Chapter VIII

Saturday night, I let Skye sleep in my room.  It was kind of weird letting a boy sleep with me… in my bed.  We didn’t do anything we shouldn’t have though.  We aren’t even dating yet.

Sunday morning, the doorbell rings for what seems like the first time in ages.  I go downstairs and open the door.  Peyton is there, staring up at me, looking hammered and dangerous, alone.

“What are you doing here, Peyton?” I ask.

“I wanted to win you back.”

“Win me back?  You can’t be serious.”

“I am dead serious, babe,” he says, as he comes closer than he should.

“Stop it!” I say, pushing him away.  “You’re a huge jerk and a slob!”

At this point, Skye comes downstairs and asks, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Winning back my girl,” Peyton replies.

“I’m not your girl, idiot.  You need to leave,” I say.

Peyton doesn’t say anything.  He slaps me hard across the face, and I fall to the floor, hard.  Then Skye punches him, and Peyton falls to the floor.  He crawls to me, and then kisses me hard on the lips. 

Skye pulls him up and punches him, then kicks him.  “Leave!” he yells.  Peyton leaves, walking toward his car.  Skye runs inside and grabs the car keys to my car, and we run to my car. 

“Skye, stop it!  He’s not worth it!” I say.  He ignores me, and opens the passenger door for me.  When he shuts it, Peyton comes up quickly with a knife, and slices it across his neck.  I scream, and Peyton runs away.  Skye grabs his neck and I pull out my phone and call 911.  I explain everything to the police, as the ambulance is on the way.  We’re going to press charges on Peyton.

 The ambulance arrives, and they put Skye on the gurney, as much as he resists.  One of the things I can never understand is why people insist they don’t need help, when they’ve severely hurt themselves.  It kind of sickens me.

When I arrive at the hospital and Skye has a room, I take out my phone and call my mom to tell her where I am.

After about five seconds of ringing, I hear, “Yes, honey?  You don’t usually call during the day…”

“I’m at the hospital,” I say.

“Why?  What happened?”

“Mom, calm down.  I’m okay.  Skye’s neck got sliced by Peyton.”

“Peyton?  No, no.  Peyton wouldn’t do that,” she says, practically shrugging off everything I’ve been saying.

“What?  Are you serious?  You have to believe me.  I saw it, and it happened. Peyton isn’t what you think he is.  He showed up drunk while you were gone!  Where are you, anyways?” I ask.  She stays silent, and then after five seconds, the line is dead.  She’s ignoring me.

At this point, I start crying.  Not just because Skye’s hurt, but also because my own mom is keeping something from me.  Well, I guess everyone has a secret they have to keep from me!

A doctor comes up to me and says, “Hey Elizabeth, you’re Skye’s girlfriend?”

“Yes,” I say.

“Lovely.  I just came to say that Skye will be ready to go home shortly.  Just make sure he gets rest and takes pain pills.  In reality, he didn’t even need to come to the hospital, but you seem caring for doing that,” he says.

“Thanks,” I say.  In hesitation, I also say, “I’m not sure how I’m going to pay for this… Skye doesn’t have any insurance and my mom has been ignoring me.  Is there something I can do?”

“No, it’s alright.  Don’t tell anyone about this.”

“You’re making it free?”

“Yes, I am.  Like I said, tell no one about it.  And it’s the first and last time it’s ever going to happen for anyone.”

“Thank you so much!” I say.  I am so grateful for the people here.  In my old town, people weren’t this nice to me.  And I wasn’t so nice to them either.

When Skye and I get home, I make him sit in my bed as I go downstairs and start making him food.  I’m taking over the “Mom” role that he never had.  (Even though it’s a little awkward since I’m his girlfriend, too.) 

Chapter VII

It’s Saturday morning, and it’s been a few weeks since Skye got his tree house, and we’ve spent so much time there together.  I’ve even started leaving the balcony door unlocked in case it gets cold.

I see a note on the vanity, and open it.  He hasn’t stolen something, has he?  I open the note, and it says:

Come to my “house” when you wake up.  I have a surprise there. With love, Skye.

