Growing Up
Chapter 1 : A Fresh Start
Anna's POV
"Anna! Get up! You're gonna be late!"
My head shot up and I looked around, trying to get used to the sudden brightness. I yawned and rubbed my eyes before getting out my bed to get ready for my first day at a new school.
Okay, so here's my life story:
I was born in Seattle, Washington. I lived with my parents and my older sister, Elsa. Everything was perfect, until my mom and dad died in a car crash when I was 15 and Elsa was 18. We were sent to Brooklyn, New York to live with our cousin Rapunzel and her parents. It was pretty hard, considering we were used to Seattle's weather and culture, not Brooklyn's. It took about 6 months to get used to being in another state, and the rest to get used to living with Rapunzel and her family.
For that year, I hadn't been going to school (Elsa had already finished before the crash), but thankfully, Punzie's mom was a teacher, so she home schooled me. Once she thought I was 'ready to go to a proper school', she had arranged that I start attending Eastwood High. It was the first term of a new year, so luckily I wouldn't be the only new student. I was going to be a junior, along with Punzie.
I stretched my arms before heading to my bathroom and quickly brushing my teeth and hair. Then I walked to my closet – while trying to avoid all the piles of clothes on the floor – and opened it.
I decided on a violet ballerina skirt, a navy blue blouse, knee – length white socks and chocolate ankle boots. I sat by my vanity table and applied a small amount of make – up before taking my strawberry blonde hair and putting it into two high pigtail buns, leaving two strands to frame my face.
I grabbed my over – sized beige cardigan and put it on before taking my brown leather sling bag and making sure everything I needed was in it. Books, stationery, bubble gum, lip-gloss, emergency make – up kit, journal and some extra money. I sighed in relief and grabbed my BlackBerry Z10 off my bedside table. I looked at myself in the mirror and I had to say, I looked pretty damn cute.
Hopefully the boys will think so too, I thought to myself. I smiled and let out a soft squeal before heading out my door. I walked over to Elsa's door and knocked on it gently.
"Elsa?" I whispered. "Can I come in?" I heard a mumble, so I slowly twisted the knob and opened her door, only to find her sleeping peacefully. I shook my head and walked over to her. She was so adorable when she was sleeping. I sat beside her and gave her a hug, making sure I didn't wake her up.
"Wish me luck." I whispered into her ear before getting up and walking out.
"Good luck." I heard her mumble before I closed the door behind me. I smiled and headed downstairs.
Rapunzel was sitting at the table, surrounded by sketches. She seemed super concentrated until I cleared my throat and giggled. Her head shot up and she looked at me angrily, but she quickly smiled and giggled too.
"Morning." She said happily.
"Morning. Busy as usual, I see." I teased, and she stuck her tongue out at me. I returned the gesture before opening the fridge and getting orange juice. I took a class cup from the cabinet and poured the juice into it before taking a sip. I cringed and spat it into the sink.
"What's wrong?" Punzie asked, shooting up from her chair. I wiped my mouth and looked at her.
"Never drink orange juice after brushing your teeth." I laughed and she rolled her eyes. I took another sip of my juice, and luckily I was used to the taste.
"You should've seen your face! It was hilarious!" I said, mocking her worried face. She shot me a glare and walked to the fruit bowl, grabbing a banana.
"It's not funny. You could've been choking or something." She said, acting serious. I laughed more, and I could see she was having a hard time trying not to join me.
"You know you love me." I said and gave her a hug. She giggled and pushed me away playfully.
"You look so pretty!" She commented, making me blush.
"Thank you. I wanted to make a good first impression." I said, referring to my first day at a new school. She smiled sweetly and hugged me.
"Don't be nervous, Anna. You'll do fine." She whispered, and I hugged her tightly.
"You look beautiful, Punzie." I complemented once we pulled away, finally getting a proper look at her outfit.
She was wearing a black sweater decorated with daisies, high – waisted grey skinny jeans and cream lace flats. Her bright golden blonde hair – which reached her lower back – was tied in a fishtail plait and she had a small amount of make – up on.
She gave me a thankful smile and grabbed her backpack, which was originally plain white, but she doodled on it with different colored sharpies.
"Time to go. You ready?" She asked, looking at me with reassuring eyes. I smiled and took a deep breath.
"Ready as I'll ever be."
We opened the door to the garage, and waiting for us, was Rapunzel's Mercedes Benz E Class. It was a gift for her Sweet 16th last year. Once we had gotten in and strapped up, Rapunzel started the ignition.
