By the time Genie reached her fifth period study hall in the library, she almost felt like she could breathe normally. Four periods had passed with only minimal whispering about the festive beginning to her day, but it had seemed manageable. Malia had disappeared quickly after class, not even turning around to say goodbye, with her highlighter horns at the ready for her next period. The nervousness that had boiled within Genie all morning seemed only to simmer as she signed in with the teacher and headed towards the back of the library, ducking behind shelves and weaving her way to a corner.
Finally on her own and away from the eyes of other people, she let herself sink into a chair and face-plant on the table before her with a quiet groan. Her bag slid off of her shoulder and onto the ground with a thump. She was tired. The past few days had hardly offered her any comfort, be it sleep or peace and quiet. Setting up the house and making it a home seemed to be taking forever, though Genie knew they were making good progress. Genie's own room was still littered with large brown boxes and packing peanuts and bubble wrap from the move cross-country, despite her self-imposed isolation in her room. It had been a long week of readjustment, and she was sure her struggles were only beginning.
Beacon Hills High School didn't seem too horrible, as of yet. Most of her teachers were incredibly welcoming, making sure to try and guide her on her first day. The students were typical teenagers, which she supposed she had to be thankful for. They gossiped, and she saw them stare curiously at her as she walked through the halls, but she was generally unacknowledged. It reminded her a lot of her old school, right down to the color of the tiles in the bathroom and the smell in the stairwells.
"No, really. I would bet on Scott over broody teenager sour-wolf any day. Hell, I'd bet on Scott in most situations. He just-"
"That's so sweet of you, buddy."
Genie turned towards where the voices were coming from, pushing her hair back and out of her face while resting on her other arm. The first person to come through the gap in the book cases caught her eye and froze, causing the next three people to crash into him and push him forward. She blanched at the awkward commotion, sitting up straight and watching as the first boy righted himself, turning to his friends with an disgruntled look. Looking up at the rest of the group, Genie felt a surge of relief rush through her when she recognized one of the faces.
"Oh. Hey Genie," Malia called out easily, pushing past the other three people to throw her bag clumsily onto the table and drop into an open seat. The others hovered, confusion clear on all of their faces as they inched closer.
It took most of her self-control to keep herself upright instead of slumping back in despair at the wary looks on the faces of the others. Genie forced herself to look at Malia instead, watching as she pulled books out of her bag.
"Hey," she muttered uneasily, eyes flitting back towards the girl's friends. The skinny boy who had stumbled through first looked absolutely baffled, blinking rapidly as he moved forward to slide into the seat beside Malia. He continued to look between the two of them expectantly. Genie swallowed nervously, lowering her eyes down to her hands as two of the other chairs were pulled out.
"Why are you guys being weird?"
Genie looked up to see Malia staring at the skinny boy accusingly. Blushing in embarrassment, Genie shifted in her seat and reached down to grab her bag, only to see a pair of ankle boots next to her. She looked back up slowly, past the miniskirt and blouse, to find a shrewd pair of eyes examining her.
"You're adorable, and your haircut does wonders to accent your bone structure. Why have I not seen you before?" the girl asked, a quizzical tilt to her head and sincere wonder in her voice. Genie opened her mouth to speak, snapping it shut quickly as she flushed even more. It took her a moment to gain back her wits, glancing quickly to see the rest of the table looking at her expectantly.
"I- Well, I just moved here over winter break, so I-"
"So you're the new girl I've heard about all morning? Malia, you yelled at this girl?" she interrupted, twisting to look at Malia with a raised eyebrow.
Malia groaned, tilting her head back and ignoring the skinny boy's laughter next to her. Even Genie had to grin at the gross misinformation that gossip had brought about. "I swear to God, I didn't yell at her. Genie, tell them I didn't yell at you!" Malia hissed, smacking her palms against the table. Genie let out a quiet, nervous laugh, shaking her head and turning to see the other girl taking a seat next to her with a conspiratorial smile in her direction. Suddenly, Genie had gone from finally finding a little peace by herself for the first time that day, to being surrounded again. The girl beside her folded her hands primly under her chin, nodding seriously when Malia began to defend herself.
"She's really anxious. I think there's something wrong with her," she said easily, shrugging at the exasperated look Genie shot her. "What? I do."
"Something wrong with her or something wrong with her?" the skinny boy asked, arms moving with little coordination to gesticulate at the second 'wrong.' Malia raised an eyebrow, biting at the end of her pen and tilting her head as she seemed to try and puzzle out the meaning behind his words.
That uncomfortable thrum of anxiety that had become almost ignorable within the last hour was starting to hit her again as she watching the group around her converse, she herself right at the middle of all the banter. Malia was much more socially stunted than she had let in on. Genie clenched her hands in her cardigan as she waited for an opening to leave with as little consequence as possible. Malia and the skinny boy continued to bicker, however, until the final person in their group spoke up.