Before I go there, I go into my bathroom and get ready.  I put on a bit of makeup and brush my hair and curl the ends a little.  I just put on a white top and denim skinny jeans, and come outside.  Shoes don’t matter.

I don’t see him in the tree house, but I do see a note on his dresser, and open it out of curiosity.

Hey Beth, follow these notes until you find me. The next one is in your house somewhere.  With love, Skye.

Oh no, I hate scavenger hunts.  I go back into my room and put on my boots and jacket.  I know I’ll be outside for awhile.  While I’m there, I look everywhere upstairs, and don’t find it.  I go downstairs and look in the living room, not there.  Mom’s bedroom and bathroom, not there.  The study, not there.  The kitchen, not there.  It doesn’t seem to be anywhere in the house.

Out of curiosity, I open the microwave and there it is.  A piece of paper that reads:

Good job finding this one, Beth.  The next one is in your backyard.  With love, Skye.

Dang!  My backyard is huge!  Anyways, I go out the back door and look down at my feet and see a note right tucked under the door mat.  That was way easier than I’d expected.  It reads:

Heh, Beth.  You thought it’d be hard.  Anyways, take 15 normal steps straight and then go left 8 steps exactly.  Trust me.  With love, Skye.

Great, now I actually have to walk in the fields for the first time—which really shows how much I go outside.  At least Skye gave me steps.  There are actual vegetables growing in the fields, so it’s very helpful that he gave them.  I take fifteen steps, like he ordered, and I’m walking through the tomato plants.  I reach a little clearing on the fifteenth step, and start going left, into the corn area.  On the eighth step, I start looking around.  At eye level, there’s a note stuck on the foliage.  It reads:

Only one more note after this.  Walk ahead 12 steps, turn right, and walk ahead 40 steps. With love, Skye.

Okay, last one.  This should be simple enough. I walk 12 steps, and am still in the corn, I turn right, now facing the forest, and I’m really hoping he doesn’t try to take me in the forest, because that’s not what I want to do.  Plus, the woods have scared me ever since I watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the age of four.

On the thirtieth step, I’m at the edge of the forest.  It’s alright, though, only ten steps away.  I see a hammock in the distance, and I realize it’s probably there.  I walk up to it, and it’s in the hammock.  I open it, and it reads:

Prom?

I start smiling as I look up, and I feel a tap on my shoulder, and jump. 

“Don’t startle me like that!” I yell as I kiss him on the lips.  It’s the first time we’ve ever actually kissed, and it’s beautiful.  It only lasts a second or two, but I love it.

“Yes,” I say. “Yes, thank you.  I can’t wait.” I’m smiling so much now.  I wrap my arms around him and squeeze tightly.  He does the same.  I don’t want to leave this moment for anything. 

We both decide to sit in the hammock, and we just stay there silently for hours.

Chapter VI

Today is Thursday, lunch time, so it’s been a few days since I talked to Skye that night. And strangely, since then, I’ve wanted to cancel my prom date with Peyton.  However, I sit with him at lunch anyways, at the “jock/cheerleader” table, not the table with Haley and the others, or Skye’s table.  Skye has always sat by himself in the corner.

 At a distance, I can see that he’s sitting next to a blonde chick, closely.  I walk up to him, and he sees me, but stays silent.  “What?” he asks.

“Can I sit by you for lunch, since you’re my prom date?” I ask, purposely bringing up prom.

“Prom?  With you?  What are you talking about?  I’m going with Tiffany, here.  I would never go with you,” he says.  It hurts a little, but I’m a little relieved.  I leave the table, go across the lunch room, on the way to Skye’s table.

He makes a confused face at me as I walk up to him.  I shrug my shoulders as I sit down.

“You weren’t there long,” he says.

“I know.  It was weird.  He completely dissed me and told me that he had never even asked me, which he did,” I say.  I act like it doesn’t bother me, but it kind of does, and it shouldn’t.  He’s just scum, that’s all.

I can see Haley staring at me from a few tables away. I don’t know what her problem is.  Why she left my house and everything.  I guess I shouldn’t care about that either, but it’s something that interests me.

“Why are you looking over there?” Skye asks, also interested.

“Just wondering about Haley.”

