Clearly, I have no sense of self preservation and I also clearly do not have my priorities straight. Rather than studying for my organic chemistry and analytical chemistry exams and writing a paper, here I am, posting yet another story. What is wrong with me?
Chapter One:
Reputations are funny little things. They seemingly have minds of their own. Reputations attach themselves to you without a warning, without asking you if you even want them. They stick to you and refuse to let go, following you around for the rest of your life. Before you even know it, you're given a reputation; one that might not really be who you are.
The bad boy.
If you asked Austin Moon if that was how he viewed himself, he would simply look at you and laugh.
That reputation was so cliche and pathetic; it honestly made him cringe every time he heard it.
He hadn't wanted a reputation when he started high school, especially not that one of all the available possibilities. It was just given to him. In fact, the bad boy reputation was associated with him even before he walked through the doors of Marino High on his first day.
He supposed that was what he got for associating himself with the troublemakers of the high school during his final year of middle school. He met them at the mall one day and they instantly took him under their wing. He had been waiting for his two best friends. They were planning to see the new Zaliens movie that had just come out. But, his friends were running late. He was sitting with himself in the food court, when the leader of the group approached him, asking if he wanted to hang out with them. Seeing as his friends weren't there, Austin agreed. The rest was history.
By the time he began his freshman year, he had been branded one of them.
Rather than fighting the reputation, he accepted it. The way he reasoned was people already saw him as a trouble maker. There wasn't much he could do to change their minds. So, rather than wasting his time trying to prove everyone wrong, he decided to embrace his reputation to the fullest.
Personally, though, he didn't think he was such a nuisance or a delinquent. He didn't think he was that bad. Sure, he had issues. But, who didn't?
If you ask anyone else, though, he was the dictionary definition of bad.
To the high school principal, he was a face seen every day in the elderly man's office, swarmed with numerous complaints from teachers and students alike. He was like a persistent headache to the principal; always coming back, often times worse than the last time. To his teachers, he was a smart student, who refused to apply himself. To his parents, he was a disappointment and a thorn in their side. They all expected more from him.
To the Marino High student body, he was adored. To the female population specifically, he was a heartthrob and the guy to swoon over. To the male population, he was an idol.
To his boss at the local mechanic shop, he was gifted with a wrench; an asset to business.
To his two ex-best friends, he was a shallow shell of his old self.
To his new friends, he was their leader.
To Austin himself?
Well, that was something he was still trying to discover.
He pulled into the nearly packed parking lot of Marino High. Finding an empty spot towards the back of the lot, he reverse-parked with one quick maneuver. Checking the time on his dashboard, he smiled. Twenty minutes left of first period.
He was late as usual, just the way he liked it.
Killing the engine, he stepped out of his car. Walking around to the passenger seat, he opened the door and grabbed his backpack, swinging it over his shoulder. He fixed the collar of his leather jacket and ran his fingers through his hair, looking at his appearance in his car mirror. The black leather jacket, white t-shirt, faded ripped jeans and white sneakers only solidified his image. Smiling ruefully, he messed his hair up a little bit.
Throwing his hand over his shoulder, he locked his car, and started walking towards the entrance of the high school.
Just as he expected, the hallways were empty of students. Taking his time, he strolled down the halls, eventually appearing at the door of his first period class – Calculus with Mr. Phillips.
He walked into the room, instantly several pairs of eyes falling on him. The girls in the classroom immediately started whispering, some of them even sending him winks. He returned the favor. His friends, who were sitting towards the back of their room, nodded their heads in his direction. He smiled, nodding his head back at them.
He started making his way to his seat in the back, but he was stopped by a throat clearing towards the front of the classroom. Turning around, he was met with the unhappy eyes of his Calculus teacher.
"What a pleasure of you to join us this morning, Mr. Moon." The elderly man said while crossing his arms over his chest. The teacher wore an unamused expression upon his face.
"I try." The blonde shrugged, smiling crookedly. Some girls in the front of the classroom giggled. He looked at them, winking. They only giggled louder.
"This is your fifth lateness this month, Mr. Moon." Mr. Phillips said, walking over to his desk. It was only the second week of November.
Austin sighed, running his fingers through his hair. He knew what that meant. He was kind of hoping to avoid being sent to the Principal's office so early in the day. But, that was what he got for strolling in late.
He should've just stayed in his car until the start of second period, he thought to himself ruefully.
Mr. Phillips pulled out a blue slip from a drawer in his desk. Jotting something down on the paper quickly, he handed it to the blonde. "Go to Principal Matthews office."
"Oh, and here I was, hoping I wouldn't get to see him, yet. He and I are hitting a rough patch this week, you know. His wife isn't so happy with how much time he's been spending with me lately." The blonde joked, as the students in the room instantly bursting into laughter. He surveyed them with an amused smirk.
Mr. Phillips only scowled, folding his arms over his chest. "Very humorous, Mr. Moon."
