Quad Squad
Chapter #01 - Reese, the Girl Who Was Troubled
Written by: CS-Masyet

It's my first day of high school... I thought to myself.

"Hey there."

High school, one of the pinnacles of a teen's life. Parties, dances, school events, prom... is all in high school.

But I could really care less about any of those things.

It's not that I hate them or anything. In fact, I probably wouldn't mind them if I had someone to spend them with.

"Hello?!"

I get asked out by girls all the time. There was even a rumor in my middle school that there wasn't a single girl there that didn't. There's one problem with that, though...

"Are you even listening to me? Hey!"

I'm a girl myself.

Because of the way I dress, everyone thinks I'm a boy. I'm not masculine or anything, but not very feminine either, so all the girls ask me out because they think I'm a "cute guy". ... Even though I'm not. And no matter how many times I tell them that I'm not a boy, they never believe me.

It's not like I'm desperate for a boyfriend or anything. I just want to be a normal girl, and have normal girl friends like the others...

"I'M TALKING TO YOU!!!"

"W-wha!" I was startled by the sudden outburst.

"Do I finally have your attention?" The girl asked me.

I had no idea who she was, or why she would be talking to me, so I figured she was talking to someone else. I guess I was wrong.

"Who are you?" I asked her. "Did I do something to bother you?"

"I'm Nina Floret." She told me, more calmly than earlier. "I want to ask you something."

"What is it?" Maybe she... wants to be my friend?

"You're cute. Do you want to go out with me?"

"A-ah..." Not again! Even in high school...

"Whoa, no way!" A guy near us said randomly. "That guy's so lucky!"

"I know! That girl is really pretty..." Another guy with him added.

Come to think of it, she is pretty (I'm kinda jealous). But...

"I'm sorry... I-I can't..."

"Wha? Why not?"

"I... U-um..."

Without being able to think of a response, I ran away.

"Wait!" Nina called out, but I just ignored her.

--

"What have I done?" I said, after realizing what I just did. "I could of probably been friends with her if I just explained myself..."

Or maybe not.

"I can't believe it! Did you really turn down that girl?!" Said another unfamiliar voice. It sounded like a guy this time.

"Um, and who might you be?" I decided to ask him.

"Wait, you're..." The boy expression changed, to a weird one, and looked at me more closely. "Aren't you..."

"Hm?" Wait, does he realize I'm actually a girl?

"You're Reese Lisaye, right? That guy who dumped all of the girls in the northern middle school last year!"

"W-wait, even people from other schools know about me?!" This is terrible...

"Yep, you're pretty famous! Reese Lisaye, the 'Lady Killer'!"

Lady killer...?

"Listen, I haven't killed anyone! I-I mean..." I tried to explain to him. "I don't really hate girls or anything, I just..."

"Yeah, I know. I've already figured it out."

"Y-you have?!" Oh, that's great! Now maybe I...

"You probably have a really hot girlfriend already, right? No wait, a whole bunch of them! That's why you don't need anymore, right?"

"N-no..." You weren't even close!

"It's okay. Since you're not interested in Nina, now I can ask her out!" The boy said with a triumphant look.

"I-I see..."

"I'm Jarr Penico." He said to me, introducing himself. "Do you want to be pals? If I'm friends with you, I'll be popular with the chicks, too! Heh!"

I think being friends with you would only make things worse for me...

"Hey, Reese!" A familiar voice called out to me. I looked behind me, and noticed who it was.

"Oh, Jovan." Thank goodness... Now I can get out of this strange situation!

"No time to talk; I need to show you something." Jovan grabbed my arm, and dragged me toward the school.

--

Jovan is my best friend, and has been since I was in grade school. He's well aware of my gender, but he still treats me like a boy anyway. It's either because he forgets I'm a girl, or he just doesn't care. ... It's usually the latter.

He's always dragging me around everywhere, but this is the first time I'm actually kind of happy about it...

What does he want this time, anyway?

"W-why... Do you always have to run...?" I asked him, panting. "And why did you bring me to this random hallway?"

"Oh, but isn't just any random hallway..." Jovan started to say. "Here!" He slammed the palm of his hand on the door, which startled me a bit.

"Hey, you might get the teachers mad!"

