The first day of school is always nerve racking to say the least. It's even worse when it's half way through the second semester in your junior year of high school.
Crescent Heights was daunting and intimidating with its high buildings and fancy gates; a complete 360 from my last school that was basically falling apart. I had seen enough schools and people in the last four years of my life to be able to know what I was in for. By the looks of the perfectly trimmed grass and crisp uniforms, I knew I was being thrown into a cage with snobs and douche bags. It wasn't anything I hadn't seen before, but the scenario of perfect blonde cheerleaders hanging off not-so-secretly steroid injected football players got really old really quickly.
I was an army brat, as I've been pinned since I was 13, although, I really wasn't. My mother just couldn't sit still and was always trying to find "just the right place" and since I was five months shy of 18, I had to accompany her on her never ending endeavour. It was safe to say that I haven't had real friends since middle school and a boyfriend was completely out of the question. I had become used to being completely dependent on myself and only myself. I didn't need anyone else and plus, who wants to socialize with people who make brick walls seem fascinating?
I sit with my arms and legs crossed in a chair that looked like it would be comfortable to sit in but was rock hard waiting for the secretary to finish my paperwork. I smoothed out my black and dark blue plaid skirt that matched my tie that was tucked into a black blazer over my white dress shirt. I had to admit, out of the four schools I've gone to with uniforms, these were the nicest.
"Brooke MacQueen?" She called out.
I stood up, relived to no longer be sitting in a chair made of cement. I leaned against the counter and peered over at the stack of papers with my name on them.
"You're Brooke, right?" She asked.
I held back a sarcastic remark and nodded, "Yup."
"Welcome to Crescent Heights," She gave me a fake smile while handing me a map, my schedule and some other useless forms.
"Thanks," I said, letting a little sarcasm drip from the sentence before walking away. If everyone here was that artificial it was going to be a really long three and a half months.
I glanced down at my schedule to find I had a spare first. Perfect, I get to sleep in every morning. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. And when I get here I'll go right back to sleep since I have History second.
I didn't really know what to do to myself for the next 75 minutes so I decided to start with personalizing my locker. I was happy to realize it was on the first floor so I wouldn't be running up and down constantly. I was already taking gym against my own will; I didn't need the extra exercise.
I got to locker 1069, grinning to myself. I definitely won't be forgetting which locker is mine any time soon. I spun in the combo and opened the door. I took the books from my bag and put them on the top shelf and put my binders on the bottom shelf. I hung my jacket and bag up on the hooks, then pulled out my gym bag and hung it up too. I smiled at how organized it looked. That definitely wasn't going to last long.
I grabbed the History textbook I was given when I came to register and an empty binder and notebook. Might as well be prepared for once in my life. I closed my locker and decided to go to the cafeteria since they had food.
I was relieved to find that it was basically empty other than one other person sitting in the far corner. I chose to sit on the opposite side of the room. It's not that I was antisocial or anything, just not very open to getting to know a bunch of stuck up snobs. Call me prejudice or whatever, but what were the odds of finding decent people here?
I spent the next hour and twenty minutes doodling in the back of my notebook and mentally preparing myself for my first class. Just before the bell I closed the notebook and headed to the door with my head held high.
I knew I was nothing special to look at at first glance with my dark, wavy hair that fell 3/4 down my back and dark green eyes but I had to admit that I had a nice body with curves in all the right places. I think it was my personality that made people take that second glance. I had that bold, loud personality, with a teeny tiny attitude problem that I was often reminded of. I could be really nice to people and really mean, it just depended on how they were towards me.
But none of that really mattered since I wasn't planning on making friends here.
The bell rang just as I stepped out of the cafeteria and the hallway flooded with teenagers. I quickly tried to blend into the crowd and follow the flow to my class. It was working until a blur of black, white and blonde collided with me.
"Fuck I'm sorry," A deep voice yelled as we both tumbled to the ground, books flying.
I bounced back quickly and started to gather my books, "Its fine."
I looked up from my scramble to see who the klutz was. My eyes met huge brown ones, the color of melted chocolate. Blonde hair, that was obviously not natural and slowly washing out but still suited him perfectly fell messily into his eyes and face. He was so damn good looking.
"Sorry about that," He apologized again, smiling.
Most of the time, I would be telling whoever plowed me over off, but his sincerity and smile just made me grin and nod, "It's fine. I wasn't paying much attention either."
"I'm Alex by the way."
"Brooke."
"Are you new, I don't think I've seen you around here before?"
"Yeah, I'm new."
"Do you want me to show you to your class?" He offered and I almost said yes but stopped myself.
No, Brooke, you're not here to make friends.
I smiled as politely as I could, "Nah, I think I'm good."
"Alright, well, see ya around," He said and walked away. I ignored the feeling of slight disappointment bubbling up and pushed my way into my History class.
The exchange with Alex had made me a few minutes late so everyone turned as I entered the room. I kept my composure as their eyes followed me across the room to the teacher's desk.
"Hi, I'm Brooke MacQueen and I'm new," I said.
"Fantastic," She smiled. "I'm Mrs. Harvey. You can sit next to Tara and turn to chapter 8."
I nodded again, feeling like a bobble head from all the nodding I was doing and walked over to the desk next to a girl with blonde hair with her hand in the air. I sat down and opened my text book to the page we were on and checked out instantly. I had already learned most of this anyway at my last school that was excelled learning.
In the last ten minutes of class I mindlessly copied down the notes finishing just as the bell rang. Lunch was always the worst part of the day. From what I had observed in the few short hours I had been here, I could almost guarantee there was some sort of unspoken seating arrangement in the cafeteria. I decided I was going to skip the whole awkward wondering around looking for a spot and take my lunch outside.
It was still kinda cold outside, but it was only the end of February. I found a couple of picnic tables and plopped down in one. I ate in silence until I heard someone behind me.
"Can I help you?" I asked without turning around.
"How'd you know I was here?" The person said, sounding surprised.
"Well one, I can see your shadow, and two, you're not very quiet." I answered. The shadow and voice gave away that the person was male, but not Alex. Instead, a lanky guy with black hair with sections dyed blonde, giving it that skunk look sat down in front of me.
"Why are you out here all alone?" He asked.
"I'd rather be out here than in there with all them," I said, looking into the cafeteria through the window.
He shrugged, "Some people aren't that bad."
"Are you one of those people?"
"I uh...I guess." My question seemed to catch him off guard, "Just thought you'd like some company. I'm Jack."
"Brooke," I returned.
"Have you met anyone other than me?"
I was surprised at his persistence to get to know and talk to me. Most people would've just left me or I would've ignored him, but I was a sucker for big brown eyes, and his seemed to be extra big and extra brown. It had taken a lot of will to say no to Alex earlier so I let myself have this one. He wasn't that bad looking either.
"Uh, just some kid named Alex who ran me over first second period," I answered.
"Was he blonde with obnoxious eyebrows?"
"Yeah," I raised my eyebrow. "You know him?"
"He's my best friend," Jack grinned.
"That's pretty rad," I said.
He nodded and opened his mouth to say something when the bell rang.
"Wow lunch is really short," I commented.
"I know. It blows." Jack agreed as we walked back inside. "What do you have next?"
"Algebra," I sighed. "Then gym."
"Ah, you're in luck. I have algebra next too."
-x-
Since no one seemed to like my other story, I thought I'd start another band fic. Let me know what you think? C: