Back to School:
Ryan looked around himself warily. -Another new school, with new faces and people and lessons and all the crap that comes with them.-He wasn't particularly happy to be at Silverstone High, but then again he hadn't particularly wanted to stay at his old school either. He wasn't feeling weird about it. At least, that's what he tried to tell himself. -Moving schools isn't a new thing; I'm used to it.- And he was. With every change of foster home, came a change of town and school. It was always the same, and it happened every few months. He didn't mind much. He'd never fitted in anywhere. The families hadn't really liked him, and the people at school hadn't wanted to give him the time of day. Oh yes, there were a few girls who admired him for his apparent good looks, but he wasn't looking to make friends based on his appearance. But he was running out of options. The foster-housing agency was running out of places to give him. He had to try and make this one work.
Well, this one wasn't too bad, anyway. Some of the people seemed to be nice enough, although whether they would want anything to do with him was another question. The building was nice for a school, quite warm and inviting, and although it was big, he figured he could get used to it. The weather in Silverstone was great too, warm but with a good breeze, just the way he liked it. He could get on here, if given the chance.
Looking around, he couldn't ignore the wave of loneliness that swept over him. Almost all of the other kids seemed to be happy, chatting with their friends, meeting up at lockers, discussing holidays and parties, and tossing the occasional football around. They all moved around in groups of varying sizes, and it was so... cheerful. He'd wanted that. He'd always wanted to have friends, or even just the one friend, who would talk to him, and make plans with him. But he didn't know how. He'd been alone for so long... he didn't know how to make friends. But that was going to change. The best part about changing schools was that it gave you a chance to re-invent yourself, and that was what he was going to do. Feeling somewhat shy, he just kept his back pressed to his locker and watched as the bell rang and the students started to head off into classrooms.
The corridor was slowly emptying, and his eye was caught by a girl standing on her own, her back to him across the narrow corridor. He watched her, fascinated. He wasn't really sure why, thought. From what he could see, she was tall and slender, with good sense of fashion and style. She wasn't wearing the short miniskirts and flimsy blouses favoured by most of the girls he'd seen. Instead, she was wearing beige trousers that fitted and accented her form well and made her look impossibly tall, and a simple white short-sleeved blouse/shirt. She looked strangely elegant and formal, while still being able to look casual. Her hair was amazing, waves tumbling down in a brownish black cascade that reached just past her shoulders. She was neatly arranging some books in her locker, and from what he could see of the locker's interior, she was a neat person, with books stacked in one corner and folders well organised. He thought of his own well organised locker behind his back, and smiled wryly.
As if sensing his stare on her back, she turned around, slowly, and he was mesmerised with the first glimpse of her face. She was... for want of a better word... perfect. Slanting hazel eyes with golden flecks set in a beautiful face. High cheekbones. Beautiful pale skin, slightly tanned, and flushing slightly as she stared back at him. Lips that looked full and soft. A glitter at the corner of his eyes made him notice drop earrings, tasteful and elegant, almost hidden by her lustrous hair. The only other ornaments that she wore were a gold watch and a gold necklace with a pendant on it. It looked like some kind of flower, but he was too far away to see it clearly. He dragged his eyes back to her own, and saw that she was looking at him expectantly and a bit quizzically, hugging her folder to her chest. He then realised that he'd just been caught staring at her for nearly a minute, and hadn't said anything. Not the impression that he wanted to make.
Clearing his throat, he said "Um..." before his voice failed him.
Taking the hint, she responded with "Um, are you new here? I don't think I've seen you before."
Calming himself down, he tried to respond civilly. "Yeah, I just moved here. Today's my first day, and I'm not sure where to go."
"Oh, I completely understand. I was new here a month or so ago. Trust me, you'll be fine. You get used to it in no time." She paused for a moment, and Ryan thought that he saw something that looked like pain flash in her eyes. "You'll.... soon make lots of friends, I'm sure. Now. I think that you ought to go and see our student advisor, Mr Faulkner."
"Oh, okay. Well, um, where is that, exactly?"
She laughed, "Oh, how stupid of me! You don't know where anything is! Come on, I'll show you. It's on the way to homeroom." She headed off down the corridor, motioning for him to follow her, and Ryan had no choice but to comply. "I'm Serena by the way, and I'm a junior. You can come and find me if you ever need anything." The name rang in his head, as if he ought to remember something about that name, but try as he might, he couldn't work out what the link was. Pushing it aside for further contemplation later on, he followed Serena, and trying to make his first friend in a long time.
*~*~*
Serena snuck a sideways glance at the new boy as she walked with him down the corridor towards the guidance office. He was good looking, for sure. Probably one of the best looking guys in school, if not the best. He was tall, taller than her, with a compact body. Built, but not too much, he moved with ease, and looked incredibly graceful and self-composed doing so. His hair was jet black, lightly spiked, and his face had strong, well made features. And his eyes... well, she'd never seen eyes that green before, except... she tried to remember when she'd seen piercing green eyes before, but the memory wouldn't emerge. It didn't matter. His eyes were like emeralds, clear and brilliant. She could stare into them forever. He seemed nice enough, she supposed, although his manner was a little bit shy and reserved, but he definitely wasn't a cold person.
She'd seen him as she had walked to her locker this morning. It was the beginning of term, and she'd just wanted to sort out her locker and get the books she needed from it and get to class with no fuss. No such luck. It seemed that Alina Harman and her group had other plans. Plans that probably included making her life a misery.