“Haley Thompson?”

“I guess that’s her last name,” I say.  He looks in the direction I’m looking and sees her.  He laughs a little.  “What?” I ask.

“Nothing,” he says with a giggle.

“Seriously, tell me,” I say, giggling a bit too.

“You befriended ‘The Welcoming Committee’,” he says, making the quotation hand gesture.

“Yeah, so?”

“’The Welcoming Committee’ tries to befriend all the new students, but Haley is bipolar or something.  Have you noticed that there are only four people in their clique?  Yeah, there’s a reason for that.  Haley’s the clique leader, and she’s not a good person,” he says, then laughs.  “I just can’t believe you befriended one of the worst people to befriend.”

“I befriended you after you stole my stuff, didn’t I?” I say as lunch is dismissed.  He kisses me on the cheek after he walks me back to Art class.

The final bell rings, and I see Skye at his locker, which is six down from mine.  He usually would walk, since my house is about two miles away, and he couldn’t ride the bus, because the school would have to know where he lived. 

I walk up to him and say, “Do you want a ride?”

“Sure,” he says.  I like how straightforward he is.

We walk the long walk to my car, and drive home.

 When we get there, we see my mom on the front porch, reading her Cosmopolitan magazine as she usually does. She looks confused when she sees Skye and me get out of the car, and asks, “Where’s Peyton?”

“He’s not exactly my prom date anymore,” I say as I walk to her.

 “Why not?” she asks.

“He acted like he never asked me.  Oh, and Haley and I aren’t friends anymore.  But I made friends with Skye here,” I say.

“Skye?  I feel like I’ve heard of you before.”

“That’s strange, Mrs. Ashmore.  I’m Skye Phillips,” he says, shaking her hand.  He’s obviously trying to pull off that boyish charm that Mom always fall for. He didn’t really have to try, though.  And he’s hiding something, I can tell.

“Nice to meet you, Skye.  Go get me some lemonade, now,” she says, noticing his charisma, and clapping her hands.

“Mom!” I shout, smiling along with her.

“I’m just kidding. Oh, and I got your tree house that you wanted, as childish as it is,” Mom says.

We go around the house to the oak tree and see a room the size of my study. There’s a rope ladder to get up there, and we climb up it, and go inside the room.  We’re both amazed as we see that Mom had even ordered furniture. I was just going to give Skye one of my beanbags.

In the right hand corner is a blowup mattress with a pillow and a black bedspread, with a dark wood nightstand next to it. In the back of the room is a small dresser. To the left of the room is a circular table with pillow chairs. There is also a small TV facing the table. The floor, walls, and ceiling are wood, of course, but Skye can make it seem like home by adding a few posters and lights.

“I love your mom,” Skye says.

“I know you do.  Speaking of her, where would she have seen your name?”

“Does it matter?”

“A little.  It seemed like you were hiding something…”

“I’ll tell you about it later.”

“We have time now,” I say, growing impatient.  He stays silent for a few minutes, and I get mad, so I leave. 

He watches me climb down the ladder and go back into my room, but he doesn’t leave the tree house, and I don’t leave my room for the rest of the night.

Chapter V

I get home and do my homework. Then, I sit by Mom on the couch, and we have that conversation where the daughter asks the parent(s) for things.

Mom:  Hey, sweetie.  How was school?

Me:  Great.  Can I have some friends over to talk about prom?

Mom:  Absolutely.  I’m glad you’re making friends.

Me:  Thanks, it’s been hard.

Mom:  Do I need to buy a cake?

Me:  No. It’s not like a party.  Four pizzas?

Mom:  Four whole pizzas?

Me:  Yeah, there will be boys.

Mom:  Alright, I guess that’s true.

Me:  And I want you to meet my date who I’ll probably go to prom with.

Mom:  Is this why you’re having this get-together, just so I can meet your date?

Me:  Yeah, it is.

Mom:  I am so proud of you. You’re bringing your prom date just so I can meet him and approve of him to see if he’s good.

Me:  Yep. Always thinking.

That last one was a bit of a lie.  I really don’t care if she likes him or not. I sit and watch TV as Mom orders the pizza.

