(A/N: Hey, I'm back! Alright, so I love Carlos the most, but I love all the boys. Anyway, this plot bunny has been running around in my mind for a while, and I don't think this story would work as well with Carlos, so I chose Kendall. This chapter is kinda boring, I know, but please bear with me. I need four reviews before I update!)
REWIND
Anya Marina Silver sighed as she dressed for her first day of school. Her first day of her sophomore year at Silver Leaf High. She begrudgingly slipped on a pair of dark wash blue jeans, a black pair of Converse All Stars, an off-the-shoulder purple and silver striped top, and a black leather jacket. She threw her hair into a messy ponytail, painted her lips with purple lip gloss, and hoped the look said, "Hi, I'm Anya. I'm a loner, and I like it."
She slipped out of her dark-purple-and-silver-accented room and walked down the hall, banging loudly on the white door on the end. "Chris, are you up?"
She was met with silence.
"Chris?"
Still nothing. Sighing, Anya opened the door to find her brother passed out on his bed. An abandoned bottle of liquor was barely obscured by his blanket, and she rolled her eyes.
Great, she thought, First day of school and he's fighting a hangover.
She stared at her older brother's gently breathing body, and tried to figure out how he got there. How he got to being so dependent on alcohol. How she could have let him.
Letting herself out, she sat on the porch of her home as she waited for the bus. Today, she thought, kicking a pebble, Is going to be horrible.
Anya lived in the small town of Silver Leaf, Illinois. Silver Leaf was a predominantly middle class town. Moms drove SUVs, the typical home was two stories high and didn't cover much land. Teenage girls rushed home to watch reruns of their favorite TV shows and flip through Seventeen magazines, circling several designer items they wanted to save up their money for. The area was predominantly white.
And that was where the problem lies.
Derek, Anya, and Chris moved to the town only a few years prior just for the money. Derek hadn't been too complacent with the fact that the area was white, the three of them being black. Anya and Chris had never behaved like the "typical" black kids, anyway, so they hadn't minded. At one time, Chris and Anya had even been on the verge of having friends, once.
It wasn't until Derek had done something so horrible, so awful, that Anya and Derek decided to alienate themselves…
Liza Partridge strolled in with Noelle Waldorf and Suzanne Reyes, and Anya rolled her eyes. Liza was the queen bee of the school, and part of the reason that her year last year had been so horrible. Anya stared down at her notebook.
I will not look at her. I will not give her the satisfaction.
Liza passed and was chatting loudly with Suzanne and Noelle about some amazing party she went to with her brother in Chicago.
That's when it happened.
Anya heard the room collectively grow silent but she didn't give it much thought. She lazily drew a heart with her purple pen when she heard the screech of a chair's legs against a newly cleaned floor. Someone had sat next to her.
Looking up, her breath caught in her throat as she met the deep green eyes of a blonde boy with shaggy blonde hair. He was tall and skinny, and smiled a small smile at her.
Oh. My. God. There's a fuzzy feeling in my chest.
"Hi, I'm Kendall," he said, smiling wider.
Anya put the cap on her pen and smiled at him slightly, blinking. "Anya."
She could feel the heat of Liza, Noelle, and Suzanne's eyes on her back.
"I'm new here," he said, his smile never fading. "But I guess everyone knows that."
The class turned back to their conversations, embarrassed. Anya smiled a bit down at her notebook, idly sketching several hearts.
She snuck a glance at him.
As if on cue, he gave a sideways glance at her, and her eyes returned sharply to her paper.
Time seemed to slow down. Anya's breathing rate increased rapidly, and she felt warm all over. Her palms grew sweaty, and even though she felt warm outside, she felt cold inside. And electric current vibrated throughout her body and Anya began jiggling her foot just to get rid of some of the energy.
She saw him grin out of the corner of her eye. He was tapping his fingers on the desk, and she wondered, Did he feel that, too?
"Do you always grin?" she blurted, turning to face him.
Kendall's face fell for a second, but the smile returned. His eyes scanned her body for what seemed like ages, and replied, "No."
Anya bit her lip to keep from smiling.
Kendall wore a blue plaid shirt, light wash blue jeans, and red Vans. Staring at his arms more closely, she noticed muscles, and immediately, she knew he played some kind of sport.
"Listen," he said, pulling a schedule out of his bag. "I really don't know this school at all, so can you show me around?"
"Sure," Anya said, feeling bubbly and giddy and giggly inside.
Little did she know that a few weeks later, she'd be wishing she could hit rewind.
