Not That Social
Chapter One
AN: Alright, people. Here's chapter one. I hope it's long enough for you (I think it is). I'm sorry if the characters are a bit OOC, but I'm trying my best with an AU cannon. Remember, this is my first fic. So be nice! D
She didn't want to do this. The school was huge, bigger than any one she had been in before. There was no was she was going to be able to go into that place and just…click. All of the other kids in her grade had three years of experience with the building; they knew what they were doing and how to get about. Kagome did not.
Swallowing the ever-growing lump in her throat, she pulled her car into the school's car park. The first bell wasn't scheduled to ring for another twenty minutes, but already the place was packed. There were only a few spots available, and they were at the end of the lot. Pulling her car into the spot, she shut off the ignition and climbed out.
Immediately she got the urge to crawl back inside her car and drive away. The building looked even bigger now that she was standing outside of it. Hundreds of kids pushed passed her on their way inside, not paying her any mind. It was as if she wasn't even there, and, for a minute, Kagome thought that was just the way she wanted it.
'No,' her inner-self argued. 'You don't want to be pushed aside like at your old school. You want to make something for yourself.' Pushing the voice to the back of her mind, she stepped through the large doors to the school that would seal her fate.
Straight away she felt lost. The main hallway branched off into what seemed like hundreds of smaller hallways, forming a navigate-less catacomb. It was a giant maze made out of concrete and linoleum, and she felt as if she would never find her way around it. Once again the urge to turn and run gripped her soul, but she kept her feet planted firmly on the ground and scanned the hall for the main office.
She found it not far from the main doors. It didn't look like anything special, with its windows running from one end of the wall to the other for maximum viewing authority, but she still hesitated by the door before entering. The second the door opened, a middle-aged secretary looked up from her spot behind a large desk.
"Can I help you?" She asked, looking Kagome up and down and taking in her school uniform. 'May I help you?' Kagome corrected in her mind. 'You'd think, working in a school, she'd know that.' She quickly stopped her mental rambling and smiled at the receptionist.
"I hope so, my name's Higurashi, Kagome, and I'm starting school here today."
"You and a million other kids, darling." She let out a short, curt laugh at her own joke before rifling through some papers on her desk. "You're new here, aren't you?" Kagome simply nodded and waited for her to continue. "Well, here's your schedule, you're homeroom is 422 with Mr. Sutherbee and your locker number is 467." She handed Kagome an index card sized piece of paper with her locker number and combination scribbled on it. "If you have trouble finding your way around, just come back here and we'll set you up with a guide. I hope you find everything alright."
Kagome knew that she didn't really care, that it was all just a scam and that she was counting down the minutes until the end of the day just like the students, but she kept her mouth shut and walked back out the door she came from.
The hallway was even more crowded than before, if that was possible. There didn't even seem to be gap between the people in which she could walk. She figured that the first thing to do would be to find her locker. Scanning the lockers closest to her, she realized that they were all in the 100s. That either meant that she had a long way to walk, or that the first number indicated the floor that the lockers were on. She decided to go with the latter.
Finding the stairs was no problem, but navigating her way up them in the sea of people proved to be quite difficult. It seemed to take hours just to get to the fourth floor, but she finally made it. It felt as if she had just climbed Mount Everest, and she was more than relieved to start searching for her locker.
The hallway was lined with seniors talking about their summer vacations and comparing schedules. Kagome felt out of place as she idly checked the locker numbers, trying to avoid the few curious glances that she received. She found her locker quickly and stumbled with the combination. On the third try it opened and she quickly began unloading her belongings.
'Now what?' She thought as she glanced at the clock and realized that she had ten minutes to kill. Too afraid to walk up to someone and start a conversation, she wandered the crowded hallway in an attempt to look like she had a purpose. Nothing too much happened until she came across the bathrooms.
She was about to push open the door to the girl's room when someone slammed open the boy's door from the inside. A small cloud of smoke billowed out of the bathroom door before a tall boy with shockingly silver hair walked out. He stubbed a spent cigarette out on the linoleum-tiled floor with his foot and glanced down at her. Shocked, she didn't open her mouth. Rather, she just stared up at him in wide-eyed fascination. A small smirk rose at the corner of his mouth before he pushed past her and disappeared into the crowd of anxious seniors.
