The sun steadily rose overtop the housetops, peeking it's way into all the house windows and curtains. It shone golden rays on the grass blades on the finely cut lawns, kicking a sparkle into the dewdrops that hung on the tips as if clinging to their life. The day outside was already being revved into a start as morning joggers made their ways down the asphalt, sweat beginning to bead across their forehead and eyebrows. The sun swirled in their eyes, casting a yellow aura, causing them to squint in return.
Outside, near a cul-de-sac, stood a handful of teenagers. They were talking aimlessly with weary eyes and sleepy smiles, lanky arms to their sides and book bags flung over their shoulders. They seemed to be half-asleep, and longing to crawl back into a warm bed and sleep for another few hours. None of them seemed to be perky and awake; until a new face showed up.
It was a girl with darkened, sun-kissed skin and narrow eyes, with full, thick cheeks. Her hair was a dark chocolate that shone in the approaching sun, casting a golden glow to fall along the sides. The eyes of the newcomer were a dark brown, laying evenly parallel to her thin, brown eyebrows. As the girl approached the bus-stop, she quickly collected looks from the sleep-deprived teenagers.
"I've never seen you before," spoke a tall girl with curly blonde hair that fell along her shoulders. Her eyes were skeptical and she spoke in a sassed tone, causing alarm to the new face. "Do you ride our bus?"
"I think this is the right stop," the dark-haired girl replied, quickly looking down and away from the skeptical blonde. "Do you all ride bus 421?"
The blonde raised an eyebrow and leaned back, after hearing that the girl was indeed in the right place. "Yeah," she said, looking over her shoulder and then back at the newcomer. "Are you new or something?"
"Yes," she replied, widening her eyes a bit. "It's my first day."
"What's your name?" spoke a new speaker; a shaggy-haired, brunette boy whose hair almost covered his eyes. He wore a hat towards the back of his head and a light, red hoodie.
"Hawaii," the dark-haired girl spoke with a clear voice.
"Cool," the boy replied with a flip of his hair towards the side of his face, exposing his round, milky brown eyes. "I'm Nebraska, and that's Maine and Wisconsin."
The blonde turned her twisted frown into a welcoming smile, holding out her hand for Hawaii to shake it. "Welcome to the bus stop," she said, flicking her hair out of her face.
Hawaii awkwardly shook Maine's hand. After the curly-haired girl pulled it back, Hawaii glanced over at a girl who hadn't spoke yet. She had long, straight, light brown hair and freckles dotted across her face. Her eyes were dark, but her smile was warm and invited Hawaii to say hello. "Wisconsin?" she said, tilting her head.
"That's me," the straight-haired girl replied, her braces twinkling as she talked. "Nice to meet you."
A few minutes passed of aimless conversation before the bus pulled up beside the sidewalk. The doors swung open with a creak, and the bus seemed to sigh with yet another stop. Maine made her way into the bus first, nodding her head to the familiar bus driver. Nebraska nudged Hawaii forward, indicating for her to go before him. The dark-skinned girl was caught off-guard at first, but quickly took the courage to make the steps onto the musky bus that was leaking with sounds of muttering chatter. Hawaii looked down the isle once having boarded, scanning the faces of the bus riders before her.
The bus was half full. Hawaii caught many glances of confusion as she walked down the narrow isle towards an empty booth. They watched her, following her with their eyes until she sat. Hawaii, nervous, shuffled her body close to the window to make way for Nebraska to sit next to her. He flipped his hair out of his face and pulled out his phone and a pair of white earbuds to distract himself with. Putting one in his ear, he turned to Hawaii as the bus pulled forward in motion.
"Did you just move here?" Nebraska started, getting in a comfortable position for the bus ride. Hawaii turned to face him, replying with a subtle nod.
"Yes," she said, quietly. "last week."
Nebraska emitted a playful smirk at her response. Hawaii seemed almost.. Mesmerized at his smirk. The way it curled over his cheek and lightened his eyes… the way it focused his gaze into hers and formed some strange connection. It fit his face perfectly, and Hawaii almost adored it. "You're gonna like Sea Grove," he said, looking back at his phone and away from Hawaii's hypnotic gaze.
"Tell me about the school," the girl said, pressing against Nebraska's shoulder, eager to hear of the school she'll be attending until June. Her mom had researched the school before moving and heard great reviews from it, but Hawaii wanted to hear of a more personal point of view.
Nebraska shrugged. "It goes from grade three to twelve, so it's pretty big," he began. "All our teachers are from different countries, so they all have accents. It's pretty cool actually. We have an award winning band and football team, and some of our swimmers have been to the Olympics."
Hawaii was captivated by Nebraska's aimless describing. She loved the way his mouth moved… evenly and smoothly as it rolled over each word, pronouncing it flawlessly. She noticed how he ended each phrase with a smirk, and she almost enjoyed seeing and hearing the boy talk. "Really?" was all Hawaii could say.
"Yeah," Nebraska replied, swishing the hair out of his eyes. "Pretty amazing."
The two talked of their lives for about twenty minutes before the narrow bus pulled up on campus. It was a busy campus, and that was a fact. A few were playing instruments around the steps, some were playing volleyball, almost everyone seemed to be wasting as much time as possible before returning to class on the crisp, September morning. The bus jumped to life as the people occupying it began to trot off into campus, Hawaii and Nebraska caught in the line.
Hawaii stood for a few heartbeats after exiting the bus to examine her new school. It was definitely big, and that was a fact. She saw Maine catch up to another curly-haired blonde, who was much taller than the compact form of Maine. Hawaii contemplated how long it would take for her to make a group of friends. The school year had already started and most of everyone had already configured a circle of friends. Hawaii had only one, so far; Nebraska.
