Shana's POV
Yes! It's finally...man, it's only Tuesday. I thought it was at least Friday by now. This whole first week at school thing is wearing me out. Speaking of Fridays, I need to make plans for this weekend...I kind of have always wanted to go to a true high school party.
That party last year...that was only eighth graders trying to act like high schoolers. It definitely got a little out of hand. But now we are in HIGH SCHOOL, and a whole realm of weekend fun opens up.
I'd have to say out of our group, Brynn and I are definitely the heaviest partiers. It's not like we like to go out and get drunk or anything, we just have a lot of fun.
After walking in the front door, I saw Allie getting her stuff from her locker. I quickly walked up right behind her.
"Seen neighbor boy yet?" I asked her quietly.
"He rode the bus this morning," she replied, very hush-hush.
"Did he say anything to you?"
"No," she said, very disappointed. "Maybe tomorrow he will."
"Why don't you just talk to him?"
"We can't. That's like against the rules of high school, or something," she joked, but still with an edge of seriousness.
We sat at the same table that we did yesterday, and Brynn and Gavin walked up to the table. Brynn looked like she hadn't slept all night, and her eyes were rimmed with red.
"Is something the matter, Brynn?" I tried to ask her sensitively.
She gave me a faint smile.
"My mom is having a baby."
Allie and I smiled to each other. It was really no secret that Brynn had wanted a little sister or brother for a very long time, but her parents could not have another baby no matter how hard that they tried.
"That's awesome," Allie exclaimed, a bit unsure, looking at Brynn's ragged appearance. "Isn't it?"
"It is, but my grandparents and parents argued the rest of the night about it until about three in the morning. I could not get to sleep, and we had swim practice at six."
Gavin was unusually quiet, as he looked to be studying his cinnamon roll that he got from the cafeteria.
"Gavin," I said, and he snapped out of his trance.
"What?" he said, and I saw that he had dark circles under his eyes as well.
"Gavin and his parents stayed at our house all night, trying to keep the peace."
"Ahhh," I replied. "Brynn, do you have plans for this weekend yet? I thought we should hit up some of the parties since we are actually high schoolers."
"Totally," she said, as she instantly brightened. "I heard that some sophomore is having a party in Allie's neighborhood. A new kid. He's on the swim team."
With the words "new kid" and "Allie's neighborhood", Allie instantly brightened up as well. Could it be neighbor boy?
"I don't think you guys should go," Gavin spoke up. "I mean...sophomore boys are just looking for freshmen girls to prey on."
"Maybe, but you'll be there to protect me, won't you?" Brynn said sweetly. With her words, I instantly replayed Allie and I's conversation the night before. "I heard that Colin might be there too."
"Are you two going to hook up?" Allie asked.
"Maybe...I don't know. He invited me to eat lunch with him."
"When?" Gavin asked, stabbing his breakfast with a fork.
"Just after swim practice, outside the locker rooms. He was waiting for me to get out of practice so he could ask me."
"Sounds like a stalker," Gavin remarked.
"He is SO hot. You two would make such a cute couple," Allie said, excitedly.
Gavin shoved the last of his roll into his room.
"I'm gonna make like a tree and branch," he said. "I can't stand any of this girl talk."
Throwing away his plate, and brushing his hair out of his eyes, Gavin went to go find some guys to talk to. He ended up having an animated discussion about stem cell research at the Science Olympiad table.
Almost immediately after he left, his spot at the table was replaced by Miranda, who quickly pulled out her math notebook.
"Ohmigosh, I didn't finish last night's homework," she exclaimed.
"What were you doing last night?" I asked, wondering why she could not get the little bit of homework she had done.
"I went to the bookstore/coffeeshop over on Central, and I talked with the really cool guy for a long time about life."
Life? I thought to myself. There had to be something else to it. He must be gorgeous or something...
Almost if on cue, a guy I vaguely recognized from my math class strolled up to Miranda.
"Okay, next question...what's your favorite kind of bread?" he asked her.
Miranda thought for a second, and said, "I would have to say toast on that one."
"Toast isn't a kind of bread...I meant like wheat, sourdough, french...something like that," the guy, said, giving her a frown.
