The New Girl
Chapter 1
Lima, Ohio. Never in my life have I thought I would be moving to such a lame place, but here I am, following behind the moving truck, passing the welcoming sign to lame Lima. Both my parents were offered, what I assume, are better paying jobs, otherwise why else would we move to such a shit hole? At least that's how I justify it. I just can't believe they made me leave all my friends and my school. I was so comfortable where I was, and starting senior year somewhere new is just terrifying, but I will never admit to that, Lia thinks to herself as she follows her parents to their new home.
Moments later they all pull up to a beautiful modern looking house. Lia exits her car to survey the neighborhood her parents had uprooted the family to. Every house on the block is similar yet different in the same way. Lia takes note of how suburban everything is. It's certainly more clean-cut than what she's used to. Her parents had told her and her brother that because of their new jobs, they would be able to live a slightly more luxurious life style. At first Lia's younger brother, Julian was just as upset as Lia about leaving their previous home, but as soon as he heard something about more money, he was right along with his parents. Lia just rolls her eyes at him for being just as greedy and selfish as his father.
As her parents start sorting things out of the moving truck, Lia and Julian race to check out their new house. She has to admit, the house is pretty awesome. There are high ceilings and polished wood flooring in the living room. The kitchen is very spacious, as her mother loves, and all the counter tops are marble. The cabinets are black with silver handles and there's an island in the middle of the floor.
To the left of the kitchen, there's half a bathroom, and to the right is the door to the garage. The master bedroom, equipped with a master bathroom is down the hall from the living room, secluded from everything else, just how the kids like it. Downstairs is the basement. It's furnished and even has a bar. It's perfect for parties. Upstairs there are two other bedrooms, one of which has its own bathroom. The other doesn't, however, there is another large bathroom down the hall.
"Looks like I found my room!" Lia yells from upstairs.
"Nuh uh that's my room!" Julian counters as he comes out of the bathroom.
"Ha! You wish bud, I have seniority over you."
"Yea, well we'll see about that."
Lia just smirks to herself knowing that her parents already gave her the option of choosing her room. When she skips out of the house to the moving truck, she can see her brother pouting while grabbing a box from his father. She smiles even wider as he notices the smug look on her face.
"Told you!" She says to him as he carries the box into the house. He just sticks his tongue at her.
A couple hours later and all the boxes are in their respective rooms. Lia and Julian are upstairs unpacking while their parents are downstairs arranging all the furniture in the living room. Lia sets up everything in her room slightly similar to how it was in her old room. Her new room is bigger, so everything doesn't look so crammed together like it had before. Her bed is between two windows on the larger wall, and her big screen TV is on its stand against the adjacent wall. She has a keyboard piano and two guitars; one acoustic and one electric, against the same wall, but off to the side a bit.
When everything is unpacked, Lia flops on her bed, exhaustion taking over her body. As her eyes flutter closed, she feels an unexpected impact and the wind is knocked out of her.
"Ooph" is what comes out of her mouth as she realizes her brother just threw himself on her.
"Sup?" he asks with a satisfied grin on his face.
Lia just glares at him as she makes sure he hasn't broken a rib. Convinced she's ok, she sits up with her back against the headboard. She tilts her head back and closes her eyes for a brief moment.
"You ready for school on Monday?" Julian asks.
"Ugh don't remind me! I wonder how whack it's gonna be." She replies.
"I hope there's hot chicks." He says with a sly smile.
"You would only think about that."
"Oh shut up, you know you're thinkin' the same thing."
"Yea you're right." Lia says with a small smile.
"Gosh you are such a lesbian!"
"But you still love me!"
"Unfortunately." Julian calls over his shoulder as he exits the room.
Come Monday morning, Lia and Julian will start their semester at William McKinley High School. Lia will be a senior as Julian will be a freshman. Their father works for the Board of Education, so getting their transcripts transferred was dealt with ease. Now it was just the matter of getting through every day.
The Saturday morning sun blared through the windows illuminating Lia's room. Ugh! It's so bright, she thinks as she looks at the clock. It's 8 o'clock.
"Soooo early!" she groans as she buries her face in the pillow. She hears her door open and thinks, oh no!
"LJJJJJJJJJ! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" her brother chants as he bounces on the bed. Sure enough their dog is right along with him and is now trying to lick her face.
"Ok, ok! I'm up! Now stop." She shoos the dog off the bed.
"Come on, get dressed I wanna go explore the town." Julian shoots her a genuine smile.
"Really dude? It's like 8 in the morning on our last weekend of vacation. Why are you even up?" she says a little irritated.
"Because I wanna go check out what's in town, that's why!"
"There's probably jack shit in town dude. We live like in the middle of nowhere." Lia deadpans.
"Come on, please LJ? Please, please, pretty please?" he looks at her with his big brown pleading eyes and it's hard for her to say no. She sighs and he knows she's just given in.
"Let me get in the shower and I'll be out in a little."
"You're the best! Thank you!" he says and kisses her on the forehead.
She shakes her head as she walks into the bathroom. The things I do for that kid, she thinks.
