All the pretty girls on a Saturday night.
*A/N: This is all taking place before Vegas Night and before the whole uniform thing was implemented in the school.
Adam doesn't come in till about the middle but I promise he'll be there!
I stepped out of the shower into the steam that filled the bathroom. My first day at Degrassi Community School was about to begin and I was far from ready for it.
I reached towards the toilet seat and grabbed a large towel that I wrapped tightly around my newly cleaned body. After, I retrieved my razor from the side of the tub and made my way towards the door. I stepped out into the cold air that filled the rest of the house. Light and fast footsteps came nearer and nearer until a thin woman about my size was standing in front of me with brows furrowed and eyes bright with curiosity.
"Bryn? Can I have the razor back now?" My mother's voice was quiet and gentle; something that completely contradicted the stern look that graced her porcelain face. I sighed loudly and handed over the razor I was holding.
Ever since my "incident" and my stay at the hospital, I wasn't allowed to be near shaving razors (or any razors for that matter) for more than thirty minutes; an amount of time my mother thought was more than enough for me to be able to shave what needed to be shaved. I'm lucky I'm even allowed to shave, though. If it wasn't for my therapist telling my parents that our home is not meant to be a hospital with no access to razors and random room checks, I would basically be Chewbacca right now.
With inquisitive eyes, she searched my forearm. Her outstretched fingers lightly grazed the prominent red scratches.
"Did you…?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.
I pulled my arm away from her and stepped over in the direction of my room.
"No, Mom. I didn't 'harm myself' again. I just shaved like I was supposed to, alright? Would it kill you to trust me for just a second?" I snapped loudly. I could hear soft groans from a few of the other rooms. The rest of the family was waking up, but to be honest, I really didn't care at all. I was angry and that was all that mattered to me at the moment.
I sighed and shook my head. I turned away from her before she even had time to react and shuffled into my room, making sure to lock the door behind me.
It started off as a pretty shitty day and there was nothing I wouldn't do for it to end as anything other than that. I dressed as slowly as possible and did my makeup and hair just as slowly.
I smiled at my reflection in the full length mirror hanging behind my door. I looked casual, calm and completely collected. How ironic that I was feeling the complete opposite inside.
I ran a hand through my dirty blonde hair that fell messily down to the middle of my neck. My hazel eyes scanned the matching pair of eyes that were trapped inside the mirror. I forced a smile, exposing all of my pearly whites and finally decided that this was as good as it would get for me appearance wise.
I swung open the door and jogged down the stairs right into the kitchen. Mom was standing with her back towards me, washing dishes in the sink. I seated myself in my usual spot and began to pour myself some orange juice. Just as I was bringing the glass filled with orange liquid to my lips, Mom spoke.
"Mark's going to be here in less than ten minutes. You should probably make sure your bag is packed and ready. Don't forget that he's driving you home today too." She never turned to look at me.
"Oh, okay. And I did already. Did Dad leave yet? I want to say goodbye to him before I head off for school." I mumbled as I poked at my eggs with the fork in my hand. She began to speak again, still without turning around to look at me.
"He left already. He said he was running late but he'll be home early tonight to talk to you about how your day went." Her voice never changed and she still hadn't made an attempt to turn around or even look at me. Soon we both fell into a tense silence. A loud honk snapped us both out of it and with that honk came immense relief for me.
I stood up, grabbed my bag and made my way out of the front door without even saying another word to her. It was cold outside and I had left my jacket in the house because of my hurrying. I shivered violently as I neared the car and slid inside the passenger seat.
I glanced over at the driver and smiled. Mark Fitzgerald, my cousin, was gripping the wheel tightly and smiled uncomfortably over in my direction. It'd been years since we've seen each other let alone really talked to each other. My family's moving to Canada seemed like the perfect opportunity for the two of us to connect again. Or at least that's what my mom kept telling me on the plane ride over here.
He put the car in drive and we began our journey towards the school. After five minutes of complete silence, he broke the silence by clearing his throat.