They didn't do anything to her, exactly. Not something that she could use against them, or take to the head. No, they were smarter than that. They just kept it to little bits of nastiness, cruel rumours and lots of pointing and giggling in front of everyone. But worse than the public humiliation was the way they made her feel inside. Like she was worthless, stupid, ugly and not worth caring about. She desperately tried to convince herself that she wasn't, but it didn't work. And it didn't help that no-one else would talk to her, because the whole school looked to Alina and her group to set the trends.
This morning they hadn't done much. Just laughed snidely as they passed her, talking about loners and how they ought not to let just anyone into the group. And as they'd walked past, one of them had jostled her, she wasn't sure who, making her drop her textbook. She'd looked up at them angrily, tears in her eyes, but they hadn't noticed.
She pushed those hurtful thoughts away for the moment, however, and resolved to pay attention to her companion, walking along side her. She wanted to say something, but was suddenly overcome by a wave of bashfulness. She couldn't help it. He was one of the most gorgeous guys she had ever seen, and he wasn't snubbing her like everyone else was. She wasn't really sure what to say. And so they carried on walking in silence through various corridors, until to her relief, he spoke up.
"So, do you like it here?"
"Yeah, I guess. I mean, it's a great school and all, but how much does anyone love coming here? Don't get me wrong, I love to learn and all, but I mean... it has its downsides too."
"Really? Like what?"
"Um, well..." She paused, not knowing what to say, and tried to change the subject. "Well it's just lots of little things, I guess. Anyway, did you just move town?"
"Yeah, i-"
She cut him off by saying, "Well, we're here. This is Mr Faulkner's office. He's probably expecting you." She paused, meeting his eyes for a moment. They were so green, and she found that she couldn't look away. For a moment, all they did was stare into each other's eyes. She felt a strange jolt from inside of her, which was then suddenly dampened. The world was slowly beginning to disappear. He took a step towards her, and his hand seemed to reach out, her hand moving to meet his. Just as they were about to touch, however, a classroom door shut, the noise reverberating down the corridor loudly. The noise shocked them both, and the moment was lost, as both hurriedly tore their eyes away from one another. "Um, I... I have to go. I've got class." Serena felt reluctant to go away, but she knew she had to before something happened. "I'll see you around... Bye." And with that she turned and walked away as fast as she could to homeroom.
-What had just happened there?- She hadn't a clue. But she was late for homeroom. She ran down the hall to her classroom and timidly opened the door and stepped in. All eyes looked up as she entered the classroom. Today was the first day of term, and so all the juniors had homeroom together, so thirty pairs of eyes stared at her. Her cheeks burned- she hated being late and she hated being stared at.
"Miss Hardwood, good morning. I presume you have an excuse for being late?"
"Yes Mrs Perry. There was a new student, and I had to show him to the guidance office."
"Okay. Well, take your seat, and make sure that you're not late again."
"Yes, Mrs Perry. I'm sorry." As she apologised, she walked over to her seat at the front of the room. She hated that seat, mainly, because it let people look at her, and she felt really self-conscious when that happened. As she took her seat, she met Alina's eyes across the classroom. Alina just gave her a mocking glare and turned back to her friends.
Serena sighed. She'd always wanted to be part of that group. But she knew that she never could be. It was a huge group, all of girls her age, the most beautiful and popular girls in the school. There was Alina Harman, with her long white blonde hair, her porcelain complexion and her pale lavender eyes, and her identical twin sister, Eileithyia. They ruled their group. Then came Chloe Asclear, with her tanned skin, and brown hair and eyes, and Saffron Silverstone, with her beautiful black hair and amber eyes. Then came Maya Juniper, with black hair and dark eyes, and her best friends, Arabella Moss, with brown hair and blue eyes, and Narcissa Mosag, with cropped auburn hair and stunning green eyes. There was also Blaze Zablini and Marrissa Wolfe, who also hung around with them from time to time, and Marrissa's cousin, Amber Blackfire. Amber's best friend Anya Blackthorn with her green eyes and black hair had joined the group soon after them, taking her cousin Holly Redfern with her. And finally there were the other twins, Elenora and Vivienne Seleket, who were identical with their porcelain complexions and lavender eyes, except for their dark hair, which were only shades apart.
They were the most beautiful girls in the school, and thus became the most popular, and their group was both the most elite and the most sought after clique in school. They always stuck together, and normally hung around with, or dated the jocks, who were equally popular, and just as mean. And they all seemed to be related to one another, between the two cliques.
The jocks weren't always the most sporting of them all, but they were amazingly athletically gifted, and it showed in their figures. There were the tennis players, Briar Fern who was Holly's cousin, Firenze Cerberum who was Marrissa's cousin, Kierlan Abforth, who was Blaze's cousin, and then Hunter brothers, Eugene and Josh. The Athletics squad stars who were Connor Greenwood, cousin of Narcissa, Antonio Convery, cousin of Arabella and Romulus Vulpes, another cousin of Marrissa. Then there were the football studs, who consisted of Remus Vulpes, who was Romulus' twin, Jeremy Lupin, a cousin of theirs, who was also related to Amber. And last of all came the basketball stars, who were Ivan Blackthorn, Anya's brother, Theorn Salvatore, their cousin, and then Blade Silverstone, Saffron's brother, and their cousin Bracken Thicket.
The jocks were the handsomest guys at school, the ones that girls swooned over, and the guys were always chasing Alina's group. Apparently it had always been that way. And they didn't seem to let anyone join in their group. Occasionally, they'd let in a person or two, but they were normally newcomers, who seemed to be just the same as they were. They were all beautiful, confident and poised, and they knew it.
