Chapter 7

Liz's POV

I was up and ready by 6:30 the next morning. I had already put out what I was going to wear the night before. I had decided to wear my favorite hip huggers, that is until I remembered Max got them for me. I then put them in the Burn-Me-Later pile, I'd started for all the stuff Max and Maria had gotten me. I finally decided on a deep red knee length skirt that was tight at the waist and flowed at the knee, a black V-neck top that was sleeveless, and black knee-length boots. My hair was pulled up into a ponytail and curled.

Since Sarah was in 8th grade they started after us, so we went to the high school first. School didn't start until 7:30 so we had plenty of time to get there. When we got there the principal was waiting for us. She showed us into her office and started on the paperwork. I still had to pick my classes. I was lucky because the main ones I wanted were still open. My classes were Advanced Chem., Journalism, Honors English, Advanced Geometry, Art, and Spanish. My first class was English; they had already called someone to come show me around. When I walked out of the office, I was introduced to Isabel Rawlings.

"Hello, I'm Isabel Rawlings." She reached out and shook my hand.

"Hi, I'm Liz Parker."

"I know." A shorter blonde-haired girl walked up then. "Liz this is Ava, Ava this is Liz Parker. She just started today." Ava looked me over and nodded.

"Nice to meet you. So what classes do you have?" I pulled out my classes and handed it to them. They both looked it over, nodded, and looked at me.

"It's not bad, you have a class with one of us or Kyle so you should be okay."

"Who's Kyle?" I asked as they walked off. As I caught up I noticed Ava give Isabel a look.

"Kyle is the caption of the football and basketball teams. Isabel has a little crush on him." She said teasingly. Isabel stopped and smacked her on the arm.

"Shut up, I do not. Don't believe a word she says. Kyle is one of our good friends and he's just that, a good friend. Here's your locker." They told me what I would need and we headed for the tour. They started to tell me about the lay of the land.

"Okay, have you met anyone else?" Ava asked.

"Yeah, Serena and Michael. Serena is nice; I'm meeting her for lunch. I think I'm going to meet Alex. Michael is a jerk though. Talk about someone who needs a attitude adjustment." They shared a look.

"If you want to be anyone here the first thing you're going to have to do is not hang out with those losers. Especially Michael Guerin, he's trailer trash. I mean as in arrested, and not something small. Well, he's been arrested for little things but last summer his foster mother was found dead in their trailer. My Dad said the only reason he got off was because some evidence was missing. His foster father even told them that he did it but the sheriff said he was to drunk to be a credible witness. They should have taken him off but no, he's out and running around." Isabel shook at that.

"It's clear for anyone to see he's bad news. I mean everyone knows the only reason Serena is around him is because he's her brother and it ticks her father off." Isabel nodded at that.

"Yeah Dad had asked her time and time again to stay away from him but no. She still stays around him." I just stared at them. The way they depicted Michael was completely different than what I saw. Sure, he was rude but a killer, I never would have guessed. I mean there's no way Grandma would hire him if he was, right?

The bell rang right after. Isabel was in my first class, so we sat next to each other. When Serena came in, I didn't know how to handle it. I liked her, a lot but after what Isabel told me I didn't know what to think. I didn't really have a chance to dwell on it until lunch. I was at my locker when Serena walked up.

"Hey, I saw you got stuck with the Ice Princess and her mini-me. I wanted to come over but I was late. So, you ready for lunch?" I really didn't know what to do. On one hand, I liked her yesterday but on the other, I really wanted to get to know Isabel.

"What are you doing here, Spaz?" I heard Ava walk up with Isabel. I looked at Isabel when Ava said that and saw hurt flash for a second. You had to look but I know I saw it. Seems she does care for her sister.

"I don't see any of your friends around here. Of course you only have 2 so it's not hard to lose them, I guess." Serena just looked at me and I turned my head away.

"I guess Michael was right about you." She sounded disgusted. I looked up and saw her leaving and Ava's face. It looked like she'd won the lottery. I knew I'd made the wrong choice but I wanted to get to know Isabel not Ava. We walked out to the quad and sat a table with some guys in letterman jackets. They all looked up when we came up. Isabel introduced us. Kyle was good looking but I still found myself comparing him to Michael.

I need to stop thinking about him. I tuned out my thoughts and listened to everyone else. That is until the topic became me.

"So what happened to your arm?" One of the football players asked. I didn't catch his name. I looked down; I really didn't want to think about it much less talk about it.

I was in a car accident about 3 weeks ago." I saw Isabel hit him and say something but I couldn't understand what she said. Then a girl walked over and I would have sworn that I'd seen her on the streets in LA. She had long fake blonde hair, a short leather skirt, a top that said "I LOVE MY ATTITUDE PROBLEM", and hooker shoes. She looked at Isabel, smiled, and turned to me.

"Hi Liz, I'm Pam Troy. I heard that the school stuck you with this lot and had to come over and make sure you're okay. After everything that's happened to you lately; you don't need them trying to get close to you because of your last name." I could tell she was lying through her teeth.