"So, I think you'll really like Degrassi, Bryn. It's a decent school." He nodded his head as he said this as if to convince himself that those words were really true. I nodded and fiddled with the one of the rings on my finger.
"Yup. I'm sure I will." I answered. Leave it to me to make any situation awkward. I took in a deep breath and stared out the window. In minutes, the large school came into view and I felt my heart beginning to pound. The car finally stopped and I hopped out of the car. I waved through the window that was rolled down and held my bag close to me.
Soon, the window was rolled up and the car sped out of view. I turned to face the building behind me and made my way slowly up the stairs. I glanced down at my watch to be sure that I'd have enough time to get my schedule and make it to my first class all while being on time. Just as I looked up again and began to move towards the front door, a voice called out to me.
"Hey you! Yeah, girl with the sandy hair. Was Fitzy boy driving that car you just got out of?"
I turned my head in the direction of the voice and raised one eyebrow. I gripped my bag even tighter and stared at the people in front of me. A boy with dark brown, almost black hair was sitting on one of the bottom steps with a girl under his arm. He looked a bit mischievous and something inside told me not to trust that look. The girl beside him had curly light brown hair and a pretty innocent vibe about her. I suddenly relaxed when I saw her. Something about her just made me feel a bit calmer. Finally, on the other side of the boy with the black hair was another boy with short, but not too short, brown hair. He had the face of a child. Or was it a feminine sort of face? Either way, he caught my eye and I had to pull myself back to reality to remember that I was just asked a question.
My eyes flickered towards the boy in the middle and the confusion reappeared on my face.
"Um, 'Fitzy Boy'?" I shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, occasionally glancing down at my watch only to realize that the minutes were passing and I really wasn't doing anything productive.
The guy took his arm away from the curly haired girl and sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
"Yeah. Fitz? You must know him. You were sitting in the car with him!" He smirked and watched me, waiting for a response. I thought for a few minutes and then gave a strange laugh.
"Fitz? You mean Mark. Mark Fitzgerald. Yeah, I know him. He's my cousin. My family just moved here and he offered to drive me to school in the morning and take me home in the afternoon. It's no big deal, really." I laughed it off and glanced over at the front doors of the school. It was really getting late and I could feel the anxiety growing inside of me.
"Wait, wait. So you just moved here? AND you're related to Fitz? Well, welcome to Degrassi, I guess. I'm Eli, this is my girlfriend Clare and our friend, Adam." The guy, Eli, said.
I couldn't help but laugh again. "That's what you guys call him here? Fitz? That's interesting I guess. I'm Bryn and it's nice to meet all of you. Uh, hey, it's kinda getting late and I've really got to get to class. Oh, I also have to get my schedule, so I really have to be on my way." I laughed nervously and turned to make my way into the school.
"Do you even know where the front office is?" A hushed fit of laughter erupted behind me. I rolled my eyes then turned back to them. I wasn't really in the mood to mess around. I wanted to make my first day a good day. I'm sure any other day I would've been totally fine with talking and making jokes, but not that day.
"No, actually I don't. So if one of you wouldn't mind showing me the way I'd be pretty grateful." I looked at all three very pleadingly. It wasn't even an act. I really was stressing about getting started with everything.
The three looked between each other. It was pretty clear that neither Clare nor Eli would go anywhere without the other so it looked like it was that Adam guy that would have the displeasure of taking me to the front office and showing me the way. He stood up and smiled sheepishly at me.
"I'll take you. It's not too far from here." His voice wasn't what I expected it to be. It was a bit higher than most of the guys I've met but it was.. Cute? Different? I liked it anyway, and it was pretty pleasant so I smiled in return.
"Yeah, alright. Ready to go?" I asked and started to walk towards the doors. Before I could grab the handle to open the door, another hand reached it first. I looked to the right and saw Adam. I stepped out of the way so he could open the door. He did and then ushered me in.
"Ladies first, haha." He said and stepped inside behind me. I looked over my shoulder and smiled in approval.