The teacher had begun to hand out schedules for the term. Serena took hers silently, and stared at it, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. She could feel Alina's eyes on her and she slumped in her seat, hiding her face, brimming eyes and burning cheeks behind a curtain of hair.
The next half an hour passed very slowly for Serena. She just kept her head down and she read a book, trying to ignore the whispers about her that she could hear circulating around the room. Mrs Perry had another announcement to make, however. "Class, listen up. There are several new students around the school today, and we have an addition to the junior year. He'll be along shortly to join us in junior homeroom, and his name is Ryan Drache. He's new here, and probably won't know anyone, so please just be nice to him. Ah, here he is. Welcome, Ryan, to junior homeroom."
But Serena barely heard her last words, because her eyes were fixed on the figure who had just entered the room, standing exactly where she had done half an hour ago. The name, Ryan Drache, had struck something in her mind, but she couldn't remember what it was. It was almost as if she knew someone or had known someone with that name. She'd been pondering on who it could be when the newcomer came in, and with that all her thoughts flew out of the window. It was him. The guy she'd dropped off at the office. He was her age? She couldn't believe it. He looked so much older. Right now, he also looked a little bit apprehensive. Behind her, she could hear all the whispers die down, and could see Alina Harman fluff up her hair and gaze at him out of the corner of her eye. And then she knew. It could never happen. He'd never want to befriend her. Not when he was going to get an invitation to join the popular ones.
*~*~*
Ryan stood against the door of the classroom, trying not to stare back at the faces who were openly looking at him. He hated being noticed like this. It was so... embarrassing. All these people examining your every move... he couldn't bear thinking about it. Instead, he tore his eyes away from the class and turned to the woman who was sitting at the front desk, facing the class; the one who'd addressed him when he came in. He supposed she was the teacher. Mrs Perry, was what the Guidance Counsellor had said. He'd been given his timetable, and some other details about his lessons, and then sent to the junior homeroom.
"Hi, Ryan. I'm Mrs Perry." The woman seemed to be nice enough. "Well, don't just stand in the doorway, come in, come in." Ryan had no choice but to walk over to her desk. He showed her his timetable, and she handed it back, saying, "No, you need that. Keep it carefully. Now. This is homeroom. You should know how it works, you get about an hour every day for independent study here, and I'm your form tutor. Now, let's get you settled." She stood up, and addressed the whole class. "Class! Right, well this is our new student, Ryan Drache. He's recently transferred from San Francisco, and is joining the junior class here at Silverstone High."
As she spoke, Ryan took looked up somewhat shyly and tried a smile at all the faces in front of him. There were a lot of them, and he tried to quell his panic. The first thing that he noticed was that a lot of the group were amazingly good looking, with beautiful girls and handsome guys, especially those sitting at the back. As he looked around, he met one girl's eyes. She was sitting in the corner at the back, with white blonde hair down to her waist and pale lavender eyes. As his eyes met hers, she smiled coyly, let her eyes roam up and down his body, and then batted her eyelashes at him flirtatiously. His eyes moved on, sweeping over face after face, not knowing anyone. Then, in the front row, he caught a glimpse of a cascade of long dark hair... it was the girl from the corridor. She was in his class... a strange sense of happiness flooded his senses. She wasn't looking at him, though, not like everyone else was doing. She seemed to be reading a book, but her cheeks were flushed, as if she hadn't wanted to be caught staring. Slowly, her eyes lifted, as if they felt his gaze on her, and she met his eyes. Warm dark brown eyes met his own, and he couldn't help staring at her. It was just like before, in front of the guidance office. He couldn't tear them away.
Mrs Perry was trying to find a seat for him. "Right. Now, Ryan needs somewhere to sit. As you can see, there are a few seats available all over the room. Pick one wherever you like. Can you put your hands up if you have an empty seat next to yours." As she spoke, many people, including the blonde at the back, moved bags off the tables next to them, and put their hands up eagerly. He noticed that most of the students that did this were girls. But, to his disappointment, he saw that the girl at the front hadn't put her hand up, even though there was an empty seat next to her. He wanted to take the place next to her, but was too shy to ask, so he just stood there, looking around himself. He must have looked a bit lost, because at length, another guy stood up in the back row. He was tall, although not as tall as himself, and he had dark hair and green/grey eyes. He looked a bit similar to Ryan himself, in some ways. He had a spare seat between him and the blonde girl, and, looking at Ryan, who was still staring at Serena, and Mrs Perry, said easily, "Mrs Perry, Ryan can sit here. There's a spare seat next to mine, and I can show him around too."
"Thank-you Blade. There you go, Ryan. You can go and sit down, and sort yourself out for your next class."
Ryan walked towards the back row, where his seat was waiting for him, trying not to show his disappointment. He'd wanted to sit next to Serena, but never mind. Here was a chance for him to make friends. He had to put his plan to action. He'd planned on changing his personality a bit, to try and fit in, and here was the first test. As he sat down, the guy, Mrs Perry had called Blade turned to him with a grin and a hand outstretched saying.
"Blade Silverstone. I'll show you the ropes."
"Ryan Drache" he smiled back, and sank back in his seat as other people around him turned to say hi. Names swirled around him at such a pace that he barely had time to register them, let alone remember them. People were crowding around him, checking his schedule and saying hi. It was a new feeling.
"Hi, I'm Arabella Moss. I think we have Social Studies together."
