Chapter 1
Starting Over
I woke up the next morning to the sound of a chirping bird. I looked out the window and discovered a little porch. On the railing of the porch sat a little bird. It's bright blue color amazed me. I would have sat there for hours looking at it but my Aunt the knocked on my door and came in, and with in moments the bright blue colored bird flew away. "Good! You're up. You have to start getting ready for school." My Aunt Ira said. So I stood up and walked over to the wardrobe to pick out an outfit, when I remembered I had all my clothes in my bags still.
"Good morning Aunt Ira. How are you this morning?" I asked trying to soften up a bit. I didn't want to go to school. I didn't even now how to speak the language.
"Good. And you?"
"I'm fine"
"I will let you get ready. When you are ready come downstairs to the kitchen. I cooked you some breakfast."
"Okay" She left the room. I didn't know what to wear today. I wanted to fit in so I didn't look like an outcast. Maybe I would wear one of my regular T-shirts and a pair of shorts. It looked to hot out to wear jeans. So I grabbed one of my blue T-shirts and my denim shorts and slipped on quickly. I grabbed my brush and brushed my hair which was all in knots. Then I headed down the hall and then went down the stairs and went to the kitchen. There on the counter sat a stack of pancakes. I got the plate that sat right by the pancakes. I put about two pancakes on the plate. I quickly devoured them.
"Come on. I will take you to school. I have already called a cab. Here is your backpack. There was a summer reading list but they have changed it for you so you should be okay. Last weekend I went and got you all your books and school supplies." My Aunt said.
"Thank you. But Aunt Ira do I really need to go to school. I mean I just got here. I don't even know the language. Won't everybody be talking in a different language?"
"All the students will, but to each other. This school teaches English, so all the students talk in English. Don't worry. I mean you will have to learn it sometime. But you will not have to learn it for school."
"Okay then. But do I have to go. I would rather go and explore. See everything there is to see. I want to get to know where I now live. Please!"
"No! You must go to school. You can explore this weekend. I can take you shopping so you can get new clothes. Doesn't that sound fun?"
"Yes but…"
"No buts." My Aunt interrupted me. "Come on the taxi is waiting. If we don't leave now you will be late to school." I grabbed my backpack and put it on and ran out the door. I hopped in the taxi and once I slammed the door shut it took off.
"Do I have to take a cab to school everyday?" I asked my Aunt.
"No. But I thought you might want to on your first day so you know where it is. You can walk if you want. But I was thinking this weekend we would go get you a car and you could drive to school."
"Neat!"
The cab stopped moment's later right in front of many 3 story buildings. I got out and headed to the building that said office. I walked in and saw a lady at the first desk. "Hi! I'm Brenda. Do you understand me."
"Of course I do. Everyone here speaks English. You must be the student from America."
"That's me. I was wondering where I go to get my schedule."
"Well we actually have a student that will take you around."
"Hey there." His soft voice hit me. I knew who it was. "I'm here to take the new student around." I sharply turned around to see his face. It was just the same as it was yesterday. "This must be the new student. Hi Brenda." I smiled
"You two already know each other. This is great." The lady at the front desk said.
"Hi." I stumbled over saying that. Wait, I have a boyfriend. Why am I stumbling over my words.
"It's great to see you again." Emmit's soft voice said.
"Now Emmit remember to take her to get her schedule. Then show her to her first class. You are dismissed 2 minutes early from all of your classes to show her to her next class."
"Okay." He turned to me and I smiled. "Let's go. This is going to be a big day." We both walked out of the office. I just stared at him. "I can't believe you are going to this school. You will love it here." I shook my head in agreement. "Your not saying much. Go ahead and talk please."
"Ummm. Well I didn't think I would see you again. After you took me to the store…" Stop rambling Brenda, "you kind of disappeared."
"Oh sorry about that. Something came up." You could defiantly find comfort in his voice.
"That's okay!" We stopped at a table.
