Chapter 2:

My alarm clock woke me up at six o'clock in the morning. At first when I looked around I got surprised by the unfamiliar room. When I realized it was my new room I sighed and got up off the floor. My dad ignored my plea last night for him to help me get my mattress out of the u-haul so- sleeping on the floor for me. My clothes are all in a box, and my school supplies are in the car. I went over to the box where my clothes are and bent down opening it. I was looking for my usual outfit: A white t-shirt, cargo shorts, a blue hoodie, and my yellow converse. When I found it I went into the bathroom and put the outfit on over the boxers I was wearing to bed. I looked in the mirror and ruffled my hair. It always looks like a ruffled mess in the morning. I took a brush to it and tried to style it the best I can with my fingertips. "John!"

My dad's voice startled me a little bit but I replied "what."

I saw him walk into the bathroom. "Where are you going?"

I giggled at his stupidity. "School."

He grunted a "have fun" and put his pipe in his mouth before messing up my hair I walked past him and went downstairs. I darted out of the door and went to the back of the truck, got my backpack (that I luckily packed the day before), and walked towards the exit of the neighborhood.

After about 5 minutes of walking I saw my school. "My school is close!" I thought. The first thing I saw was how many people were out front. My heart sunk as I thought of how I wasn't going to make any friends. No john, I thought, you have to be positive. I nodded to my own thoughts and smiled as I walked up to the curb of my new school. Looking around, I was looking at all the cliques. I saw the punk-rock kids, the girly girls, the sporty girls, but I couldn't see anyone that looks like I would have anything in common with them. I looked over and saw a huge crowd of people. Those must be the popular kids. I couldn't help but be curious. I started to walk over but felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see a girl with long black wavy hair and thin rimmed round glasses. She smiled. "Hey. You're the new kid, right?"

I nodded. "How do you know..?"

She chuckled "I'm on the welcoming committee. It's my job to show you around."

"Makes sense. Well, uh, I'm John… John Egbert."

She smiled. "Hi John! I'm Jade… Jade Harley."

I nodded slightly in her direction but my gaze went back over to the cool kids all swarmed around in a circle. She could tell what I was looking at and tapped my shoulder again. "Those kids are the most popular kids at this school. They know everything about everyone. You see that one?" She pointed to some girl with a pink skirt, a scarf, and fluffy short blonde hair "That's Roxy Lalonde. And that one-" She pointed to a girl with long blonde hair and pink glasses. She had on a pink fluffy dress "that's Feferi Piexes. The one in the green sweater is meulin. The one in the khaki shorts and green shirt is Jake.-"

She went on with names but I wasn't really paying attention. I was too busy looking at all of them and the way they all seemed to be having the best time of their life. That's when something changed.

I saw him. I didn't know what his name was- but he was gorgeous. He had blonde hair that swooped in his face and looked soft to the touch. He had a diamond shaped jaw and fluffy lips. My heart stopped and I couldn't help but stare. Nothing else mattered at that moment but him, the urge to get to know him, and the fact that he was walking over here- wait what? He was walking over here. Oh my god. I looked over to see jade had left. Then he was just 2 feet away from me. I couldn't find the words to say but he just smirked. I pulled my shirt down and managed to get out a few words "u-uh… hi! I'm new. Well I mean- my name is john- and I'm new to this school. S-so… what's your name…?"

He scoffed. "Dave Strider- Don't forget it. Listen, my buddies over there don't appreciate you staring at em. I mean, I know we're appealing, but take a picture. It'll last longer"

I frowned. Why is he being so mean…? I nodded and looked down at the ground. He nodded and walked off. Jade walked back over here and put a hand on my shoulder. "I should have told you about him."

"What do you mean…?"

She sighed. "He's kind of a jerk face... He goes around judging everyone. I know… I dated him."

I looked over at her. "Really…?"

She nodded grimly but then went back to her cheery self. "Yeah. He was kind of a jerk. He cheated on me with Terezi." She pointed to a girl with short red hair and teal jeans with a red top on. "Three times."

I frowned. "He's really that kind of guy?" I didn't think of him to be like that. I know what I'll do. I took out my phone and began to take pictures of the group. He walked over again

"Wow. You actually are taking pictures. I guess you're more of a smartass than I thought." He looked at Jade and nodded slightly before turning back to me "listen. Just leave me and my group alone. Okay? We have a reputation to uphold. That means I don't need some nerdy dude to be all up in my business."

"I'm not a nerd."

"Prove it." He looked around and then smirked. "go slap that girl on the ass."

I frowned at the girl. She had wavy blackish brown hair and a dark red sweater on. I looked at him. "I'm not going to prove my popularity by disrespecting and objectifying women. Just because you're popular doesn't mean you have to be a jerk." I looked him up and down trying to read him the best I can. I looked at his long sleeves that were pulled down past his palms, and his pose that had the one hip cocked out and his arms crossed over his chest. Its obviously a front/ façade. "I know you don't act like this all the time. So how about instead of trying to impress your friends you just be yourself?"

He gave me a glare and stepped forward "just watch out, new kid." He turned away and Jade turned to look at me. Her face was shocked

"You did not just tell off Dave strider."

I nodded. "Yeah… I guess I did." I smiled at my new victory and shrugged. The bell rang and I looked down at my new schedule. I have English first. I looked at jade. "Where's room 411?"

She pointed to a hallway. "first door to the left"

I smiled. "Thanks." With my new instructions I began to listen to her and walked to class. I was getting run into and shoved around. It was like 1000 kids were moving at once. I finally struggled my way to the room. I took a seat in the middle and got my new binder out of my bag. On the front was a mini-poster of my favorite movie Conair. I was staring at it admiring Nicolas Cage when someone sat next to me. She had wavy/messy blonde hair, a jean jacket, a white blouse, and skinny jeans on. I looked at her and she smiled at me. Her smile was crooked and mischievous. I smiled back and she looked at my binder

"No way! I love Nic Cage." I smiled more.

"No kidding?! I love him too." She looked at me. She had dark blue eyes. They were kind of highlighted by her blue makeup. I looked at her. "So... What's your name?"

"Vriska."

I looked at her. "Were you hanging out with the popular kids this morning? I think I saw you"

She nodded. "Yeah, but those kids can get annoying at times. Especially Terezi." She rolled her eyes and I cocked my head

"Terezi's the one with the short red hair, right?"

"Yeah. She is a total wannabe. She thinks she's so cool because she's dating Dave Strider."

I rolled my eyes at the mention of Dave. I don't know what got me and him on such a bad start. "oh yeah, Dave…"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just that Dave and I didn't get off to such a good start."

She nodded "I heard. Relax. He is just superficial like that. He actually thinks you're kind of cool-" She lowered her voice at the last part. "Don't tell him I told you, but he actually came back to the group surprised by you. You're so in."

I frowned. "I don't wanna be in a crowd with them. I just didn't want him to call me a nerd. I don't wanna be mean to people."

She chuckled "I'm in that group and I'm not mean. The only ones in that group that are kind of mean are Dave and Dirk. The rest of us are just friendly- except for Terezi."

I nodded. "Noted. But why are they like that?"

She shrugged. "No one really knows."

I sighed. I want to know what made Dave mean like that. I'm making it my goal to get to the bottom of what Dave Strider is hiding.