Author's Note: I know, I know. It's literally been months since I last updated. I was actually ready to give up on this story but something made me try it one last time.
Reviews:
Love: Yeah, I know Sammy is older in the books but for sake of my story, I decided to make her younger. Again, I also made him middle-class intentionally.
Lorie4eva: I'm sorry my story bores you. You don't have to read it if you don't want to, ya know? I have to set up the story before jumping into the interesting parts of the story.
How-to-forget: I'm not really sure what my pairings will be yet. I know I definitely don't want it to end up being a Massington, but there might be some Massington elements just for sake of keeping the relationships interesting.
Escape to nowhere: It will definitely NOT be a Massington :D
Briarwood Academy
Entrance Hall
September 10th, 2012
8:34 am
I glanced around awkwardly. Now that I had been officially welcomed by part of the Briarwood student body, I wasn't quite sure what happened next.
"Uh, thanks It's, um, good to be here." I choked out. Cam's grin grew wider. A few seconds passed by and when I realized Cam wasn't a man of many words, I quickly thought of something to fill the gap. "So who's Alicia?"
Cam opened his mouth to speak but a voice from behind him spoke.
"Who's asking?" I looked over Cam's shoulder at a pair of girls. Cam took a step to his left, allowing me to get a better glimpse. A petite, caramel-skinned girl tossed her long, chocolate brown hair over her shoulder. Her kohl stained eyes traveled across me. She ran her tongue slowly across her strawberry red lips. Who says girls are the only victims to being checked out? I fought the urge to run and hide. Beside her, a redhead fought to contain a fit of giggles. Her fiery curls tumbled out of a messy bun at the nape of her neck. Red's now watery emerald colored eyes flickered over to Cam.
"Who's your friend Cammy?" Red drawled slowly. Cam winced at the term of endearment and rolled his eyes. He nodded in my direction.
"This is Derrick Harrington." The two girls shared a brief look. "Derrick, this is Alicia Rivera." Cam pointed to the shorter of the two. "And this is Dylan Marvil." Red nodded in acknowledgement. "Derrick's new."
"Really Cam? I could have sworn he's been here since kindergarten like the rest of us." Alicia droned sarcastically at Cam's obvious statement. Cam raised one shoulder in a half shrug. Alicia rolled her brown eyes and directed her attention towards me. "It was nice meeting you, Harrington." She dug her dark pink nails into Dylan's forearm and walked down the hall with Dylan in tow. Her lips blurred as she whispered rapidly in Dylan's direction.
"Those two are…" Cam paused, racking his brains for an appropriate word, "a handful." He rolled his bicolored eyes in annoyance. "What class do you have now?"
I glanced down at the crumpled papers in my hands and futilely attempted to smooth them out. "Umm... Advanced Placement World History with sc..schide…" I struggled to pronounce the last name listed on my schedule.
"Schidlowski." The name rolled off Cam's tongue with ease. He noticed my awed expression and laughed. "Years of practice." He turned on his heel and started walking down the hall, the same direction Alicia and Dylan had gone not five minutes prior. He stopped and looked over his shoulder, "Are you coming or not?" I nodded my head and shuffled after him.
Briarwood Academy
Room 429
September 10th, 2012
11:45 am
I resisted the urge to bury my head in my hands. Even though it was the first week of school, the professors had covered more material than my old school ever had in the first month of school. I grimaced at assignments I had written down; three chapters worth of reading by next Monday for History, two essays due Friday for English and an impending Calculus pop quiz that could be thrown at us at any minute. I even had assigned reading for Art. I sighed and shoved my books into my black Jansport.
I heard the sounds of chairs and feet shuffling as students made their way out of the room and down the grand staircase to the cafeteria. I followed the masses down the staircase; I figured that if I didn't know where I was going, they would. I carefully watched the steep concrete steps, wary to not tumble down the massive staircase to my doom when I felt an elbow jab into my back and rock me forward enough to lose my balance. I gripped the banister so hard my knuckles turned white and my arm felt it was going to rip right out of the socket.
"Oh." I heard a feminine gasp as I steadied myself. "I am so sorry. I didn't see you there." I looked up at my attacker and right into two Tiffany blue eyes widened in shock. She tucked a lose strand of dark blonde hair behind her ear and continued with her apology. "I wasn't watching where I was going and I should have been but I was so worried about the fact that Ms. Allen nominated my photos to the Westchester Art Gallery contest without my permission." She glanced at me and giggled. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling."
I laughed and shook my head. "It's okay. I was walking slowly." Her lips morphed into a smile and she showed off her white teeth.
"You're new here, aren't you?"
"What gave it away? My charming good looks or the fact that I look like I have no clue where I'm going?" I bantered. The blonde girl giggled.
"The second, definitely. But you know, everyone who attends this school has been here since kindergarten, so I guess you could say it's partly the first too." I laughed loudly. She hitched her messenger bag over her shoulder and gave me an expectant look.
"Oh! I'm Derrick Harrington, I just moved here from California."
"And I'm Claire." She took hold of my elbow and dragged me down the staircase. "C'mon Hollywood. The cafeteria's this way."
Briarwood Academy
Cafeteria
September 10th, 2012
11:54 am
"To your left you'll see herds of students in their natural habitat. The jocks dominate the tables in the middle. The geeks and freaks in the four lower corners of the room. You know, your clichéd high school hierarchy." Claire droned on like a tour guide as we made our way to the buffet style counters that were set up along the opposite wall of the cafeteria
Unlike the gothic style architecture that made up the rest of the campus, the cafeteria was surprisingly modern building. The ground was a dark gray marble that gleamed from the sunlight that poured through the intricately cut skylights. The walls were lavishly decorated with paintings I recognized as Da Vinci's, Picasso's and Van Gogh's. Potted bamboo plants sectioned off groups of tables. Students sat at long, sophisticated steel tables that looked surprisingly comfortable. Black marble islands displayed silver platters of five star cuisine that I had never even heard of.