"I can't believe I finally get to drive this thing!" She exclaimed, turning the radio on. "At least a year of driving tests paid off!" I smiled at her excitement and looked out the window. It was early September, so it was getting cooler as the month went on. Suddenly, Tennis Court by Lordecame on.
"Oh! I love this song!" I squealed, reaching to turn it louder. When the first few lines came on, Punz and I started singing along.
Don't you think that it's boring how people talk Baby be the class clown
Making smart with their words again, well I'm bored
Because I'm doing this for the thrill of it, killin' it
Never not chasing a million things I want
And I am only as young as the minute is full of it
Getting pumped up on the little bright things I bought
But I know they'll never own me
Yeah
I'll be the beauty queen in tears
It's a new art form showing people how little we care (yeah)
We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fear
Let's go down to the tennis court, and talk it up like yeah (yeah)
We both stopped singing when we saw Eastwood High coming into view. From what I could see, it was fairly big. I gulped and sunk down into the leather seat, feeling butterflies in my stomach. Punzie must've noticed because she took my hand and squeezed it gently, a sign of reassurance we used to comfort one another.
"It'll be okay, Anna. I'll be with you the whole time." She said softly, still holding my hand. I took in another deep breath and sat up straight, holding my head high.
"I can do this." I said proudly, making her smile. I smiled too and turned the radio louder. Shake It Off by Taylor Swift was playing, and I felt as if the DJ knew exactly what I was going through because the song summed up my feelings perfectly. I sang along to the one verse that was my favorite out of the whole song.
But I keep cruising
Can't stop, won't stop moving
It's like I got this music
In my mind
Saying, "It's gonna be alright."
We parked in an open parking spot under a tree, so that maybe if it got hot (which we seriously doubted) at least the car wouldn't get the sun. I stepped out into the crisp pre – autumn air, looking around at the other students. They ranged from tall to short, thin to thick, emo to hippie and nerds to jocks. But one person caught my eye…
He had messy brown hair and bright green eyes. He was tall and lean with an average build. He wore a black leather jacket, a white shirt with a skull on it, grey jeans and untied black army boots. He had two ear piercings on one ear, making seem him even hotter in my eyes. He had this 'bad – boy' vibe, which I didn't really mind.
"Have you got everything?" Punzie asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Huh? Oh! Uh, yeah, um, yeah I've got what I need..." I said, still staring at the hot guy. Punz must've seen who I was staring at because she chuckled and pinched my arm.
"Ow!" I yelped in pain. "What was that for?!" I said angrily, rubbing the sore spot on my arm.
"To wake you up from your dream." She said sarcastically, locking the car and walking away. I rolled my eyes and quickly caught up to her.
"Do you know him?" I asked, trying to find his face in the crowd. She shook her head.
"No, I don't. But hey, maybe he's a junior too. And maybe he's in your classes." She said, winking at me. I rolled my eyes again and adjusted my sling bag onto my shoulder. We walked on the cobblestone pathway that led to the main entrance. As I was walking up the stairs, I looked up and read in huge bold letters:
Eastwood High
Founded May 11, 1993
"We'll soar on Eagles wings."
Well, here goes nothing… I thought as I followed Punz through the doors. My whole body was shaking and I felt light – headed, but I told myself to keep going. I wasn't going be labeled as a chicken on the first day.
The lockers were in order from freshman to seniors, so our lockers were at the near end of the hallway. I reached into my bag and pulled out the welcome letter I had received after I was accepted. I flipped through the pages until I landed on the one with my locker number and combination on it.
"Locker number…. 7384…" I said to myself as I searched for my locker. I walked up to a boy and taped him on the shoulder.
"Hi, I'm really sorry to bother you, I was just wondering if you knew where locker 7384 was?" I asked, but felt my breath hitch in my throat when the boy turned around.
He had fair skin and a light dusting of freckles across his nose. His hair was auburn and he had bright green eyes. He was wearing a black blazer over a light blue shirt, grey jeans and black army boots.
"Hey. Are you new?" He asked, and I blushed.
"Uh, um, yeah, uh, yeah, um, I'm, ne – new, yeah…" I stuttered, still captivated by his green eyes. He chuckled and smiled.
"What's your name?"
"I'm, uh, my name is, uh, Anna… my name is Anna..." I tried to smile but I couldn't.
"Anna… what a pretty name…" He smiled again and I felt it get a whole lot hotter. "So, you wanted help with your locker?"
I nodded, unable to speak. He chucked again and took the letter from my hands.