“Hey!” I say. All of my friends come over at the same time. I guess they carpool or something.
            “So where are we having this party?” Haley asks.

“Outside. You kids don’t need to make a mess in my house.” Mom says, politely though.

“Oh, Mom. This is Peyton. He’s my prom date,” I say.

“Oh, ok. You are the one?”

“Yes ma’am.” Peyton says.

“You have good manners. You seem nice. You are approved. But if you hurt my daughter at all, I know karate.”

“No you don’t Mom.” I say.

“Well I will learn as long as you are around her. And I am going to be checking up on you kids about every 10 minutes.” Mom says.

“Mom!” I say loudly.

“Okay, fine. Every 20 minutes. Now go have fun.  Start planning.”

We all go outside and start planning. Brian brought his brother Justin, who Samantha seems to like, and Peyton brought his cousin, William, who likes Jamie. Everybody has a date for prom. Right now, everyone does, at least. This took a lot less time than I had planned. The guys don’t really want to stay, so they left, bringing a slice of pizza with them of course.  The rest of us go upstairs.

“So this is my house. I have a study, room, and bathroom.” I say as we go inside and upstairs.

“Woah.  I love this.  You get your own place upstairs?  I’m so jealous,” says Haley.

“That’s exactly what I say when I first got it,” I reply.

“Ooooh. I love the study. We should do homework here sometime.” Jamie says.

“SHUT UP!  Can’t you shut up about school for one night?  I am so sick and tired of you talking about school all the time! I mean, I might, but that would only be if I met someone or something. But, you get my point!” Samantha says.

“I’m sorry if that’s the way you feel,” Jamie says calmly, while wiping a tear from her eye.

“Please, don’t call off prom for me. I have always wanted to go,” Samantha says.  She is almost crying, too.  Haley doesn’t care. She just stands and stares, like this happens every day.  If it does, then it’s a very unhealthy thing.

“I won’t call off prom, but we are leaving now. And you are telling Mom the truth about what you said. And, if you do as I say, I won’t make you skip prom,” Jamie says.

“Alright,” Samantha says.

“Woah, wait a second. Samantha, you are going to leave, just because your sister told you to? And Jamie, you are just going to threaten that you won’t let her go to prom?  You could have just asked for an apology.  Now, both of you apologize, and act like this never happened. Okay?” I say.  They were silent.

            Buzzzzzzzzzz, buzzzzzzzz.

My phone vibrates, and it’s from Haley. Why would she be texting me when she’s right here?

Haley: I left.

Elizabeth: Why?

Haley:  Because.

Elizabeth: Why did you leave?

Haley: I wanted to. You have a really boring house.

Elizabeth: But you were talking about my bathroom.

Haley: I didn’t say I liked it. I am going to bed. Ttyl J

Elizabeth: Goodnight.

Haley:  ily as a sister!!!

Elizabeth: I don’t

Haley: But all my friends are my sisters.

Elizabeth: well then you only have 2 sisters. Good night.

She doesn’t respond after that. I just want to know why she left. Whatever it was, she was being very dramatic about it.

Samantha and Jamie decide to leave, happily though.  I take them to the front door, and watch them leave.  Then I put the pizza in the fridge and go back to my room.

I hear a tap on my balcony door. I open the door and see him:  Skye.

“Why are you here?” I ask.

“I wanted to come here. And it is freezing outside. Can I come in?” he asks softly.

“No.  Just go home,” I say, frowning a bit.  He’s been getting on my nerves with this mysterious crap.

“I am at home,” he says after a bit.

“This isn’t your home, it’s mine and my mom’s, along with everything else here.  You should go now, Skye,” I say.

“Well, I’ve been sleeping in that oak tree, on the big branch right there,” he says as he points to it. “I just came here to say hi. But, seriously, can I come in?  I’m so cold.”

“How do you pay for school?”

“I rob. That’s why I stole your locket.”

“Oh. You can stay here tonight if you want. Or bring one of my blankets and pillows outside.”

“I’ll stay here tonight.”

“I’ll ask my mom to build you a tree house outside on that tree.”

“Thanks.”

“Well, I’m going to bed. I’m really tired.”