"Not to worry, for you see... It's not being used anymore!" He exclaimed in an oddly dramatic fashion.

"Um... okay?" I responded, not getting what he found so exciting.

"Yesterday, I secretly snuck into school at night to search for an unused room we could use..."

"I'm pretty sure that's not allowed... And use for what?"

"To establish our new base of operations. In other words, this will be our clubroom!"

"But I thought this school doesn't have any clubs."

"Have to start somewhere, right?"

"But what if the faculty needs that room for something later on?"

"Which is exactly why we need to make it now!"

"Why do want to make a club so badly, anyway?"

"... Have you truly forgotten?" His voice became more serious all of a sudden. "Have you?!"

"Um... forgotten what?"

"Our dream, Reese! Our dream!"

"Our dream?" I don't recall something like that... "And what would that be again?"

"To become the next Quad Squad, of course!"

"Q-Quad Squad...?"

"It's a promise we made when we were little! How could you forget?"

"You know as well as I do that I have horrible memory."

"But something like this... Reese..." Jovan shook his head in disappointment.

"Wait, Jovan." I decided to change the subject a bit. "Before we do anything else, don't we still need two more people to join first? I mean, it is the Quad Squad after all..."

"One more, actually. I already got someone to join us."

"S-seriously?" I asked in disbelief. "That was fast..."

"So we all we need now is one more person, then..."

"I'll join you guys." Someone said behind me.

That voice sounds fami-... oh no.

I slowly turned my head around, and there he was.

"Y-you're that guy again..."

"Jarr Penico, in case you forgot already."

"Oh, you want to join? Sure thing!" Jovan said happily.

"W-wait! Why do you want to join all of a sudden?" I asked Jarr.

"Like I said before, if I'm pals with you, I'll be popular with the ladies. I'll be like you and have loads of girlfriends!"

"Huh? Reese doesn't have a girlfriend." Jovan told him bluntly.

"W-what? Seriously?!" Jarr said in disbelief. "Then why do you keep rejecting girls?"

"I kept trying to tell you, but I'm actually a girl myself." I told him. "Right, Jovan?"

"What are you talking about? You're not a girl."

HUUUUUH?!?!

"Haha! You're such a kidder!" Jarr started to laugh. "I should've figured you were only joking."

"You can't say things like that to him." Jovan whispered to me. "If you do, he won't want to join us."

That was the whole point, you idiot!

"... Whatever, I'm sick of this." I started to walk away slowly.

"Where are you going, Reese?" Jovan asked.

"Somewhere to be alone." I answered, sighing. "I'll be back later, I guess."

Even though I really don't want to...

--

After roaming around for a bit, I had finally found somewhere without anyone to bother me.

"The library, huh?" I said, looking up the sign above the room that read, well, 'Library'. "Couldn't ask for a more perfect place, I suppose."

I went inside, and immediately sat down in one of the chairs. I sighed again.

"I'm sick of all the attention I get. Is wanting to be a normal girl and having normal girl friends so bad?"

I closed my eyes, trying to imagine what that would be like. Before I could however, it was interrupted by noise.

"Can't I even dream about it...?" I said sourly.

It sounded like someone scrambling through books.

"Is someone there?" I asked.

I got no response, so I decided to check through the labyrinth of bookshelves to find the mystery noisemaker. I couldn't find them, but...

I felt something touch my back. It made an "Ah!" noise when it hit me.

I turned around and saw a girl fall to the ground, dropping all the books she was carrying.

"Um, you alright?" I asked the girl, feeling sorry for her.

"M-my glasses..." She responded with a quiet voice.

"Oh, um..." I searched around for them, and handed them to her. "Sorry. Here you go."

"T-thank you..." She put them on and got up. "I'm so clumsy..."

"That's okay." I told her sincerely. "Do you want me to help you with these books?"

"It's fine; it's my fault I dropped them in the first place."

"But I don't want to just leave you here to pick them up by yourself. Let me help you."

"Thank you. You're a really kind person." She smiled at me gently. "Tell me, what's your name?"

"Wait... what?" She doesn't know me? And she's treating me like a normal person, too...

Does this mean... I can finally have a female friend?

End of Chapter 1