'Who was that?' Kagome asked herself, as if her conscience would actually know. She snapped back from her thoughts and was once more about to enter the bathroom when the homeroom bell rang. A collective groan was heard from the students as they grudgingly made their ways to their homerooms. Glancing at the piece of paper in her hand, Kagome sighed and made her way to her homeroom. 'Mr. Sutherbee, here I come.'
A small line of students had formed outside of room 422, Kagome's homeroom. They were all waiting to get into the classroom that was obviously locked.
"Looks like Mr. Sutherbee is late." Kagome heard one of the kids say.
"I know, I guess he'll never change. He was never on time last year." Another student said.
Not interested in their juvenile chitchat, Kagome leaned up against the row of lockers and decided to wait for her new homeroom teacher to arrive. It didn't take long, for the moment she got comfortable, he came briskly walking down the hallway, straightening his suit jacket and jangling his keys.
"I'm sorry I'm late, students." He mumbled as he slid the proper key into the slot and opened the door. He walked in and the students didn't hesitate to follow. They all found seats amongst their friends and began to talk quietly as Mr. Sutherbee sorted through the papers on his desk. By the time Kagome got through the door, most of the desks were occupied so she sat down in the back row, second seat. A few people glanced her way, but none spoke up.
Because it was the first day of school for all of the students, she didn't get pulled to the front of the class and introduced like she would have if it were the middle of a semester. Instead, she had to navigate her way around the building on her own and introduce herself to the other students.
"Alright kids, I know you don't really want to be here, and, frankly, neither do I." Mr. Sutherbee said as he stood in front of the class. "Because it's the first day of class, and because this is only homeroom, we'll start out easy. Let's take roll."
As he began calling out the names on his list, Kagome's stomach started to turn. She grew increasingly nervous as he got closer to the H's.
"Himoshiti, Touga?"
"Here!"
"Higurashi, Kagome?"
The class grew quiet and began looking around the room, trying to identify the new student. Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat and spoke up.
"Here." The class collectively looked in her direction. Not knowing what else to do, she gave a modest smile and a slight wave. A few people smiled back, but most just turned around and went back to facing the front of the class.
"Welcome to Shikon High School, Ms. Higurashi," was all he said before continuing down the list.
'That wasn't too bad,' Kagome thought. The teacher went on to give the daily announcements and read off the lunch menu for that day.
By the end of class, Kagome was feeling a little less anxious. When the bell rang, a small group of girls quickly surrounded her and began introducing themselves.
"Hi Kagome, I'm Ayumi. This is Yuka and Eri. How are you liking Shikon High so far?" They all nodded with big smiles on their faces, urging Kagome to answer.
"I guess it's okay, although I haven't seen too much of it yet." She answered truthfully.
"Where did you move from?" Ayumi asked. She seemed to be the leader of the tiny gang of girls.
"America, but I only lived there for two years. I grew up in Nagasaki." All three of the girls 'ooh-ed' when she mentioned America and Kagome had to stifle a laugh.
"What's it like in America?" Eri spoke up with sparkles in her eyes. Her hair was cut short and held back with a yellow ribbon, and Kagome couldn't help but think how much she looked like a little girl.
"It's not too different from here, minus the language." Kagome answered with a smile. She couldn't believe that these people were so quick to talk to her. She was definitely not used to the attention.
"So, Kagome, what class do you have first hour?" Ayumi took back her roll as leader. The other girls didn't seem to mind, though, and they just stared at her expectantly.
Kagome looked down to her schedule and was about to tell Ayumi her next class when Yuka ripped it from her hands. She gave a quick smile before reading the paper, comparing her schedule with Kagome's.
"I have third hour with you!" Yuka squealed.
"Oh, that's great!" Kagome lied. These girls were just too…happy for her. She couldn't wait to get away from them.
"That doesn't help her any, Yuka!" Ayumi grabbed the paper out of Yuka's grasp and began scanning it herself. "You're in luck, Kagome. I'm in you're next class. Do you want me to show you where it is?"
Kagome thought about it for a moment. She really didn't want to be around these girls any longer than need be, but she didn't know her way to her next class. Figuring that she could ditch them later, she smiled and said a quick, "sure."
"Great, you're going to love Mrs. Strickland. She's one of the easiest teachers in this school." She handed Kagome back her schedule and flashed her a bleached smile. Kagome was quickly catching on to what kind of person Ayumi was. She had shoulder length black hair that hung in loose curls and the way she carried herself screamed 'I'm better than you.'
Kagome looked down at he schedule and noticed that her first hour class was Algebra II. 'Great way to start out the day,' she thought sarcastically.