"Yeah, it is. Actually the truth is I don't even like bread."
"Well, that works. See you later."
The guy casually walked away and sat at a table be himself. He pulled out a Walkman, and a book, and began to read. The Great Gatbsy. Hmmmmm....must be smart or something.
"Miranda?" Allie said, raising her eyebrows.
"I met him last night. He's so different from anyone else, it's actually charming."
"What's the whole deal about bread?" Brynn asked, disinterestedly looking like she was pulling out split ends.
"We have this game called Truth going on in between us. We basically just go back and forth answering each other's questions."
Meanwhile, during their friendly pre-school conversation, a different conversation was taking place, in the back of the freshmen lockers.
Colin and Amber were sitting there, having a private conversation, looking very close, even though Amber had Gordo, and Colin was about to be dating Brynn.
"So, do you want to help me?" she asked, seductively, twirling her long hair around her finger.
"Why are you doing this, Amber?" Colin asked her.
"Simon dumped me, Colin. Nobody dumps me," she said defensively.
"I hate Simon so much. I can't believe he said those things to you," Colin said, actually believing what she was saying.
"I know. Did you know that yesterday, he told Gordo that he should break up with me?"
"I know that you want to get back at Simon, but why Lizzie, Brynn, and all those girls?" Colin asked.
"Lizzie is against me for the last cheerleading spot," Amber said, smoothing out her skirt. "Brynn is gorgeous, and those girls are like...the most loved at this school. They have everything, and if I can turn them all against each other, I can have everything that I want this year."
"Just don't let it turn into what happened at HA," Colin warned.
"Don't worry. I've gotten a lot smarter. Did you see how I snagged Gordo the FIRST DAY of school?" Amber bragged. "How is your thing going with Brynn?"
"Great...I'm eating lunch with her today, and I think I'm going to ask her," Colin admitted. "But why is me dating her going to bring the whole group down?"
"You'll see," Amber said. "It's all part of my master plan."
"What about Kate, Claire, and Nora?"
"Their little worlds are already unstable. If I could dig up some dirt, I could drag them all down."
"And Miranda, Shana, Allie, and Madison?"
"I have no idea about the first three, but do you remember Andy, the drummer from Hilridge Academy?" Amber said, while Colin nodded. "He is in her band, and he has told me stuff about her and that Jay kid."
"So, go over the first part of your plan with me."
"First," Amber said, holding up one finger. "I date Gordo, and prohibit Lizzie from seeing him. You date Brynn, and cause that Gavin kid to self-destruct. Also, I heard that she is a massive partier, so get her drunk, and maybe she'll crack."
"And, we keep our eye on the look-out for other info that could cause damage."
"Right," Amber assured him. "I love you."
"I love you too."
Amber seductively placed her hand on his leg and started to walk off slowly.
Simon angrily dumped his backpack into his seat in first hour biology. Shana sat quietly leaning back in her seat, but from the look on Simon's angry face, she did not want to kick her seat out from under her.
"What's the matter?" she asked inquisitively.
He did not answer; he just gave her an angry glare.
"Okay...what happened?" she said, rephrasing her question.
"Listen, we are not good friends, and I don't think I have to confide anything to you," he retorted back.
Shana decided not to bug him as much, so she just raised her eyebrows silently.
"It's just...Gordo," he said suddenly, facing her. "You know how he's dating Amber?"
Shana was suprised at his sudden change in attitude, but she decided not to push it by asking too many questions.
"Yeah..."
"Well, as you may not know, she and I used to go out, and I think she has other motives," Simon said. "And now, the guy that she cheated on me with, Colin, moves here...and it almost confirmed my suspicions."
"Brynn's Colin?" Shana asked, very confused.
"Hotshot football player? Extremely good looking? That would be the guy," Simon answered. "I think she might want to cause trouble here."
"She moved her just for that?" Shana asked.
"Well...she caused some really bad things to happen at our old school, and she was hated by pretty much everyone."
"Wow," shana said in shock. "Did you tell Gordo? Or Brynn?"
"I tried, but he won't believe me. Brynn probably won't either."
The teacher walked into the classroom, and started class.