"Guys! I think you're literally going to make her sick," the boy spoke, a light laugh at the end of his statement as he shifted his focus to Genie. She sucked in a breath, sitting up straighter as he smiled warmly at her. It was just enough to break the tension that she could smile back shyly. "I'm Scott. That's Stiles, and this is Lydia. Malia said your name was…?"
He trailed off, gesturing towards her to let her speak. She took in a breath and smiled unsurely again. "Genie. My name is Genie."
"Genie? Like the magical being that is trapped in a bottle until you rub it three times?" Stiles asked, his voice incredulous as he stared Genie down. The way she slumped backwards in her seat made it seem as if she was trying to collapse inwards on herself. She raised a hand to brush a stray curl from her face and placed it against her cheek, feeling the heat under her palm. A muffled thump made her look back up to see Stiles rubbing the back of his head with a wince, staring at Scott in disbelief.
"Ignore Stiles. Tell me about where bought that cardigan," Lydia cut in, smiling a little more gently than she had the first time. Genie thumbed at the fabric for a moment, trying to remember.
"I, uh… I think my mom got it for me? Probably somewhere in New York," she replied quietly, noticing the glitter of excitement in Lydia's eyes.
"In New York as in visiting or living there?"
"We lived there for just over a year, but not on Manhattan. Just off the island. My mom worked in the city though."
"That's fascinating. I've decided we're going to be friends," she stated abruptly, sitting back in her chair and crossing her arms. Genie blinked owlishly at her, face caught somewhere between terrified and relieved. She didn't know quite whether she was supposed to smile or run away, so she glanced to the other end of the table quickly to see the reactions of the others. Stiles was the only one reacting beyond a smile, choosing instead to stare at Lydia like she had grown a second head and three sets of horns. When he caught Genie's eye, he shot her a sarcastic grin and a thumbs up.
Genie looked back at Lydia, watching as the redhead looked at the other three, daring them to speak up. At seeing Stiles's face, she raised an eyebrow and snapped, "What? I would like a normal friend, one I can talk to about normal things."
Looking truly disgruntled for the first time since sitting down, Scott sat up straighter to level Lydia with a look. "Malia and Kira are very normal," he objected.
"If by normal you mean- I mean, Malia isn't normal, can we be real about that?" Lydia challenged, gesturing at the girl who had a pencil wedged behind her canines as she clutched a large eraser and started furiously erasing nearly half a page worth of writing. A hole tore right in the middle. She looked up at Lydia and blinked stoically in what Genie could only read as resigned agreement before looking back at her work. "And Kira- Well, yes, Kira is normal, but Genie is normal."
Stiles rolled his eyes, leaning back farther in his seat and throwing up his hands in defeat. With a small smirk, Lydia turned back to Genie triumphantly. Genie herself was confused, grasping at the straws of what she had just missed during the course of the conversation and coming up blank. By the time she got her wits about her enough to say anything, it seemed that Lydia already had a course mapped out for the beginning of their friendship.
"Tomorrow, I'm taking you shopping, okay? We'll talk details tomorrow, here. I'm guessing you have study? I don't know if you're in any of my classes yet. Let me see your schedule," she demanded, holding out her hand expectantly. Genie scrambled to unzip her backpack and pull out the crumbled sheet, grimacing at the measured tears along the right side. She hadn't been able to keep her hands still in her second period, choosing instead to tear notches into the edge of the paper for part of the period. Lydia snatched the paper from her hand, eyes scanning the sheet quickly before she looked back up at Genie in surprise. "You're a sophomore?"
Genie nodded, trying to think of anything to say when Malia cut in again. "By the way, we've got sophomore English together. My reading level is still too low for the junior class despite the tutoring, so that's happening," she said, her shoulders dropping down as she her nose scrunched up in annoyance.
"You haven't been in school for years. The fact that you're already up to high school levels is very impressive. You'll get there," Stiles reassured her, reaching out a hand to squeeze the one that was clenched tightly around her eraser. The girl barely acknowledged his words before bending over her sad looking paper and scribbling at it in angry, aborted strokes. Another hole tore with a spectacular flourish of her pen. Stiles tore a piece of paper from his own notebook and handed it over without even looking up.
A fluttering noise drew Genie's attention back to Lydia, the girl handing back her schedule with a smile. "Well, we don't have any classes, but we have study together, and it looks like we have the same lunch too. You'll sit with us," she said breezily, turning to pull her own work out from her bag.
"She will?" came Stiles's irritated protest.
There was a tense moment of silence as Genie looked at her hands, shredding the edges of her schedule again and dreading the arrival of lunch. If this was the atmosphere she was getting herself into, she'd rather sit alone. Her fingers trembled as the quiet stretched until finally a huff sounded from the other end of the table.
"Oka- Yup, yes, I was wrong to even ask. She will, of course."
A/N: I would appreciate any and all feedback, as well as suggestions, comments, whatever. (Friendship is also totally cool. I'd love to be friends.) If someone would want to beta, that'd be cool too. Really, just tell me things and I'll probably get excited you're reading at all.