Austin smiled again, biting back a laugh of his own. He loved riling the old teacher up so early in the morning.
His teacher continued to look at him expectantly, finding no amusement in the blonde's antics. He seldom did.
"Alright, alright." Austin placated with raised hands. "I'll be on my way." He turned around, heading towards the door of the classroom. As he opened it, he couldn't help but send a few more winks at the female population, before walking out of the room.
She really hated being the new girl. She hated it more than anything in the world. The wary stares of other students as she walked past them down the hallway, the not-so-quiet whispering about her, the struggle to squeeze into already well-established friend groups. It was not an experience she would wish upon her worst enemy.
No one would feel happy about being uprooted from a place they called home, taken away from all of their friends, and moved to some complete other part of the country. Unfortunately, for her, she had been through that experience almost too many times to count or even remember. Moving had become a second nature to her. Almost every year, she would find herself in another city, another state; all far away from the place she truly called home – Pennsylvania.
The constant moving was because of her father's successful chain of music stores. First established in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, Sonic Boom became for lack of a better term, a booming success. Investors were soon lining up at their doorstep, offering to endorse further stores across the country. That was how, at the tender age of eight, she found herself packing up and moving to San Francisco, California.
Since then, she had lived in various parts of Texas, Colorado, Michigan, Washington, Virginia, and lastly, New York City. Now, her father had uprooted her to Florida.
Each time they moved, her father promised that it would be the last time, that the new house would be her new home. This time, he said he truly meant it. It was her senior year of high school and he promised that they would stay put in Miami, Florida until at least after she graduated. If he needed to move, he would do so and she could choose to stay in Florida, if that was where she decided to attend college.
However, the promise to stay in Miami for at least a year did little to quell her annoyance at having to start fresh again. It was November, meaning the school year was well underway. If they had at least moved to Miami in September, she wouldn't have been the only new face in the high school.
In her father's defense, he couldn't open the new store location until recently. She remembered him explaining why when she asked; he mentioned something about building licenses and other paperwork that had not been approved until then.
Sighing, she climbed out of her bed at the beckoning call of her alarm clock. Turning it off with a swift motion of her arm, she headed towards the door of her bedroom. Before leaving her room, she put her phone on charge by her desk.
Making her way down the stairs of the mansion her father had bought for their time in Miami, she eventually found her way to the spacious kitchen. She preferred a modest sized house or a quiet, quaint little home, over the large mansion she was currently living in. However, just like the decision to move, the choice of living quarters was not up to her. Her father took care of everything.
She wasn't surprised to find a note on the island of the kitchen, scribbled in her father's scrawny handwriting. He had left the house early for a meeting with the developers and investors. He was planning to open the store by the end of the next week.
Walking to the huge stainless steel refrigerator, she took out a gallon of milk and headed over to the coffee pot. At least her father left her coffee; he knew how much she loved the caffeinated beverage.
Finding her favorite mug, a red-painted "Keep Calm and Carry On" mug, in one of the cupboards, she went back to the coffee pot. It was a going away present from one of her old friends. She poured herself a cup of coffee and added some milk. Then, she made herself a bowl of cereal.
She made her way back up to her room to get ready after finishing the cereal and two cups of coffee.
After brushing her teeth and washing her hair in the bathroom adjoined to her room, she walked over to her closet. Looking through the clothes on the hangers, she decided on something simple. She wasn't one obsessed with wardrobe, but as the new girl, she also didn't want to bring any more attention to herself - either by wearing something too flashy or something too casual.
She chose a tight red V-neck shirt and a pair of faded jeans. She decided to wear a pair of black heeled boots. Satisfied with her appearance in the mirror, she turned to her desk and started gathering her book bag. It was a brown Michael Kors satchel her father had bought her as an apology gift for once again making her move to another state with him.
She had already packed a thin binder with unused loose leaf paper the night before. Her phone had finished charging by the time she finished breakfast. Unplugging the charger and taking it out of the wall socket, she shoved her phone in her pocket. Lastly, she picked up her favorite pair of sunglasses and placed them on the top of her head. Feeling ready, she threw the messenger bag over her shoulder and headed downstairs.
Walking to the front door, she grabbed the keys to her car from the hook by the hall closet. Opening the door, she noticed the weather was slightly chilly. Turning to the hallway closet, she took out a light gray zip-up hoodie. She slipped it on.
Locking the front door behind her, she headed to her car, which was parked in front of the house. The car was a moving present from her father, since they couldn't take her old car with them.
Climbing into the driver's seat, she threw her messenger back onto the passenger seat and started the engine, before buckling her seatbelt. She moved her sunglasses from the top of her head to her nose.
Soon, she was on her way to Marino High.
At this point, I really have no direction with this story. I only have two chapters written and ready to post. Four years ago I regretfully deleted the entire old version I had of this story, so now I have nothing to go off of, meaning I'm stuck with trying to remember what I wrote and rewriting it. Oh, well. *shrugs*
I do hope you like this chapter and the idea of this story.