Disclaimer: I do not own, if I did I would be rich and not writing this.
"Sometimes it's the smallest decisions
That can change your life
Forever"
~Keri Russel
I can't really explain what my reason is for being the way I am; this anti-social, keeps to herself, quiet girl.
My family life has no issues-a mother and father whom loves each other unconditionally, an older brother along with two small dogs that have nothing but energy.
Yet why does this feeling of anomie constantly hover over me…like I don't belong with them. The feeling has is even stronger now because now I don't need to force myself to ignore it. Like ignoring it was causing it to build up and now that I don't need to hide it it's overflowing the brim.
However my ever present pessimistic attitude will have to wait as I drive myself into the one place I would never have dreamed of going to, Spencer Academy.
I mean seriously this is where super mega rich people go! And me without any form of high society items like a; Coach-purse Prada shoes or a car that costs more than my house that I used to live in. I wasn't going to really bother myself with those facts though. Even if I did have the money for those kinds of things it would be wasted on me-I hate all of that stuff anyways.
So I will indirectly quote Nigel from "The Devil Wears Prada." And say I have girded my loins and am now preparing to take my first steps into the school of the rich and snobby. I can only hope that someone in there will be the Nigel to my Andy. Or to add a cliché the fairy god mother to my Cinderella.
Knowing my luck probably not.
I was barely two steps into this school before my first mishap happened
Told you I had no luck.
Apparently this was one of the times when a janitor decided to randomly mop a floor and didn't put a 'caution wet floor sign' somewhere for us oblivious people. I took one tiny step and suddenly I'm sailing down the hallway waving my arms like some maniac and thinking 'Well this day couldn't suck any worse.'
As I began contemplating how much this day sucked in my potentially life threatening situation, a person appeared from around the corner and it took me a whole second to scream "HELP!!!" to my person in shining armor (person for I couldn't tell if my potential savior was a boy or girl yet).
I guess it took him/her a second to figure out that a crazy girl was about to crash or something cause' it took a second until I found myself clinging to an outstretched arm to help steady myself. Nonetheless I was happy that I would be able to live to explain the reason I was suddenly straddling a person whom I haven't even identified as a boy or girl…actually now that I think about it I would have liked the floor better.
As I lean against my savior trying to come up with a totally exciting and adventurous reason that would explain the reason for our slightly awkward meeting, I was faced with my flaw of not being a creative liar. My brother-Jake- had that ability nailed into his mind, and now I'm suddenly wishing I had his brain.
Oh wait savior person is talking now,
"Well," I have now identified person as a boy…or a very masculine girl, I hope it's the first one. "When I told Reid and Pogue I could get a girl to fall for me just as fast as they could, I didn't think I was being literal." I finally got enough courage to face my savior, (who in fact was a boy thank god) I found him to be a pretty boy with brown curly hair. It reminded me of Chase from Zoey 101, except much less bushy and gravity defying. I managed to get enough sense to remove myself from his person and had enough decency to blush a little.
"Yeah sorry about that, I guess a janitor just mopped or the roof just decided to be stupid and explode water as I was walking in." Possibly my lamest attempt at a joke ever but it got a chuckle out of him anyway!
"No biggie I'm just glad you're okay. Say you're new here aren't you?" I blanched a bit at his question.
"Am I really that obvious?" I guess he sensed my internal distress because he quickly smashed any bad thoughts I was about to have.
"No, well in a way yeah, I mean it's only cause' I know I've never seen you before. And people here know just about everyone, it's not very often we get new people." He told me with a small grin. It was in that moment I knew I would love this kid as nothing more than a really good friend, if I even got that far. I like guys, for lack of a good description, who are truly badass individuals but still know how to treat- people they like anyway- nicely. While this kid was nice he exuded the 'I know how to have fun but I won't go out of my way to make trouble' vibe. I like guys who are on the wild side more.
Oh wait he's talking again.
"So where are you headed to? I could help you if you need it?" He asked tilting his head a bit. I already had my class info sheet, as of now I just needed help finding my dorm. I explained this to him as I dug out my dorm room number slip. I handed it to him and he took a quick glance, then his small grin turned into a large smile.