"But don't blab this to any of your friends. I know how you are."
With that single sentence, the connection that he and Shana had made in their brief conversation was shattered yet again.
Later that day....at lunch
Brynn was met at her locker by Colin, and he was smiling widely.
"Hi," he greeted her. "Are we still on for lunch?"
"Of course," Brynn answered, putting her books into her locker.
He led her to his lunch table, in which Amber, Ethan, James, and Jay were sitting. Amber smiled at her, and scooted over to another seat, so Brynn could sit by Colin.
"Hi, Brynn!" she said, very perky. "How are you today?"
Brynn was pleasantly surprised. She thought that Amber was some kind of monster that was absolutely horrible to be around. But, she was being really nice to her.
"I'm okay. I'm pretty tired," Brynn answered back, as she opened her lunch bag.
"So am I! You know, we should really hang out sometime!"
As much as Brynn wanted to hate Amber for Lizzie's sake, she really could not help befriending her. In fact, she almost liked her.
"Are you going to that party this weekend?" Brynn asked.
"Yes! We should totally ride together!" Amber exclaimed. "I can give you, Colin, and Gordo a ride...where do you live?"
Brynn gave her address to Amber, and they excitedly started talking about what they were going to wear. Brynn, however, could not help thinking about what Lizzie would think of this. She decided that the best thing would be to keep this whole thing under wraps.
Suddenly, she felt an arm around her shoulder. She looked over to her side, and saw Colin, who was smiling at her.
Brynn smiled back. She just hoped that he wasn't gay.
"Is this okay?" he asked, and Brynn immediately thought of how sweet he was.
"It's perfect," Brynn answered. She loved to love and to be loved, and Colin was just the perfect guy for her.
"Come on...I gotta ask you something."
He pulled her by the hand, and whisked her into a remote hallway in the back of the school. Most of the classrooms were empty, and there was no one else in the hallway.
"What do you want to ask me?" Brynn asked, but she already knew the answer.
"I know that we just met yesterday, but....will you go out with me?"
Brynn looked into his eyes. Colin had to be the best high school boy she had ever met....
She was lost in her thoughts: thinking of Colin, her friends, her parent, her old boyfriends....Gavin...
She was suddenly confused. Why would she think of Gavin at a time like this?
Abandoning all of her thoughts, she allowed Colin to lean into her closely. This whole thing would be so perfect if he just kissed me, she thought to herself, and like magic, their lips touched.
Every feeling in her body exploded like fireworks. She doubted that she had ever felt this way about anyone, except for Gavin.
There she went again. Why couldn't she banish Gavin from her mind, and why was she thinking about him of all people while practically making out with another guy, who was totally hot?
Meanwhile.....in the lunchroom
Gavin scanned the tables for Brynn's usual table when he remembered that she was eating lunch with Colin today.
Okay, he thought to himself, jock table.
He found what he was looking for when he saw Amber, surrounded by Ethan, James, and Jay.
"Hey guys," he said, casually waving at his friends. "Do you where Brynn went? I need to tell her something."
Amber put down her Diet Pepsi and smoothed her skirt. This was an opportune moment for sabotage.
"Are you her brother?" she asked sweetly. Amber almost enjoyed seeing Gavin's crushed face.
"No, I'm her neighbor....and her friend," Gavin stuttered. Her words burned his heart. Brother? Sure, Brynn and him were really close, but he hoped that she did not look at him like a brother.
"Oh...well, Colin just ran off with her," Amber, said giggling. "I think they are in the F Hall."
Amber gave him a wink, as if Brynn and Colin were doing something. Hopefully not, but Brynn had gotten herself into bad situations like that before.
"Bye," Gavin said, and ran to the F Hall, before the bell rung. He had no classes back there, but he still knew its notorious meaning as being one of main places that students went for PDA (private-not public-displays of affection).
Then he saw the two, intertwined in a passionate embrace that tore his heart into pieces.
In fact, he was so hurt that he told a teacher from E Hall. She rushed off to find the two, and gave them both detention. Gavin remained anonymous, but he still felt tremendously that he just turned his best friend in.
Even if he did kind of like her.