“Okay. Goodnight,” he says. He gives me a kiss on the forehead and falls asleep on my beanbag chair.

I wake up in the morning and see a note on my mirror. It says:

Elizabeth,

            I want you to have the locket back that I stole from you. Will you forgive me for taking it?

Skye

I see the locket right under the mirror where the message is. Then, I see him outside on the tree, fast asleep. I want to give it to him, but I’ll do that later when he wakes up.

            I go downstairs into Mom’s room and say, “Mom, can I have a tree house in the tree behind my balcony?”

            “Why would you want to do that?”

            “I could sleep out there sometimes, or something.”

            “I’ll ask the mayor to get one. When do you want it?”

            “As soon as possible.”

            “I’ll call him when I get up, okay?”

            “Okay.  Thanks.”

            I go upstairs into my room and see Skye sitting on my bed. I tell him he’s getting a house. He is definitely delighted. Then, I put the locket in his hand.

            “Why?” he asks.

            “You can sell it and keep the money, for things like clothes.”

            “Are you sure?”

            “Absolutely.  You made me feel bad when you said you sleep in the cold.”

            “I’m sorry, I really am.”

            “It’s okay.”

            “Okay.”

He kisses me on the cheek, surprising me, then turns around and watches the TV.

Chapter IV

It’s lunchtime now, and I sit with my four new friends and I think the guy who the mayor was talking about, Peyton.  Compared to the mayor and Jonathan, he’s actually pretty attractive, in a different way than Skye is.  He has a great tan, shaggy blonde hair, and really great bone structure.
            “Hey, I’m Peyton,” he says.

“Yeah, I know you. Your dad sold me my house, and your grandpa told me about you,” I say, shyly.

“Wow!  My grandpa tells everyone with a teenage daughter about me.  It gets so annoying.”  

“I guess any publicity is publicity.”

“That’s very true.  Well, I have a question.  So I think you’re very cute,” he says.

“How is that a question?” asks Samantha.  I was thinking the same thing.

“I’m not done yet.  I’m… nervous.  Anyways, prom is in a few months, and it’s kind of a big deal to me and my teammates.  So if we become friends, would you want to go with me?” he asks, his cheeks becoming flushed.  I’m not sure if I should be flattered or creeped out.  I’ve been creeped out a lot lately…

“Sure, I guess,” I say, and smile.  That was kind of a lame answer but he’s kind of lame for asking me when he just met me.

“YAAAAYYYYY!!!!” everyone shouts and starts clapping.

“Okay, now everyone has a date except Jamie and Samantha,” says Haley.

“Oh, I know that we don’t have dates. And that’s because we aren’t going. We have to study.” Jamie remarks. She really cares about her schoolwork, I suppose.

“You can stay home, but I am going.” Samantha says.

“But I thought you didn’t like the dances here.”

“I don’t. But this is different. It’s prom. Prom is every girl’s dream.”

“Yes, but if you don’t study then you won’t get into a good college. And if you don’t get into a good college, you won’t have a future.” Jamie is a nerd, and it’s easy to tell.  I feel bad for Samantha. She has to be next to ‘You can’t go to the movies, you have to study’ all the time. I wish Jamie wasn’t such a know-it-all all the time. But, I guess having her is better than having no one.

“Jamie, it would be one night without studying. You can still have a great future if you miss one night,” Samantha pleads.  Haley tells me that if her sister doesn’t go, she can’t, because of her mom’s orders.  But it’s not the same for Jamie since she’s the older one, which I think is really bad parenting.

“Alright, fine. But only if I find a date,” Jamie says. 

“Yay!” I say, trying to be as peppy as they are.  I feel out of place.

“Not many people like me though, guys always go for Samantha,” Jamie says.  I kind of see why.  Jamie wears glasses and cares more about school than anything or anyone else.  Samantha has everything guys want.

“Well, there has to be somebody who likes you,” I suggest.

“I’ve got a cousin that might be interested in Samantha,” Peyton offers.

“Good,” I said.

“What about me?” Jamie whines, which gives me another reason as to why guys go for Samantha more often.

“I’ve got a brother,” Brian says in a mumble. 