"Blaze Zablini at your... disposal"
"Romulus and Remus Vulpes, class co-valedictorians."
"I'm Vivienne Seleket. I'll see you around."
"Briar Fern. Captain of the tennis squad."
"Kierlan Abforth. Hey I'm thinking we should have a party to welcome you to the class. What do you think?"
"Hi, I'm Alina Harman." It was the blonde girl sitting next to him. She was practically sitting on his desk, smiling at him flirtatiously. "I hope I'll be seeing a lot more of you around." He gulped. He wasn't used to girls being so... forward with him.
Mixed in with all these introductions, he could hear the odd comment going around the class, though he didn't understand what most of them meant.
"What did you say his name was?"
"Drache. I know. Another one of us."
"Yeah, but he doesn't seem to be one of us. I mean the way he moves and all..."
"I thought so too, but still. He's cute! And it looks like Alina's got her eye on him."
"You know, maybe he just doesn't know..."
"We'll have to test him and see, once he gets settled in."
Ryan had no idea what they were talking about, but right now, he didn't really care. All of a sudden, people wanted to talk to him, be around him. And not just girls, but guys. At first, the guys just glared because all the girls seemed to be around him. But then all of a sudden, they came up and introduced themselves, becoming oh-so friendly all of a sudden. And Ryan thought he knew why. -They need to be nice to me.- He suddenly had the status that came with being new and good looking and having girls fawn over him, and the guys would just have to deal. -And perhaps, when they get to know me, they won't resent me.-
Ryan was happy for the first time in a long time. Who would have thought that he'd come to a new school and become popular, just like that? It made him feel good inside. It made him want to try and fit in. Now, if he could just meet that girl... he looked around for her, spotting her at her desk. She was one of the only kids not crowding around his desk, and she sat quietly at her own, reading something. Ryan tried to swallow his disappointment, and determined that he would get to know her somehow... he just had to figure out when and how.
The rest of the day went by fast for Ryan. In every one of his classes he had some of his new friends to help him along. Blade was in almost every single one. Serena was in every one of his classes, but he never got a chance to break away from the group to go and speak to her. He was always surrounded by tons of people, and he found that he was now popular. People fought over who got to sit next to him, and he soon became the talk of the school. Blade showed him how to deal with it.
"What you've got to do is ignore it. Be aware that it's there, but ignore it, as if you don't really care what other's think. You'll seem detached and cool." Ryan followed the advice. Blade also introduced him to almost everyone in the year, and showed him all the 'right people' to hang around with. "You'll see what I mean. Our group, I think you'd fit quite well in it. But there are a few people we don't mix with, at all. You'll see."
Ryan saw, when he entered the cafeteria for lunch. He entered with the whole group, of both guys and girls. Some of them had brought their own lunches, and they sauntered over and sat at the largest table in the room, right at the back. He'd learnt that the group he'd joined seemed to be the most popular clique in school, and that the large table was one of their 'rights'. On one of the tables next to it, he saw the other girl, Serena. She was sitting on her own, reading the same book as before, and eating an apple. The girls from the popular group said something to her as they brushed by, and she looked up at them, but it couldn't have been very nice, as when they passed, she just slumped into her seat more, brushing at her eyes and trying to continue with her lunch. He felt a stab of sympathy for her, and trying to sound nonchalant and casual, he asked Blade, who was in front of him in the lunch queue, who she was.
"Who, her? She's... nobody. Her name's Serena something or other. I dunno."
"Why's she on her own."
"'Cos she's a loner. She was new to the school a month ago, but she just didn't make any friends. We don't talk to her. At all." He said this pointedly.
"But why?"
"We just don't. Our club is kind of elite. We only talk to people who belong. And she doesn't."
"Oh." Ryan didn't understand, but he decided to drop the subject for now. Blade had a sort of glint in his eye when he mentioned outsiders. It made him look deadly. Ryan didn't want to get on his bad side. He silently followed Blade to the back table and sat there, eating his lunch with the others, laughing and joking about various things. Some of the comments made weren't entirely understood by him, such as the joke about people being like vermin, and something about a black iris club being the place to meet the right sort of people, but he just laughed uncertainly. He did notice that when topics he didn't understand were brought up, some of the group would shoot glances at each other, but he did his best to ignore it, and just went on eating his lunch, every now and then shooting glances at the girl who was sitting alone at the next table, and he wished that he could just get up and talk to her.
The next day passed much the same. And the next. And the next. He became a member of the official clique, and was with them all the time. With every day, he became more and more popular, and more and more sought after. He joined the basketball team, becoming the star centre. He was put in the running for junior class president. He'd been asked to represent the school debate team. He was never on his own, because people were always asking if they could hang with him. It was amazing. Restricting at times, but amazing. But there were downsides to it too. Every day, he saw Serena, and in his first week, he never once got a chance to speak to her. He wasn't really sure why he wanted to talk to her. He wasn't interested in a relationship... that he had decided before he came here. He'd vowed that he wouldn't get involved with someone until he knew them through and through, because every time he'd let himself open up like that with someone, even his foster parents, he'd been hurt. And he didn't know how much more hurt he could take. -Better to avoid the pain and take it slow.- But he wanted to talk to her. She was beautiful, sure, but there was something more to it than that. He found her fascinating, funny and sweet, someone that he would like to get to know. And when he looked at her... he could feel this kind of tug at his heart... he didn't know what it meant. There was just something about her... he had to get to know her. -I will he vowed. I will, someday soon.-
Ryan looked around himself warily. -Another new school, with new faces and people and lessons and all the crap that comes with them.-He wasn't particularly happy to be at Silverstone High, but then again he hadn't particularly wanted to stay at his old school either. He wasn't feeling weird about it. At least, that's what he tried to tell himself. -Moving schools isn't a new thing; I'm used to it.- And he was. With every change of foster home, came a change of town and school. It was always the same, and it happened every few months. He didn't mind much. He'd never fitted in anywhere. The families hadn't really liked him, and the people at school hadn't wanted to give him the time of day. Oh yes, there were a few girls who admired him for his apparent good looks, but he wasn't looking to make friends based on his appearance. But he was running out of options. The foster-housing agency was running out of places to give him. He had to try and make this one work.
