Loren woke up in her new room, and she looked around. Her mom had told her that this would be the last time they moved, and that she would be able to graduate from this school. She took her mother's word and she looked forward to staying in a place long enough to make real friends. She got out of bed and took a shower. Loren got dressed in a black maxi skirt that she paired with a blue chiffon crop top. It stopped right above the waistline of her skirt; she put on black sandals. Loren curled her hair and did her make-up.
Loren packs her back pack and walks to the kitchen. Nora has cooked a big breakfast of waffles, eggs, and bacon. "Good morning sweetie. You look gorgeous." Nora said.
"Thanks mom." Loren sat down in front of the plate Nora made for her and began eating. Nora sat down at the table. "Are you excited about your first day?" Nora asked.
"Nervous and excited." Loren replied. "I am looking forward to being able to make new friends."
"I'm sorry for uprooting you just when you were getting used to things. I promise that I will not do it again." Nora said.
"It is ok mom, and thank you for this." Loren replied. "I should get going now, or I will be late."
Nora smiled. "Have a good day sweetie. I love you." Nora said.
"I love you too." Loren said as she grabbed her bag and walked out the door. She got into her car and drove to Sun Valley. She pulled into the parking lot within 10 minutes and parked. She looked in her bag and pulled out her schedule. Loren opened her car door and started walking toward the school.
In another part of the parking lot
"Mate, I cannot believe that you broke up with Chloe this summer. She is so hot." Ian said to Eddie who was tossing his football up in the air and catching it.
"Yea well that is all she is. We never had one intelligent conversation. All she ever talked about was her strategy for winning Homecoming Queen. She is so shallow and I can't deal with that."
"Well you know. You dated her; I'll take your word for it." Ian said back.
Tyler walked over to them and that gave each other bro hugs. "Hey guys, are you ready for this season?"
"Yea man, it is going to be awesome." Tyler grabbed his football out of the air as Eddie was about to catch it.
"Hey Eddie, go long." Eddie smiled and ran further away from the car. He began jogging backward so that he could see the ball.
Loren was looking at her schedule and the map of the school, so she didn't see Eddie heading straight for her. Eddie jumped up and caught the ball. He turned around, and right then he collided with Loren.
Loren let out a shriek as she fell. Her map and schedule fell on the ground. "Oh my god! I am so sorry!" Eddie said as he bent over to pick up Loren's papers. "It is fine; I'm fine." Loren said, still a little shaken. Eddie offered his hand to Loren, and she took it. "Thank you." Loren said as she pulled herself up. "No problem, after all it was my fault." Eddie said.
"No it was mine. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." Eddie looked at Loren. Her big brown eyes showed no resentment. The small bit of red blush on her cheeks became invisible as she herself blushed.
She is gorgeous. Eddie thought to himself.
Loren stopped blushing and outstretched her hand to Eddie. "I'm Loren Tate by the way." Eddie was still lost in Loren's eyes when he noticed her hand. Eddie snapped out of his trance. "Sorry. I'm Eddie. Eddie Duran. It's nice to meet you." He shook her hand.
"You too." Loren replied. "Since you're here, could you tell me where the office is? I suck at reading maps and I have to see the principal about orientation and stuff."
"Sure, just walk through the front doors and it is right there." Eddie told her.
"Thanks." Loren smiled and began walking towards the school.
Eddie looked after her, and then he noticed that he was still holding Loren's map and schedule. "Loren!"
Loren turned around quickly and Eddie ran over to her. "Here you go. I don't want to stop you from going to your classes. Maybe I'll see you around." Eddie said.
"Yea, maybe." Loren replied.
Eddie went to pick up his football, and he jogged back over to his car. Ian and Tyler were leaning against his car and giving Eddie a look. "What?" Eddie asked as if he honestly didn't know.
"You know what man." Tyler said.
"Yea mate, who's the hottie?"
"Oh that girl. Her name's Loren. She's new here." Eddie answered pretending to be nonchalant.
Just then, the bell rings and Eddie is completely relieved. "We better get to class." Eddie said quickly as he picked his back pack up off of the ground.
Ian and Tyler decided to let it go now, but they would definitely mess with him later.
They began walking to class.
In the Office
"It is nice to meet you Loren." Principal Carter said.
"It is nice to meet you too." Loren replied.
"Your academic record is stupendous. I can see that you take your grades very seriously. And you were able to do that while also being a cheerleader. That is impressive."
Loren smiled. "Thank you and I have to keep my grades up if I want to get into a get college."
"You have good goals as well." Principal Carter said.
The principal stood up and walked over to the door. He signaled for someone to come inside.
A girl wearing a hot pink sundress came in. "Loren, this is Melissa Sanders. She will show you around the school and help you get acclimated to the school. She will show you to your classes. Have a good first day."
"Thank you sir." Loren followed Melissa out the door.
"Melissa Sanders." She said as she looked at Loren.
"Loren Tate." Loren replied. What is your first class?"
"Chemistry with Mr. James." Loren said.
"He is a great teacher. His room is right down the hall." Melissa leads Loren to room 406. "I will meet you out here after first period and I will show you to your second period. And so forth."
"Ok, thank you so much."
"No problem. It's what I'm here for."
Inside the Chemistry Classroom
Eddie is sitting at his lab station and talking to Ian who is sitting in front of him. They are laughing when Chloe walks up and sits in the seat next to Eddie. "Hey babe."
"I'm not your babe. I broke up with you, which means it is over." Eddie said sounding annoyed.
"Come on Eddie. Neither of us was thinking straight. It is obvious that we belong together." She put her hand on Eddie's, but he pulled away." Seriously Chloe, just leave me alone."
