Now we get into the plot and get to know more of the characters. Meet some new wolves, I did a little research to find some good Quileute names before realizing that most of them have Biblical or modern names... it's fine tho... The chapters will get longer from here on as well.
Chapter three - school
The last week before school flew by, and before I knew it, it was the night before my first day. My dad could sense my nervousness, and suggested we go get ice cream from the diner down the street. I immediately agreed.
"I'll have a double scoop of mango sorbet, thank you." I passed my menu to the waitress as my dad ordered his usual, one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate. She took our orders, welcomed us to Forks and left.
"Looks like almost everyone knows we're new here," my dad said, taking his jacket off and laying it over the back of his chair. I nodded.
"I'm kind of hoping the res doesn't know I'm only half native so I don't get picked on in school."
"I'm sure it'll be fine, and if you have a hard time, you can always switch to the county school. Bella is only a couple years older than you anyway."
"I know. It would be nice to get to know the tribe though, I might fit in there." I shrugged. Our ice cream was delivered and we stopped talking to eat it.
On the drive back home, I planned out my outfit and what I would bring in my backpack for the first day of school. I felt like a little kid freaking out so much about my junior year, but this really would be the first impression the town and the res has of me, so I want to make it a good one.
XxxxxxxX
I ran out the door and jumped into the car with my dad, hoping to the gods that we'd get to school on time. I kept checking my phone to make sure I wasn't late yet, until my dad took it out of my hands and put it on the consul.
"Stop panicking, Kaliska. I'll get you there in plenty of time." I rested my fidgety hands on my legs until I could feel the dampness of my palms through my jeans. I had five minutes to spare when I jumped out of the car and ran into the administrator's office, slightly out of breath. She looked up.
"Hello, you must be one of our new students?" She squinted through her foggy glasses at my face.
"Yeah, I'm Kaliska Koehler, I'm a junior." I told her. I hate saying my last name out loud, so I rarely do. Even though I like my dad, I don't like the way his last names sounds with mine. It's weird to hear it from my mouth now.
"Ah yes, Kaliska. Welcome to the reservation. Here's your class schedule, a classroom map and slips for each of your teachers to sign. Let me know if you need any help or any adjustments by the end of this week." I nodded, took the paperwork and yelled a thank you as I ran to my first class.
The door closed behind me just as the tardy bell rang, and the entire class turned to look at me. I went to the front of the room to have the teacher sign my slip, and held my breath, hoping he would just let me go.
"Oh you're new to the area? I'm sure you don't mind introducing yourself to the class." I nearly groaned. I turned around, waving my hand at the room in general.
"Hi, I'm Kaliska."
"Your last name?"
"I don't use it. It's just Kaliska like... Zendaya, Beyoncé or Oprah."
A few people in the class laughed, most rolled their eyes and I heard one person snort under their breath. I ignored it, took my slip and sat down on the edge of the room, near the window.
"Alright class. Today we'll go over the class syllabus and I'll explain your coursework..." I tuned out immediately, only listening to the last ten minutes so I could hear what the assignment for tomorrow is.
The rest of my classes were equally if not more dull. I introduced myself, I heard two other people introduce themselves, I completed other classes assignments during all the spare time I had, and by lunch time, I was ready to eat and walk around. I looked around the cafeteria, scanning for the best place to sit.
Eventually, my eyes landed on a table with two friendly looking girls that I'd sat near in two of my classes. Sitting with them was a loud group of boys who seemed decent, so I walked up and tapped one on the shoulder.
"Hi, can I sit with you guys?" I asked her quietly. She smiled and nodded.
"Kalisa, right?"
"Uh, yeah Kaliska. What's your name?"
"I'm Kim, this is Shayna." Shayna waved at me from the other side of Kim. I smiled back.
"Where are you from?" Kim asked me. I shrugged.
"I moved here from Oregon but originally I'm from Miwok in California. That was my tribe." I explained. Shayna looked sad.
"What happened, why did you leave?"
"Long story, basically my dad, who isn't a Miwok, took me with him when he moved to Oregon. No hard feelings with Miwok though." Shayna nodded solemnly.
"Well welcome to the Quileute res, where are you living?"
"I'm about ten minutes away, not quite on the res but pretty close. Didn't want to go to the white school though." I started eating my lunch, and we turned our attention from our chat to the boys sitting across the table. Kim whispered to me,
"These are the guys. My brother, Chesmu, my boyfriend Jared, Brady, Collin, Elliott, Hisaka, and Seth." I nodded, knowing full well that I'd forget all of their names immediately.
"They must spend a ton of time working." I comment, raising my eyebrows. Kim laughed nervously.
"Yeah... they're really into bodybuilding." I disregarded the odd tone of her voice and listened to the wild stories they were telling. Anytime one would tell it wrong, another would take over, and it was so entertaining and confusing that I forgot about my food. I went to take a drink of water right as Seth started talking, and when he started imitating one of the group's older friends, Paul, I lost it and choked on my water. I tried spitting it back in the cup but ended up trying to force it down, and even after I thought I'd swallowed it, I kept coughing. The stories stopped and a couple guys had smirks on their faces, but mostly looked vaguely concerned. Kim patted my back but was giggling as well, and by the time I was okay, I looked up, tears in my eyes and made eye contact with Seth. He was grinning.