Well, this one wasn't too bad, anyway. Some of the people seemed to be nice enough, although whether they would want anything to do with him was another question. The building was nice for a school, quite warm and inviting, and although it was big, he figured he could get used to it. The weather in Silverstone was great too, warm but with a good breeze, just the way he liked it. He could get on here, if given the chance.
Looking around, he couldn't ignore the wave of loneliness that swept over him. Almost all of the other kids seemed to be happy, chatting with their friends, meeting up at lockers, discussing holidays and parties, and tossing the occasional football around. They all moved around in groups of varying sizes, and it was so... cheerful. He'd wanted that. He'd always wanted to have friends, or even just the one friend, who would talk to him, and make plans with him. But he didn't know how. He'd been alone for so long... he didn't know how to make friends. But that was going to change. The best part about changing schools was that it gave you a chance to re-invent yourself, and that was what he was going to do. Feeling somewhat shy, he just kept his back pressed to his locker and watched as the bell rang and the students started to head off into classrooms.
The corridor was slowly emptying, and his eye was caught by a girl standing on her own, her back to him across the narrow corridor. He watched her, fascinated. He wasn't really sure why, thought. From what he could see, she was tall and slender, with good sense of fashion and style. She wasn't wearing the short miniskirts and flimsy blouses favoured by most of the girls he'd seen. Instead, she was wearing beige trousers that fitted and accented her form well and made her look impossibly tall, and a simple white short-sleeved blouse/shirt. She looked strangely elegant and formal, while still being able to look casual. Her hair was amazing, waves tumbling down in a brownish black cascade that reached just past her shoulders. She was neatly arranging some books in her locker, and from what he could see of the locker's interior, she was a neat person, with books stacked in one corner and folders well organised. He thought of his own well organised locker behind his back, and smiled wryly.
As if sensing his stare on her back, she turned around, slowly, and he was mesmerised with the first glimpse of her face. She was... for want of a better word... perfect. Slanting hazel eyes with golden flecks set in a beautiful face. High cheekbones. Beautiful pale skin, slightly tanned, and flushing slightly as she stared back at him. Lips that looked full and soft. A glitter at the corner of his eyes made him notice drop earrings, tasteful and elegant, almost hidden by her lustrous hair. The only other ornaments that she wore were a gold watch and a gold necklace with a pendant on it. It looked like some kind of flower, but he was too far away to see it clearly. He dragged his eyes back to her own, and saw that she was looking at him expectantly and a bit quizzically, hugging her folder to her chest. He then realised that he'd just been caught staring at her for nearly a minute, and hadn't said anything. Not the impression that he wanted to make.
Clearing his throat, he said "Um..." before his voice failed him.
Taking the hint, she responded with "Um, are you new here? I don't think I've seen you before."
Calming himself down, he tried to respond civilly. "Yeah, I just moved here. Today's my first day, and I'm not sure where to go."
"Oh, I completely understand. I was new here a month or so ago. Trust me, you'll be fine. You get used to it in no time." She paused for a moment, and Ryan thought that he saw something that looked like pain flash in her eyes. "You'll.... soon make lots of friends, I'm sure. Now. I think that you ought to go and see our student advisor, Mr Faulkner."
"Oh, okay. Well, um, where is that, exactly?"
She laughed, "Oh, how stupid of me! You don't know where anything is! Come on, I'll show you. It's on the way to homeroom." She headed off down the corridor, motioning for him to follow her, and Ryan had no choice but to comply. "I'm Serena by the way, and I'm a junior. You can come and find me if you ever need anything." The name rang in his head, as if he ought to remember something about that name, but try as he might, he couldn't work out what the link was. Pushing it aside for further contemplation later on, he followed Serena, and trying to make his first friend in a long time.
*~*~*
Serena snuck a sideways glance at the new boy as she walked with him down the corridor towards the guidance office. He was good looking, for sure. Probably one of the best looking guys in school, if not the best. He was tall, taller than her, with a compact body. Built, but not too much, he moved with ease, and looked incredibly graceful and self-composed doing so. His hair was jet black, lightly spiked, and his face had strong, well made features. And his eyes... well, she'd never seen eyes that green before, except... she tried to remember when she'd seen piercing green eyes before, but the memory wouldn't emerge. It didn't matter. His eyes were like emeralds, clear and brilliant. She could stare into them forever. He seemed nice enough, she supposed, although his manner was a little bit shy and reserved, but he definitely wasn't a cold person.
She'd seen him as she had walked to her locker this morning. It was the beginning of term, and she'd just wanted to sort out her locker and get the books she needed from it and get to class with no fuss. No such luck. It seemed that Alina Harman and her group had other plans. Plans that probably included making her life a misery.