"Pretty big, huh?" Nebraska said, filing in beside Hawaii.
"Huge." she replied in astonishment.
Nebraska led her forward, past a guitar playing boy and a violin playing girl. Hawaii met the girl's quirky gaze for only a split second before being led up a series of steps to the front door. SEA GROVE MIDDLE/HIGH was labeled above it in bold, silver lettering with a modern touch. It glimmered in the sunlight, leaving Hawaii in a state of awe. Nebraska interrupted the connection with a nudge, pushing Hawaii through the door to the school.
The inside of the school was wide, but still busy with life. The smaller occupants of the school were filed in lines, heading down a series of hallways to their class. There was three halls leading out of the foyer; labeling Elementary, Middle, and High. It seemed like each of the halls were tunnels to a new school.
Hawaii followed the shaggy-haired boy down the "High" hallway. It was sunlit, bordered with windows that looked out onto the courtyards and fountains. After a short walk, it opened to a bigger clearing with lockers, stairs, and differently labeled hallways leading to different classes. Hawaii thought she could get lost.
"How am I supposed to find my way?" Hawaii said, giving Nebraska a dazed look.
"Once you find where everything is," the boy responded, smirking his usual smile. "it'll be simple."
Hawaii nodded her head defiantly as she was led past the marbled floor. Kids swarmed around her, talking and laughing. Some were sitting along the small walls built around flowerbeds, and others on the staircase leading to the second floor. Everyone seemed comfortable.
"What's your first class?" Nebraska asked, turning and sitting on the first step leading to the second story. Hawaii shrugged her shoulders.
"I didn't get a schedule."
Nebraska stood back up almost immediately after seeming to get comfortable. "You'll have to swing by the office," he replied, checking his phone at the time. "It's by the main lobby, so just follow the hallway back to where we entered from."
"Why can't you come with me?" Hawaii pleaded.
"Class starts in three minutes, and if I'm late to Mr. Kirkland's class again, he'll kick my ass!"
Hawaii giggled and said a short farewell to Nebraska before trotting back to the hallway she came from. Kids were starting to file in, the closer it got to starting time. Some gave her raised looks, others just ignored her in general. Hawaii expected that. After all, it was her first day in such an unfamiliar environment.
After coming out of the "High" hall, Hawaii searched for some sort of direction to the office. The bell rang whilst her search, but she ignored it, and took a few steps forward in the now empty lobby. She was interrupted from her search with a tap on the shoulder.
The tap came from a tall, tanned girl with wavy blonde hair that was darker at the roots. Her smile was pristine, and her eyes a friendly blue, with lips a sponge-sugar pink. In her slender arms was a clipboard and handbag, and there was a book bag strung across her back. She was wearing a pencil skirt that was fitted tight against her thighs and showed her smooth and muscular legs. Everything about this girl screamed "perfect" to Hawaii.
"Looking for something?" the girl spoke with a voice that could lull you to sleep. Her eyes, despite the friendly nature that shrouded them, were soft with concern.
Hawaii nodded her head, trying to act as proper as she could around the strangely perfect girl. "Yeah," she mumbled. "The office? I'm new here."
"Oh!" the girl exclaimed, sticking out her hand in an effort to get Hawaii to shake it. "Welcome to Sea Grove! Mr. Jones told me that we were going to have a new student today!"
"Mr. Jones?" Hawaii said, limply shaking the girl's hand.
"Yes, Mr. Jones; the Journalism and Charisma teacher. Sorry, I didn't introduce myself!" The peppy girl flipped her hair behind her shoulders and adjusted the clipboard in her arms, putting on a smile that raised her cheeks that were dotted with faint freckles. "I'm California, head of the student government society and yearbook committee!"
"Nice to meet you." Hawaii said, trying to match California's flawless smile. "I'm Hawaii."
California nodded her head and walked forward past Hawaii, her heels clicking on the marbled floor beneath. "Come, I'll show you to the office." she said, looking over her shoulder for a moment as she expected Hawaii to follow. Hawaii didn't really have a choice. She followed closely behind.
California opened a door into a warm room that smelled of fabric and leather. The walls were painted a dark auburn, and there were couches slurred across the walls and around a coffee table. The atmosphere created a cozy feeling in the pit of Hawaii's stomach, and she quite liked how quiet it was, besides the continuous chatter from the women at the front desk.
"Follow me," California whispered, moving past a woman near the front desk with a dissatisfied twist on her face. Hawaii followed, careful not to disturb anyone, until California sharply turned a corner into a room decorated in pictures of potted plants. There was a man sitting at the desk with a bald head and glasses, reading files of paperwork that seemed to choke him.
"Mr. Carlyle?" California said in an innocent and questioning tone, stepping cautiously into the room.
The bald man smiled at her appearance. "Ah, California! Come in!"
California smiled and led Hawaii in, despite how nervous the dark-haired girl was about being in the situation. Mr. Carlyle stood from his desk and walked around it, eager to shake Hawaii's hand and welcome her to the school.
"Hawaii!" he said, grabbing her petite hand and shaking it rapidly up and down. "Welcome to Sea Grove!"
Hawaii smiled as Mr. Carlyle stopped shaking her, quickly moving back to his desk and taking a white sheet of paper to give to her. "This is your schedule," he said, placing it in her grip. "I'll let California give you a tour of the school firsthand, alright?"
California gleamed as Mr. Carlyle went back to sit as his desk. "Come see me if you have any questions," he said, removing his glasses from the bridge of his nose. Hawaii nodded her head and began to walk out of the compact office.
"One more thing,"
Hawaii turned, her hair flipping and catching on to her lip. Mr. Carlyle gave a small chuckle from deep in his throat and smiled so wide that you could barely see his dark pools of eyes.
"Welcome to Sea Grove."