"Locker number 7384... Ah! You're in luck! You're locker is right next to mine." He took my hand and led me towards my locker, which was about 4 lockers from the end. "And here you go, locker sweet locker."
I smiled and looked down, noticing that he was still holding my hand. I quickly pulled away and looked down, still red as a tomato.
"Uh, tha – thanks, I appre – appreciate it." I mumbled, finally looking up to meet his gaze. He ruffled his hair with his hand and leaned in.
"Anytime. I'm Hans, by the way." He winked flirtatiously and walked away, leaving me to fangirl by myself.
Jack's POV
I walked through the endless hallways, trying to find my locker. I looked around and I had to say, there were a lot of hot girl juniors this year. But the one that caught my eye was standing by her locker, smiling.
She had long golden blonde hair that was tied into a fishtail plait, and her eyes were bright green. She had a dusting of freckles on her cheeks and her lips were pink in color. She was wearing a black sweater with daisies printed on it and grey skinny jeans. She also had a feather necklace and flats on.
"You know, staring is rude." A voice said behind me, making me snap out of my thoughts. I turned around and saw Henry standing with a smug look on his face.
"You're just jealous that I actually stare at girls." I said, making him shoot me a glare and chuckle.
"I'll have you know I do stare at girls, just not in the weird perverted way you do." He retaliated, making me raise my hands in defeat.
"Okay, okay, you got me." He chuckled before giving me a friendly 'hello' handshake (you know, what us guys do instead of hugging).
"It's great to see you man." He said, patting him on the shoulder. "How was your summer?"
"It was awesome man! I swear I got invited to every party on the block!" I exclaimed proudly. He rolled my eyes and walked to his locker. The first bell rang and everyone started walking to their classes.
"What's your first class?" He asked me, and I looked at my schedule.
"Uh, Science. You?"
"Bummer. I have Maths."
"Damn. Well, see you at lunch." I said, grabbing my things. He turned and walked towards the Math classroom while I went in the opposite direction to the Science Lab.
While I was walking, I couldn't stop thinking of the girl I saw earlier. I mean, nice body, blonde hair and bright eyes… how could she get any hotter?
"Watch out!" Was the last thing I heard before being knocked to the ground. I groaned and opened my eyes, only to stare back into olive green ones. The girl blushed and quickly got off me, stumbling as she did.
"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" She asked, reaching her hand out to help me up. I politely declined her offer and got up myself, dusting some dirt off my jeans.
"Yeah, I'm fine. No need to worry 'bout it." I said, offering her a warm smile. She blushed harder and looked down, while I took a better look at her.
She had pure black hair that was tied in a side pony, and she had a loose strand covering her right eye. She was kinda short, but she was skinny. She was wearing a loose grey tank top and a deep red skirt. She had black tights on and was wearing red flats that matched her skirt. She was pretty cute.
"Well, I better go. But it was nice bumping into you, literally." She said, giving me a playful smile. I returned it and bent down to pick my stuff up. "My name's Heather, by the way." I stood back up and nodded.
"I'm Jack." I said, giving her my hand to shake.
"Well, nice to meet you, Jack." She said and shook my hand before running off. I smiled at her shyness and walked to Science.
Merida's POV
I was sitting in Science, trying not to fall asleep. The professor, Mr. Black, was going talking about how different chemicals reacted to each other, and I could honestly care less. I looked around to see if anyone was actually paying attention, and to my surprise, the girl sitting next to me was. She looked like an A+ student though, with her preppy clothes and perfect blonde hair. I rolled my eyes and groaned.
"Is something wrong, Ms. DunBroch?" Mr. Black asked, and everyone laid their eyes on me.
"Yeah, there is actually." I said fiercely, causing a few students to gasp.
"Well, what is it?" He asked again, but his voice was sterner.
"Who's someone who keeps talking while no one's interested?" I asked, and he looked surprised.
"I don't know. Who?"
"You." I smirked and leaned back into my chair while all the students shouted "BURN!"
"Ms. DunBroch! I will not tolerate that kind of attitude in my class! You just bought yourself a ticket to detention this afternoon." He yelled, filling in a detention slip and slapping it down on my desk. "Now, go to the Principal's office for the rest of this lesson."
"Gladly." I replied coldly as I stood up and collected my things. I walked to the door and opened it before saluting to the class and shouting "Hasta la vista!"
Rapunzel's POV
I couldn't believe that girl just insulted Mr. Black like that… and what was even worse was that she didn't even care about getting into trouble! I would've been scared to death if that happened to me, considering I had an academic scholarship at Eastwood and I didn't want anything threatening it.
