Chereads / Pausing Heartbeats / Chapter 3 - Jason Chapman's Study

Chapter 3 - Jason Chapman's Study

Porterhouse Academy was an enormous school. It possessed a boarding block divided into girls and boys, an emerald-green football field, hockey pitch and basketball court. A natatorium, cafeteria, library, various research laboratories, several restaurants run by the school and a separate high-rise building that catered for numerous club activities.

The white-tiled pavements were flanked with colorful rose bushes and, as Jazmin squinted her eyes at the map in her grasp, she found herself utterly confused. Glancing up, she found herself facing a pavilion with a worn-out gate. She had crossed the same damn place already, but was back there again--to square one.

Sighing, she asked the blond boy beside her who was smiling at her knowingly. He chuckled and remarked, "You don't look it, Jaz, but you have a bad sense of direction, eh? I would have never thought there was such a side to cool, aloof Jaz!" He chuckled, inducing the girl to jab him in the ribs gently.

"Stop messing around, Jason. Are you finally going to show me where the girls' dorm is or will I have to resort to violence?" She asked, smiling kindly but her icy words could freeze the blood in his veins.

"Man, that's so hot," Jason spat, stepping forward to lead her to the girls' dorm. He winked at her and said, "If I woke up to hot you and your hot words, I'd melt but revive to come for more."

"And then I'd call the police or the military, because of the zombie flirting with me," Jazmin uttered. He clutched his chest dramatically, eyeing her with fake shock. "Jaz, you did not just do that, did you?" He asked in mock horror.

Jazmin's brow raised. "What?"

"You stole my zombie heart for the umpteenth time," he answered and laughed as the girl's face was morphed by massive disgust. They had strode for a while and passed the imposing restaurant. Jazmin glanced at the restaurant's opulent entrance. Light scintillated from the glass. Through the windows, a fancy, classic air reigned.

Jason noticed her stare. "I can take you out once you've settled and all," he said, "I know the chef, and the food in there tastes divine!" His eyes turned reminiscent and Jaz could see the longing in his eyes. "It tastes better than cookies mountained with sprinkles, whipped cream and decorated with chocolate and Oreos?" Jazmin challenged with a smirk.

Jason's face distorted. "Now that's just unhealthy," he responded, prodding the girl to lift a brow slightly, unsuspecting that he would actually not be a sugar person. Jazmin was everything sugar, except when it was being slapped into her face with confetti. That's where the line is drawn.

"And you'll pay, right?" Jazmin inquired seriously.

Jason coughed. "Er...ahem, I believe we can split the price, right?"

Jazmin stared at him. She made a face that Jason hadn't expected she was capable of. "Ah...no! Don't look at me like that!" He blushed at Jazmin's cute deadly puppy dog face, his heart racing suddenly.

As Jason stepped back warily, she stepped forward. "Woof, woof~!" Jazmin barked with the same, adorable expression. Her chocolate-brown eyes were glowing with warmth, watery and rheumy. Jason relented with a sigh.

"Okay, okay, I'll pay. However, only this time, puppy dog Jaz," he agreed, with a growing smile.

Jazmin shot him a look, with her normal stoic face, "Don't call me that."

"Heh, now that I've seen that, there's no way I'm not calling you 'Puppy dog Jaz'. It fits you perfectly," Jason said amusedly, not allowing her to butt in and refute him. She could only scowl and continue pulling her suitcase behind her.

The rest of Jazmin's luggage had been transported to her dorm two days earlier after she received her letter of admission. Today had been the day she first reported, but the school wanted her to get a feel of how lessons would be. Thus, Jaz had had to attend that day's lessons. The teachers had been mostly informed of her presence too.

"The girls' dormitory is just round this corner," Jason drawled as they turned a corner past a courtyard dressed by carnations and wildflowers. They stepped into a lane lined with sylphlike willows and lampposts that cast shadows upon the empty street.

The sun was setting in the western horizon, giving them a picturesque scene of colours intertwining in the sky as the birds returned to their cozy nests. The meshing blues of twilight were devoured by the dark blues and black of the night. The night sky resembled a blanket dotted with light. Unconsciously, Jazmin held her breath, her eyes adjusting to the gloaming and feasting on the castle-like manor encased in the diminishing sunlight.

Light reflected from the French-windows of the mansion, shrouding its remarkable stature with an air of profundity and peace.

"This..." Jazmin began, her glittering eyes glued to the manor, "...is the girls' dormitory?"

Jason smirked at Jazmin's moonstruck face. Her hazel eyes were glimmering with light. "Indeed it is, freshman. The first girls' dorm as there is a second one, and a third dorm as well, for the girls," her friend commented, adding, "Like it?"

Jaz nodded, a smile lighting up her face. "Love it."

"Then, I guess you're ready to step in. Too bad. This is where my self-proclaimed guide role ends. It was fun exploring this stupid elite school with you, Puppy Dog Jaz. You made me hate school a little less. Until we meet again?" Jason smiled and bowed like a gentleman, even though none of their dialogue had proved him to be any less of a rogue than he was.

They shook hands firmly, but then Jazmin abruptly pulled his arm and drew him into a tight hug. Jason felt the breath in his chest being forced out. 

"In my hometown," Jazmin said, still tight in the hug, "we don't hug. We squeeze."

She let go after Jason hoarsely remarked, "I...think I'm suffocating..."

Jason steadied his body, his cheeks still flushed, and he sputtered, "Are people in your hometown infamous for killing people...by hugging them to death?"

The bespectacled girl smiled in amusement, yet an inexplicable glint flickered in her eyes as she glanced at him. "Something like that," she remarked languidly.

Clasping her small, grey suitcase, she pulled her luggage past the towering silvery gates. The security guard—a toned lady with short, black hair—welcomed her in.

"You must be Jazmin Everlyne," the security guard remarked softly.

"Yes."

"You can call me Emma. Emma Byers in full. I'm the chief security guard around here, so you can always confide in me for help. Welcome to your new home, by the way. I believe you'll have a congenial stay here at the Violet Dormitory, or Violet House, as the insiders call it. I'll lead you to your room now," Emma said, with a motherly grin lighting up her warm, sweat-drenched features as she helped her with her suitcase.

Jason waved her off before turning his back, heading to his own dormitory, Ashfield House, which was boys-only. He was expecting the school to already be steaming with gossip and speculation about the new girl. He had been worried about whether Jazmin could survive in the hellhole that was Porterhouse Academy, but something told him...

'She's anything but ordinary. I know it.'

So it made him enthralled and excited as to what would ensue. It was either the school blew up by itself or someone destroyed the school before the 'bomb' went off. Jazmin very well had the boldness and the tinges of audacity to set the students on a run for their money, he assumed. How she would do this, however, remained a mystery to Jason Chapman.