I felt ten million different kinds of awful. One, I had moved to a new town thanks to my Dad's job less than a week ago. Two, my first day at a new high school was tomorrow and I knew nobody there. Three… well, the first two were enough to drive me over the edge. There was a silver lining though; my parents thought it was only fair to buy me a new car since I was being uprooted from my life in Massachusetts to move all the way to a relatively small town called Beacon Hills in California. Nothing too fancy, just a plain black Chevy cruze, but still, it was the best gift I could have asked for. I lay out my outfit for the next day, dark blue skinny jeans paired with a dark red fitted blouse and a black leather jacket to go with my combat boots. I let my hair down and collapsed onto my bed, drifting off into an uncomfortably sleep, dreaming of the horrors that tomorrow morning would bring.
My alarm clock woke me up at six with a painfully loud and repetitive blare. I groaned as I sat up, yawning and climbing out of bed. I quickly showered and dried my hair, threw on the clothes I had prepared yesterday night and tried to apply makeup without my hand shaking from nervousness. I looked up at myself in the mirror and took a deep breath. My wavy, dark brown hair fell below the pale skin covering my collarbone, and the makeup wasn't nearly as bad as I would've thought but I still felt nervous. What if I didn't find anyone there who liked me? Would I fit in? All the questions of a stereotypical new girl bounced around in my head.
"Yoga breaths, Rose." I said to myself, taking several deep breaths before making my way downstairs.
I slumped down the steps, mumbling good morning to my mother before scarfing down some breakfast and attempting to run out the door.
"Rose, wait!" yelled my mother from her position in the kitchen. "I know it's not quite your birthday for another week, but I thought I would give you something special this year, after all, it's not every day a girl turns sixteen." She pulled out a small jewelry box and handed it to me. Disregarding the fact that I might be late to school, I opened it like a third grader ripping open a present. When the lid swung open I gasped in surprise. A polished silver bracelet embedded with rubies and a small engraved crest.
"Thank you thank you thank you! It's perfect mom!" I screeched, sliding it onto my wrist.
"Take good care of it, Rose. That's been passed down with the women in our family for centuries… or at least that's what your grandmother told me." She said with a warning glare.
"Okay mom, I'll see you after school!" I said, a smile plastered across my face as I ran out the door.
I actually got to the school with plenty of time left and sat down next to another girl on a small stone bench just like the school's letter had told me to.
"Mom three calls on my first day is a little overdoing it." The girl spoke into her phone. I secretly smiled, realizing that she was as new as I was to Beacon Hills. "Everything except a pen, did I really forget a pen?" She moaned into the phone. "Okay bye mom I'll talk to you later." She hung up.
"You're new here too?" I said hopefully, staring at her.
"Yes, are you?" I could tell she was shy by the timid way she asked me this.
"Thank GOD! I thought that I was the only one! Sorry, I should introduce myself. I'm Rose, I just moved here from the east coast, what's your name?"
"I'm Allison." She replied, a little shocked at my elation. "Allison Argent." Our conversation ended as the principal walked towards us.
"Sorry to keep you ladies waiting." He stated politely, before walking us to our first class. "Looks like you two have your first class together." Allison and I shared a smile and a nervous look as we were ushered into a room already full of other students.
"Class, these are our new students, Allison Argent and Rose Warren." He announced. "Do your best to make them feel welcome." With that he exited and we were instructed to choose our seats. Allison sat down behind a tan boy with a mop of hair while I sat next to her, in front of a tall and pale boy with short, brown hair. The kid in front of Allison turned around and inexplicably handed her a pen. She smiled quizzically. "Thanks."
The bell rang and Allison and I headed to our lockers which were almost next to each other. It was as if the universe was sending me a sign that I wouldn't be alone in my navigation of a new high school. An unexplainably pretty girl with strawberry blonde hair tapped on Allison and my shoulders before speaking. "I'm Lydia Martin. You guys have killer jackets. Where'd you get em?" Allison and I shared a confused look before she responded. "My mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco." Lydia pointed a finger at her, "And you, are my new best friend. She turned to me. "What about yours?"
"I'm not really sure where mine's from, my dad got it for me." I hoisted my backpack up on my shoulder and hugged my books to my chest under Lydia's piercing gaze. I could tell she was one of the popular girls by the way she oozed confidence with every move.
"Well your dad seems to have great taste." She said, looking me up and down. An attractive, muscular guy slid next to her, planting a kiss on her lips. "Hey Jackson!" Lydia chirped. Turning back to us she spoke again. "So this Friday night, there's a party. You guys should totally come."
"Oh crap I can't, it's family night this Friday, thanks for asking though." Allison looked down at her shoes leaving Lydia with a disappointed pout on her face. "What about you?" she turned to face me now. "I…I can't come, I'm super busy moving in." I lied. I really liked Lydia so far, but the prospect of having to go to a party with what seemed to be the popular clique in the school without at least Allison to come with was scary at best. "You guys really should come." Offered Jackson, "Everyone's going after the game."
"You mean like, football?" Allison's interest perked.
"Football's a joke in Beacon Hills… the sport here is lacrosse. We've won state championships for the past three years. We're having practice after school, you should come."
"Well I was planning to-"
"Perfect!" Lydia smiled brightly, cutting off Allison mid-sentence. "We'll see you both there."