"I apologize for Merida's foul behavior this morning. Now let's get back to the chemicals!" Mr. Black exclaimed, making half the class moan. I, on the other hand, smiled happily and got ready to take down notes.
"So, as I was saying, there are two parts of a solution, the solvent and the solutes. The solvent is what we call the major component and a solvent is one of the minor components. Solutions can be made between many phases of matter. For example, salt water is –" The door swung open, and my attention snapped to the person standing in the doorframe.
He had pale skin, but piercing blue eyes. His hair was platinum (almost white) blonde and he had a lip stud. He was wearing a classic leather jacket, white t – shirt, denim jeans and black converse. He looked at me and smiled, showing off his perfect white teeth. I blushed and looked away, pretending to write something on my notepad.
"Mr. Overland, late on the first day." Mr. Black said coldly, crossing his arms over his chest.
Shame, the poor guy, interrupted twice in one day…
"I'm sorry sir, I was just helping one of the new students find their way to English." The boy said, and I couldn't help but feel he was lying. I looked at Mr. Black, expecting him to have a fit and send another student to the Principal's office, but surprisingly, he just nodded.
"Alright, I'll take your word, but this is your first warning." He said. "Now take a seat." The boy smiled and walked over to where I was sitting. I held my breath as he sat next to me, pulling his book out his bag.
"Someone's already sitting there…" I whispered, not wanting to get in trouble. He just smirked and nodded his head.
"Yeah, and that someone's me." He said, and I looked around nervously.
"But what if she comes back, she'll have a fit if she finds you sitting –" I said before the kid in front of me turned around and looked at me angrily, suggesting I keep quiet. I muttered an apology and looked down before returning to my notes.
Henry's POV
I walked into Maths and searched for an empty seat. Everyone was huddled in their groups, talking about God knows what. Well, everyone except one girl. She was sitting at her desk, reading a book peacefully. I walked over to her and stood by her desk.
"Hey, is this seat taken?" I asked, gesturing to the empty seat next to her. She looked up from her book, and I felt my heart beat a little faster.
She was drop dead gorgeous.
"Uh, no, it's not taken." She said nervously, and I sunk into the chair. She looked at me and I smiled, making her blush and continue reading. I leaned forward to see what book she was reading.
"The Fault in Our Stars, eh?" I questioned, and she smiled sheepishly.
"Yeah, I'm a fangirl. It's a really good book, though." She said, admiring the cover.
"Yeah I know. I've actually read it." I said, and she looked at me as if I was an alien.
"Seriously? You? You read this book?" She asked, and I pretended to be hurt.
"You don't see me as the guy who would curl up by the fire and read a good book?" I joked, and she giggled.
"I'm sorry, of course you're that guy." She said sarcastically, and it was my turn to laugh.
"I'm Henry. Henry Haddock." I said, offering her my hand. She smiled and gladly shook it.
"I'm Anna. Anna Winters." I smiled and let go of her hand. The door swung open and a tall man walked in. Anna quickly placed her bookmark into her book and closed it, setting it on the table.
"Good morning students. Welcome to Junior Mathematics. I'm Mr. Bunnymund, but you can call me Aster if you want to. And before I hear your snide little comments, yes, I'm not American. I come from down under, better known as Australia." He said in a very thick Australian accent, making some students laugh. I rolled my eyes at how immature they were and reached into my bag, getting my textbook and pencil case.
"So this term we're starting with Trigonometry. Can anyone please briefly explain what that is?" Many hands shot up at his question, including Anna's. "Uh, yes, Ms. Winters?"
"It's the branch of mathematics dealing with the relations of the sides and angles of triangles and with the relevant functions of any angles." She said, and Mr. Bunnymund nodded.
"That's correct. Well done." He smiled at her and she blushed.
Geez… smart and beautiful… she's got it going for her…
"Let me guess, you're an A+ student?" I whispered, and she looked at me with a smug smile.
"I thought you would never ask." She whispered back before returning her attention to the board and writing down the formula for measuring triangles. I smiled and tore a small piece of paper off my notebook. I could feel her staring at me, obviously curious. I folded it up and passed it to her.
Anna's POV
Henry passed me the note and on the front it said:
don't open until after class…
I looked at him and he just smirked and shrugged, continuing to write notes on his notebook. I looked at the clock. It was only 8:45… Class ended at 9:40…
This is gonna be a LONG day…