"I can't do it! I'm going to drop out!"
Hanabi looked up from her crossword puzzle, smiling at me. "You haven't even walked through the doors yet. You'd be a pre-high school drop out. Nobody would take you seriously."
I clicked my tongue irritably as I sat down. My little sister Hanabi thought she knew so much. I reach over for my brush and work it through my hair, which I grew out for high school. My friends Kiba and Shino will be so surprised to see me.
"Anyways," she continues smartly, "Why don't you ask Neji? He can tell you all about Konoha High." I just give her a dumb look. If I even walk past my older cousin's room heads would roll. "No way. Nii-san is so moody. Now that we're going through puberty he is even more pissy." My cheeks warm up. I feel bad talking about my nii-san when he's not here to defend himself.
Hanabi laughs, which makes me feel more at ease. It's just high school. Even though I don't have anyone to prepare me for it, I should be fine, right? "Na-na," Hanabi whines, "Brush my hair for me!" I am too anxious to say something smart, so I pat the cushion in front of me and she crawls into it. I start brushing it and thinking about the day ahead of me.
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"N-nii-san, I'm s-scared…" I whimper to my cousin. We're walking down the block to the bus stop, and I start crying three houses away from home. "What are you worried about? What will they do to you?" he snarls at me.
"I don't k-know," I cry harder. I always stutter around him because he doesn't even like me talking to him nowadays. Suddenly he is walking beside me and giving me a real sympathetic look. "It's okay, Hinata. High school isn't all that bad." I still cry and he huffs. I can't help it, I'm a worry-wart. It's who I am.
We walk silently (with me still crying) all the way to the bus stop, and I don't even look up when Neji calls out to someone he knows.
"Hey Neji! Oh man, is she okay…" The boy is looking at me, I'm sure. My chest is heaving and I know my face is red, because tears won't stop falling. I feel like such a big baby. "Yeah…school jitters." Neji spits out like he wishes he wasn't related to me, which is probably true.
"Hey…it'll be okay." The boy puts his arm around my shoulder and I sniff loudly, looking up to him. He has shiny hair in a bowl cut and a cute face, and is wearing an alarming amount of green. I smile and squint. "Okay…" I say dumbly. Then I sit on the bench so I don't say something even more stupid. Hearing snippets of their conversation, I find out the boy's name is Lee.
Time passes and two other people come, but my cousin and Lee don't acknowledge them so I guess they're not friends. Finally the yellow bus chugs into the stop and I hop up, shrugging my light backpack onto my shoulders. The door slides open and we all pile in.
I am stared at by lots of older kids, and some of them take one glance and snicker, "Fresh meat." I frown and look towards the back of the bus. Oh man, it's packed, and that's my favorite part of the bus! So I look to the second seat and see that only one person is sitting in it. I walk over and tap the leather seat gently. "Can I sit here?"
Lee and Neji, in front of me, whirl around and shake their heads "No." But the girl in the seat smiles sweetly and says, "Sure." I drop my bag on the floor and sit next to her, awkwardly looking forward at the bus driver's greasy head.
After a second the girl giggles and prods me. "You must be a freshman. Otherwise you would have never sat with me." I look at her, and notice she is really beautiful, with long black hair in two tails in front and soft features. I blink. "E-excuse m-m-me?" I stutter.
She laughs. "Oh, you stutter. How cute."
The ride is pretty quiet after that.
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"Ohhh." I step off the bus after the ride and look at the giant two-story school, painted an icky off-orange color. The pretty girl walks past me, waves, and disappears into the crowd. "Maybe she'll be my first friend," I whisper. Then I smile and head for the cafeteria. Right now I should probably find Shino and Kiba.
I barely get two steps past the double doors when someone starts screaming.
"Oh my God, I'm in high school! With Sasuke!"
A sultry looking blond was standing next to the cafeteria doors with an expression of pure bliss on her face. She was practically leaping off the ground. I guess I stared too long, though, because her eyes immediately stuck to mine and she frowned heavily. "Excuse me, hon. A fly might get stuck in that trap of yours."
I snap my mouth shut and blush. Then I sprint off to the nearest bathroom and lock myself into a stall, groaning. Great. I was in school for three seconds and I get snapped on. It might be safer to stay in this stall for the next fifteen minutes…
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Getting to first period was easy! I know I'm smiling like an idiot, but I'm happy. I walk through the doors and half-glance at my schedule.
"I'll take that, sweetie."
I look up and see a young, nicely tanned man with a strange scar on the bridge of his nose. He holds his hand out expectantly so I give him my tiny piece of schedule. He scans it briefly. "Hyuuga Hinata." His eyes crinkle into a smile. "I could've guessed that without looking. You have the eyes. I suppose you'll be another great scholar like Neji, your…"
"Cousin." Great, another shadow I have to live up to.
I walk to desks and smile at the strange way they are shaped like a "T." Three desks branch off into four different rows from the middle, and I choose the second to last row, the third chair. Best to be in the back, but not so far that a teacher could easily pick on me. I hate when they do that, because I never pay attention.