“Yay, you talked for once!” I start applauding, and then so does everyone else. I guess I’m peppy now, and this school doesn’t understand sarcasm.

“So it’s settled, we should all meet at Elizabeth’s house.” Haley says.

“Why my house?” I ask.

“Because, you are the one that assigned us dates, remember? And I am the leader of our group.” Haley says. Hah, seriously? She hadn’t even said one word in the ‘dating’ conversation.

“Okay, then. Come over at six tonight. I am assigning you all things to do. I will host our party. Peyton, bring your cousin. Brian, bring your brother. Haley, I’m the leader of the group now.” I say.

“What? No you’re not.” Haley says.

“Who just assigned people everything they need to do and follow?” I ask, knowing the answer.

“You did.”

“Yes, I did. Now, who votes for me to be leader of the group?” I ask. Everyone puts their hand in, except Haley. “With Haley as my second in command,” I offer.  She puts in her hand, and then we’re dismissed to go back to class.

I see Skye in the hallway, but I look straight ahead and he doesn’t look at me.  I know he sees me, and he knows I see him.

I’m strangely attracted to him but disgusted by him at the same time, and it makes me want him so much more. 

Chapter III

I come home that day with a lot of homework, mainly from English and trigonometry. I go up to my study and start “working” on it.

Mom makes a pizza for dinner. I eat, even though I’m completely against freezer food.  It’s disgusting.

I just want to see if that guy is actually serious about coming here. I want to know more about him, but I don’t at the same time. I don’t want him to come to my house at all.

I go to bed, and leave the television on.  I make sure I lock the doors and windows in the house, even if I don’t believe he’s serious.  I try not to fall asleep, but I eventually do, leaving the TV on.

When I wake up, I feel a piece of paper in my hand.  I open it and it says: 

Yeah, I came here.  And I stole your silver locket.  With love, Skye.

I panic, and hopefully Mom doesn’t panic either.  I look at the doors to my balcony and they don’t look touched.  I hurry downstairs and check all the doors and windows there too, and they don’t look touched.  How the hell did he get inside?  I decide that I shouldn’t tell Mom about this, with no evidence that he came here.  She probably would go to the police about it, and we would look more stupid than we do already.  No, I won’t tell anyone about this.  The only people that can know about this are me and “Skye.”  And I guess that since it’s a new day, I can ask him about it.  Casually.

I go over the same routine as I did yesterday, and then walk the long walk to my locker, which happens to be six away from his. Coincidence? 

“What is this?” I ask, showing him the note in my hand.

“You know what it is.  Why is there a question?” he asks, softly.

“You are Skye. You left this in my hand saying you took my locket. That locket is special to me,” I say.

“Yes, I am Skye.  I kind of thought you would know that by now,” he says. He seems a bit too casual, and it seems like stealing is something he does a lot.

“What’s your problem?  Can I please have my locket back?”  I plead.

“Problem?  I don’t have a problem.  I’m actually really smart.  We need to go to English now,” he says and smiles.  I don’t smile back though.

I simply walk off, and I hear his soft footsteps trailing behind my loud, angry footsteps.

Chapter II

“ELIZABETH!  LIZZZZZIIIIEEEEEEEE!  LIZZIE LIZZIE LIZZIE!  WAKE UP!  TIME TO GET READY!  I MADE EGGS AND BAKEY!”

When she wakes me up, it is so annoying.  However, I get up, as much I dread the day ahead.  I find an outfit to wear to school today:  black v-neck shirt, white skinny jeans, and black converse.  I go into the bathroom and straighten my hair and do my makeup.  It takes about thirty minutes in total and now the time is 7:30.  One thing I like about this town:  school starts at 8, not 7.

I go downstairs and grab a plate, then put some toast in the toaster as I grab my binder and backpack from my study.  I basically use my backpack as my purse, and today it’s the only true color I have on me.  When I come downstairs the toaster pops and I grab a plate and set the eggs, bacon, and toast on it, and form a sandwich.  I eat it in a short time, then I go upstairs and brush my teeth, then leave.