"Your name please." A teachers voice said.
"Emmit Varden." Varden? Hmmm. I guess it is okay. The teacher handed him a paper. I looked at it and it listed all his classes.
"How about you miss?" the teacher said.
"Brenda Luu" I said with a proud voice. Wait. Why am I trying to show off. The teacher handed me my piece of paper. Then Emmit took it right out of my hands. "Hey!"
"I have to see where your first class is. Do you not want me to take you?"
"Well you didn't need to grab it out of my hand. Gosh." He looked at me and then chuckled.
"Okay this way." He started walking in the direction of one of the buildings. As we walked many people said hi to Emmit, but he never introduced me to one of them. How was I supposed to make friends. He opened one of the doors for me and I walked in. Then he walked up the stairs. Then he took a right and lead me down this long hall. I thought it would never end. Then he stopped at the last door down the hall. What a walk I thought to myself. "Here you go. This is your first class. Chemistry."
"Thank You." I looked at him and smiled. This was going to be an okay day. I walked in and handed the teacher a slip that said I was new and from America. He pointed to a desk and told me to sit there.
Emmit walked back up to me. "See you in an hour Brenda Luu." Then he left.
One of the girls walked up to me from the front of the room. She sat in the desk right next to mine. "Hi I'm Emily. You must be new here." She held out her hand for me to shake it.
"I'm Brenda. Yeah I am new here. I am from Washington." I said as she continued to look at me.
"Oh. You're the girl from America. I saw you talking to Emmit."
"Yeah he is showing me around."
"Well aren't you lucky."
"What do you mean?"
"Well come on you have to admit that he is like the hottest guy here."
"Well I don't know. I haven't really met anyone else here. Except for you." I was starting to get nervous.
She got up. "Well it was nice to meet you Brenda." She walked away before I could say anything else. Seconds later class started.
The teacher dismissed us. I walked out the door and just like Emmit said he was there. You could tell he was ready to take me to my next class. He looked at the schedule in my hand and then at me. I handed him the schedule. Then he walked all the way down the hall way again and went up the stair to the other level. And just like I had earlier, I continued to follow him.
On the walls of the stair case were posters advertising something. I stopped to take a look at them. Then Emmit stopped to. "Oh don't even bother looking at those." The posters advertised some kind of dance.
"Why?" I prompted
"Oh cause maybe they are stupid. The last time I went to a dance was in the 9th grade and that was homecoming. Just like this one." He answered
"You didn't even go to your prom?"
"Nope. Did you?"
"Of course. The prom is like the best dance ever."
"Well then you can go."
"I don't think I will. I don't like to go to dances alone. It feels very weird because everyone else has a date. You know."
"That is why I stopped going to them. No one here is worth asking."
"I bet you could get a date."
"What?" he asked. He was all confused. This was going to be an awkward conversation.
"Well. I mean…" I was in for it now. "Well one of the girls in my first period class said she liked you."
"Oh really. Who?"
"Ummm. I think her name was Emily."
"Emily Vince?"
"I think so. She didn't tell me her last name."
"It probably was her. Come on we need to go to you next class." Thank god that conversation was over. He walked all the way up the stairs. Then he took a left down another long hall. This time my class was the first door down the never ending hall. "Here you go."
"Thank you." I walked back up to the teacher and the same process happened again. I was given a seat and I sat there well the teacher talked on and on about stuff that was going to happen in his class through the year. Then another hour passed by and Emmit came and got me and took me to my next class where the same thing happened. Except when he said I will be back to take you to your next class he said "I will be back to take you to lunch."
After he said lunch I started worrying. Where was I going to sit? Was Emmit going to let me sit by him? The last time I had started in a new school there was no lunch. I always knew who I was going to sit by and where I was going to sit. But now I am in a new school in a new country. Everybody is going to be speaking in a different language. Now this was a situation to worry about.