They didn't do anything to her, exactly. Not something that she could use against them, or take to the head. No, they were smarter than that. They just kept it to little bits of nastiness, cruel rumours and lots of pointing and giggling in front of everyone. But worse than the public humiliation was the way they made her feel inside. Like she was worthless, stupid, ugly and not worth caring about. She desperately tried to convince herself that she wasn't, but it didn't work. And it didn't help that no-one else would talk to her, because the whole school looked to Alina and her group to set the trends.
This morning they hadn't done much. Just laughed snidely as they passed her, talking about loners and how they ought not to let just anyone into the group. And as they'd walked past, one of them had jostled her, she wasn't sure who, making her drop her textbook. She'd looked up at them angrily, tears in her eyes, but they hadn't noticed.
She pushed those hurtful thoughts away for the moment, however, and resolved to pay attention to her companion, walking along side her. She wanted to say something, but was suddenly overcome by a wave of bashfulness. She couldn't help it. He was one of the most gorgeous guys she had ever seen, and he wasn't snubbing her like everyone else was. She wasn't really sure what to say. And so they carried on walking in silence through various corridors, until to her relief, he spoke up.
"So, do you like it here?"
"Yeah, I guess. I mean, it's a great school and all, but how much does anyone love coming here? Don't get me wrong, I love to learn and all, but I mean... it has its downsides too."
"Really? Like what?"
"Um, well..." She paused, not knowing what to say, and tried to change the subject. "Well it's just lots of little things, I guess. Anyway, did you just move town?"
"Yeah, i-"
She cut him off by saying, "Well, we're here. This is Mr Faulkner's office. He's probably expecting you." She paused, meeting his eyes for a moment. They were so green, and she found that she couldn't look away. For a moment, all they did was stare into each other's eyes. She felt a strange jolt from inside of her, which was then suddenly dampened. The world was slowly beginning to disappear. He took a step towards her, and his hand seemed to reach out, her hand moving to meet his. Just as they were about to touch, however, a classroom door shut, the noise reverberating down the corridor loudly. The noise shocked them both, and the moment was lost, as both hurriedly tore their eyes away from one another. "Um, I... I have to go. I've got class." Serena felt reluctant to go away, but she knew she had to before something happened. "I'll see you around... Bye." And with that she turned and walked away as fast as she could to homeroom.
-What had just happened there?- She hadn't a clue. But she was late for homeroom. She ran down the hall to her classroom and timidly opened the door and stepped in. All eyes looked up as she entered the classroom. Today was the first day of term, and so all the juniors had homeroom together, so thirty pairs of eyes stared at her. Her cheeks burned- she hated being late and she hated being stared at.
"Miss Hardwood, good morning. I presume you have an excuse for being late?"
"Yes Mrs Perry. There was a new student, and I had to show him to the guidance office."
"Okay. Well, take your seat, and make sure that you're not late again."
"Yes, Mrs Perry. I'm sorry." As she apologised, she walked over to her seat at the front of the room. She hated that seat, mainly, because it let people look at her, and she felt really self-conscious when that happened. As she took her seat, she met Alina's eyes across the classroom. Alina just gave her a mocking glare and turned back to her friends.
Serena sighed. She'd always wanted to be part of that group. But she knew that she never could be. It was a huge group, all of girls her age, the most beautiful and popular girls in the school. There was Alina Harman, with her long white blonde hair, her porcelain complexion and her pale lavender eyes, and her identical twin sister, Eileithyia. They ruled their group. Then came Chloe Asclear, with her tanned skin, and brown hair and eyes, and Saffron Silverstone, with her beautiful black hair and amber eyes. Then came Maya Juniper, with black hair and dark eyes, and her best friends, Arabella Moss, with brown hair and blue eyes, and Narcissa Mosag, with cropped auburn hair and stunning green eyes. There was also Blaze Zablini and Marrissa Wolfe, who also hung around with them from time to time, and Marrissa's cousin, Amber Blackfire. Amber's best friend Anya Blackthorn with her green eyes and black hair had joined the group soon after them, taking her cousin Holly Redfern with her. And finally there were the other twins, Elenora and Vivienne Seleket, who were identical with their porcelain complexions and lavender eyes, except for their dark hair, which were only shades apart.
They were the most beautiful girls in the school, and thus became the most popular, and their group was both the most elite and the most sought after clique in school. They always stuck together, and normally hung around with, or dated the jocks, who were equally popular, and just as mean. And they all seemed to be related to one another, between the two cliques.
The jocks weren't always the most sporting of them all, but they were amazingly athletically gifted, and it showed in their figures. There were the tennis players, Briar Fern who was Holly's cousin, Firenze Cerberum who was Marrissa's cousin, Kierlan Abforth, who was Blaze's cousin, and then Hunter brothers, Eugene and Josh. The Athletics squad stars who were Connor Greenwood, cousin of Narcissa, Antonio Convery, cousin of Arabella and Romulus Vulpes, another cousin of Marrissa. Then there were the football studs, who consisted of Remus Vulpes, who was Romulus' twin, Jeremy Lupin, a cousin of theirs, who was also related to Amber. And last of all came the basketball stars, who were Ivan Blackthorn, Anya's brother, Theorn Salvatore, their cousin, and then Blade Silverstone, Saffron's brother, and their cousin Bracken Thicket.
The jocks were the handsomest guys at school, the ones that girls swooned over, and the guys were always chasing Alina's group. Apparently it had always been that way. And they didn't seem to let anyone join in their group. Occasionally, they'd let in a person or two, but they were normally newcomers, who seemed to be just the same as they were. They were all beautiful, confident and poised, and they knew it.
