Paisley POV
Hi. I'm Paisley. Paisley Brown. And might I just say, New York is so much different from home. Home for me is New Zealand. I just recently (Two days ago) moved here, and changed my name. Everything is different. From the buildings, to the way people talk. Here I am the alien, and these are the humans.
Walking into a new school was really easy. I'd done it alot. I never moved house though, so you can tell that I am freaking out. The first move, and its overseas, away from family, to a dirty place where I am a stranger. I know no one! Not a single soul.
"Want me to walk you in?" Mum asks. She has short, straight blonde hair and brown eyes. Not like me. I have long beach wavy dark brown hair that reaches my ribs and brownish green eyes. I think theres also flecks of blue. I dunno.
"No thanks. I can do it." I say, even though something inside of me is screaming 'No you can't!'. I unbuckle my seatbelt and scoop up my bag. "Checklist."
"Glasses."
"Check."
"Notebook."
"Check."
"Phone."
"Check."
"Book."
"Check." and so on. We did this every time one of the many of us were going somewhere, whether it be school, or to a sleepover.
"Togs, cap and goggles." Mum thinks, "And towel."
I tap my small duffel bag. "And gym clothes." I open my door, almost falling out of the car, causing my Mum to chuckle.
"Love you, Mum." I say.
"Ok. Well, I love you too." Mum says, winding down the window. I shut the door. "Hopefully I can A. Unpack my room and B. find my way back home. wish me luck."
"Bye!" I shout as Mum pulls away from the curb, even though she can't hear me over the sound of kids talking. Jeez. You all saw each other yesterday. Whats the fuss? I've never really had any friends. Only Oliver and Angela. But they moved away, and didn't tell me where they were going.
Inside was worse. People were fighting, shouting, talking, perfecting their hair, and don't even get me started on the couples. So to say, the corridor was very crowded. I was getting battered and shoved. Was it so hard to find the office?
After shoving my way around a bit, I finally find the office. Now, you might be thinking "Oh, its the end of summer! There'll be other new kids too!" You are wrong. Dead wrong. Its the end of spring, and I'm the only one with an accent.
At the reception, a warm eyed woman greets me at the desk. "Paisley Oceania?" She asks. I nod.
"Paisley Oceania Brown, at your service." I say, playfully curtsying. She stifles a laugh.
"Ok, heres all you need." She says, sliding a locker key, a few sheets of paper, and a brown (hehe) package across the table.
"Thanks."
"Just fill out the forms, and Nico there," she point to a guy decked top to toe in black sitting in a chair in the corner, "Can show you where everything is. I've just gotta print out your schedule."
She disappears into another room. I walk over to this Nico dude. He has dark brown eyes and black, straight hair. His pale skin contrasts all the black. "So." I say, rocking back and forth on my feet awkwardly, "I'm Paisley. I just moved the other day from New Zea-"
"I know." He says rudely. I lean back a bit.
"How?" I smirk. Before you ask, no I am NOT one of THOSE girls. I despise make up, pink, sparkles, dresses, skirts and anything else associated with the term 'Girly Girl'. I grew up with six brothers and only one sister. Where they are right now is another topic completely.
"Just 'cuz!" He protests, leaning back into his chair, red with anger.
"Just because..." I say, crossing my arms and leaning back on my foot. The smirk never left my face.
"Yes." He grumbled. I raised my eyebrows and head back to the desk. The lady comes back and hands me the sheet of paper with my schedule. Must laminate it! And copy it down somewhere...
"Lets go!" I say, grasping Nico's arm, tugging him up. His pale face had annoyed written all over it. My bad. Oopsies.
"Let. Go." He says, yanking his arm away. He rips the schedule from my grasp, tearing a long "ohhhhurgggghhhh!" From my mouth.
"You're in pretty much all the same classes as me." he says, much more polite than before. Bipolar much? "Your lockers, like, two down from mine."
He leads me to my locker. I stick the key in and twist it, unlocking the door. I swing my backpack over and empty out what I need to. Pencil case and my notebook and my novel stays, along with my phone and wallet. Earphones must stay too.
I look over at Nico, whose staring at me curiously. "Do I have something on my face?" I ask. he shakes his head, and focuses his eyes on the ground.
"No. Its nothing." he mumbles.
"Mumblers aren't heard." I say to him, going back to my locker. After I'm satisfied with whats coming with me in my backpack, and d whats not, I slam the locker shut and walk few steps to Nico. "I'm ready." I say, gripping the backpack straps like a little girl on an adventure.
Nico leads me to a classroom with a red door. My flat has a red door too! Sorry, off topic!
I sit at the back, next to Nico. At the front you have your stereotypical nerds. then the Jocks and cheerleaders, then theres the last row, seemingly reserve for Nico. Whispers rise around the classroom. I take out my glasses and put them on. Nico looks at me again.
"Glasses?" He asks, raising his eyebrows. They were reading glasses. I wasn't too far away from needing them 24/7. They had a wide, thick, square frame. In other words, geek glasses. My sister said I looked cute in them. Without my glasses, reading is hell. I have dyslexia and I also need glasses. Imagine that. And ADHD too.
