The morning was cool and quiet. The sun was just creeping over the horizon, dabbling the topmost tree branches in golden light. There was only the rustling of leaves in the gentle breeze and the occasional car pulling out for that day's work. Overall, it was a cozy little neighborhood with organized houses, neat lawns, and clean streets. It was perfect for old people and families. Somewhere to escape from the public eye. A place where no one would suspect anything was amiss…
A girl sat quietly on the street corner, carefully glancing between her shoes and her calm surroundings. Every now and then, a morning walker would pass by with a friendly 'Good morning', but she simply smiled politely at their knees while they went on their way. There was a gentle breeze that carried the last bit of summer heat, and it slowly shifted the curtain of bangs that hung over the girl's almost golden eyes. She unconsciously drummed her fingers against the rough curb as she looked up at the sound of an old diesel engine. She heard its low roar long before its large, yellow form rounded the corner a street up from her, and she stepped up onto the sidewalk as the school bus screeched to a stop in front of her. The door gave a small squeak in protest but opened anyway to allow the girl up the daunting steps. She paused by the driver, unsure of which of the vacant seats she should choose.
The driver smiled at her knowingly and said in a tenor voice, "Sit wherever you like."
She gave him a nod of appreciation and quickly settled herself in a seat toward the middle of the empty bus. Gazing through the streaked windows, she watched the unfamiliar neighborhood chug by and relished the temporary silence. But with every stop, more kids filled the seats, and the noise level grew by several decibels. Even though it was the first day of school, everyone easily formed into cliques of their lifelong friends, and as each one of them passed by the girl, they gave her almost disgusted looks, as if she were a strange creature that didn't belong. She just ignored them all and nestled further into the cheap bus cushions, making herself more invisible. This didn't last long though, for after the bus had braked at the last stop, she felt a presence hanging over her.
As she looked up, a tall boy with light brown skin said, "Pardon, but that is Rolf's seat."
A strange, heavy accent draped over his words as he indicated the girl's bag with a calloused finger.
Confused by his choice of words but wanting to be polite, she stood and grabbed her bag, saying, "Sorry, I didn't know. I'll move."
Instead of stepping aside though, he placed a heavy hand on her shoulder and said with a smile, "No need. Your company will be much appreciated."
With that, he nearly threw the girl back into the seat as he plopped down next to her, tossing a thick, blue braid over his shoulder. His large, rough hand completely enveloped her own as he shook it enthusiastically and introduced himself with pride.
"I am Rolf, Son of a Shepherd. And you are?"
"Ash," she replied quietly while prying her fingers from his iron grip.
He cocked his head to the side, saying, "That is a strange name for a female."
As Ash raised an eyebrow at him, they both heard a light, tinkling giggle from the seat in front of them, and a blonde head rose to face them.
The beautiful girl let her arms fall across the back of her seat, and she said sweetly, "Rolf, tone it down a little. You don't want to scare her away. She is new after all." She turned to Ash with a smile raised her hand as she said, "I'm Nazz by the way. Welcome to Peach Creek!"
Ash took it gently and said with a small smile of her own, "Thanks."
For the rest of the bus ride, the three talked and joked around, and Ash quickly found herself with two new friends, which she was very grateful for. As they conversed, she was able to learn quite a bit about Peach Creek, like the fact that the neighborhood was very close knit and both Rolf and Nazz, as well as every other kid in the area, had known each other since childhood. This was very evident to Ash in the way that they made fun of each other, and it made her a little nervous to be a part of such an intimate community.
The bus finally started to slow down, and it stopped in front of a very large, modern looking building. Block letters shone silver in the morning sun and proudly spelled out 'Peach Creek High School'. Students flooded through the front doors, and Ash was inevitably swept along with them. Rolf and Nazz were still chattering away in front of her, but when they all passed through the entrance, Ash tuned them out completely. She instead gazed around her, trying to take in as much of her surroundings as she could. There were full sized lockers painted a milky orange lining the clean, creamy walls. The speckled floors were free of scuff marks and reflected the white, fluorescent lights above them. Even the teachers looked new and refreshed when she stopped by the office to pick up her schedule and other school papers.
Ash was pleasantly surprised that the rumors about the school's extravagance were true, but there was only one rumor that she really cared about. Word was that some rich family had donated a lot of money to finance the school's most popular sports team, and they had built an addition onto the school especially for the team. She whipped her head around, eagerly trying to spot the sign for this very special room, but while Ash was looking down a side hall, she ran headfirst into something quite solid and hit the ground, her papers scattering everywhere. She winced and noticed a pair of boots standing before her when she opened her eyes. She slowly looked up to see that she had bumped into a very tall, slender boy who was flanked by two mean looking students. A pair of steely, blue eyes shone with annoyance from beneath the rim of the boy's black beanie.
"I'm so sorry!" she said quickly, feeling bad for hitting him.
As she scrambled to gather her papers, she noticed that the students around them had stopped what they were doing and were silently watching the scene before them. Although this was confusing, she only stopped her movements when one of the boys spoke.
"Watch where you're going, idiot!" the boy with a shaved head and holding a smiling piece of wood said rudely.
Ash's guilt evaporated at his response and without thinking, she automatically replied with, "Well, I'm sorry for walking."
"You should be when you're obviously so bad at it," said the other boy with curly blonde hair and braces.
"Oh, please excuse me, Mr. Braceface," she retorted, sarcasm dripping from her words.
"Why you little bi-," but he was cut off.
The boy with the beanie hadn't said anything up to this point, but he suddenly started laughing, and everyone turned to look at him.
"Well well well, it would appear that our new arrival has a fair amount of mettle." His gap-toothed grin held malice as he said, "I think it's about time we gave her our special welcome, don't you boys?"
The goons' demeanors slowly shifted, and they sniggered at each other while they took a couple steps toward her.
The blonde one cracked his knuckles, and the shaved one said darkly, "Plank loves meeting new people."
Ash, who was still on the ground, quickly realized what was about to happen and scooted away from them, trying to find a more defensive position. She glared up at the boys, waiting for them to attack, but two figures stepped in front of her and blocked them from her view. Rolf and Nazz stood protectively over Ash with arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed angrily.
"I don't think so, Johnny," Nazz said sternly, directing her words at the wood-toting kid and stopping him in his tracks.
Rolf puffed out his chest aggressively at the blonde one, saying, "You would do best to watch yourself, Boy Jimmy, or else prepare yourself for a merciless thrashing!"
Jimmy grit his metal bound teeth and spat back, "You don't scare me, you foreign hick," but he didn't dare step any closer.
All eyes were on the group while silence filled the tense gap between them. Nobody moved for what seemed like hours until the first morning bell sounded, and even then it took a few seconds for people to begin to walk again.
As the crowd reluctantly dispersed, the boy with the beanie called out gruffly to his bullies, "It's time to go you two. We had better not be late." The smile was completely wiped from his face when he passed by Ash and said gravely, "They won't always be around to protect you."
They walked off, disappearing around a corner and making sure to leave large, dirty shoeprints on the papers still on the floor.