"Oh man this couldn't even be more perfect, you have the same floor as Sarah and Kate! I was just about to head over there now to meet up with everyone, so you can see the others too." I smiled on the outside but inside I was debating pulling the 'I just want to go relax in my room for a bit' stunt, I didn't deal with meeting one new person well, a whole group would send me into a minor panic attack more then likely. But instead of voicing my inner turmoil I nodded and quickly fell instep beside him as we traveled to the dorms.
I could only hope these friends of his were as nice as he is.
"God-dammit, where the hell is baby boy, we were supposed to be at Nicky's by now!" A very frustrated Reid Garwin yelled as he blew a piece of his blonde hair out of his blue eyes.
Pogue and Caleb both rolled their eyes as they observed Sarah and Kate talk about what they would be wearing to Nicky's that night, however all three boys were getting curious about Tyler's absence. He was the one who usually had to drag Reid to their designated meeting places. A loud shout led all of their party to look outside the room.
"I just cannot believe you just dissed Stephen King's "The Dream Catcher!" That has to be one of the greatest horror stories of our time!" A voice none of the group recognized shouted as a voice they recognized as Tyler's replied,
"Man you and Reid should talk Caroline, I think you may even be more obsessed with that book then he is, which is honestly a bit scary seeing as he hardly ever reads." The other voice they guessed was this Caroline's, just gave out a sighed 'whatever'.
"Caroline?" Sarah asked as she peeked out of her door more, trying to get a good look at the girl. When she did see her, her mouth opened in awe. Caroline had to the shoulder dark brown hair, was about 5'6 and had nice curves from what she could tell by her shirt. Tyler at this point looked over and broke into a wide grin as he raised his hand for a greeting. Caroline looked over and slowed a bit; stopping in front of what they all assumed was her dorm room. Tyler paused and looked back, seeing her fish in her bag for room keys.
"What are you doing? Do you not wanna meet them yet? Or do you just wanna unpack?" Questions rolled out of his mouth as she unlocked the door. Caroline gave a small smile and pointed over to the group that was now situated by Sarah and Kate's door.
"I'm pretty sure by the look on beanie heads face that they've been waiting for you to do whatever for a while now, and really I just want to get some of my stuff unpacked right now. Don't worry though I'll text you later about that tour guide offer." She finished giving a small shrug and entered the room. Tyler quickly looked back at the group and then back at the door as if trying to decide if he should persist at all. Sarah quickly intervened as she approached the door.
"Hi I'm Sarah, and I know this sounds crazy since I just met you, but why not come to Nikki's with us, when we come back I'll help you unpack and if the guys don't mind they can too?" Sarah gave a quick glance to see Tyler, Caleb and Pogue nod, Reid gave a small grunt. "So what do you say?"
Caroline looked caught off guard as she glanced into her unpacked box of clothes. Honestly the idea of going out did sound nice, but she was still a bit nervous about it all.
"All of my clothes are kind of scattered, I'm sure y'all, have waited a while for Tyler here to show up so I think I'll just skip." She said as she dug threw the box and brought out a smaller box.
"Oh that's fine, you look about the same size as me so you can just borrow some of my stuff." Kate cut in while looking up and down at the girl. Caroline realized this was a downhill battle, so with a sigh she motioned for Kate to show her the clothes she could use.
So here I am sitting at a table in this place called "Nicky's" in a black small jacket that for this night I'm using as a belly top, a pair of distressed jeans and my converse, which is the only thing on me that I actually own. Pogue and Caleb were at the foosball table and Reid and Tyler were playing pool. With me are Sarah and Kate talking about the latest gossip as I pretend to actually listen. Part of me wishes that I would have kept insisting not to come, but I guess it did me some good as the other two stopped gossiping at one point long enough to tell me who I should watch out for and things of that nature.
(It was also about this time that the guys had come back and started listening in on our conversation.)
"Okay the absolute first thing you need to know is that Aaron Abbott is an absolute prick, he treats girls like dirt." Kate started as she told me the basics of who's who.
"Also his supposed 'girlfriend' Kira Snyder is a bitch who thinks any and all girls that he shows an interest in are sluts that need to be 'taught their place'." Sarah added as she took a sip of her drink.