"You just need some time to cool off. I will talk to you later." Chloe stood up and walked back over to her seat. She began talking to all of her minions. There is a knock at the door, so Mr. James walks over and opens it. Eddie looks up from his conversation with Ian and sees Loren standing in the doorway. He straightens up in his seat and watches her as she walks in.
Loren gives Mr. James a note. He nods and smiles at her. Loren begins to walk down the aisle, and sits down in the one empty seat that is left; the one beside Eddie.
Loren sat down. "Hi there." Loren said cheerily.
"Hey." Eddie said.
"Students, welcome to Chemistry. This will be a somewhat difficult semester, but it will also be fun as long as you all follow my directions. Now look at the person sitting next to you." Eddie looked at Loren, and Loren looked at him. "This person will be your partner for the rest of the semester.
Loren smiled at Eddie. "I guess we will be seeing a lot of each other." Loren said.
"I guess so." Eddie replied.
"Today, I just want you guys to get to know your partners, so all of you can talk."
"So Loren Tate, what brings you to Sun Valley?" Eddie asks.
"My mom's job actually. She is a nurse and she always has to transfer hospitals. I don't really get it, but it is what has to be done. I have never stayed in one school for more than a semester."
"That sucks." Eddie said
"Yea, but she promises that I will be able to go through me whole junior year and then graduate next year. I am really excited about that."
Eddie smiled.
"Now it's my turn to ask you a question." Loren said.
"Shoot." Eddie said.
"Who are you?" Loren asked.
Eddie looked confused. "Who am I?"
"Yea, who is Eddie Duran? What makes you who you are?' Loren said.
"Interesting question Tate." Eddie said. "Well I love football, I have been playing since I was 4, and I am captain of the football."
"Really?" Loren asked. "And is that supposed to impress me?"
"That depends. Are you impressed?" Eddie asked.
Loren laughed. "Maybe a little."
Chloe kept sneaking looks at Loren and Eddie. She wanted to know who she was and why Eddie seemed so taken with her. Basically, she was pissed.
"Do you play any sports?" Eddie asked.
"I never really stayed in a place long enough to join any school teams, except at my last school. I was a cheerleader during football season, and I loved it." Loren said, thinking back to the football season at Green Bay High.
"You should try out for the team here. Tryouts are next week. You said that you would be able to spend the rest of High School here so why not?" Eddie said.
"Maybe I will." Loren said.
"Cool." Eddie said.
Loren and Eddie continued to talk until the bell rang. She met Melissa outside the classroom. "Hey." Loren said. "Hey." Melissa said back.
"How was Chemistry?" Melissa asked.
"It was good, but only because we didn't do anything. I just talked to this guy Eddie."
"Eddie Duran?" Melissa asked clarifying.
"Yea." Loren said.
"You are so lucky. Talk about gorgeous." Mel said.
"You don't have to tell me twice." They both laughed.
"So what is your next class?"
"AP English with Ms. Connors." Loren answered.
"Oh my gosh, me too!" Melissa squealed excitedly. "Let's go.
After Third Period (Lunch)
Eddie, Ian, Tyler, and some other guys on the team were sitting outside at one of the picnic tables.
Ian was laughing. "You guys should have seen Eddie in first period. I have never seen this guy laugh and blush as much as he did earlier." The whole table started laughing.
"Shut up Ian. I was not blushing." Eddie said taking a sip of his water. He was scanning the courtyard when he saw Loren with Melissa. They were looking for a seat. "Loren!" Eddie yelled. Loren turned and saw Eddie. She and Melissa walked over to the table. "Hey Melissa." Ian said.
"Hey." She said back.
"You guys should sit." Eddie said.
Loren and Melissa sat down at the table. Loren squeezed between Eddie and Tyler, and Melissa was between Ian and Brian, the kicker on the football team.
Everyone started talking. The guys were talking to Mel and Loren. They were all laughing when Chloe and her minions walked over to the table.
"Hey you guys." Chloe said. There was mild grumbling but no one gave Chloe a real greeting. Chloe walked over to where Loren was sitting. "Hi, I'm Chloe Carter."
"Loren Tate." Eddie looks at Loren and then at Chloe.
"I see you met everybody." Chloe said.
Loren looked around at everyone. "Yea."
"So Eddie, do you want to hang out later?" Chloe asks.
Eddie looked at Loren who was talking to Melissa now. "No Chloe, I don't."
"I just want to talk. We did all the talking we needed to do during the summer, so please just leave me alone."
"But Eddie."
"Chloe!" Everyone at the table turned to look at Chloe and Eddie. "Just go, please. You're embarrassing yourself."
Loren was looking at Chloe. She felt sorry for her, even though she didn't seem like the nicest person.
"What are you looking at?" Chloe spat at Loren.
"Sorry." Loren turned back to face everyone.
Chloe stomped off angrily; her minions in tow.
"She seems to be…" Loren trailed off.
"A bitch." Melissa offered.
"Mel!" Loren was surprised.
"What? I was just saying what everyone else was thinking." Melissa said.
"She is kind of right." Brian said.
The bell for the fourth and final period rang. Loren had Calculus, but it went by pretty quickly. Loren walked to her car. She got in and drove home. When Loren walked through the door, Nora was unpacking the last couple of boxes.
"Hey mom." Loren said.
Nora looked up. "How was your day?"
"Pretty good." Loren answered.
"Tell me all about it." Nora sat down on the couch in the living room and Loren sat down next to her. Loren and Nora sat on the couch together and discussed all the details of her day.