So far Lizzie hated high school. She knew it was only the first day and that it would get better, but so far it was horrible. Maybe she was exaggerating in thinking that it was horrible and that she hated it, but so far it certainly wasn't what she'd hoped it would be. The main problem was that she hadn't seen anyone she knew in any of her classes. She hadn't seen Gordo, Miranda or Brad all day. In fact she'd seen so few people she'd recognized that she was starting to welcome the idea of seeing Kate or Claire in some of her classes. Lizzie realized that within a few weeks these strangers she saw all around her would no longer be stranger and she might even have a few new friends; it was just a matter of getting to that point.
So where had all these strangers come from, Lizzie wondered, she had expected to see all the same old faces she'd always seen in her classes. As it turned out Hillridge had two junior high schools. There was Hillridge Junior High where Gordo, Lizzie and Miranda had gone until the end of ninth grade. And on the other side of town there was Hillridge West Junior High, where kids their age who lived on the other side of town went until the end of ninth grade. Then in tenth grade, kids from both junior highs all went to Hillridge High School together.
Currently Lizzie was in English. The teacher had spent the whole class period going over the rules and the syllabus. "Well, since we're almost out of time let me give your assignment for tonight," Mrs. Johnson said.
A collective groan rose from the class.
"Come on kids, you're in high school now. It's tougher and there's more homework, get used to it," Mrs. Johnson said, "I want a 500 word essay about a lesson you learned this summer."
The bell rang and Lizzie excitedly headed to her locker. She had lunch period now and was hoping that someone she knew had the same lunch period that she did. The high school had enough students that there had to be three different lunch periods to accommodate everyone. Lizzie grabbed her bag lunch from her locker and smiled at the photo of herself and Gordo that hung on the inside of her locker door. It had been taken right before they had left for dinner on her 16th birthday. As she was about to close the door and head to the lunchroom someone addressed her from behind, "So, is that your boyfriend?"
Lizzie whirled around to find a tall brunette guy, who she had never seen before. Slightly defensively she answered, "Yes."
"Well, as far as I'm concerned, he won't be your boyfriend for much longer," he said.
"Why would that be?" Lizzie asked.
"You are the prettiest incoming sophomore and before long you'll be calling me your boyfriend," he said confidently.
"I doubt that," Lizzie said coldly as she walked away.
"Don't be so sure, Lizzie," he said to her retreating back.
Hearing him say her name like he did, she shivered a little. She'd have to try find out who this idiot was. Anyone who thought she'd ever leave Gordo for him had a lot to learn. As she entered the lunchroom she saw Gordo stand up and wave to her. As she hurried over to the table she decided to keep the incident to herself for now. She didn't want Gordo to feel threatened by some moron. As far as Lizzie was concerned, Gordo had nothing to worry about.
"Hey!" Gordo said as he stood up to kiss her, "Long time no see!"
"I know, I haven't see anyone I know all morning!" Miranda said.
"Well, then you guys know how I'm feeling," Brad said.
"You're not supposed to know anyone," Miranda said.
Brad grinned at her and said, "I know."
Having lunch with her friends cheered Lizzie up. She'd even forgotten about the strange encounter by her locker, until she went to biology and there he was again. As class started Lizzie was having a hard time concentrating since he would not stop staring at her. Mr. Page split the class into groups of two. They would interview each other and present a two-minute report on the other person later in the class. Mr. Page read through the class list splitting the class up alphabetically, "...Grace Ann McDonald you're with Elizabeth McGuire..."
The two girls moved to an empty lab table and introduced themselves.
"Hi, I'm Grace Ann McDonald, everyone calls me Gracie," Gracie said.
"Hi Gracie, I'm Elizabeth McGuire, everyone calls me Lizzie."
The two girls spent the next ten minutes gathering information about each other for their reports. When they'd finished they had fifteen minutes left until the reports would begin. They sat quietly for a minute then Lizzie asked, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure," Gracie said.
"See that guy over there?" Lizzie asked pointing at the guy who had been pestering her. Gracie nodded and Lizzie continued, "Do you know who he is?"
Gracie made an exasperated noise and said, "Don't tell me you like him."
"No, but he was giving me a hard time earlier and I just wanted to know who he was," Lizzie said.
"Good, he is such a pest and so not worth your time," Gracie said, "His name is Shane Simon. I've gone to school with him since grade school. What was he bugging you about?"
Lizzie explained the entire encounter she'd had with him before lunchtime and as she spoke Gracie grew more and more quiet.
"What's the matter? You're starting to scare me?" Lizzie said.
"You should be scared. Shane is like an obsessive stalker type. His family is really rich and for some reason he thinks that he should have who ever he deems as the prettiest girl for his girlfriend. He doesn't understand that he needs to earn people's friendship or love. He is a complete leech and I'm not sure he has any real friends," Gracie explained.
"Well, now I feel kind of bad for him," Lizzie said.
"Don't, that is part of the game. He is out to make trouble for you between you and your friends and your boyfriend. He wants to isolate you so that he is the only person left you can turn to for a friend. Shane has split up many relationships this way. He has a lot of people who act like his friends, but it's only because they are afraid of him ruining them too."
"So, how do I stop this from happening?" Lizzie asked.
"I would tell your best friends and your boyfriend everything I told you so that they are aware of what he is up to," Gracie said.
The rest of the day went by quickly. Lizzie paid attention as best she could, but was worried about Shane and what he would try to do to her. Gracie had told her the names of other girls he had done this to, so that Lizzie could ask them about it. At the end of the day Lizzie was at her locker getting her things together to go home. The four of them had ridden to school together this morning and they were going to meet out at the car to go home together too.
"Ready?" Came a voice from behind her.
Assuming it was Gordo, Lizzie spun around and said, "Yep." Realizing it was Shane she said, "Ready for what?"
"I'm going to drive you home," Shane said.
"No you're not. I'm riding home with my boyfriend," Lizzie said.
Gordo came around the corner of the bank of lockers just in time to see Shane kiss Lizzie on the cheek and leave. "What the heck," he thought, "It's only the first day of school and she's forgotten about us already?" Realizing that he might not know the whole story he tried to stay calm as he approached her and asked, "So, Lizzie, what was that all about?"
"We have to talk," was all she said before tears started to fall from her eyes.
Author's Note: So, here is chapter one of the sequel. I hope that people weren't expecting me to put the sequel further out in the future from the 1st story. In one of my reviews for Sweet 16 Summer someone asked what grade they were going to be in. I know that the whole set up of Jr. High and High school is different than it would be on the TV show, but forgive me on that point. I think I did an okay job of explaining how this point works in my story. I want to get people's reactions to this story so far. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