"Tell me Pam, where did you get that outfit, Hookers-R-Us? Liz here, probably thought she'd seen you on the streets of LA." Ava had to hide behind her hand when Isabel said that. Pam just threw her hair over her shoulder and walked off when she realized I wasn't going to follow her.

"God first Serena, now Pam, everyone wants to be around you Liz, but I guess you're used to that." I wasn't sure what Ava meant by that. "It's just that there's nothing new and exciting around her very often. So when everyone heard we were getting a celebrity for a fellow classman, everyone wants to be your friend. I mean just some of the people you've gotten to hang out with." Ava just shook her head. " I would kill to have your life. The parties, Celebes, money, I mean its the American dream, right?" She just smiled and looked so pleased with herself.

"It's not all it's made out to be. I mean all I wanted to do when I was growing up was live somewhere like here." They all looked at me like I had stripped and done cartwheels.

"What?"

"You're trying to tell us that instead of Hollywood, mansions, the hottest guys, and enough money to get whatever you want; you'd pick a small town where everyone knows everyone and is as dull as a doorknob?" Isabel asked looking stunned.

"Yes, any day." I didn't see the big deal. "Look in Hollywood everyone knows everyone and what their doing. Plus money doesn't buy everything." Isabel just gave Ava a look when she started to say something else. "Hey, I'm just going to go get ready for my next class." Everyone said bye and I left. I had grabbed my books and turned the corner when I heard Ava say my name.

"I don't see the big deal, she's not that great. Plus, did you see her at lunch? I was trying to make conversation and she just wouldn't say anything. The way she's acting it's like she's hiding something."

"Or maybe she's shy. Come on Ava look at what's happened to her. You saw what Dad found out about her. Her ex and best friend are together not even 2 days after she leaves, her mom didn't even come, and her dad dies in a car crash where she's driving. I wouldn't just open up to anyone either." I heard Isabel tell her.

"Oh please, don't pull that crap in me Isa. You sound like you're trying to back out. We swore we'd get her to be our friend. Just until we could get famous then we'd just twist some story were we look good and she doesn't." I didn't hear anything else because the bell rang. I pushed passed them and I think Isabel knew I'd heard them Ava was in my next class but I couldn't sit with her, which was fine with me. I stayed away from both of them the rest of the day. When school got out, they walked up to my locker.

"So, how did your first day go?" Ava asked.

"It went ok. I got the lay of the land as you said."

"Well, do you need a ride home, I can drive you?" I just grabbed my bag and noticed Serena walk by.

"Hey, Serena can I still get a ride from you?" She stopped and turned around.

"Sure, but my airs out."

"That's fine." We walked out together. She drove a deep blue Jetta. There was a tall brown haired guy standing at her car.

"Took you long enough Rawlings, you do remember I have practice right?"

"Oh shut up Whitman. Practice isn't for another 2 hours, now I'd like you to meet Liz Parker. Liz this is Alex Whitman. The pain in my ass right now because his car is in the shop and for reasons unknown to me I agreed to be his taxi, only without the fare."

"You know you love me Rena." He turned to me. "Nice to meet you. Just so you know you can't believe a word she says. She's a proven pathological liar." I was trying not to laugh.

"Oh then you're not the best guitar player, best friend, and cutest guy in school. I believe that's what you said, right?" I turned to Serena.

"Don't forget ladies fall at his feet." He just looked between us an shrugged.

"Never mind Liz, believe everything she's saying. I was mistaken." He walked over and put his arm around Serena's shoulders. "What else do you have to say about me?" He wagged his eyebrows. She smacked him on his stomach.

"Come on Fabio, I thought you were in a hurry. I have to get to the Crash to study before work."

"Don't we have to wait for Michael or did his baby get fixed?" I must have looked confused because Serena just laughed.

"No, his bike got fixed last night." We all piled into her car. "So how does Roswell High compare to your old school?"

"They're a lot alike. I mean my old school was a lot bigger but that just means there's less chance I'll get lost."

"I think that's one thing you'll never do here, get lost that is." Alex said.

"Yeah, I got that felling too. The people are pretty much the same. You've got the different groups. The rich kids, the nerds, the jocks, cheerleaders,and kids who just don't care. The teachers are the same. I still can't believe I have homework my first day."

"What can we sat, it's the teachers way of saying Welcome." Alex said. We all got out at the Crash. Serena said we could study together so we all got into a both in the back. After 2 hours we were done. They both were surprised at how smart I was. Serena said she'd drive me to school the next morning.

She got up and went to work and after sitting down and talking for a few minutes I went upstairs and started putting everything up and getting stuff for the next day. Sarah had gotten home around 4, had homework as well, and was working on it. She was done by dinner. She had made friends with Ava's little sister Tess and said she was nothing like her older sister. Apparently, she had met Ava when she came to get Tess.

At dinner I told my grandparents that Serena was going to take me to school the next day. When I was getting ready for bed that night, it was the first time I realized I'd never seen Michael at school or here. I had decided to ask my grandparents and Serena about what I'd heard about him, because I just couldn't believe it. As I fell asleep all I could think about was what if I had started falling for a murderer.