I walked onto the field with Allison and Lydia at my side. I had almost every class with them and Allison and I had been practically joined at the hip all day so she, Lydia, and Jackson seemed to be my only friends at this point.
"Hey who's that?" Allison said pointing out the goalie to Lydia.
"That's… actually I have no idea who that his." She said quizzically.
"Ouch, that looked like it hurt." I winced as the player took a ball to the face. Oddly enough, he seemed to suddenly hit his stride and blocked every ball after that one.
At around eight o clock my phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID and jumped when I saw it was Allison. "Hey what's up?" I said, trying to contain my elation at the fact that I had actually made a friend.
"Okay so I was driving home and then I ran over this dog and I started freaking out so I drove it to the nearest animal clinic." She jabbered on the other end.
"Woah woah woah, slow down." I tried dissecting the meaning to her words.
"Okay, sorry. So anyways, remember that boy that I asked Lydia about? Well anyways yeah, he totally saved the dog, and asked me out to the party on Friday! So you know what this means, you better come with me or I swear I'll have a panic attack!" I screeched a little when I heard this and told her that I'd see her there.
"I'll see you at seven on Friday then." I hung up.
By the time Friday had rolled around, Allison, Lydia and I had discussed about seven different outfits for each of us to wear and we were all anxious for the party to begin. For me and Allison, this was our first social event with our new classmates so we were more than nervous.
"MOM! I'm leaving!" I shouted as I ran down the steps.
"Okay Rose, be safe. Remember if there are any kids doing things that they uh, shouldn't be doing."
"Mom seriously? It's fine I'll keep an eye out." And with that I grabbed my keys and ran out the door.
I met up with Allison at the party and was introduced to her date.
"Scott, this is Rose. Rose, meet Scott." She said lightly, gesturing to each of us. Being the socially awkward mess that I am, we mumbled our hellos and I looked down. Thankfully, I was dragged away by a possibly-tipsy Lydia.
"Hey Rose! Come and dance with me!" She giggled, taking my hand and yanking me out to where everyone was dancing by the pool. After what seemed like forever I tried to make my way away from the dancing mob to grab a drink. Normally this would have been an easy task but of course with my luck it wouldn't be so. A flying hand smacked me on the side of my face sending me careening into the pool with a huge splash. Now I can handle a lot of things, but swimming was not one of them. Ever since I was trapped beneath the ice while skating on a pond as a young kid, I hadn't stepped foot in a pool. I thrashed wildly, trying to find which way was up. I managed to graze the surface, screaming that I couldn't swim before I was sucked down again. It felt like an eternity before I heard another splash in the water and two arms were wrapped around me, bringing me back to the surface. As my head broke the water, I took large, gasping breaths. I clung to the side of the pool and pulled myself up to sit on the edge, turning to my rescuer. To my surprise, it was the tall, brown haired boy that I sat in front of in English.
"I'm so sorry I-I was dancing then I turned around and you were just there." He sputtered, water dripping down his face. Unfortunately I made the situation even more stressful by having a panic attack. I sobbed, gasping for air as if I was drowning again, flashing back to the time that I had been stuck underneath the water. I grabbed at the boy's chest clinging to his wet shirt.
"Yo, Scott! Throw me your inhaler!" He yelled, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and pulling me towards him. When his friend tossed him the device, he wiped it on his jeans and then gave it to me. A few seconds after I took it, my breathing leveled out. I wiped the tears from my eyes. I unclenched my shaking hands from the boy's shoulder, he winced and I realized that my nails had literally dug into his shoulders.
"S-s-sorry." My teeth chattered as I began to feel the brisk air.
"Oh shit!" He sputtered as he took off his soaking plaid button down squeezing the water out of it "Here you go". I gratefully accepted it, reveling in the warmth of his hands as they grazed my skin. I noted the way that his wet T-shirt clung to his chest perfectly as well as the way his amber eyes glowed. I slowly stood up, making sure that I wasn't dizzy and looked around. I caught Allison's eye and an expression of panic gripped her as she saw my eyes red from tears and my sopping wet clothes. She grabbed Scott and fought her way through the crowd till she reached me. I handed Scott his inhaler as Allison wrapped an arm around me to keep me from falling.
"Rose, what happened?" She said in a calm voice, leading me to a bench.
"I was w-walking to the bar and s-someone accidentally hit me and I fell into the pool." She looked at me quizzically and I realized that she was confused as to why I didn't just swim out.
"I don't know how to swim. When I was six or seven I was ice skating in a pond by our cottage up in Michigan. One second I was fine and the next the ice had cracked beneath me and I fell in. I couldn't find where I fell in and I almost drowned so ever since then I never went swimming." As I finished explaining, the boy who helped me walked up to us.
"Hey Allison," he nodded in her direction then turned to me. "Rose, it is Rose, right?" I nodded. "I'm Stiles… uh Stiles Stilinski." He approached me nervously.
Allison seemed to know the kid and got up. "I'll let you two talk. I'm going to go find Scott, if you need anything come get me." She gave me a pat on the back and left.
I looked at him apprehensively before quietly responding. "Stiles just one question. How did you know to do that when I started panicking?"
"I used to get panic attacks too, when uh… my mom died. So I sort of tricked you into thinking it was an asthma attack."
"Well, Stiles. Thank you." I stood up, brushing the water off my legs. "I'll see you around." I rushed past him, feeling my face grow hot, desperate to make my way back home and pretend this day never happened.