A/N: Hi I'm Bambi! Welcome to my new Welcome Back, Kotter story, Horshack's Bright Spot. I did post a Horshack story originally, but I didn't like it. It was very rushed and just not the product I want to put forth. In this story, Horshack meets a girl name Vera but the Sweathogs thinks she's weird and they don't want him to see her. I really hope you all like this story. I worked ridiculously hard on it. As always, I do not/have not/probably nor will I ever own the rights to Welcome Back, Kotter or any of its characters, themes, settings, or locations. However, I do own Vera Kimura, Miss. Nakamura, and Cassie Bennett. Now, onto my new story!

I can't stand Bensonhurst. It's dark, grey, dreary, rough, boring, and people here are rude. I've only been here two days and it's been nothing but dirty looks and boring seemingly endless days. It's horrible. I'm from San Francisco where its bright, very colorful, warm, and inviting. I loved it there. The weather was great, I had good friends, and the house I used to love in will forever have my heart. It was home and then my father just had ruin it. He cheated on my mom with his secretary and got her pregnant. My mom was heartbroken, filed for divorce, and moved her and I here when the divorce was finalized. This is where she grew up in the 50's and this is where my grandparents are. I'm still angry at my dad for what he did to mom. He ruined everything and now I have stepmom and a little half-sister. I'll still have to go back in the summer according to the custody agreement. "Vera are you almost ready to go?" Mom asks from downstairs. "I'm ready."

I answer back as I finish running a brush through my head. I hear her footsteps as she walks upstairs and enters inside my room. I turn around to face her. She looks exhausted. The divorce, the move, and her new job have really taken their toll on her. It breaks my heart to see her this way. Her eyes are on the clothes that I'm wearing. A short black dress, black boots, and a black duster. My hair, shoulder length with green ends that I got done back in January. That's when their divorce got finalized. "Honey, I know you have other colors to wear." Mom gently reminds me. She's not totally keen on my style change. When my parents were separated, I found punk music and prog rock and fell in love with it. That lead me to change From JCPenney separates to black. Mom thinks it's a little too rough for me, but it was there for me when I needed it. "Are you sure? This is a chance for a fresh start. I just don't want you to be bogged down by old things." Mom comforts. I sigh not wanting to rile her up. I've learned to pick and choose my battles.

"If I put on the Green boots will it show you, I'm turning over a new leaf?" I ask. "No, but its start." She smiles small. I go to my closet and change my boots.
"Don't forget your jacket. I packed your lunch, Miso, your favorite. Hurry you don't want to be late for your first day." Mom points me into the direction of downstairs. Back in San Francisco, my parents would never drive me to school. I would usually just take the trolley or walk. Here in Bensonhurst, I'm not sure where I'm going to walk or catch the bus and I'm afraid to ride the subway. So, mom just opted to drive me. "Are you nervous?" Mom asks. "A little bit. I haven't been the new girl in a while." I admit. It's true. The last time I was the new girl was in elementary school. "Don't worry. They're going to like you." Mom assured. I don't know how true that statement might be. Mom's car pulls up in front of the most grey and gritty school I have ever seen. "Do you want me to walk in with you?" She asks. "No, I got it." I promised.

I couldn't walk in there with my mom. I'm already the new girl, I don't want to be the new girl who must hold her mommy's hand. "You have my new work number incase anything happens right?" I ask. "Yes ma'am." I nod trying not to worry her. "Okay." Mom agrees before tightly hugging me. I hug her back. "Mom I have to go." I warned as the hug lingered. "Sorry." Mom apologizes as we pull away. "Love you." I tell her as I step out of the car. "Love you too. Make good choices." She calls out before driving away. I turn around and look at the school. Suddenly, I'm longing to be back in the car with my mom. James Buchanan looked much smaller there. I already see people staring at me. I smile to show I mean no harm. They're gone before they have a chance to see it. I take a deep breath. "You can do this, Vera." I whisper quietly to myself. I get my nerve up and walked inside. The inside isn't as bad as the outside. It's got some form of color to it. I go to the office to pick up my schedule and locker number. "Excuse me?" I ask the receptionist when I walk inside.

"Yes, may I help you?" A woman with light brown curly hair asks. "Yes actually. I'm a new student." I start. "Name?" She asks. "Vera Kimura." I replied. "Oh, I was just looking at your file. Welcome to James Buchanan. Here is your schedule, your locker is 144, here's your combination, and Cassie will show you around." The woman explains pointing a bright sunny Marcia Brady looking girl wearing a pink pleated skirt and a maroon sash that says, "Welcome." "Hi. I'm Cassie Bennett. Welcome to James Buchanan." She introduces herself. "Vera." I introduce as were leaving. "Nice to meet you. So, where are you from?" She asks. "San Francisco." I reply. "Really! That's so cool! I love California." She beams. "Really? Have you ever been there?" I ask. All the while I can't help but notice all the stares and a lot of snickering. "Yeah. My brother's in his senior year at USC. I want to go there." Cassie explained. "No way, I want to go to Stanford." I gasp. "That's awesome." Cassie replies as were talking. I'm not paying attention.

This lack of attention causes me to bump into somebody. Myself and my books drop to the floor. I hear Cassie gasp. "I'm sorry." A nasally voice apologizes to me. The owner of the voice in question, leans down to try and help me grab my books. I recovered and started helping him. "It's alright, I wasn't really paying attention." I reply looking up at him. He was clutching my books and staring at me. "Thank you for the help." I thanked him holding out my hand. He seemed nervous. "Uh here ya go." He hands the books to me. Then he shoots me this child like dopey grin. "You're new?" He asks. "I am. My name is Vera." I introduced myself. "Arnold Horshack." He responds. "Its nice to meet you. I'm sorry I have to cut this short, but I have to go to my locker and go to class." I explained hoping I don't sound mean. "It's okay, Nice to meet you too, Vera." He nods. "See you around." I wave before walking over to Cassie. "Are you okay?" She asks as we walk to my new locker.

"Yeah do you know that guy?" I asked. "Everybody knows Horshack and his friends Vinnie, Juan, and Freddie. They're Sweathogs." Cassie explains. I make a weird face. "They're in remedial classes down by the boiler room. Mr. Woodman, the vice principal, calls them that. Be warned though, they can be mean. Except, Arnold. He's the nicest one." Cassie assured. "Ah." I sigh. At least I met the nice one. "What's your first class?" Cassie asked. "Advanced bio." I reply looking at my schedule. Well, lets go find your class." Cassie waves me off. Here we go.

A/N: That's the end of the first chapter. I hope you liked it. This story will be going up Tuesday's at nine am. Now, for this story, there's a lot of color symbolism. So, I figured in the author's note I explained them. For this chapter there is only two black and green. Green will be featured a lot throughout the story by the way. So, in this chapter, black represents sadness and grief. Vera is sad about leaving San Francisco, the demise of her family unit, and being in in Bensonhurst. That's why she's wearing all black. Green represents new beginnings. Vera's boots, as she indicated are her new beginnings in Bensonhurst. That's it for the color note. Thank you for reading, I hoped you liked it, and I'll see you next time. /span/p