Then all the sudden the teacher called my name and told me to stand up. She was actually introducing me to the class. My last two teachers didn't do that. It kind of embarrassed me. Then she went on and on about how I was new and I was from America. The finally she stopped and I was able to sit back down. Then she continued on about what was going to happen this year.
I started watching the clock intensely. I was waiting for the next hour role by fast. I wanted to go to lunch. I was now kind of anxious. I wanted to know who I was going to sit by. I wanted to know where I was going to sit. Then soon enough the teacher dismissed us to lunch. I walked out the door with butterflies in my stomach. Once I was out of the class I had spotted Emmit coming up the stairs. I walked to him casually trying not to seem anxious. "Hi!" I said. You could hear the excitement in my voice.
"Okay. Hi" Emmit's soft voice said "You ready to go to lunch?"
"Yeah!" I was trying not to sound anxious and excited but I couldn't help it.
"Well follow me. I will take you to the lunch room." Then he walked back down the stairs and I followed him, this time right by his side.
"So, who do you sit with at lunch. You must sit with a lot of people, because all those people this morning where saying hi to you." I asked a little nervous.
"I usually sit by myself out in the courtyard on the grass. I like silence during lunch. You could go sit with Emily today."
"I guess I could." I said disappointed. "Don't you want some could company. I mean I know you the best out of anyone else here."
"Nah. It is okay. You can sit with Emily. You guys can talk about girl stuff." Then he chuckled, but I didn't. "Tough crowd."
"Well you know I can sit with you. I mean only if you want me too." I was starting to sound desperate.
"Fine." We entered the lunch room. "Go ahead and get what you want."
"Okay" I got a little sandwich and a bottle of water. Then I paid. Well I was paying I heard this voice behind me.
"You want to sit with us?" I turned around to see Emily. The I looked a Emmit.
"Go ahead." Emmit said in a calm voice.
"Well actually I was going to sit with Emmit since he has to show me to my next class. I will sit with you tomorrow." I said trying not to sound to mean.
"Well I could show you to your next class." Emily replied
"Yeah Brenda. She could show you to your next class. I could have a little break." Emmit shot back at me.
"Well Emmit was the one who was told to show me around. I will sit by you guys tomorrow." I couldn't loose the chance to sit with Emmit. I wanted to get to know him. I wanted one friend here. What else was I supposed to do?
"Well okay Brenda. You can sit with us tomorrow. Bye" Emily walked to a table where she started to talk to her friends.
"Why did you do that. You should have sat with them. You could get to know them. You could have met more people." Emmit snapped at me.
"Well I wanted to sit next to you. Is that okay?" I fought back but in a sorry voice.
"Fine. Follow me." He lead me out the double doors and out into the courtyard where a couple other groups sat in the grass and talked. He sat right under a tree.
"Well this is a nice place to sit. Do you sit here everyday." I was trying to make conversation.
"Yeah." Apparently trying to bring up a conversation was going to be harder then I thought.
"What is your problem." I finally snapped. " I mean here I am trying to be nice to you and you are just ignoring me. You barley have talked to me at all. Do you have a problem. I mean you must cause you don't talk to anyone."
"Well…" Emmit said in a quite voice.
"No let me finish." I interrupted. "I mean everyone must have said hi to you this morning. Then you sit at lunch all by yourself."
"Brenda…"
"Let me finish Emmit." My voice started to get louder. "Then this morning you were all like 'oh I don't go to the dances they are stupid and I don't like to go alone. Just none of the girls are worth asking.' What was that all about."
"Brenda will you go to the dance with me?"
"What? Where did that come from?"
"Will you go to the dance with me tonight? It is a simple question."
What was I going to say. First, I have this boyfriend, that he still doesn't know about, in Washington. Second, I kind of like him, but I have a boyfriend. "Yes!" Oh gosh where did that come from.
"Okay I will pick you up at 5. We can get an early dinner and then go to the dance after."