About half an hour later, Lia strolls into the kitchen wearing a form fitting black V-neck that hugs her curves in all the right places, low rise blue skinny jeans, and a pair of black Chukka Low Vans. Her hair is slightly curled and sprawled across her back, and the only make up she has on is a thin layer of eyeliner. She's naturally beautiful, so she doesn't need much make up. She says good morning to her parents sitting at the table and looks to see what there is to eat in the refrigerator. Not surprised, she finds that her parents haven't gone grocery shopping yet.
"We're going to the grocery store in a little, do you want anything special?" her mom asks.
"No thanks. Julian wants to go see what's in town, so I guess we'll be back by lunch."
"Ok sweetie, be careful."
Lia nods then heads out the front door. As she suspected, Julian is already waiting by her car. They get in and take off down the street. It's a nice summer day, and it's pretty peaceful, Lia thinks to herself. As if reading her mind, Julian says,
"See LJ, this place isn't all that bad." She turns and gives him a small smile.
They drive with the windows down and the radio playing soft music. Lia spots a place called the Lima Bean. Deciding to check it out, she pulls into the parking lot. Her and Julian walk inside to find that it's a cute little coffee shop. Good, I could use a cup of coffee right about now, Lia thinks.
"You want anything?" she asks her brother.
"Ummm, yea a smoothie or something." He answers.
As Lia waits in line, she tells Julian to grab a table. When she gets to the counter she gets a coffee, a smoothie, and two muffins. She makes it to the table Julian picked and hands him his smoothie and one of the muffins. He thanks her and continues to look around the coffee shop.
"This is a cool little hang out." He says after a minute.
"Yea I guess, for a bunch of lames." She replies with a snicker.
"You're such an ass." He laughs. She shrugs and looks around until her gaze falls on a kind pair of blue eyes. He smiles and nods politely at her, she returns his smile. Lia averts her eyes then looks back in the boy's direction. His skin is milky white, his eyes a bright blue, and his lips fairly pink. She takes note that he's dressed rather fashionably and his hair styled accordingly. He's totally gay, she thinks. He's sitting with another boy, but all she can see is the back of his perfectly gelled head. I wonder if they go to WMHS, she starts to think, but is broken out of her thoughts by her brother.
"There are some pretty cute chicks here." He says.
"What? Oh, uh yea I guess there is." She says not quite catching what it was he said.
When they're done with their drinks and muffin, they decide to leave. When they stand from the table, Lia can feel the boy looking at her, so she briefly looks at him and shoots him a little smile. She and Julian then leave the Lima Bean.
Kurt's gaze follows the two retreating figures until they're out of sight.
"Who are you looking at?" Blaine asks as he looks in the direction that Kurt was just looking in.
"Huh? Oh, uh just two people that I've never seen here before." Kurt replies.
"Really? I haven't seen anyone new in here in a while."
"Yea, they looked oddly out of place." Kurt chuckles.
"Why do you say that?"
"I don't know, they just looked uncomfortable. Well the boy looked relaxed, but the girl looked slightly misplaced."
"Ohh. Do you think they're new in town?"
"That might be a possibility." Kurt smiles at his boyfriend. Blaine just smiles back.
"My gaydar was tingling a little though." Kurt adds.
"Really? With who, the boy or girl?"
"The girl. The boy was checking out all the girls that walked by."
"Oh I see. Well who knows, maybe she is."
"I wonder if she goes to WMHS."
As Lia and Julian leave the coffee shop, Lia is handed a flyer:
LIMA BEAN'S NEW OPEN MIC NIGHT
Tonight 7:00 pm
Listen, perform, drink coffee, or do all three!
Be sure to stop by!
Hmmm this could be fun, Lia thinks as she folds the flyer and puts it in her pocket.
"Hey, wanna go check out our new school?" Lia asks Julian.
"Yea that sounds cool."
Lia takes off in the direction of their new home away from home for the next school year. In a short amount of time they pull up to WMHS. It's a pretty decent sized school; it's only a little bigger than Lia's old high school. They get out of the car and walk around.
"Holy crap, look at the football field!" Julian exclaims.
"Yea, it's huge. You're tryin' out for the football team right?"
"Yea, I hope I make it."
"Of course you will you're like the best player I know!"
He just looks at her and smiles sweetly. After they scope out the place, they decide to go home. When they get there, it's about 11 o'clock. They both walk into the kitchen to find their mother cooking lunch. Julian goes in the fridge and grabs both of them a juice pouch. They sit at the table and their mother asks how their day was.
"It was ok. We found this little coffee shop called the Lima Bean. It's a cool little place to hang out." Lia answers.
"Yea, then we went to check out the school. It has a huge football field." Julian adds.
"That sounds awesome honey." Their mom says. She then sets the food on the table as she sits down with them.
"Where's dad?" Julian asks.
"He had to go to the office, but he'll be back soon." Mom answers.
After they finish eating, Lia goes up to her room. She pulls the flyer out of her back pocket and places it on her dresser. Hmm I wonder what I should sing. Some Paramore? Nah. Lady GaGa? Don't think so. Nickelback? No. She sighs as she throws herself back on her bed. As she picks and prods at the music library in her brain, it all of a sudden hits her, the perfect song! It's like a light bulb lights above her head as she springs herself into an upright position.
