Chapter 2: First Day
The hallways bustled with students as they caught up after the long Summer break. The freshman all tried to look for their friends in the large crowds of older kids. They couldn't believe that they had finally made it to high school. This was the beginning of the best four years of their lives. For the Seniors the reality that this was their last year was finally setting in. They all remembered their freshman year and couldn't believe how fast it had all gone by.
Then there was Sam.
Through all the commotion Samantha Walker walked into Tree Hill High with one goal in mind. Get through the dreaded first day drawing as little attention to herself as possible. She was dressed in skinny jeans, a long sleeve red shirt and a black vest over with her brand new converses. Usually she didn't put much effort into what she wore but she didn't want to make the same mistake as in her last school.
Sam was never really the popular girl. Mostly because she didn't give a rats ass about what people said or thought about her. When she had gone to Baker High back in South Carolina she had gone the first day dressed in her "work clothes" and it had caused quite a bit of trouble. From that day she was known as easy Sam. The boys thought that she was just another girl for every guy to have his way with and the girls all thought she was a slut and a reject. The teachers thought she was troubled and the counselors all tried to find answers.
Its not that she minded the rumors and dirty looks. It was just that she hated the attention. Sam hated to have all eyes on her good or bad. She liked to be left alone. She knew that none of the other kids would understand what she had to go through. They would say that she wanted to be a prostitute and that she could just walk away but the truth was she couldn't. If she stopped working then that meant no money which meant no food, clothes, or shelter. She had to work to survive and the drugs usually numbed everything out anyway.
While Sam was in her deep thought she failed to realize the teacher that was walking strait towards her with her head down reading some papers that were stapled together and ended up knocking right into her sending them both to the floor.
"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry." said the teacher as she gathered the fallen papers, "I should have been watching where I was going."
She was young, like right out of college, with dirty blond hair and slim. From the looks of all the papers on Edgar Allen Poe that were scattered across the hallway floor Sam guessed that she was an English teacher. Sam, finally realizing what had happened, snapped out of her daze and began to help pick up the papers.
"It's okay. I wasn't really paying attention either." confessed Sam, "First day jitters I guess."
Sam and the Teacher stood up and Sam handed her the papers that she had retrieved. The Teacher took them kindly and smiled back at her. She didn't really recognize her and guessed that she was a new student.
"Thanks. So I've never seen you around Tree Hill before." said the Teacher.
"Yeah I'm kinda new here. Just got in town yesterday. My names Samantha Walker but everyone calls me Sam." she explained.
Sam figured that being truthful was another thing that she was going to try to do from now on. Well being truthful about everything but her job, not that she thought that anyone was going to ask about that. No had ever known about Sam being a prostitute. For one it wasn't something that she necessarily liked to scream from the rooftops but besides that no one cared enough to care about what she did after school. Plus they never had a reason to suspect anything.
Sam kept to herself. She liked to be left alone. Plus she never really had any bruises or anything. Though the guys were never prince charming, considering the whole situation, they never got violent. Well usually never. There was always that one guy who was a sicko. They were all Pervs. When she had her occasional rough night after work she usually tried to sit in the back of her classes, hidden. It made it easier for the teachers not to ask questions.
"Well your going to like it here. I went to school here not too long ago. I was a cheerleader if you can believe that. I was also a nerd." Haley laughed at the memory, "I'm Haley, well Mrs. James-Scott. I'm the English teacher for sophomores and Juniors."
"I'm a Junior so maybe I will have you." said Sam.
Haley rummaged through her messy papers and found her junior class' attendance sheet. She scanned down the list to the very end and sure enough Sam's name was on the list.
"Yup you're in my fifth period class." said Haley with a smile, "Don't worry I try to make my classes as interesting as possible so it shouldn't be boring."
"Thats..." began Sam.
She got cut off by someone calling out Haley's name from down the hall. Sam turned to see a brunette making her way towards them. The hallways were really crowded and she almost smacked into a few kids causing Sam to chuckle. She looked about Hailey's age and oddly familiar but Sam couldn't quite put her finger on it in that moment.