I have my own car, which is a two door black convertible.  It’s small, but convenient and I’m thankful.  Mom and I passed the school on the way to our house yesterday, so I think I can remember where to go. 

When I arrive at the school, I park in a spot way in the back of the lot.  I don’t know if this school has reserved parking and I would hate to take someone’s spot.  It’s a really small school, so there isn’t much parking.  But a smaller high school means a smaller amount of people to make fun of me. I remember at my old school, my friends and I openly made fun of all the new kids and nerds (which I regret doing), but now I’m the new kid, so it’s my turn to be made fun of. 

This peppy girl approaches me and says, “You’re the new kid around here aren’t you? I’m Haley. And this is my boyfriend, Brian. And these are my 2 best friends, Samantha and Jamie. They’re twins.”  Wow, the people here are very open.

“We can talk for ourselves you know,” Samantha and Jamie say in unison.  It’s actually a little creepy.

“Uh, yeah.  My name is Elizabeth Ashmore.  Where is the principal’s office?  I need to see him so I can get my schedule,” I say.

“We will tell you if you promise to be our friends,” says Haley. I guess she is the leader of their little clique.  And at least I’m not being made fun of.

“Sure. Why not? I just don’t need to be late for class.” I lie. I actually never cared and still don’t care if I’m late for class.  At least people here actually want to be my friend, though.

“Go down the hall and to the right, then go out the double doors, across the breezeway and turn into the main building, then look left and you will see it.” Haley says.

“Uh, thanks,” I say.                       

“Don’t mention it,” Haley says.  But I’m pretty sure she wants me to mention it.  

I make it to the main office and see a schedule on the front desk. The lady sitting there points to it, ordering me to take it, so I do. It says:

            1^st period:  Senior English (Honors) ;  8:00 -  9:00

                        Mrs. Smithson – Room 152

            2^nd period:  Study Hall ; 9:05 – 9:55

                        Mrs. Laughless – Room 114

            3^rd period:  Modern History ; 10:00 – 10:50

                        Coach Ringo – Room 124

            4^th period:  Art ; 10:55 – 12:00 (includes lunch period at 11:20)

                        Mrs. Strima – Room 190

            5^th period:  Trigonometry ; 12:05 – 12:55

                        Coach Moore – Room 185

            6^th period:  Economics ; 1:00 – 2:00

                        Coach Kirky – Room 170

            7^th period:  Chemistry ; 2:05 – 3:00

                        Mr. Grissom – Room 172

I guess it’s an okay schedule.  I check the time and it’s 7:57, and I’m next to room 100.  I get a little nervous that I’ll be late, even though I shouldn’t care.  Maybe it’s because people are staring at me.

But I find my room at exactly 8:01, and walk in.

 “Why are you late?” Mrs. Smithson—an old plump woman with bright purple eyeshadow, magenta lips, and an all-magenta outfit—asks in a mean tone.  All I can think is, I’m only a minute late!

However, I only say, “I’m new.”

“And?” she asks.  Are you serious?  I’M NEW.

“I didn’t know where to go…” I say instead.

“You should’ve come earlier then.  My class isn’t a joke and will not be treated as such.  Take a seat behind Jamie.  You should know her from the welcoming committee, which you had so much time to talk to instead of coming to my class,” she rants.  I go and take my seat behind Jamie.

 “Alright class. Your lesson is on the board. Write it down in your notebooks. Jamie, please give Elizabeth the lessons that will cover the test.” Mrs. Smithson says. Jamie nods, and I start writing.

“Hi,” says a boy sitting next to me.

“Hey,” I whisper. He is very pale guy with a black Mohawk, and the brightest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. His teeth must have been professionally whitened, and he wears a white v-neck, black jeans, and black converse (kind of like my outfit, except opposite colors).  He’s gorgeous.

“You moved into that 2 story house with the big oak tree in the front yard,” he says, slyly.  Now I’m a little creeped out.

“Uh, yeah. How do you know that?” I ask, shyly.

He ignores me, but then says, “I’ll be there tonight.  I need to pick up a few things.”  Then he turns around and starts writing. I don’t know what his problem is, but I’m going to find out.

All I want to know is who he is. That’s all I care about right now.