"You know dragging me in there isn't really going to do wonders for my reputation," RC commented dryly as Jordan cornered her after gym class and tried to get her to go into the locker room with him.

The truth was that she was going crazy. Absolutely bat shit crazy.

She hadn't had the best morning, she wasn't going to lie. It had been horrid. Brent had been horrid and Shay had been horrid. But was more horrid than anyone or anything else was Simone's traitorous silence, and mildly interested expression when the terrible two were giving RC a terrible time.

Simone hadn't bothered to speak to her, and when RC approached Simone at lunch, Simone only gave RC a cold shoulder.

Something had changed.

Instead, RC had taken to inhabiting her normal spot by the wall, when Jordan had interrupted her wandering thoughts.

"Punched anyone today?"

"Around fifty! Haven't you heard I'm the new bad ass around here."

"So they say," Jordan shrugged. "Are you busy after gym?"

"I may need to check my calendar and time planner for that." RC smiled a small smile. "Any other questions with blatantly obvious answers that you may want to ask?"

"Today isn't the best of days huh?"

RC shrugged. "Better than most, worse than some."

"Well come hang out with me after gym."

"In school?" RC asked stupidly, her eyes widening at Jordan's words.

"No, in the boys locker room," Jordan answered sarcastically. "Of course in school."

The bell interrupted their conversation. "Okay." RC answered, wondering how quickly she would have to run down the stairs to avoid a glaring Shay, and her knuckle crunching ape of a boyfriend.

"Boys locker room it is then." Jordan winked at her, walking away.

Which is where she was now, leaning hesitantly​ against the wall by the locker room door, watching as Jordan tried to convince her to come in.

"Stop being such a ninny," Jordan pressed.

RC shrugged. "It's the boy's locker room, Jordan. It stinks which is one major reason why I don't want to go in there."

"Okay." Jordan said simply. He pulled her by the wrists into the locker room, ignoring her loud disapproval.

RC wrinkled her nose at the smell.

"See it's not that bad." Jordan commented.

RC folded her arms across her chest indignantly. "Like you would know." She scoffed.

Jordan turned around to change out of his sweaty jersey. He pulled off his shirt, revealing a tattoo of folded wings between his shoulder blades, with the word "Leah" written beneath them.

As if he could feel her staring shamelessly, Jordan turned around and smirked. "Took your breath away?" He asked, stepping closer.

RC involuntarily stepped back and bumped into the lockers. She trained her eyes on his right upper arm where there was another tattoo of a broken arrow.

"You know it's rude to stare," Jordan continued, his voice just higher than a gravelly whisper.

"Yeah," RC breathed, shaking herself out of her trance and looking at her shoelaces instead. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not." Jordan stepped closer. RC could almost feel his breath on her forehead. Their eyes met, and RC felt like she had been relocked into the Jordan trance.

"Coach Benson…" RC started, whispering, her breathing suddenly uneven and rugged.

"Coach Benson what?" Their foreheads touched.

"Uh, he will… he could uh…" RC cleared her throat. "Nothing."

"Good," Jordan stepped back. "Because I was starting to think that the fiery RC was morphing into a coward."

The trance broke as RC smacked Jordan smartly on the arm, only succeeding in widening his smile. "Coward my ass."

"Yup, and she is back!" Jordan winked at her.

"Yay," RC mock celebrated. "Remind me why I agreed to hang out with you again?"

"Because you can't resist the pleasure of my company," Jordan replied easily, as if was obvious, and RC rolled her eyes amusedly.

"Oh please, Mr McDonald's burger flipper." RC held up her palm.

"Ay! Don't say that shit out loud, people can here you." He hissed.

RC raised her eyebrows and looked around. "No one's here, last time I checked."

"Thank heavens!" Jordan pulled on his shirt. "I have a reputation to maintain, you know."

"Oh really? Which one? Because when I hear the rumours, I feel like you're managing several." RC sat down on one of the benches and watched Jordan wipe his hair.

"Ah, yes. Rumours." Jordan chuckled. "Do you believe them?"

"You tell me, are they true?"

Jordan chuckled. "Depends on what you've heard."

"Well, apparently you've plucked the feathers off a live chicken, according to Art Rues from biology class, drunk your body weight's worth of beer and still stayed sober, snuck cocaine into church exactly seven times, and," RC counted the rumours off on her fingers, "you broke principal Duvall's jaw last year, and spent time in juvey because of it."

Jordan started at her for a second before he burst out into a roar of laughter so crazy that he had to sit down beside RC to take it all easy.

"Jesus," he said, wiping a tear and still laughing to himself. "All that creativity, and one wonders why creative essays register the worst performance in the exams."

RC regarded him seriously. "Those are some fired up allegations." She bit her lower lip. "So they aren't true?"

"Is that what you think?"

"I don't know," RC shrugged. "I can't exactly judge you based off of what i got off the grapevine."

Jordan pushed his tongue into his cheek and regarded her in slight amusement. "Hmm."

"Hmm what?" RC shook her head at him. "So? Unravel the mystery of Jordan Brooks already, will you?"

"How about we talk it over over burgers." Jordan brushed his hair and zipped up his gym bag.

RC's shoulders slumped down. "I can't, not today, we're having this rehearsal for my sister's wedding, it's not something my mom will take lightly."

"Yeah, no you're right." He nodded, frowning thoughtfully. "We shouldn't."

RC gave him a look. Or rather she liked to think that she gave him a look. She wasn't sure she could pull it off. "I'm going to go, the smell in here is killing me."

"Really?" Jordan raised an eyebrow at her.

RC looked away and asked the first thing that popped into her mind. "Who's Leah?"

She instantly regretted it, as Jordan's eyes clouded in what RC could only describe as remorse.

"Nobody."

But the emotion coming through his voice told RC otherwise.

"Okay," RC felt awkward, like she's stepped over a line that she shouldn't have. "I'm... Uh… I'm going to go."

"Okay."

RC felt her voice catch in her throat. She slowly walked out of the locker room and headed home, all the while feeling like she should have stayed.

***

Okay :)