As they walked down the stairs to the second floor, the math wing, Kagome couldn't help but block out the chatter around her. Ayumi broke off from the other two girls and began showing Kagome to their class, and she wouldn't shut up. She was saying something about her boyfriend when they reached the door.
Kagome made a beeline for the back of the class even though there were plenty of seats available in the front, when Ayumi grabbed her forearm and turned her around.
"What do you think you're doing? Only loners sit in the back. Come on, you can sit by me." Even though she already couldn't stand Ayumi, Kagome followed her to the front of the class. She couldn't let the chance to be popular slip by her. As Ayumi was introducing her to even more of her friends, the teacher walked in, silencing the class immediately.
She was a younger teacher with short brown hair and a warm smile, she reminded Kagome of her mother. She quickly went into taking roll as the class began to talk amongst themselves once more. The same thing as in homeroom happened again in this class when the teacher reached Kagome's name on the list, but this time she was less hesitant to speak up.
"Taisho, Inuyasha?" Mrs. Strickland called out. When she didn't get a response she continued on down the list. But something about the name caught Kagome's attention. It was so…unique.
"Ayumi, who's Inuyasha, and why is he absent on the first day of school?" Kagome whispered with her hand halfway covering her mouth so the teacher wouldn't catch her talking.
"Oh, don't worry about him. He's probably here somewhere. He never comes to class." Ayumi answered her; not bothering to whisper because she knew Mrs. Strickland wouldn't care. "But you don't want to run into him," Ayumi quickly added. "He's a loser."
Before Kagome could say anything else, the teacher began handing out the textbooks. The class seized their talking and everyone's attention was on the front of the classroom, where Mrs. Strickland was writing out practice equations on the dry-erase board.
"The first week or so we'll just be reviewing the stuff you learned in Algebra I," she explained to the class before continuing to scribble on the board. The problems seemed easy enough, and Kagome, along with the rest of the class, began jotting down the notes.
Kagome somehow managed to survive through Biology, Popular Novels, and Honors World History; constantly keeping an eye open for the tall boy she had seen exiting the boy's bathroom earlier. The day seemed to drag on for much longer than it should have, and she was ready to drop dead. Luckily for her, lunch was next.
It didn't take her long to make her way to the lunchroom, because it was just down the hall from her History class. It wasn't so much of a room as it was a large opening in the center of the building on the first floor, right by the office. Now Kagome understood why the office's front wall was pretty much one big window, it made it easy for the principal and staff the keep an eye on the lunch activities.
The 'room' was speckled with round tables that sat six people each, most of which were already taken. Kagome scanned each table, looking for someone to sit by. She saw Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka, surrounded by more people than could actually sit at the table. Kagome contemplated going to sit by them, but she really didn't want to put up with their perpetual talking.
But she didn't know anybody else. Glancing behind her, she noticed that a few of the kids were taking their lunches outside to eat. Deciding that it was nice enough outside, she grabbed her lunch and made her way out into the front common.
There were only about twenty teenagers outside, each floating in their own little clique. A few of the kids sat by themselves here and there, but, for the most part, everyone seemed to have someone to be with. Not really in the mood to play to roll of 'enthusiastic new student,' Kagome picked a large tree that provided ample shade near the end of the common to sit under.
After only seconds, Kagome's eyes began to close and she started to daydream.
'I knew you would let this happen,' her inner-self sighed. 'You're not making any effort to fit in. How do you expect to make friends if you don't go talk to people?'
"You have no idea what it's like," she chided her conscience aloud, figuring that no one was around to hear her. Sometimes she wondered just where that inner-voice came from, because it was the complete opposite of her personality.
"Talking to yourself? I sure hope the conversation's a good one," a voice spoke up.
Kagome's eyes flew open, searching for the owner of the voice. As she looked all around, she couldn't find anyone even looking in her direction.
"Did I just imagine that?" Kagome asked to no one in particular.
"No, but you are sitting beneath my tree," the voice spoke up again. Or, rather, down would be the correct term. Kagome's eyes slowly lifted to the branches of the tree, and she was shocked by what she saw. There, sitting on one of the top branches, was the boy from earlier. He had his back resting against the trunk of the tree, one leg propped up and the other dangling lazily over the edge of the branch, the wind blowing his long hair to the side.
"Oh," Kagome blinked a few times to clear her thoughts. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. I'll just…go sit somewhere else, I guess."