7 o'clock comes around and Lia finds herself walking into the Lima Bean. There's quite a crowd for it being a small town coffee shop. She makes her way to the stage where she assumes the person with a clipboard is in charge.
"Hi." Lia says tentatively.
"Hi." The young woman greets her with a warm smile. "Performer?" she continues confidently.
"Uh, yea." Lia says shyly. The woman smiles at her shyness and says,
"You're new around here huh?" Lia nods slowly. "You'll be ok, just sign this and when it's your time to go up we'll call you." The woman smiles and hands her the clipboard.
After Lia signs it, she takes a seat at one of the front tables. As the first performer is called to the stage, Lia looks around at the crowd and her nerves slowly subside as everyone gets into the performance. This performer has a guitar and is singing She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5. There's also a small band playing in the background to give more feel to the song. A couple more people go up and sing songs by Bruno Mars and The Script. Then they call Lia to the stage next. Her heart starts to race a little as she makes her way up there. She tells the band what song she's playing then situates herself on a stool in front of the keyboard.
In the back of the shop Kurt is chatting with Blaine, Mercedes, and Sam. Sam is going on about some impression that he thinks he's perfected, and Mercedes looks bored, while Blaine is playing on his phone. The group hasn't been impressed by any of the performers thus far, and they don't expect to be. Kurt looks up to the stage and notices the girl from earlier.
"Blaine. Blaine! Look, it's the girl from earlier I was telling you about."
"Huh? Where?" Blaine asks.
"On stage! She's going to perform!"
"Oh wow, she's pretty."
"Who's pretty?" Mercedes asks.
"The girl on stage. Kurt was like eye stalking her earlier." Blaine says.
"I was NOT! I was just simply observing her." Kurt defends himself.
"Right." Sam says as he narrows his eyes in suspicion.
"Whatever." Kurt shoots back.
As Lia gets comfortable she lightly starts to press the keys on the keyboard. After a few notes she starts to sing and the drums kick in.
I let it fall, my heart
And as it fell, you rose to claim it
It was dark and I was over
Until you kissed my lips and you saved me
My hands, they were strong, but my knees were far too weak
To stand in your arms without falling to your feet
But there's a side to you that I never knew, never knew
All the things you'd say, they were never true, never true
And the games you'd play, you would always win, always win
Sam starts talking about something, but then Kurt shushes him and sits on the edge of his seat to listen more attentively. As Mercedes, Blaine, and Sam quiet down at Kurt's request, they all look to the stage where Lia is just getting into the chorus.
But I set fire to the rain
Watched it pour as I touched your face
Well, it burned while I cried
'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name
When laying with you I could stay there
Close my eyes, feel you here forever
You and me together, nothing is better
'Cause there's a side to you that I never knew, never knew
All the things you'd say, they were never true, never true
And the games you'd play, you would always win, always win
But I set fire to the rain
Watched it pour as I touched your face
Well, it burned while I cried
'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name
I set fire to the rain
And I threw us into the flames
When we fell, something died
'Cause I knew that that was the last time, the last time
Kurt is so into Lia's performance that it looks like he's going to fall out of his chair. The rest of the group is stunned at how amazing this girl on stage sounds. They all listen with their mouths half open, except Kurt who is leaning almost all the way on the table as if he's ready to run up on stage. Their eyes are glued to the stage as Lia closes her eyes and really gets into the last verse and chorus while continuing to play the chords on the keyboard.
Sometimes I wake up by the door
That heart you caught must be waiting for you
Even now when we're already over
I can't help myself from looking for you
I set fire to the rain
Watched it pour as I touch your face
Well, it burned while I cried
'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name
I set fire to the rain
And I threw us into the flames
When we fell, something died
'Cause I knew that that was the last time, the last time, oh
Oh, no
Let it burn, oh
Let it burn
Let it burn
As Lia belts out the last few words and finishes the song, the entire crowd, including the group in the back, stands up and starts clapping and cheering for her. A slight blush makes its way onto Lia's face as she stands from the stool and bows. She thanks the crowd and the band then walks off stage. The woman from before hands her a bottle of water and says,
"Oh my gosh! That was amazing!"
"Thanks." Lia says as the blush in her cheeks gets brighter. As Lia makes her way through the crowd, people compliment her on her outstanding performance. The blush in her cheeks only getting worse with each appraise, she decides to hurry out of there.
Kurt tries to catch Lia, but the crowd is making it hard to get to her. As Kurt finally gets outside Lia is nowhere in sight. The rest of the group catches up with him and he says,
"I need to meet this girl!"
A/N: This first chapter is really just a filler and introduces the character I created, but I hope you've enjoyed the story so far. Let me know what you guys think. Feedback is always appreciated and inspiring. If you guys like what you read then I'll be sure to post more chapters as soon as I can. Thanks for reading :)
The song in this chapter is:
Adele - Set Fire To The Rain