"It's a good impression isn't it." I rolled my eyes and agreed.
"S-sorry guys, I'm fine." I said hoarsely. One of them snorted and slid a fresh cup of water across the table to me.
"Welcome to the gang, K. I didn't hear your whole name so that's what I'm calling you." I smiled at him and drank the water.
"Thanks, I have no idea who you are." I said sheepishly. The guys introduced themselves again, one by one, but after the first two, they were talking over each other again so it was just as hard as the first time around. The one that gave me the water smirked, finally looking at me.
"Im Hisaka, and this is our insane gang, welcome-" He stopped talking as his eyes met mine. I smiled my thanks and looked away from his confused glare. His behavior changed drastically from that point, and I tried to ignore the way I could feel his eyes boring into the side of my head. He was quiet for the rest of the meal, and when we started getting up and clearing the table, I saw Jared smack the back of his head with a laugh. He growled - yes growled, and shoved Jared away, stalking off silently. I frowned.
"He's a bit moody today, ignore him." Shayna told me. I nodded, pulling out my schedule to see what was next.
"I have gym next, what about you?" I asked her. She pouted.
"Bio. Ew." I laughed and patted her shoulder.
"How bad could that be? Just dissecting various animals that have been dead for who knows how long." I shuddered. I hear white schools dissect anything, from frogs to sheep brains. My tribe would never disrespect animals that way. She seemed to agree with me, as we parted ways.
In gym, I saw Collin and Elliott, who made their way over to me, waving and standing near me, like two gigantic bodyguards. Elliott was a team captain for volleyball, and after picking Collin and one other guy, picked me. He hi fived me as I passed by, giving me a wink. Even though there hasn't been any conversation, I feel better knowing they'll have my back. I smile to myself.
Gym was a blur of motion, mostly me thanking the gods that I've been active my whole life and could keep up. After gym I had math and then I was done for the day. I headed out of the building wondering if I should wait a half hour for my dad to pick me up or if I should just walk home.
"K!" I heard someone shout behind me and I turned around to see Hisaka jogging up. I smiled.
"Hey Hisaka." I say as he gets closer.
"Hi, I wanted to apologize for being so weird earlier. It's been a day, I'm not usually weird." He tells me.
"It's okay," I shrug, "I don't normally choke either." He laughs.
"Cool. So, you walking home or what?" He asks me. I squint at the clouds.
"Doesn't look super rainy so I think I'll just tell dad I'm walking."
"Nice. Care for the company of a dashing young dude to protect you?" He gestures to himself. I smirk and shrug again.
"Sure, where he at?" He rolls his eyes and grabs my backpack from my hand, swinging it on his shoulder.
"Right here, for your viewing pleasure." He winks. I roll my eyes.
"Okay, if it's no extra trouble."
"Nah, I like to get in some extra cardio anytime." He flexes his biceps for emphasis.
"You know walking doesn't work out your arms, right?" I tease.
"Duh, just showing off here." He laughs. I laugh along, and let the conversation die down a little bit. I try to keep an open mind by he's a little bit off putting so far. He speaks again,
"So, you didn't really tell us what brought you to Forks."
"Yeah, uh, that was kind of on purpose. I don't really wanna talk about that." I say, hoping he'll drop it."
"Oh come on, you can tell me. What's going on?"
"I mean, it's not that big of a deal. I just moved with my dad when he got transferred here." Please leave it...
"Transferred here? What does he do?"
"He's uh, he's a cop." I say quietly.
"Huh, could've sworn we only have white cops though." He looks at me sideways and I ignore the statement.
"Are you white?" He asks. "I mean, it's not a huge deal if you are, but like, are you?"
"Half white. My mom was native."
"Was?"
"She died a couple years ago. My dad got custody of me then." He looked even more lost.
"Wait.. what the hell?"
"My mom met him when he was visiting our res on vacation, he knocked her up and took off, not knowing she was pregnant. She had me and died when I was fourteen, so they figured out who my dad is, contacted him and he took custody of me. We left California and moved to Oregon and then here." I explain. So much for keeping it on the DL.
"...gotcha. So you're half white." He says. I nod. "And you grew up native so that's why you're not at the white school." I nod again. He nods to himself for a second.
"I got picked on in school a lot for being half so I don't wanna spread that fact around." I tell him, hoping he'll keep it to himself.
"Mhm. Cool, well I won't mention it."
"Thanks."
We walked the rest of the way in silence, and when we got to my house, he handed me my bag back.
"Thanks for walking me home," I said, starting to turn for the door.
"Yeah sure, anytime." He made a move to leave but stopped.
"Hey, I was thinking... would you wanna go out sometime?" I froze.
"I uh... just met you... today..." I didn't want to make eye contact with him... gods! This is so awkward.
"Yeah, I'd like to get to know you though. You know, casual." I turned around.
"Yeah, sure. Okay. I'll see you tomorrow." I heard his voice but didn't make out what he said before I closed the door behind me. Gods! What did I do?