Part 2: Being the New Girl
Lee opened her eyes to see that they'd stopped outside a big, luxurious hotel-type building. Vaughan was shaking her. "Miss Bishopp, I'm sorry to wake you, but we've arrived." Lee climbed out of the cab and grabbed her carry-on bag. It seemed that the big men in the black van had already taken her stuff up to her room.
After checking in at the main desk, Vaughan told her that she should go upstairs to her room, number thirteen, change her clothes, and then come back down to the lodge's lounge. All the other boarders would be there, he said. Lee went upstairs to her room and looked around. It was very luxurious. She aqueised a brow at the satin sheets and down coverlets. They certainly didn't skimp on comfort, she thought as she flopped onto the bed.
After a minute, she got back up and opened her bag, pulling out her favorite pair of baggy black boy jeans and a white t-shirt which had "Kiss This" emblazened on the front. Pulling her hair back with a jaw clip, she bushed her teeth and put a pair of sunglasses, pulled up like a headband to keep her hair away from her face. Letting her hair fall out of the jaw clip, she checked all seven of her earings, then adjusted her eyebrow ring. As a final touch, she pulled on her biking gloves which she'd got from her little brother. She smiled at the blue eyes looking back at her in the mirror, then walked out of her room.
Descending the stairs to the lounge, Lee felt that familiar prickle of nerves again. She tried to shove it away, and adreneline replaced it. She nibbled on the nail of her index finger, a nervous habit that she'd picked up while trying to quit smoking. God, I'd give anything for a fag right now. she thought as she entered the lounge. There were about twenty people scattered about the room, some sitting alone, others engaged in friendly conversation, but twelve of them really stood out. The other eight or so were white collar officials who were clearly there just to keep everything friendly and proffessional.
The twelve were all very different. First of all, Lee noticed a guy with a big orange fro dressed in funky old-school clothes. He looks like he'd just stepped off the set of That 70's Show. He was standing talking to a girl in one of the armchairs. This girl had short blonde hair and had a maple leaf on the front of her shirt. She had an air of extreme confidence about her. But her confidence was nothing compared to the obvious attitude of the girl with red and black hair in the "Bad Girl" shirt. She was leaning against a wall chatting with a dark skinned guy who's tell-tale accent informed Lee that he was British. There was a guy with a very noticable French accent sitting on a couch beside a very unpleasant-looking chunky guy with a mullet.
A couple of girls were standing together talking. One had long blonde hair and was wearing tight jeans and shirt. The other was in what Lee would describe as "supa fly" clothing, with a shaved head, pink tinted glasses and the skin of an African-American. A group of three were standing in another corner talking. One was a tall, blonde surfer dude type guy. Very handsome, Lee thought. Another was a younger-looking kid dressed in baggy clothing and toque. The third was an oriental girl in pink clothes and a stuffed animal backpack, who seemed to glance nervously over the surfer boy's shoulder every now and then.
Lee looked in the direction that the girl was glancing, and saw the only boarder who was standing alone. He was leaning against the wall in a brooding sort of way, head tilted slightly downward, arms intertwined across his chest. Everone else seemed to be giving him a wide berth. Dressed in plain jeans and a white muscle tee, his clothes weren't anything out of the ordinary. What amazed Lee was everything else about the guy. She could see multiple tatoos, including some big black chains. His brown hair was swept up in big puffy spikes. His eyes were cold blue, and on his face and ears Lee could see several piercings. Without warning, he looked up, right at her. He grinned in a fashion that reminded her of a gargoyle, and then winked in an intimidating way.
Just then, Lee heard "Miss Bishopp! You're here!" One of the suits had seen her. It was Vaughan again. He walked up to her and said "Lee, these are the other boarders that you'll be competing against in SSX Tricky. I'll just let you introduce yourself. Most of them are quite friendly, except, well..." He trailed off, his eyes flicking to the scary guy and back to hers in a meaningful way. Lee nodded, then looked around, wondering who to start with. She decided to start with the first guy that she'd seen and go from there.
She approached the guy with the fro and said the first thing which came into her mind, which was "Oy, I'm Evernolia Bishopp, but just call me Lee. What's your name?" The guy smiled, and held out a hand.
"Edward Wachowski, but everyone here calls me either Eddie or The Kid. Nice t' meetcha. This is Elise Riggs." he said, gesturing to the girl in the armchair with his other hand. Lee shook hands with him and then Elise, who smiled warmly and winked. "You know that because you're the new girl, I'm gonna have to be hard on you, don't you?" she said, and Lee laughed.
By this time, a bunch of the other boarders had noticed that she was in the room, and they came forward to introduce themselves. The attitude girl turned out to be Zoe Payne; "Attitude is me, and I am attitude," and the dark-skinned Brit was Moby Jones; "Allo there, girly." The blonde was Marisol Diez Delgado, who said something in Venezualan which Lee didn't understand but guessed meant hello. The African-American was Seeiah Owens; "Hey sweet thing,". The frenchie was Jean-Paul; "Bonjour, ma belle. C'est juste JP a tout le monde." Mullet man was Luther Grady; "Hey baby,". Lee could tell she was going to have trouble with him. Surfer-dude was Broderick Ford, who informed her seetly that she could call him Brodi. The younger guy was Mac, who looking a little embarrassed when he shook her hand. The bubbly girl with the stuffed animal back pack, who it turned out was Japanese, was Kaori. "Konnichiwa, Lee-san. Watashiwa Kaori desu." Lee summoned up some of her Japanese from high school and answered "Hajimemashite, Kaori-san." Kaori seemed pleased that Lee could speak a little of her own language, and Lee recieved a hug.
Everyone seemed to like her, each in their own way, and everything was going great. At least, until the scary guy came out of his corner to introduce himself.