I mulled the information over for a second as I took a sip of my own soda, and then said, "So assuming from what you've told me, Kira is the pot calling the kettle black?" I hadn't really meant that as a joke, more of my own example, but I guess they found it hilarious because they didn't even try to hold back the laughter. Then suddenly I felt an arm around my shoulder and another hand patting my head.
"I think little Caroline here is gonna' get along with us just fine." I identified the voice and arm to be Reid, a quick glance up showed it was Tyler patting my head. I broke out in a grin and gave a shrug, assuring myself I wasn't going to take the compliment at face value.
"Hey didn't you mention that you played pool a lot back were you used to live?" Tyler asked as he and Reid started heading back to the pool tables. Reid stopped and raised a blonde brow,
"So the little girl says she can play pool huh?" I heard the challenge dripping from every word and told myself he is trying to push buttons so I would play him
Too bad for me that's exactly what happened.
I raised my own eyebrow retorting, "Yeah, this little girl would be happy to hand you your ass in pool, first time free." Reid smirked and the others broke out in a chorus of 'ooh's' as we headed over. I ended up in front and I could just feel Reid's eyes boring into my bottom, so I gave an extra sway in my hips.
The small appreciative moan let me know I got my desired effect.
Now some people must be thinking 'what happened to the shy girl that said she didn't want to be here?' honestly I couldn't tell you, just being around these two, Reid especially, seemed to bring out a more unfamiliar and daring side of me.
And I liked it.
A lot.
A whole lot.
As we got a table and Tyler racked the balls for us while we grabbed the cue sticks, Reid leaned over and whispered into my ear "You ready for an ass whipping?"
I couldn't help the small shiver running down my spine, but amazingly I stood my ground. I even went as far as to pull him down to my eyes by the back of his head and asked in what I hoped was a somewhat alluring voice, "Are you?" Then I strutted away to the other side of the table.
I felt his eyes on me the whole time.
I can't help but stare at the girl as she made another pocket with no effort whatsoever.
This girl-Caroline- didn't even register in my mind until we really started talking after playing pool, even though 'talking' was more like throwing sarcastic and witty remarks back and forth at each other, nonetheless it was fun.
When Tyler brought her to Kate and Sarah's room she just seemed like a good looking, quiet girl I would hit on for a little bit then move on. After I practically called her out on a challenge in pool though, it was like her whole person changed; maybe she's got a competitive streak? I didn't matter to me either way because it got me to notice how hot she actually is. She started walking in front of us and my eyes began to examine her and landed on her nice ass, I guess she noticed cause' next thing I knew she has a little extra sway in her hips and it nearly made me reach out and grab them. However I have more class then that.
When we finally reached the table I decided to mess with her a bit and leaned over to her ear as she grabbed a cue stick whispering, "You ready for an ass whipping?" I saw the shiver go down her spine and smirked. Then she grabbed the back of my head and dragged me down to her eyes-which by the way were like a stormy blue which I thought was as sexy as hell- and said, "Are you?" Then she walks away.
I couldn't take my eyes off her for a second; I laughed and grabbed the chalk for my stick. We started and soon I found out true to her word that she was pretty damn good at this game, second only to me of course. Although I guess the saying 'all good things must come to an end' was true cause' I saw that douche Abbott approaching from behind Caroline.
There goes the fun.
"Well, Well, Well, look who came to give me some more of his money!" Reid exclaimed as he meandered over to Caroline's side, slightly blocking her from Aaron's view. Caroline looked over her shoulder to see a slightly shorter guy with curly red/brown hair, by him were two other boys and a girl with frizzy, curly, fire red hair. Caroline would have thought that the guy was kind of cute, until he opened his mouth anyway.
"Yeah, whatever Garwin, right now I'm more interested in that hottie by your side." Aaron said as he gave what Caroline assumed was supposed to be a charming wink. The girl by him threw dagger eyes at Caroline.
'This must be that Snyder girl that the others told me about, and Casanova there must be Abbott.' Caroline thought as she gave a small polite wave and went back to setting up her next shot.
"So cutie what's your name?" Aaron asked moving past Reid who got blocked by his two cronies. He leaned by her and kept getting in the way of her shot.
Now Caroline had a few guys hit on her before, but because of her ever present shyness, she never really acknowledged their existences. However she had to give him points for persistence. That is until his attempt to get her to talk by being in her face while shooting caused her to mess up her combo shot and instead shoot one of Reid's balls in a pocket.
