Chapter 1: Fish out of water

It was the beginning of freshman year at Huxley High School and Tina Belcher could not wait to have a fresh start, meet new people and see new butts. Tina spent her entire summer preparing for high school. Her confidence improved immensely, but was still her bumbling, awkward self. She grew out her hair, which came past her shoulders and her bangs were long enough to be pushed to the side. She abandoned her trademark blue shirt, navy blue skirt, knee-high socks and yellow hair clip. Instead, she wore a grey V-neck, black jeans and bracelets on her wrist. She kept her converse, though. It went with her new look.

Tina got up earlier than her siblings to get ready for school. By the time she was ready, Gene and Louise were just getting ready for their day and their mom was making her "famous" first day of school breakfast. Tina walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, which was covered in bacon, hash browns, scrambled eggs and cinnamon rolls. "Oh, Tina I'm so excited for you on your first day of high school," her mom said excitedly as she hugged her, "my Teeny Tina isn't so teeny anymore!"

"More like high school should be excited for me… it sounded better in my head." Tina said monotonously. Tina was quickly joined by Gene, Louise and her dad, who was getting ready in the bathroom in the restaurant because the bathroom was occupied.

"So, Tina when you get home are we going to talk about the latest gossip when you get home, like in Dawson's Creek?" Gene asked.

"Gene," Bob interjected.

"What," Gene asked, "I just want to be a part of their world!"

"Oh God," Bob groaned.

"It must be nice to finally get away from Wagstaff Maximum Security," Louise said as she inched closer to Tina, "don't look back." She said creepily as she grabbed her face.

"O-okay?" Tina said timidly. Although she was the youngest sibling, Louise was very intimidating for her age and size."

"Good. Also, can you slap Logan in his pimply, ugly face for me? I'll make it worth your while." She enticed.

"Yeah, I'm not going to do that." Tina said quietly.

Tina took a deep breath as she walked into Huxley. She looked around and there were swarms of people conversing at their lockers. She even saw some of her friends from Wagstaff. Jocelyn was gossiping with the Junior Varsity cheerleaders. Zeke was roughhousing with some of the jocks. Tammy's parents enrolled her in a private school, which made Tina slightly relieved. And then there was Jimmy Jr., her unrequited love, hanging out with some of the popular kids. "Hi, Jimmy Jr.," she said cheerfully, "how was your summer?" Jimmy Jr. looked around at his new friends, grumbled something and walked away. Tina felt her heart drop. So far, her first day of school wasn't going as well as she thought it would.

The homeroom bell rang and Tina scurried to homeroom. She sat down in one of the few open seats and slumped in her chair. Zeke charged in shortly after her. "You're late," the teacher said dryly as she pulled out a sheet of paper, "name?"

"Zeke," he said confidently as he sat next to Tina, "I have a feeling this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, don't you?" The teacher looked up and glared at him as she continued to scribble a note. There was something different about Zeke. Perhaps he got taller? Was he more slender? Did his butt fill out? Either way, something was different about him.

It was lunchtime and Tina entered the crowded cafeteria and tried to find people to sit with. The majority of tables were full, so Tina sat by herself. She looked up from her food and locked eyes with Jimmy Jr., who just looked down and continued to walk to his table. Tina sighed and poked at her mashed potatoes. She heard a plastic tray clack against the table and she looked up. It was Zeke. "What's up, T-Bird?" he asked as he sat down. Tina sighed. Zeke looked around and saw his old friend with a new crowd. "J-Ju got you down?" he asked. Tina nodded. "Well, I don't blame you," he said as he began to eat, "he met them at the Wharf over the summer and became a different person."

Tina looked up, "he's ignoring you, too? But, you guys are best friends" she said.

Zeke shrugged, "people change up on you sometimes. That's why I joined the football team. Do you have a club or a group or anything?" he asked. Tina shook her head. Zeke finished his food and got up, "c'mon T-Town lemme show you something."

Zeke walked Tina to a different wing of the school, which had fliers for different clubs and organizations. There was a sign-up sheet for writing club, which immediately caught her interest. "Thanks for showing me this, Zeke." She said as she scribbled her name on the sign-up sheet.

"No problem T," he said as he leaned up against a locker and looked up at a clock, "we should probably scoot the bell's about to ring." Tina nodded and picked up her bag up off the floor. "You do something with your hair?" he asked.

Tina looked at him. "Yeah, it sort of grew." She said as she rolled her eyes.

"Well, it looks nice." He said as he cleared his throat. Before she could respond, the bell rang for class. "Welp, see you later T-Bird." He said as he walked away.

By the time school was over, Tina was relieved to have it behind her. She walked into the restaurant and slumped in an empty booth. "Hi, sweetie," Linda said as she took a break from washing dishes, "how was your first day? Did you make any new friends?"

Tina shrugged. "It was okay, and yeah kind of."

"Well, that's great," Bob said as he flipped a burger, "one new friend is always a good start. Who is it?"

"Zeke." Tina said as she put her backpack on the floor.

"Zeke?" Bob asked. "I thought you didn't like him. Here you go, Teddy." He said as he gave Teddy his order.

"High school changes people, dad." Tina said affirmatively.