Lee opened her eyes to see that they'd stopped outside a big, luxurious hotel-type building. Vaughan was shaking her. "Miss Bishopp, I'm sorry to wake you, but we've arrived." Lee climbed out of the cab and grabbed her carry-on bag. It seemed that the big men in the black van had already taken her stuff up to her room.
After checking in at the main desk, Vaughan told her that she should go upstairs to her room, number thirteen, change her clothes, and then come back down to the lodge's lounge. All the other boarders would be there, he said. Lee went upstairs to her room and looked around. It was very luxurious. She aqueised a brow at the satin sheets and down coverlets. They certainly didn't skimp on comfort, she thought as she flopped onto the bed.
After a minute, she got back up and opened her bag, pulling out her favorite pair of baggy black boy jeans and a white t-shirt which had "Kiss This" emblazened on the front. Pulling her hair back with a jaw clip, she bushed her teeth and put a pair of sunglasses, pulled up like a headband to keep her hair away from her face. Letting her hair fall out of the jaw clip, she checked all seven of her earings, then adjusted her eyebrow ring. As a final touch, she pulled on her biking gloves which she'd got from her little brother. She smiled at the blue eyes looking back at her in the mirror, then walked out of her room.
Descending the stairs to the lounge, Lee felt that familiar prickle of nerves again. She tried to shove it away, and adreneline replaced it. She nibbled on the nail of her index finger, a nervous habit that she'd picked up while trying to quit smoking. God, I'd give anything for a fag right now. she thought as she entered the lounge. There were about twenty people scattered about the room, some sitting alone, others engaged in friendly conversation, but twelve of them really stood out. The other eight or so were white collar officials who were clearly there just to keep everything friendly and proffessional.
The twelve were all very different. First of all, Lee noticed a guy with a big orange fro dressed in funky old-school clothes. He looks like he'd just stepped off the set of That 70's Show. He was standing talking to a girl in one of the armchairs. This girl had short blonde hair and had a maple leaf on the front of her shirt. She had an air of extreme confidence about her. But her confidence was nothing compared to the obvious attitude of the girl with red and black hair in the "Bad Girl" shirt. She was leaning against a wall chatting with a dark skinned guy who's tell-tale accent informed Lee that he was British. There was a guy with a very noticable French accent sitting on a couch beside a very unpleasant-looking chunky guy with a mullet.
A couple of girls were standing together talking. One had long blonde hair and was wearing tight jeans and shirt. The other was in what Lee would describe as "supa fly" clothing, with a shaved head, pink tinted glasses and the skin of an African-American. A group of three were standing in another corner talking. One was a tall, blonde surfer dude type guy. Very handsome, Lee thought. Another was a younger-looking kid dressed in baggy clothing and toque. The third was an oriental girl in pink clothes and a stuffed animal backpack, who seemed to glance nervously over the surfer boy's shoulder every now and then.
Lee looked in the direction that the girl was glancing, and saw the only boarder who was standing alone. He was leaning against the wall in a brooding sort of way, head tilted slightly downward, arms intertwined across his chest. Everone else seemed to be giving him a wide berth. Dressed in plain jeans and a white muscle tee, his clothes weren't anything out of the ordinary. What amazed Lee was everything else about the guy. She could see multiple tatoos, including some big black chains. His brown hair was swept up in big puffy spikes. His eyes were cold blue, and on his face and ears Lee could see several piercings. Without warning, he looked up, right at her. He grinned in a fashion that reminded her of a gargoyle, and then winked in an intimidating way.
Just then, Lee heard "Miss Bishopp! You're here!" One of the suits had seen her. It was Vaughan again. He walked up to her and said "Lee, these are the other boarders that you'll be competing against in SSX Tricky. I'll just let you introduce yourself. Most of them are quite friendly, except, well..." He trailed off, his eyes flicking to the scary guy and back to hers in a meaningful way. Lee nodded, then looked around, wondering who to start with. She decided to start with the first guy that she'd seen and go from there.
She approached the guy with the fro and said the first thing which came into her mind, which was "Oy, I'm Evernolia Bishopp, but just call me Lee. What's your name?" The guy smiled, and held out a hand.
"Edward Wachowski, but everyone here calls me either Eddie or The Kid. Nice t' meetcha. This is Elise Riggs." he said, gesturing to the girl in the armchair with his other hand. Lee shook hands with him and then Elise, who smiled warmly and winked. "You know that because you're the new girl, I'm gonna have to be hard on you, don't you?" she said, and Lee laughed.
By this time, a bunch of the other boarders had noticed that she was in the room, and they came forward to introduce themselves. The attitude girl turned out to be Zoe Payne; "Attitude is me, and I am attitude," and the dark-skinned Brit was Moby Jones; "Allo there, girly." The blonde was Marisol Diez Delgado, who said something in Venezualan which Lee didn't understand but guessed meant hello. The African-American was Seeiah Owens; "Hey sweet thing,". The frenchie was Jean-Paul; "Bonjour, ma belle. C'est juste JP a tout le monde." Mullet man was Luther Grady; "Hey baby,". Lee could tell she was going to have trouble with him. Surfer-dude was Broderick Ford, who informed her seetly that she could call him Brodi. The younger guy was Mac, who looking a little embarrassed when he shook her hand. The bubbly girl with the stuffed animal back pack, who it turned out was Japanese, was Kaori. "Konnichiwa, Lee-san. Watashiwa Kaori desu." Lee summoned up some of her Japanese from high school and answered "Hajimemashite, Kaori-san." Kaori seemed pleased that Lee could speak a little of her own language, and Lee recieved a hug.
Everyone seemed to like her, each in their own way, and everything was going great. At least, until the scary guy came out of his corner to introduce himself.