The teacher had begun to hand out schedules for the term. Serena took hers silently, and stared at it, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. She could feel Alina's eyes on her and she slumped in her seat, hiding her face, brimming eyes and burning cheeks behind a curtain of hair.
The next half an hour passed very slowly for Serena. She just kept her head down and she read a book, trying to ignore the whispers about her that she could hear circulating around the room. Mrs Perry had another announcement to make, however. "Class, listen up. There are several new students around the school today, and we have an addition to the junior year. He'll be along shortly to join us in junior homeroom, and his name is Ryan Drache. He's new here, and probably won't know anyone, so please just be nice to him. Ah, here he is. Welcome, Ryan, to junior homeroom."
But Serena barely heard her last words, because her eyes were fixed on the figure who had just entered the room, standing exactly where she had done half an hour ago. The name, Ryan Drache, had struck something in her mind, but she couldn't remember what it was. It was almost as if she knew someone or had known someone with that name. She'd been pondering on who it could be when the newcomer came in, and with that all her thoughts flew out of the window. It was him. The guy she'd dropped off at the office. He was her age? She couldn't believe it. He looked so much older. Right now, he also looked a little bit apprehensive. Behind her, she could hear all the whispers die down, and could see Alina Harman fluff up her hair and gaze at him out of the corner of her eye. And then she knew. It could never happen. He'd never want to befriend her. Not when he was going to get an invitation to join the popular ones.
*~*~*
Ryan stood against the door of the classroom, trying not to stare back at the faces who were openly looking at him. He hated being noticed like this. It was so... embarrassing. All these people examining your every move... he couldn't bear thinking about it. Instead, he tore his eyes away from the class and turned to the woman who was sitting at the front desk, facing the class; the one who'd addressed him when he came in. He supposed she was the teacher. Mrs Perry, was what the Guidance Counsellor had said. He'd been given his timetable, and some other details about his lessons, and then sent to the junior homeroom.
"Hi, Ryan. I'm Mrs Perry." The woman seemed to be nice enough. "Well, don't just stand in the doorway, come in, come in." Ryan had no choice but to walk over to her desk. He showed her his timetable, and she handed it back, saying, "No, you need that. Keep it carefully. Now. This is homeroom. You should know how it works, you get about an hour every day for independent study here, and I'm your form tutor. Now, let's get you settled." She stood up, and addressed the whole class. "Class! Right, well this is our new student, Ryan Drache. He's recently transferred from San Francisco, and is joining the junior class here at Silverstone High."
As she spoke, Ryan took looked up somewhat shyly and tried a smile at all the faces in front of him. There were a lot of them, and he tried to quell his panic. The first thing that he noticed was that a lot of the group were amazingly good looking, with beautiful girls and handsome guys, especially those sitting at the back. As he looked around, he met one girl's eyes. She was sitting in the corner at the back, with white blonde hair down to her waist and pale lavender eyes. As his eyes met hers, she smiled coyly, let her eyes roam up and down his body, and then batted her eyelashes at him flirtatiously. His eyes moved on, sweeping over face after face, not knowing anyone. Then, in the front row, he caught a glimpse of a cascade of long dark hair... it was the girl from the corridor. She was in his class... a strange sense of happiness flooded his senses. She wasn't looking at him, though, not like everyone else was doing. She seemed to be reading a book, but her cheeks were flushed, as if she hadn't wanted to be caught staring. Slowly, her eyes lifted, as if they felt his gaze on her, and she met his eyes. Warm dark brown eyes met his own, and he couldn't help staring at her. It was just like before, in front of the guidance office. He couldn't tear them away.
Mrs Perry was trying to find a seat for him. "Right. Now, Ryan needs somewhere to sit. As you can see, there are a few seats available all over the room. Pick one wherever you like. Can you put your hands up if you have an empty seat next to yours." As she spoke, many people, including the blonde at the back, moved bags off the tables next to them, and put their hands up eagerly. He noticed that most of the students that did this were girls. But, to his disappointment, he saw that the girl at the front hadn't put her hand up, even though there was an empty seat next to her. He wanted to take the place next to her, but was too shy to ask, so he just stood there, looking around himself. He must have looked a bit lost, because at length, another guy stood up in the back row. He was tall, although not as tall as himself, and he had dark hair and green/grey eyes. He looked a bit similar to Ryan himself, in some ways. He had a spare seat between him and the blonde girl, and, looking at Ryan, who was still staring at Serena, and Mrs Perry, said easily, "Mrs Perry, Ryan can sit here. There's a spare seat next to mine, and I can show him around too."
"Thank-you Blade. There you go, Ryan. You can go and sit down, and sort yourself out for your next class."
Ryan walked towards the back row, where his seat was waiting for him, trying not to show his disappointment. He'd wanted to sit next to Serena, but never mind. Here was a chance for him to make friends. He had to put his plan to action. He'd planned on changing his personality a bit, to try and fit in, and here was the first test. As he sat down, the guy, Mrs Perry had called Blade turned to him with a grin and a hand outstretched saying.
"Blade Silverstone. I'll show you the ropes."
"Ryan Drache" he smiled back, and sank back in his seat as other people around him turned to say hi. Names swirled around him at such a pace that he barely had time to register them, let alone remember them. People were crowding around him, checking his schedule and saying hi. It was a new feeling.
"Hi, I'm Arabella Moss. I think we have Social Studies together."