She stood up and prepared to find another tree to sit under when the boy jumped from his spot in the tree and landed before her with perfect grace. He was a full head taller than her and his eyes seemed to be studying her with great intensity. Kagome felt a blush spread across her cheeks, and looked down in a useless attempt to hide it.
"Wait," he spoke up after a moment of silence. "Do I know you from somewhere?" His eyebrows rose as he asked the question, his eyes still locked on her face.
"I-I don't think so." She answered with her head still down, worried about him commenting on her embarrassment. "I saw you earlier in the hallway, if that's what you're thinking…"
He thought for a moment before answering, "No, I guess not then. What's your name?"
"Kagome. Kagome Higurashi," she answered, her eyes finally lifting to meet his own. Her breath was stolen from her the second her eyes locked onto his, they were the most shocking shade of gold she had ever seen. It took her a moment to recover from their unreserved beauty. "What's yours?"
"Inuyasha Taisho," he said hastily.
'Inuyasha Taisho? The guy Ayumi was talking about earlier?' Kagome thought, surprised. 'He doesn't look like a loser. In fact, he looks…hott.'
"Are you new here?" He asked after a few seconds, noticing her blank stare.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I just moved here from America." She answered, still staring at his eyes. A spark of some emotion flashed across his eyes for a quick second at the mention of America, but it was quickly squelched before she could tell what it was. Looking down, she saw a red backpack with a Dresden Dolls CD sticking out of it at the base of the tree. "Is that yours?"
He looked down at the backpack before nodding, "Yeah. You like the Dresden Dolls?"
She nodded with a smile; the Dresden Dolls was one of her favorite bands. "Totally, 'Girl Anachronism' is one of my all-time favorite songs."
He flashed her a smile of approval and looked like he was about to say something when the bell rang. Picking up his backpack, he began walking in the opposite direction of the school doors.
"Where are you going?" She asked when she noticed that he wasn't following her back to the school building.
He stopped and looked over his shoulder at her, flashing her another award winning smile. "What do you think? I'm going home." He answered, as if skipping school was no big deal, and, to him, it wasn't.
"Oh," was all she said before he turned around and continued walking. Not wanting to be late for her fifth period class, Kagome turned and sprinted to the door, glancing over her shoulder twice to watch Inuyasha disappear.
Kagome's fifth period class was a Home Economics class with a kind old lady simply named Kaede. She had to be at least sixty years old, but she carried herself like she wasn't a day over twenty. The classroom didn't have any desks. Rather, it had eight tables, each with three chairs facing the front of the room behind them.
When Kagome entered the class, she was slightly relieved to see that there was no one there she recognized. Sitting down in the front of the class, she waited for the bell to ring, indicating the beginning of class. As the room slowly began to fill up, Kagome noticed that none of the other kids made an effort to talk to her, and that the two seats next to her remained empty.
The bell rang, but the teacher remained behind her desk, busily sifting through papers. Kagome began idly doodling on her notebook when two exhausted students rushed through the door, panting for air and cursing when they realized that they were late. One was a girl that looked a bit older than Kagome with dark brown hair tied in a high pony tale, in the other was a boy with black hair and a small rat tail. Noticing that all the other seats were taken, they sat next to Kagome.
"This is all your fault," the girl whispered, smacking the boy semi-roughly on the back of the head.
"You know I couldn't help myself," he responded with a lecherous grin on his face. He began to laugh at something that only he found funny, obviously, because the girl just got more irritated and crossed her arms. She glanced over to Kagome and her anger immediately dispersed, turning into a smile.
"Hi, I'm Sango, and the letch over there is Miroku." She said, hooking her thumb in Miroku's direction. "I don't think I've seen you around before."
"That's because I'm new here. My name's Kagome." They shook hands and Kagome smiled. Sango seemed to be a lot easier to get along with the Ayumi.
"Where did you move fro-" Sango began to ask when Kaede spoke up.
"Attention class, there shall be no talking while I am teaching. Let's start this year off with…" Kaede began to ramble on about the class and the various assignments that they would turn out in the year.
'We'll finish this later.' Sango mouthed and Kagome nodded.
Perhaps this year wouldn't be so bad.
Alrighty, chapter one is up! But please review, if I don't get enough reviews, I might not want to continue this. How am I supposed to know if it's any good if you don't review.
So be nice and click that little button down there.
I'm already working on the next chapter, so the updates should be fairly quick on this. Also, I don't have a beta reader. If you think I need one, and you're up for the job, drop me a line! See ya!