"Excuse me, is there a Uchiha Sasuke in this class?"
I drop my head onto my desk. It's that same hyperactive blond from before. She must be on something. "Somebody slipped something in her drink," I say silently.
Someone beside me giggles, and I leap back. It's a tall girl with pretty auburn hair tied into two buns. "That's what I think, too. I have no idea who Sasuke is, and the whole freshie population wants to jump his bones. I'm Tenten."
She plops herself in the second seat and smiles. "I'm H-Hinata. Are y-you C-Chinese?" I ask, feeling rude. I look down and see the red "10" on her I.D. She's a sophomore. "No, Japanese. Long story." She shrugs. "But I am a friend of your cousin's. Is it just me or is he acting a little pissy?"
I snicker, uncharacteristic of me. "I think it's his hormones. His period should be starting any day now." I don't even stutter! Wow, I feel pretty brave.
The bell gives a slow four rings, and the door closes. "Okay class, I am your teacher for Speech, Iruka-sensei. I think before we go any farther we should talk about ourselves a little. To start, I have no brothers…"
Tenten and I drown him out with little conversation, at first picking on Neji, and then mostly talking about high school. She admits she can't tell me much because it's just her second year, but I appreciate that. I hate upperclassmen who act all superior when they can't even remember where homeroom is.
"Hinata! Since you seem like a lively one, why don't you tell us a little about yourself."
I freeze, and the class snickers. I look down and feel my cheeks warm up. I stand up like I heard him say we were supposed to, and out of the corner of my eye I see a spiky haired boy sniggering. Ooh, that Kiba, not even coming to say hi to me!
"M-my name is Hyuuga Hinata. I…I, uh, am a freshman. I have a l-little sister named Hanabi and…um." I stop and stare at my feet. What do I like?
"It's okay, Hinata." Iruka-sensei urges.
I glare at him, and he seems a little taken aback. "And I like teachers that aren't pricks." I seethe. The class titters and I can't believe that came out of my mouth. I slap my hand across it. "I-I'm sorry, sensei! Um, and my cousin is Neji. That's all." I drop into my seat, mortified.
"Next. You there…" Sensei is talking to someone else, but I can't tell if he's mad or not because I'm not looking and I can't hear it.
Tenten giggles beside me. I give her a half-hearted smile.
I don't know anyone else in the class because they're all upperclassmen (which terrifies me), so things pass by quickly and when someone passes out a note to take home and the bell rings, everyone leaps out their seat and takes off for the door.
I think Iruka-sensei called my name, but I was already out the door.
Kiba is at my shoulder grinning. "That was smooth, Hinata. Real funny."
I push him away. "Why didn't you come look for me?" I cry. "I was waiting for you and Shino."
He looks at me with a small smile. "I saw you in the cafeteria, but you rushed out to the bathroom and never came out. And I actually didn't notice you before class because you changed so much." He said it so slowly like he knew I was going to explode any second. He reached out and gently pulled on my long hair, which I was proud of. His eyes lingered on my hair for a second, then slowly drifted down.
I pulled away quickly. "So what class do you have next?" I mewled quietly, and crossed my arms in front of my boobs. I don't want him to stare at them. That makes me feel uncomfortable. "Algebra." He grimaced. "I heard that man-slut teaches it. You know the one."
I honestly didn't, but I nodded anyway. I pulled out my schedule and saw "Geography" printed on it. "I have Geography," I said plainly. We waved goodbye and I fled into a new hall, pushing past some larger people. That was so weird. I hope Kiba never does that again.
Or I'll have to rip him a new one.
I honestly don't know where I am, so I turn to ask someone, when I see a group of five giant upperclassmen surrounded around a smaller, alone sophomore.
"So let me tell you again…time is money. Money is pot. And when you're not selling my hits, you're wasting my time and my money." The biggest one, who had spiky hair and a bandana so his nose and mouth were covered, nodded towards a blue-skinned guy. The guy grinned (whoa look at those teeth!) and socked the sophomore right in the stomach, who spat blood and fell to his knees. While the others whaled on him, I shivered. One of them looked right at me and sniggered. "Hey, look, a little freshie is out and about."
Bandana-dude turned to me, and I froze. Just then, someone quite small leaned into view, and I recognized her as the pretty girl from the bus. She smiled and waved. My heart stopped jumping and I waved back, not cracking a grin. Bandana-dude looked at her, then me, and I sprinted off before I saw what he would do next.
Luckily I sprinted right towards my next class, which was at the end of the building. Oh, thank God. I walked right past the overweight teacher and gave him my schedule, already scanning the room for a seat.
I see one right in the far middle, perfect, when someone speaking loud hops over to my seat. He sits down in it so I can see his face properly.
Oh. My. Goood.
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Hahahaha. I'm sorry this sucked. But I betcha you won't figure out who the next character is.
bricked
Sorry it's so cliché. I'll try harder.