"Sam this is.." said Haley as the brunette finally got to them.
"Brooke Davis." said Sam suddenly remembering.
When she had first got to Tree Hill she had seen a billboard with a picture of Brooke on it. She was a fashion designer and had started the line Clothes over Bros. Sam had never been that fashion oriented so that had been the first time she had seen a picture of her but she had heard about her before from Veronica. Veronica loved Brooke's clothes and had practically the whole first line that Brooke ever came out with. Sam had to admit that it was a little creepy.
"I like this one Haley." said Brooke causing Sam to smile.
Sam couldn't believe how good things were going so far. She was even starting to feel kind of normal for a little while but she knew that it wouldn't last. Sam was anything but normal but she could enjoy this while it lasted.
Suddenly the sound of the first bell echoed through the hallways.
"Well guess that's my cue." said Haley, "You should get to class Sam. I will see you fifth period."
"Okay. It was nice meeting you Brooke. See you fifth period Mrs. Scott."
"Bye." said Brooke.
Sam walked away from Haley and Brooke. She took out her schedule from her pocket. She had had to pay some lady to pretend and be her mother so that she could be enrolled in Tree Hill. It was what she always had to do and luckily for her she had never been caught. She put Veronica's house as her mailing address so if the school ever sent a patrol guy to her house Veronica would cover for. Veronica always went with her when it was time to pick up and move. She was the closest thing to family that Sam had.
Veronica had tried to find ways for Sam to quit the job and just be a normal kid but it was hard. Sam was a minor so she couldn't really get another job and even if she did find one they only gave her minimum wage. When she worked the streets she took home 200 dollars a night on a bad day. On a good day she could get as much as 800 dollars. Sam wasn't proud of it but she had to admit that it paid the bills.
Sometimes she would imagine her life differently. She would pretend that she had a mom and a dad and a dog. She lived in a big house and had her shared a room with her younger sibling who she got into many fights with. She went to school and had lots of friends. She played on the basketball team and was still a virgin. She even had a boyfriend who she loved very much. But that was all just fantasy. Her little dream world that she liked to escape to now and then.
After Sam found the auditorium she sat down and kicked up her feet. Having study hall for her was super convenient because she wasn't really a morning person. This gave her time to actually wake up so she could focus in her second period class, which was ironically history. Sam hated history. It was boring and useless. A bunch of dead guys and people repeating the same mistakes over and over and never learning. She couldn't care less for it but she needed it to graduate.
"Samantha Walker." called the teacher for attendance.
"Here." said Sam raising her hand.
Sam took her iPod out of her bag and put her headphone into her ears. She turned her iPod on and flipped through the thousands of songs that she had downloaded onto it. She stopped at the song Never Too Late by Three Days Grace and pressed play. This was her favorite song. She didn't know why but whenever she heard it it gave her a small bit of hope that things would get better. She hired the volume until the rest of the world was blocked out and then she closed her eyes and slouched down in her seat getting comfortable.
By the time fifth period rolled around Sam was still in a pretty god move. She ended up making a few friends and had declared history as her favorite class so far. The main reason for that was that the history teacher was hilarious. They had spent the whole class talking. Everyone in the class introduced themselves and gave brief descriptions of what they liked to do on their free time. It was pretty fun. And now she walked into Haley's class and found a seat in the middle of the class. She didn't want to sit in the front but she also didn't want to be in the back.
Soon the bell rang and all the students took their seats. Haley walked in just as the bell rang still holding the mess load of papers she had been holding earlier that morning. She set everything on her desk and walked over to the board. She wrote her name on it and turned to the class.
"Welcome back everybody. My name is Mrs. James-Scott but you guys can call me Mrs. Scott. I am going to be your English teacher for the year. We are going to learn about a lot of things and will read some interesting stories. For today though I want to start the year with some writing. Every teacher asks how was your summer so I'm going to do something a little differently. I want you to write about an experience that you had over the summer that changed your outlook on life in some way. You are going to hand it in so please no depravity or X rated content. I want everyone's name on the papers and they are due at the beginning of tomorrow's class." said Haley.