"Blaze Zablini at your... disposal"
"Romulus and Remus Vulpes, class co-valedictorians."
"I'm Vivienne Seleket. I'll see you around."
"Briar Fern. Captain of the tennis squad."
"Kierlan Abforth. Hey I'm thinking we should have a party to welcome you to the class. What do you think?"
"Hi, I'm Alina Harman." It was the blonde girl sitting next to him. She was practically sitting on his desk, smiling at him flirtatiously. "I hope I'll be seeing a lot more of you around." He gulped. He wasn't used to girls being so... forward with him.
Mixed in with all these introductions, he could hear the odd comment going around the class, though he didn't understand what most of them meant.
"What did you say his name was?"
"Drache. I know. Another one of us."
"Yeah, but he doesn't seem to be one of us. I mean the way he moves and all..."
"I thought so too, but still. He's cute! And it looks like Alina's got her eye on him."
"You know, maybe he just doesn't know..."
"We'll have to test him and see, once he gets settled in."
Ryan had no idea what they were talking about, but right now, he didn't really care. All of a sudden, people wanted to talk to him, be around him. And not just girls, but guys. At first, the guys just glared because all the girls seemed to be around him. But then all of a sudden, they came up and introduced themselves, becoming oh-so friendly all of a sudden. And Ryan thought he knew why. -They need to be nice to me.- He suddenly had the status that came with being new and good looking and having girls fawn over him, and the guys would just have to deal. -And perhaps, when they get to know me, they won't resent me.-
Ryan was happy for the first time in a long time. Who would have thought that he'd come to a new school and become popular, just like that? It made him feel good inside. It made him want to try and fit in. Now, if he could just meet that girl... he looked around for her, spotting her at her desk. She was one of the only kids not crowding around his desk, and she sat quietly at her own, reading something. Ryan tried to swallow his disappointment, and determined that he would get to know her somehow... he just had to figure out when and how.
The rest of the day went by fast for Ryan. In every one of his classes he had some of his new friends to help him along. Blade was in almost every single one. Serena was in every one of his classes, but he never got a chance to break away from the group to go and speak to her. He was always surrounded by tons of people, and he found that he was now popular. People fought over who got to sit next to him, and he soon became the talk of the school. Blade showed him how to deal with it.
"What you've got to do is ignore it. Be aware that it's there, but ignore it, as if you don't really care what other's think. You'll seem detached and cool." Ryan followed the advice. Blade also introduced him to almost everyone in the year, and showed him all the 'right people' to hang around with. "You'll see what I mean. Our group, I think you'd fit quite well in it. But there are a few people we don't mix with, at all. You'll see."
Ryan saw, when he entered the cafeteria for lunch. He entered with the whole group, of both guys and girls. Some of them had brought their own lunches, and they sauntered over and sat at the largest table in the room, right at the back. He'd learnt that the group he'd joined seemed to be the most popular clique in school, and that the large table was one of their 'rights'. On one of the tables next to it, he saw the other girl, Serena. She was sitting on her own, reading the same book as before, and eating an apple. The girls from the popular group said something to her as they brushed by, and she looked up at them, but it couldn't have been very nice, as when they passed, she just slumped into her seat more, brushing at her eyes and trying to continue with her lunch. He felt a stab of sympathy for her, and trying to sound nonchalant and casual, he asked Blade, who was in front of him in the lunch queue, who she was.
"Who, her? She's... nobody. Her name's Serena something or other. I dunno."
"Why's she on her own."
"'Cos she's a loner. She was new to the school a month ago, but she just didn't make any friends. We don't talk to her. At all." He said this pointedly.
"But why?"
"We just don't. Our club is kind of elite. We only talk to people who belong. And she doesn't."
"Oh." Ryan didn't understand, but he decided to drop the subject for now. Blade had a sort of glint in his eye when he mentioned outsiders. It made him look deadly. Ryan didn't want to get on his bad side. He silently followed Blade to the back table and sat there, eating his lunch with the others, laughing and joking about various things. Some of the comments made weren't entirely understood by him, such as the joke about people being like vermin, and something about a black iris club being the place to meet the right sort of people, but he just laughed uncertainly. He did notice that when topics he didn't understand were brought up, some of the group would shoot glances at each other, but he did his best to ignore it, and just went on eating his lunch, every now and then shooting glances at the girl who was sitting alone at the next table, and he wished that he could just get up and talk to her.
The next day passed much the same. And the next. And the next. He became a member of the official clique, and was with them all the time. With every day, he became more and more popular, and more and more sought after. He joined the basketball team, becoming the star centre. He was put in the running for junior class president. He'd been asked to represent the school debate team. He was never on his own, because people were always asking if they could hang with him. It was amazing. Restricting at times, but amazing. But there were downsides to it too. Every day, he saw Serena, and in his first week, he never once got a chance to speak to her. He wasn't really sure why he wanted to talk to her. He wasn't interested in a relationship... that he had decided before he came here. He'd vowed that he wouldn't get involved with someone until he knew them through and through, because every time he'd let himself open up like that with someone, even his foster parents, he'd been hurt. And he didn't know how much more hurt he could take. -Better to avoid the pain and take it slow.- But he wanted to talk to her. She was beautiful, sure, but there was something more to it than that. He found her fascinating, funny and sweet, someone that he would like to get to know. And when he looked at her... he could feel this kind of tug at his heart... he didn't know what it meant. There was just something about her... he had to get to know her. -I will he vowed. I will, someday soon.-