"Okay." I was stunned. I stunned myself. What was I going to do. Go to the dance and then tell him that I have a boyfriend. Oh well that's a great plan. I can't do that. Wait he said that there was never a girl worth asking. Oh god, what have I gotten myself into. For the rest of lunch we sat without talking.
About 5 minutes before lunch was done, my cell phone started ringing. Wait I don't have a call phone. "That's your cell phone it is coming from your backpack." I opened my backpack and there it was a cell phone. I answered it.
"Hello"
"Hi Brenda." It was my Aunt Ira.
"Aunt Ira when did I get a cell phone?"
"O when I bought you one. Anyways do you think you could walk home after school?"
"I guess I could."
"So you remember where the house is and everything?"
"Yeah." I lied. I wasn't paying attention in the cab but I am sure I can find it.
"Great" I should be home by dinner."
"Well actually Aunt Ira I was going to go to the dance with a friend. We are going out to dinner at 5."
"Okay. So I will see you when you get home. I have to go love you."
"Love you too. Bye."
"Bye." I hung up the phone and put it back in my backpack.
"That must have been your Aunt." Emmit's soft voice said
"Yeah. I need to walk home today. Except I have no idea where that is." I answered.
"I know where that is. I will take you home."
"You sure. I bet I can figure it out. I mean you are going to just pick me up later for the dance. "
"Don't worry about it. I will get you from your last class."
"Thank you."
After lunch he took me to my next class and the next class after that till the day was over. The same thing happened with every teacher. I gave the teacher my slip. He or She pointed me to my desk. The they talked about what was going to go on through the year in his or her class.
It was the last class of the day. I was so anxious for it to end. I wanted to get home. That way I could get ready for the dance. All I did was stare at the clock. If I started listening to the teacher it was like he was talking in a different language. Maybe that's cause I am in French class.
It was like the second hand on the clock took a minute to move. And every time it moved I would get a little more anxious. It was killing me. Time was slowly and painfully killing me. I couldn't deal with it anymore. Then all the sudden the person behind me tapped me on the shoulder and passed me a note.
On the front it said my name. I opened it up and looked directly at the bottom. It was signed from Emily. I looked around the room confused. I didn't know I had this class with her. Then I looked to the other side of the room. There she was, clear across the room. She was looking straight at me, smiling. It was like she had the most perfect smile. Her teeth were so white but not white enough to blind people. Her pretty, curly, red hair blew in the breeze from the window. I was beginning to wonder why Emmit didn't like her. She was beautiful, kind, and smart, or from what I knew about her already. We all knew that she liked Emmit. I opened the letter.
Dear Brenda,
I heard that Emmit was taking you to the dance. You are so lucky. And look it is already your first day. Have a great time. I will so see you there.
Love,
Emily
Okay well that was a little weird. I thought maybe she would be mad or something seeing as how she likes him. I folded the note back up and slid it in my pocket. Then again the person behind me tapped my shoulder. I turned around and she handed me another note. Again it said my name on it. I opened it up and looked at the bottom of the letter. Then name was one I did not recognize. It was from a girl named Lory. I looked around the room for someone who would be starring at me.
Then I saw her. It had to be her. She had long blonde hair. She had the deepest blue eyes I have ever seen. Her face was perfect. She was as beautiful as Emily was. Then she waved at me and gave me an evil look. I looked away and opened the letter.
Brenda,
I would have liked to be your friend, but once I saw you hanging out with Emmit I knew you were bad news. You need to stay away from him. He's mine and no one else's. I don't like to share.
