It was a new year, at a new school, and yet he already was in a bad mood solely for the fact that he didn't want to go to a new school, especially this one.
He heard plenty of things about Degrassi, and nearly none of them were good. Fights, school fires, pregnancies, school shootings, gonorrhea outbreaks, nudity scandals, predatory teachers, hit and run scandals, stabbings, drug scandals, and hazing didn't seem like a healthy environment for him to thrive in but his parents were desperate for him to start fresh after last year.
As Eli Goldsworthy drove up to the school, he could see everyone staring at him in judgment and fear because of the fact he was driving a hearse and blasting loud metal music. Unfortunately for them, he didn't give a fuck about what they thought. He knew his whole aesthetic would scare kids off and he wanted to keep it that way. After what happened this year, he wasn't interested in developing relationships with other people. He wanted to be alone.
He pulled into a parking spot in front of the school, turned the music off, and got out of Morty. He tried to ignore everyone's stares and just focus on getting inside the school as he walked along the sidewalk. He wasn't trying to make a grand entrance but he guessed no one at this school has ever seen someone like him before.
He was just about to put on his headphones when the sound of obnoxiously loud pop music caught his attention immediately in the worst way. He turned around to see a black girl in a black convertible pull up in the parking space next to Morty. He could see her designer clothes all the way from where he was standing. She stepped out of the car with her white friend and took off her sunglasses. With a yellow halter dress and gladiator heels, she came off as very girly.
At the sight of her face, he immediately noticed she had several attractive features which were her dark eyes, long eyelashes, round cheeks, and full lips. Her friend said something that made her laugh, and he noticed she also had a nice smile with adorable dimples too. Combined with the way the sunlight shined on her dark skin, she might have been the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life.
It made him want to look away, especially since he could tell she wasn't his type but he couldn't. The sight of her was distracting. When she turned around and met his eyes with a disturbed on her face, that's when he turned away. Her eyes were judgmental, fearful. It didn't surprise him at all. She looked like the type of girl that made fun of him and Julia at his old school for being "weird".
As Eli made his way into the school to get his class schedule, he thought about whether or not a fresh start at this school would be worth it.
Probably not.
He wanted to fly under the radar for his first day at Degrassi, but he unfortunately couldn't even have that.
"For the first day in class, we're going to do an ice breaker. Pair up with the person next to you and introduce yourself to them, ask them what they like to read, and a fun fact about them," Ms. Dawes, his English teacher, ordered as everyone around him complied. Eli sighed as he turned around to see who his partner was. It was the girl from the parking lot, who could barely hide her displeasure at having to interact with him.
"Hi," he greeted her flatly. He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.
"Hi," she greeted back with a polite, bubbly smile. Her tone was fake as hell, and she most definitely wanted to get this over with as well. "You seem to be new here," she added.
"I transferred this year from Briarwood," he admitted.
"Well, welcome to Degrassi. I'm Marisol," she introduced herself.
Marisol.
It was probably one of the most girliest names he had ever heard, and it sounded like a flower. Fitting name, for a seemingly super girly girl. He had to begrudgingly admit it was pretty as well.
"I'm Eli," he introduced himself back, "Books you like reading?"
"I love romance novels, and plays. I recently got into Twilight and it's so good," she answered enthusiastically and he nearly rolled his eyes. Of course she liked Twilight. Typical girly stuff. "What about you?"
"Horror like Dracula and Frankenstein. I also enjoy epics like the Iliad and tragedies like Macbeth," he answered. He wanted to add comic books and graphic novels too but she would probably sneer at how much of a nerd he was.
"Cool," she replied with a nod, "What's a fun fact about you?"
"You saw it earlier. I have a hearse," he answered, as he thought about her reaction to it.
"Do your parents own a funeral home or something?" She asked in confusion.
"Nope, I just wanted a hearse as my car of choice," he answered again, which made her raise an eyebrow.
"Interesting...," she said slowly. He was amused by how disturbed she was by this.
"And what's a fun fact about you?" He asked her, waiting to see if anything profound would be revealed about her.
"Um...I own like forty shades of lip gloss," she answered sheepishly.
Guess not.
"That's awesome," he replied, barely hiding the sarcasm in his tone. Everything about Marisol would have disgusted Julia. She was basically the complete opposite of her. He wouldn't be surprised if she was a cheerleader too, just because it would make so much sense. They silently turned away from each other for the rest of the activity to his relief.
Ms. Dawes finally ended the activity and demanded everyone repeat what their partner said to them. Marisol decided to go first and he could see how everyone was dying to know about the new, freaky goth kid in class.
As Eli introduced Marisol, he realized something that could potentially be annoying.
Despite the fact that she was probably the antithesis of everything he usually found attractive in a girl, he actually loved the sound of her name on his tongue.