Prologue
He almost seemed to fly along the side of the hallway, coming closer and closer to me. I flinched and closed my eyes tightly together, his cool breath chilling my face. I fell to the ground and he went down so fast that he was there before I hit the floor. My back started to hurt after pressing against the lockers for so long. My red-ish brown hair flowed over my shoulders. His white face came closer to mine…
New "Kid"
I awoke to the sound of my alarm. The buzzing was like a mosquito it just had to stop. I banged on the snooze button and slowly arose.
I rubbed the sleepiness out of my eyes. It was a similar school morning, the frigid air still blustering around and the annoyance of having to actually go to school. It's all there.
I was swift going out into the chilly winter air. The leaves have all decomposed into the ground. There was a hint of ice covering the gravel of the streets. The trees were bare and my neighborhood was unusually quiet.
I hopped into my BMW and hurried out to school. I was already late as it was I didn't need the teachers hunting me down.
When I walked into the colossal doors there was absolute silence. In Lusman High School it was never quiet. The only exception was when there was a new kid. "Oh no!" I thought. I raced to the front desk, "Can you tell me if there is a new kid in school?" I asked.
The woman at the front desk looked up, "Hmm? Oh yes, one minute." Her voice was scratchy and her hair was gray-ish and curled. Her circular glasses were attached to a silver chain with connected to the collar of her gray suit. She wore a light but dull pink under the jacket and her skirt reached to about her knees.
"Right here, Lily. His name is Robert Foster, nothing to get worried about he's a transfer student from a small town in California so he's used to the warm weather here in Florida." I sighed. "California…" I breathed. The woman showed a confused expression and I shook my head.
I walked away and went to Calculus and sure enough there was a new kid standing awkwardly in the front of the room. The teacher, Mr. Renner, was introducing him. I sat down in the only seat available, which of course, was right next to Robert.
I slouched down in my chair and hid behind my books. Mr. Renner glared at me and I slowly pulled myself up as he sent Robert back. "So class that is Rob…" He continued. Rob took his seat next to me and shrugged. He didn't seem too thrilled about being here, nor was I.
What seemed like hours passed and finally the bell had rung. I sprung from my seat and ran for the door. Mr. Renner caught me by my hood on my Florida sweatshirt. "Not so fast." He boomed. I turned around making sure everyone had left the classroom.
"Excuse me?" I questioned trying to pretend I didn't know what was coming. I never expected the information to come this way. I didn't expect it to be so forceful or harsh.
"Come on Lily, please do me a favor," Mr. Renner said. This had taken an unexpected turn. "Show Rob around, give him a friend. Do something to make him feel more welcome." I leaned against one of the wooden desktops. "Mr. Renner I'm sorry but no one wants this job and quite frankly I'm not a person who wants to. I saw this coming but I can't go through with it." Mr. Renner sighed; apparently he thought that was coming. "Just this weak?" He begged. I looked out the door to find Robert alone in the hallway. I rolled my eyes, "Mr. Renner you know I saw this coming!" My voice was slightly raised but I wasn't yelling.
Mr. Renner stood back and his wrinkled face turned to a hopeful smile. "I don't want to do this." I muttered. "What? You'll do it? Great! Hope to see you kids tomorrow and enjoying each others company!" He started shoving me out the door.
"But Mr. Renner-" He closed the door behind me before I could finish my sentence.
It was lunchtime and I could see Mr. Renner's eyes following me. I strolled over to Robert. I still wasn't comfortable with calling him Rob. "Robert, I'm Lily." I held out my hand anxious to get this over with. "Um, hi?" He took my hand firmly and shook it. "Hey, look Mr. Renner is breathing down my back for me to become friends with you." It hurt so bad to be saying these things; sadly, they were all true.
"Do you want to sit with me at lunch then?" Robert asked. I shrugged, "Why not?" He didn't seem too bad but I swear I could hear the other kids snickering.
I walked ahead of him toward the doors of the cafeteria and then I headed to take a seat with my other friends. They looked at Robert with an unhappy frown. "Robert this is Lenny," I pointed to the shorthaired blond boy in the corner. "Hailey," This time I pointed to a longhaired girl with black hair. "And Jack." I pointed to the short-ish haired brown haired boy sitting next to Lenny and Hailey. "Guys, this is Robert."
They all waved a friendly hello and went back to their lunch. "I can see they're not big fans of new kids either." I smiled innocently, "Yeah, not really any of us are." Robert shrugged and pulled out his lunch. He was much more gentle than any guy I've ever seen.
There didn't seem to be much to talk about so we ate mostly in silence until about three-quarters of the way in. "Do you mind showing my to Advisory?" I nodded, "I have that class next too. You can follow me."
Lenny, Hailey and Jack were are puzzled that I would help a new kid, but I had to; otherwise Mr. Renner would be watching me like a fox more than he is now.A