And messing up her pool game was another way to push a button with Caroline.
"God-Damn man, that was a perfect shot and your annoying face just cost me it!" Caroline yelled as she leaned her head on her cue stick, slapping her hand on her face in frustration. Aaron reeled back stunned at the comment, but his anger surfaced quickly when he realized that all of the son's plus Sarah and Kate were watching and heard the comment, causing them all to laugh. Pride wounded and ego shot he grabbed Caroline by the wrist while telling Kira to shut up, seeing as she was insulting Caroline until that point.
"You wanna repeat that?!" He yelled expecting her to yell for one of them to save her. All she did was give him a bored look and snatch her wrist out of his grip. She reached for her cue again but he wasn't having her insult him, and then has the nerve to ignore him. He reached for her again but before he even knew what had happened Caroline grabbed his approaching arm, turned and sent him crashing down on his back over her shoulder like he was nothing. The whole bar went silent and that was all Caroline could take. She set her cue on the table and handed Reid a ten dollar bill.
"I'm gonna leave, you can keep that for the game." Caroline mumbled and shot out of the bar. Reid was the first one to wake up and yelled for her to wait, the others following soon after.
I can't believe my freaking judo instincts kicked in at a time like this! I mean that was probably a good thing but now these people must think I'm a freak. Just thinking about it made me think back to old memories.
'Oh- my- gosh she just threw him like a potato sack!'
'She is so weird and now she's stronger than a guy?'
'No one will ever like that.'
'WHAT A FREAK!!!'
I shook my head before I thought more deeply into that, I slowed and heard someone call out to me.
"Caroline, wait!!"
I turned and saw the others running after me, ducking my head down I suddenly found my shoes very interesting. They all had stopped in front of me by then.
"Are you ok? Aaron didn't hurt you did he?" Caleb asked giving me a once over. I shook my head.
"You sure, cause right now I would love an excuse to go kick his ass." Pogue told me with a grin. I lifted my head and chuckled while he gave an even bigger grin.
"Are you kidding? I think she could kick his ass on her own!" Tyler laughed and patted my back. Sarah and Kate had been giving me a tight hug since they had caught up to me. They let go but they were still at arms length, both laughed at what Tyler said.
"Yeah, what was that you did? That was so awesome!" Sarah asked with barley contained excitement, Kate nodded as if wanting to know the answer too.
"It's called Judo, a self-defense form that uses a persons own momentum against them. The throw I did was called Ippon, which is pretty much just throwing him over my shoulder by his arm." I explained mimicking the motion I did. "I'm a green belt so that was nothing for me." I told them straightening myself out.
Then that same arm was around my shoulder and I already knew who it was.
"Well whatever kung-fu shit you just did, I have to say that was pretty amazing." Reid told me as if there was no denying it. I gave all of them a confused look.
"You mean you don't think I'm a freak for throwing a guy stronger then me?" I couldn't help asking, I already knew I had the look of a kid who got picked on for being different, mostly because it was true. All of them, especially the boys for some reason, gave me a sympathetic smile.
"Nah, believe us we've seen strange things, what you did was just downright cool." Pogue said. I gave a genuine smile at that.
"I think we should head back, I don't know about you guys but I'm ready to crash." Kate yawned as she leaned on Pogue. The others concurred and soon we were heading back to our cars. Before I slipped into Sarah's car, I felt a hand grab me and slip something into that same hand. I looked back to see Reid jumping into Tyler's hummer then back into my own hand as I sat down in the backseat.
There, staring right back at me was John Trumbull's 1805 portrait of Alexander Hamilton and a small note curled around it. I opened it and read the surprisingly nice handwriting,
'I'll win Mr. Hamilton back in a rematch; keep him safe for me ok?'
~Reid
I couldn't help the quiet laugh that came out of me and looked out my window into the crisp night. Even though I hadn't really gotten to know any of them, I had a feeling we all would be hanging out more. They all were a lot nicer than I thought they would be.
'I guess a little change never hurt after all.' I thought as I rested my head in my hand and dozed off, breathing slowing until I fell into a light sleep.
Thank you for reading the first chapter of Bracelets,if you have any questions please ask in the review and I'll answer to the best of my ability!
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