CHAPTER 2
Welcome to Ocean Shores
After I had unpacked my bags I went down stairs to find Leo looking through his suitcases and placing the odd photo around the room
"So, do love it as much as I do?" I sat next to him
"Definitely! I'm so glad we did this!"
"Do you think Dad will be ok?" I asked
"Yeah, skittle. He'll be great! Without us he'll have a chance for a new start too!"
"I guess you're right" I slumped in to the puffy cushions
"Why don't you go check out the locals or something?"
"Well I would but I couldn't find my board" I sighed
"Oh, you mean this?" Leo smirked holding out board
"Yes! Thank you" I whipped it out of his hand and ran from the door
"See you later. Be back for tea at about seven"
"Are you not coming?" I stood in the doorway
"Nah, I need to unpack the rest of our things"
"Well, ok then. Catch ya later" I shut the door and jumped on my board. I began rolling down the road toward the town below when I heard someone calling after me
"Excuse me" it was a women's voice. I turned round to a found a woman with short blond hair and glasses waving at me from her the curb
"Hello" I got off my board and walked over to her
"Hello there. You must be our new neighbours"
"Yes, I'm the new girl. I moved here with my brother" I smiled
"Brother? Oh. Any way I just thought I'd be the first to welcome you to Ocean Shores" She smiled
"Actua- "
"My son, Sam, should be on the peire with his friends" She interrupted "He's a friendly young boy- I can't say I'm too fond of his friend though"
"Oh, why not?" I thought Leo said they were nice
"Well trouble follows them around like a dog chases a cat! I think sometimes they lead Sam in to all sorts of trouble"
"Oh right" I giggled
"Well I won't keep you any longer! I'm sure your dying to get out and see the local attractions! If you and your brother need anything you can just ask me, I know all too well what it's like to be new around town"
"Oh thank you Mrs… um"
"Dullard" She smiled
"Thank you Mrs Dullard" I said turning on my heels. I got back on my board and rode off down the hill. I wasn't very good at making new friends, so in a away I was kind of hoping I wouldn't bump in to the kids from the block. Back in England I didn't have many friends. Not close ones anyway. I didn't feel like I could talk to any of them about important things. I guess I just preferred my own company. Not many girls liked skating and boarding in England so being able to board myself was like my escape. The sun was still high in the sky glistening on the ocean waves and I started to wish I had brought my surf board. My curly brown hair flew behind me in the wind as I dashed down through the town. When I arrived at the piere I hopped off my board and stood for a while, soaking up the entire atmosphere. I took off my shoes and walked out on the beach letting the hot sand sink in-between my toes. Then I saw the surf shop my brother had been talking about. I wondered in to the shop and took a look around. I couldn't see the shop assistant anywhere
"Hi, can I help you?" I turned around to see a broad shouldered man stood in front of me. He wore a green hat over his thick blond hair and typical surfer shorts and T-shirt
"Umm I was just taking a look at your boards, I just moved here and I left my board behind"
"Oh, you wouldn't have happened to have moved in to the Stimpletons house have you?"
"Yeah, this afternoon"
"Ahh. Otto said he saw someone was moving in today. Well May I be the first to welcome you to Ocean shores, neighbour" He smiled
"Thank you. It's a lovely place to live"
"Isn't it just. I'm Mr Rocket, but everyone calls me Raymundo"
"I'm skittle"
"Skittle? Cool name! My kids, Reggie and Otto, should be around here somewhere with their friends. They'd love to meet their new neighbour" He looked around for them
"I should probably be off then. My brother wants me back for dinner" I smiled running from the shop. I wasn't quite in the mood for introducing myself to a whole gang. I swiftly headed home for dinner. In a matter of hours my life had completely changed and I wasn't quite ready for it. Don't get me wrong, I was so excited to be living in California with my brother but it's just a lot to take in in one day!
"You weren't long" Leo noticed as I walked through the door
"Well I wasn't quite ready to meet all the locals yet" I sat at the kitchen table and kicked off my shoes
"Well you'll have to be tomorrow"
"What d'you mean?"
"Well you've got school remember, duh!" Leo said placing a bowl of pasta in front of me
"What? But it's so soon! We only just moved here today! Shouldn't we have a day to unpack and settle in?"
"We didn't really have much to unpack and I don't know about you but I'm very settled" Leo smiled
"I guess. But I'm just not ready to be labelled as the new girl and to have everyone either avoiding me or crowding me asking me tons of questions" I said through a mouthful of food
"Sorry Skittle, but it's all been arranged with the school. If you don't go tomorrow it will be classed as skiving"
"Fine then. But if I'm going to school, you have to go on a job hunt! Deal?"