"Yeah." I say, taking out my book. I was reading 'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green. I've read it alot of times. Never gets any less sad.
"They're cute." he says, turning back to his notebook, fire engine red. I felt the heat go up to my cheeks. He called me cute. "Sorry for being mean back at the office. I was just tired."
"I know the feeling." I say, turning the page.
A few minutes later, a screeching bell rings, and the remainder of the class tumbles in the door. A second later, a teacher with blonde hair pulled up into a bun, and grass green eyes walks in. She was wearing a navy blue pencil skirt and a white blouse.
"Morning." She says, sitting at her desk. "We have an international student joining us today. Paisley, where are you?" She says, looking around the room. She sees me in the far corner and beckons me forwards.
I stand up, my chair screeching against the ground. I slide off the glasses and walk over to the front, my combat boots clunking against the floor. I turn to the class. "Tell us about yourself." The teacher says. The pin on her shirt says Mrs. Laura McKingsley. Mrs McKingsley then.
"Uh, Hi!' I say, taking my hand from my back pocket and waving it nervously. "I'm Paisley. I come from New Zealand. I live with my Mum. I've never met my dad. I have the worlds weirdest allergies. I am a swimmer, runner, athlete, tennis player, dancer, and a whole bunch of other things. Summing it up. I love sports. I hold the NZ record for the fastest swimmer of my age. I am seconds from qualifying for the common wealth games." I say. A low whistle is heard from one of the jocks.
"Cute, and sporty!" He says.
"And not interested." I say, going back to my seat.
"Burned!" Another jock says to him. He rolls his eyes. Nico's eyes have never left me, even as I sit down and put my glasses in my case.
"Aren't you jettlagged?" Asks Mrs. McKingsley.
"Extremely." I say, yawning to prove my point. "It was a miracle I attempted getting up this morning. Yesterday I slept practically the whole day, proving my theory that I cannot sleep on planes, but when we land, and I find a place to sit for long enough, I will." That earned a few laughs from the class. I grin.
Next,I had English. I walk into the room with Nico and another class of eyes follow me to the back row.
"Why is everyone staring?" I whisper to Nico. He shrugs in response.
"Alright class! Get your books out. Keep reading. If you finish the chapters early, please come see me. Paisley Brown, please come and see me now." I shuffle out of my desk. Mr. Blowfis, the plaq says on his desk.
"Hi." I say.
"You're Paisley?" He asks, smiling at me. I nod with an 'Mhhmmm'. "Ok, so from what little information I have, you're ADHD, Dyslexic and you have glasses. Am I correct?"
"Yes sir." I say.
"Ok. Well, we're reading The Fault In Our Stars. " He says, "You're gonna have to get your own copy, if thats OK."
"I've got it here with me. I've re-read it thousands of times." I say. That made my day. My favourite book, and we're studying it.
"Thats great! You can get started on the work sheets if you like." He says, handing me a few sheets of Paper. "What you don't get finished is homework."
"Ok." I say, heading back to my desk. As I walk down, between the rows of chairs, I feel the classes eyes following me. They leave as soon as I sit down.
I get out my book and pencil case. I dig around the front pocket of my bag to get my glasses. I slipp them on and d start on the worksheet. First I had to do a character study on Gus and Hazel.
Gus has Mahogany hair.
Played basketball.
Amputated leg to get rid of cancer
And so on...
I finished the worksheet in a jif, just as the bell rang. I look at the piece of paper I call my schedule, glued to the front page of my notebook. Maths.
After the excruciating pain was over, I had gym. I love gym, if you could tell.
Nico leads me there. I've swapped my school bag for the small duffel. Inside the gym, there are ropes on the side for climbing, a few ladders, and benches and bleachers.
Electric blue, thin mats were setup in the centre of the gym. We must be doing gymnastics. Suddenly, a man, just over five feet tall pops up infront of me. "You Paisley?"
"Yes?" I say suspiciously.
"Gym locker number eighteen." He says, handing me a key. I attach it to my other key. "You got gym clothes?"
"Yeah."
"Good, because your uniform hasn't come in yet. Changing rooms are over there. "He points to a big red door. "After you're changed come see me if you wanna try out for any sports clubs."
As soon as I open the door, the strong scent of perfume smacks me in the face. I sneeze loudly. Yuck! So I have THAT sort of a gym class. I open my locker and start getting changed. Dangit! My scar! I can't let anyone see! I do a trick for my singlet where I shrug off the straps and then put the shirt on, and then slide out of the singlet. Perfect. I'm now in a cream coloured sports tank top and leggings that I had cut off to be just past mid thigh.
I tie my hair up into a ponytail and then head over to see the coach.
"What clubs do you wanna join, cupcake?" He says gruffly.
"Swimming, Track, Dancing, and football." I say. He shakes his head and laughs. "What?"
"Not football."
"Why?" I demand, getting a little upset, "I swear, if I can tackle them, at least five and score a try, you let me try out for the team."
And that ladies and gentlemen, is how I got on the football team.
A/N This is my new child of seas fic. The old title was boring, and I just didnt like it (Along with the story itself). I'll see how this goes. If you read, please comment!