"Are we going to get a lot of work in your class?" asked a kid from the back of the class.
"No your not but the work we do do I expect you to put a lot of effort into. The point of this class is to learn about literature as well as figuring out thing about yourself and others that you never knew about before." said Haley.
Sam opened her notebook and decided to that she was going to do the assignment now. She knew that she wasn't going to have time later because of work and she really didn't want to mess up on this assignment. She was surprisingly actually excited about it. The one thing that Sam loved to do was write. It was her passion. Whatever she couldn't find herself to say or express came out in her writing. Her writing explained her. She loved it. It got her through rough and lonely times. Whenever she needed an escape she just picked up her pen and wrote away.
She opened her notebook and began to write.
Samantha Davis
This summer was very eventful. I was once again informed that I would have to move. This was the eighth time that I had had to pick up and leave at the end of a school year. I wasn't surprised but I was kind of disappointed. I guess you could say I had become adjusted; my mistake.
But back to the topic at hand. The event that changed my life completely was when I found out that my birth mother lived in Tree Hill. I had accidentally stumbled upon a letter when I was absently looking through some of my birth records. I had found a name; Rebecca Walker. I had looked her up and found out that she was right here in Tree Hill the whole time. I'm not looking to reunite with her exactly because I know that she gave me up for a reason and highly doubt she would ever want me back.
I can't say how things will turn out but a small part of me wishes for her to want me. That part of me says that she can save me and give me a second chance but the reality is that this is highly unlikely. I wish things could have somehow been different but I know that the decisions I have made have turned my life inside out. It has made me realize that some people just don't get their happy endings and I am one of those people.
I don't know if I believe in love; neither romantically or towards family. I've never experienced it to know for sure but how can their be love if their is adultery and abandonment. I wish that I could feel differently but experience supports these feelings.
I vaguely remember the last time that I smiled and meant it. I try to block everyone out so that my feelings don't show but its hard. What I know I've had to teach myself because being a foster kid means that I don't get and parental attention. No one's told me not to bite my nails and to keep my room clean. No one tells me to go to bed early and eat my vegetables. Basically my life is hard and my outlook is cloudy. I'm not sure whether to view life as cruel and grueling or as fair and choosy.
The bell rang just as Sam finished up. She tore the page out of her notebook and ripped off the perforated edges. She got up and walked up to Haley's desk who was saying goodbye to the students as they left the classroom.
"Mrs. Scott." said Sam cautiously.
Haley looked up and saw Sam handing her a piece of paper. She looked at Sam confused but took the paper and placed it on her desk.
"You know you could have just done it for homework." said Haley.
"I have to work and I don't get out until late so I don't really have that much free time. I try to do my homework in school so that I can go strait to sleep after I get out of work." explained Sam.
"Where do you work?" asked Haley curiously.
Sam had hoped that Haley wouldn't ask any questions because she really didn't want to lie to her but there was absolutely no way she could tell the truth so she had no other choice.
"The cafe." lied Sam as best as she could.
"Oh. That's good that you have a job. I used to work in a cafe when I was in high school too. It was really fun." said Haley.
Sam put on a smile. She hated lying to Haley. It made her feel horrible and dirty but she couldn't help it. She had to keep her secret safe. No one would understand her situation.
"Well I have to get going. I guess I will see you tomorrow." said Sam.
"Okay. Have a good night." said Haley.
Sam walked out of the classroom and down the hallway thinking about what Haley had said to her. If only she knew that there was no such thing as a happy night for Sam. Night were filled with self degrading actions and fear. Then tears and loneliness when she got home. She spent her nights with her knees pulled to her chest and crying. This was how she was going to have to live until graduation and it scared her. She wished it would just end.
There you go.
The second chapter.
I hope you all liked it.
Review.