As Claire and I approached the food stations, it donned on me that the ten dollars in my right pocket probably couldn't even buy me a water bottle. I gulped and was about to speak up when Claire walked behind the rows of counters that contained exquisite looking dishes and approached a smaller set of counters. A small sigh of relief escaped my lips as I realized that these counters contained recognizable food. Claire grabbed a plate and I followed suit.
"I just don't understand how people can eat that." Claire scrunched her face and pointed to the counter that contained rolls of sushi and caviar. "Or why they would want to eat it when they have perfectly delicious pizza at their disposal." She triumphantly set a slice of pizza on her plate and moved along to the salad bar. I grabbed a couple slices of pepperoni pizza and followed her to the line of students waiting to pay for lunch.
"I know what you mean. Pizza is like God's gift to man." I joked as I handed my ten dollar bill to the lunch lady, causing a tinkling laugh to escape Claire.
"Pizza is the second best thing in the world, right behind French fries."
I pocketed the change and followed Claire to a table on the outskirts of the room. We approached a honey blonde girl who was furiously scribbling answers to what looked like math homework. She didn't glance up as Claire placed her plate down and motioned for me to do the same.
"Can you believe Meyers assigned five pages of pre-calc review? I mean seriously, is the guy demented. Who needs five pages of review! And on top of that, he assigned work from today's lesson! The guy is trying to murder us." The girl shook her head, disgusted.
"Death by calculus. Oh the perils of math." Claire giggled and I laughed. The girl looked up, surprised to hear a voice other than Claire's. I took in her Hunter green eyes and her stick straight blonde hair. Her features were soft and warm. Her skin glowed effortlessly. She was easily one of the prettiest girls I had ever seen. She looked at Claire pointedly.
"Kris, this is Derrick. I almost pushed him down the stairs so I felt it was my duty to show him the cafeteria." She took a bite of pizza, chewed and swallowed. "Derrick, this is my very best friend in the whole universe, Kristen Gregory, also known as the number one student in school."
Kristen scowled and rolled her green eyes. "Claire likes to over exaggerate. We all know Chris Plovert is number one in the class." I vaguely recalled Cam mentioning the guy I crashed into was named Plovert.
"I do not! You deserve it more than he does anyways. Anyone who cheats on his girlfriend with the entire Pretty Committee is scum." Claire spat. I noticed the features on Kristen's face soften. Claire seemed to realize something was wrong with what she said and began apologizing profusely.
"Who's the Pretty Committee?" I asked, opening my bottle of Sprite and taking a sip. Kristen leaned forward in gossip position.
"The Pretty Committee, or more endearingly referred to as the Bitchy Committee is composed of Alicia Rivera, who gets around more than Chris Plovert, the daughter of Merri-Lee Marvil, Dylan Marvil, and the Queen Bitch herself, Massie Block. They terrorize the school and like to think of themselves as royalty around here." Claire snorted.
"Massie feeds off the dreams and hopes of everyone around her." Kristen cackled at Claire's remark and I couldn't help but smile. "Anyway, they sit over there with the soccer boys," she pointed to a lone table at the center of the room.
I looked up to see where she was pointing and made eye contact with a set of intense amber eyes. Dark brown hair framed her porcelain colored skin and fell down to her waist in deep waves. Not a single blemish in sight, her amber eyes were lined with a thin line of black eyeliner and nothing else. Her lips turned upward as she watched me. She leaned over to Alicia and whispered something. Alicia followed her line of sight and giggled as she whispered something back. Alicia leaned across the table and spoke quietly to Cam. Cam nodded and returned to his hamburger. Massie stood and began to walk towards our table. Conversations halted as she walked by tables. Everyone was curious of her destination. Her walk was catlike, smooth and agile. She came to a half before our table and pursed her lips.
"Kuh-laire. Kris." She addressed Claire and Kristen with a nod. Claire rolled her eyes and Kristen kept her gaze downward.
"What do you want Massie?"
"Now Claire, is that anyway to greet an old friend?" Massie put a delicate hand over her heart, feigning hurt. She smirked, "I'm here as part of the welcoming committee of course." Her eyes shifted to me. "You must be the boy I keep hearing about. Derrick Harrington, correct? I'm Massie Block." She stretched out her hand. With her gaze locked on mine, I struggled to coherently form words. I felt intoxicated.
"Um..ye-Derrick." I coughed to clear my throat, "Yes, I'm Derrick." I took hold of her hand and shook. Massie grinned widely, obviously pleased.
"Well Derrick, since you're new, why don't you come sit at our table and I can fill you in on how this school works?" Massie arched an eyebrow suggestively. Claire was fuming next to me and Kristen turned beet red. Massie turned on her heel, expecting me to follow.
"I think I'm fine here, thanks. Maybe next time." I turned my attention back to my food and Kristen smiled at me warmly. Massie stopped dead in her tracks and stood still for a few seconds. She whirled around; a look of anger crossed her face before she regained composure.
"Suit yourself." She turned and made her way back to her table. Whispers erupted around her as people discussed what had just happened.
Although I was new at the school, it didn't take me long to realize that I had just done something no one ever had. I had turned down Massie Block.
Did Derrick make the right move?! Will he ever be accepted now? What happened with Kristen/Claire and the Pretty Committee? Let me know what you think! Tune in next time for the answers.
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