Alex laughed, "Maybe she didn't toss it out."
"So, it's going to be like that, huh?" Jay asked. "That kind of gives you an unfair advantage doesn't it?"
Alex rolled her eyes, "It's Alex. Happy now?"
"Getting there." Jay teased. "But I'd be happier with a phone number."
"Don't push your luck, new kid. I'm not going to make it that easy on you." Alex replied before walking off towards a newly emptied lawn chair.
00
The Ravine began to clear out leaving a small group seated around the bonfire. Alex watched through the fire as Amy necked with a different basketball player. She sighed, tossing her empty bottle a short distance away before getting up and heading for the last remaining cooler.
"Damn it." Alex cursed as she looked into the empty cooler. Her buzz had started to wear off and she was slowly losing her patience.
"Looking for this?" Jay asked, holding up a full bottle of beer.
Alex turned around crossing her arms across her chest, "Let me guess, it'll cost me my phone number?"
Jay smirked handing Alex the bottle, "I guess you've heard that one before?"
"Only about a hundred times." Alex replied twisting off the top and taking a drink. "But if you want to keep trying..."
Jay shook his head no as he inches forward, "You'll give me your number eventually."
"You think so?" Alex teased.
Jay nodded, leaning in and pressing his lips against Alex's. He slid his hands down her sides to rest on her hips as he pulled her a little closer. When he pulled away a little smirk turned up the corner of his mouth. The cocky little grin that caused his eyes to dance in the moonlight.
"We'll see." Alex said, swallowing the lump in her throat. With a smirk of her own she walked right past the new kid and out of The Ravine.