Lory
This shocked me. I had no idea what she was talking about. I am only going to the dance with Emmit. I turned to Lory to see what she was doing now. She was still glaring at me intensely. Great. This is my first day of school and I have already made an enemy. I didn't mean to. Great was I in trouble now. I just wanted to stay in this class where she couldn't hurt me. Luckily Emmit would be just out that door waiting to take me home. I knew I was safe in this class. I turned to the clock and it was 5 minutes till school ends. I was desperately hoping that the clock would go so slow just like it had before. But then the second hand went as fast as my heart beat which was pretty fast. Every time the second hand moved I would get even more scared. Just about 50 minutes ago it would make me more anxious, and it was so slow. I wanted to stop time there and then. But then seconds later the bell rang and we where dismissed. I got up so fast and ran to the door.
When I got out the door, Emmit wasn't there. I needed to run. I ran to the stairs and ran down them so fast. Then there at the double doors to the exit of this building, he stood there. The sun had glistened on is perfect tan skin. His bright green eyes looked directly at my dark brown eyes. His perfect hair was the lightest brown, but not yet blonde, I have ever seen. He was beautiful. He should be in a museum, in an exhibit that has glass all around him. And there should be a little do not touch sig.
Oh god what was I doing. I need to tell him I have a boyfriend. I should tell him. I will tell him on the ride home.
I ran down to him so he could save me from the danger that was following me. I was one foot away from him now and all I wanted to do was hug him. Tell him that I was in danger. Some girl had gotten made at me cause I am going to thee dance with you. The last time I have ever felt like this was when I fell in love with Joey, my boyfriend. Oh god. This is not good. I can't fall in love with someone else. I am supposed to be with Joey. This is not good. What am I doing?
"Are you ready." His soft yet relaxing voice said. All I wanted to do was get out of here. I wanted to leave and never come back. I wanted to be with him. But I can't I have a boyfriend. Why can't I control myself.
"Yes I am ready. Can we leave like now." I said. You could tell I was scared.
"Well actually I have to get some books from my locker."
I grabbed his hand. "Please don't go back up there. Please!"
"Are you okay Brenda? Is something wrong?"
"I will tell you in the car please."
He looked at me for a moment. Then I looked up to see Lory heading my way. "Okay!" I grabbed his hand and ran out of the building and in to the parking lot. "Here is my ride." I looked at it. It was a little Vespa. It was so cute and so blue. I go the extra helmet and jumped on. Then moments later we took off. It felt good riding on the vespa. I felt free. I felt like nothing could harm me, not even Lory.
Oh god what was she going to think when Emmit and I come to the dance tonight. Maybe we shouldn't go. But I can't do that to him. I wanted to go. I needed to go. After everything I have been through I deserve a night out. We can just avoid her. Wait would she even be going to the dance. I mean people don't go to dances alone anymore like we did in middle school. I don't think she would go with anyone else if she thought Emmit was hers.
About 5 minutes later we stopped right in front of my Aunt's house. I hopped off and gave him my helmet. I started to walk off when his soft voice said, "Hey! Where are you going? You have something to tell me."
I turned back around look at his bright green eyes. Then his green eyes looked right at mine, something I was not prepared for. "I was in French class when this girl Lory passed me a note."
"Oh god. Not more about Lory! I am so sick of her."
"Well anyways the not said…" I pulled the not out of my pocket and slowly unfolded it. "Brenda, I would have liked to be your friend, but once I saw you hanging around Emmit I knew you weren't good news. You need to stay away from him. He's mine and no one else's. I don't like to share. Lory."
Emmit got off of his bike an walked towards me. "Hey! You think she is going to hurt you because you are hanging around me?"
"Well yeah. You should have seen the look on her face. She was so mad at me. Then once the bell rang she started to come over to me."
"Listen. I wouldn't let anyone hurt you. I am so definitely not hers. Okay?"
"Okay. Well I guess I better start getting ready. I will se you at 5." I smiled. Then turned around and started walking towards the front door.
"Brenda!" his soft voice yelled after me. Then I turned around. Emmit ran up to me. And then smiled at me. "I will see you at 5." Then he kissed my cheek, then left. Oh crap. I am in a lot if trouble. I do have a boyfriend. Why can't I seem to tell him? This isn't going to be good.