"Deal! So did you meet any of our neighbours?"
"I did actually. I met Mrs Dullard who has a son called Sam and I also met Mr Rocket. He's the one that owns the surf shop you were talking about"
"Oh really? Did he have any kids? The Stimpletons told me he did"
"Yeah, two. Otto and Reggie"
"Did you meet them?"
"No, but now that I'm going to school tomorrow I kind of wish I had stuck around to meet them so that I'd at least know some people" I slumped in the chair
"Hey, tomorrow's going to be great! You're going to meet so many cool people! I hear they really like their skating and boarding around here so that's something you already have in common" Leo offered
"Yh I guess. Thanks for dinner but I think I'm gonna go to bed now" I got up from the table and headed to my new room. It wasn't very late but if I was going to tackle a brand new school tomorrow, I needed my energy!
"Skittle, time to get up" Leo peaked through my door in attempt to get me up
"What time is it?" I groaned
"It's seven o'clock and school starts at eight. So you better get up and start getting ready"
I heaved myself out of bed and walked over to the mirror. I brushed through my long brown curls and left them hanging; I washed my face before applying a little mascara and neutral lip gloss; then I headed for the wardrobe and looked through the clothes I had unpacked the night before. I looked out the window and saw that the sun was beating down on the whole of Ocean Shores so I decided to wear my faded demon short and my favourite turquoise crop top that showed off a little of my hips. I didn't have any dainty pumps so I pulled on a pair of white DC's. I wasn't sure what girls wore around Ocean Shores so I tried to go for a casual beach babe look. I'd soon find out whether this was the right kind of style though. Grabbing a black and white polkadot rucksack, I ran downstairs to find Leo piling pancakes on to a plate
"Ready?" He asked
"Yep. Ready in under an hour! Good eh?" I sat at the table hoping the pancakes were for me
"Well quickly eat these and then you need to get going" and sure enough he placed the pancakes in front of me
"Don't you need to come down with me? You know, have a talk with the teachers about what I was like at my old school and talk about opportunities and all that"
"No. I pretty much did all that on the phone to them" He smiled shoving an entire pancake in his mouth
"Oh, ok then. Well I just want to say thank you Leo"
"It's ok, I enjoy cooking"
"No not for the cooking you twit! For everything you've done for me! I mean you've set up a whole new life for me here and I'm so grateful! So thank you!"
"It's my pleasure! It's a new start for both of us! But just because we have a new start here doesn't mean we're going to forget about our old life! Dad is still a part of our lives, ok?"
"Yeah, definitely" I smiled
"So you ready for your first day?"
"Not really. I just hope people will like me"
"Of course they will! What's not to like?"
"Everything" I smirked
Leo looked at me sceptically then down at his watch. His eyes widened
"How'd that happen?" He said to himself
"What?"
"Well according to my watch it five to eight"
"What? But school starts at eight and it takes at least fifteen minutes to ride down there"
"Sorry Skittle, looks like you better leave those pancakes and leg it to school"
"Gee, thanks Leo. See you later" I ran from the table and grabbed my board
"Good luck" He shouted as skated from the house
"Oh god, late on my very first day! This is gonna be so embarrassing!" I skated faster and faster. I was practically flying down the road. Then I saw it.
OCEAN SHORES HIGH SCHOOL
It was a huge building but, like every other in ocean shores, it was very modern. I jumped off my board and sprinted inside. The air in my lungs had been completely knocked out of me as I ran round the school looking for my classroom. I pulled out my phone and dialled Leo's number
"Hello?"
"You didn't tell me where my class is you blockhead"
"Oh sorry. Let me see…" Leo trailed off
"Leo, I'm already late, if you remember and you definitely not helping" I huffed down the phone
"Alright alright. Its classroom A6"
"Thank you"
"Now put your phone away before you get caught, have a good day" And with that Leo hung up. I looked around and saw I was in the D section so I ran back on myself to try and find the A's
"C…B… Ok so where's A? Aha" I ran to the door and practically burst through before realising they had started their lesson and every child was silent
I hung my head in embarrassment as my cheeks flushed red
"Oh man"
Hey guys. I know I know. I's sorry the rocket gang weren't in this chapter but they are definitely in the all the wrest! The story is just starting to get interesting so keep reading and reviewing :D