"What a gentleman you are. That's a nice change." I commented absentmindedly as Adam came to walk beside me and lead me down the hall we were meant to go. I could feel him watching me and dared to look at him from the corner of my eye. Once he realized I knew he was watching he said;
"What do you mean it's a 'nice change'?" I looked him full in the face and shrugged as we continued to walk.
"Where I moved from there were a lot of really rude and just.. Mean guys. Having a gentleman around once in a while is really nice, you know?" I laughed at myself. I sounded like some girl talking about her prince charming or dream guy or something silly like that. Adam chuckled and nodded his head.
"I think I know what you mean." He replied. I nodded in acknowledgement and was surprised when Adam gently placed his hand on my back and directed me to the left.
"It's, um, over there." As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he removed his hand. I swallowed hard as we walked over to the receptionist. While we waited for the receptionist to hang up the phone, I looked over at Adam and smiled. His eyes widened a bit and he gave a gentle smile in return. Before I turned my attention back to the woman with the phone in her hand, I could've sworn that I saw a bit of pink on his cheeks. That was the first time in my life I think I've ever seen a guy blush or come close to blushing.
The receptionist finally put down her phone and looked up at me.
"How may I help you, dear?" She asked. I smiled at her and took a deep breath.
"I'm a new student here. I just need to grab my schedule and then I'll be on my way." I gave her a sweet, fake smile and waited for her to help me. She tapped her pen against the desk in front of her and watched me with bored eyes.
"Name please?" The woman pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose and prepared to sort through what seemed to be a pile of schedules.
"Bryn Sinders, ma'am." She made a 'hm' type of noise and proceeded to look through the pile. Finally, she pulled one sheet out and handed it to me.
"Ah, here we go. Have a good day and come back if there's anything you need." She said and gave me as fake a smile as I had first given her. I nodded, thanked her and turned away without another word. As I stared down at my schedule, I felt a large amount of warmth next to me and realized that there was another person with me; Adam. I had completely forgotten that he came with me. I looked over at him and was surprised to see that he was so close to me, looking over my shoulder at my schedule.
"Looks like you have Media Immersion first period. Same as me." He smiled sincerely at me this time and I felt the need to smile just as sincerely back. I soon tore my eyes away from his and looked around. It's not like I had any idea where I was going.
I bit my lip. Did I really want this guy I barely knew to take me to my first class? It didn't seem like I had much of a choice.
"I hate to keep bothering you but would you mind showing me the way to this class?" I didn't want to sound like someone who wasn't willing to find their own way but I was tired and just wanted to hurry up to class.
Adam seemed surprised that I continued to talk to him but smiled cutely.
"I definitely wouldn't mind. It's this way, come on." He started down the hall and I followed behind him but quickened my pace so we were walking side by side. Adam occasionally gave me a bit of a half smile but seemed to be more cautious and aware than he was earlier. A few minutes later, a bell went off and I felt a wave of panic go right through me.
Finally, we made it to a classroom and Adam opened the door for me once again. I mumbled my thanks and walked into the room. A woman turned around and stared at the two of us. She looked at us for a few more seconds then motioned for us to sit in the only two empty seats in the room.
Luckily, the seats were next to each other and so we both sat down as quickly and as quietly as we could. Neither of us looked at the other and I tried my best to pay attention during the class. It was about halfway through when I felt a major need to itch my arm. I pulled up my sleeve and itched it slowly, not realizing that there was someone staring down at the cuts that were being revealed.
Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder and warm breath near my ear.
"Bryn? What's that on your arm?" I turned my attention to Adam and blinked. His face was riddled with concern and panic. How was I supposed to answer him? I smiled uneasily and shrugged, refusing to say a word. I pulled down my sleeve as quickly as I could and brought my full focus back to the teacher and the task at hand. Figures the day went from bad to even worse in a matter of hours.
Thank you for reading!
I'll do my best to update as soon as I can.
All reviews are appreciated. (: