by Sarah Swan
The enthusiasm for the start of a new year was palpable. There was an undeniable energy, mixed with a tinge of uncertainty that always ushered in the first days of school. For me, however, this was the first time I found myself looking in from the outside. Every single year before, the first day of school meant seeing friends who had been on extended vacations during the summer, gossiping about who had changed over the months away, finding new boys to obsess over, and getting excited about new classes and teachers. This time it was different, but in many ways the same. I didn’t know anyone yet, except Chris. Yet, I was still very excited. I was positive it was the uncertainty of it all that made the first few weeks so deliciously exciting, foreboding, and thrilling all at once.
I wanted to be out of my room as soon as possible. I promised Chris I would meet him for breakfast today. But, what I really wanted to do was get a first look at my new classmates. What would they be like? Were they all from around here, or had some, like me, come from far away? What were they like compared to the kids I knew back home? It was those commonalities, and potential differences, that made me so excited to meet them. I hoped, somewhat vainly, down there might be the first guy I could make a real romantic connection with.
I showered as quickly as I could, but by the time I came out, I saw from my window that the commotion outside had died down considerably. There were still kids out, but they were mostly walking in groups either to or from the dorms. I thought I could hear people talking in the hall outside my room.
I was still excited to get outside. Hurriedly, I got dressed and swung open my door – and nearly ran into a tall blonde girl who looked totally surprised to see me. She had one hand raised, with the knuckles facing me, as if she had been about to knock on my door. Then the look of surprise faded, instantly replaced by a generous smile. And the next thing I knew, I was being embraced in an impossibly tight hug.
“Oh my god!” the girl squealed, “You must be Tracy!”
I reciprocated by putting my arms around her somewhat awkwardly, while in my mind wondering just who she was or how she knew my name. When she finally released me, I had to gasp a ragged breath.
“Sorry,” the girl giggled, “but it’s not every day we get somebody new here!”
“So I gather,” I said, rubbing my side where her grip had been particularly tight. “And thanks for the welcome. How did you know my name?”
“Oh! I can’t believe my manners. I’m Elizabeth, but everyone calls me Liz.” She had a definitive southern accent, and her high voice made every word out of her mouth seem a lot friendlier than it really was. “I’m president of the student council, err, vice president, actually, but that’ll change by the end of the month. Anyway, it’s pretty much my job to know everybody in our grade.” She was pretty. Really pretty. Her blue sundress showed off her long, shapely legs well above her knees.
“The student council?”
“Don’t worry! It’s not nearly as nerdy as it sounds. Basically, a few years back, the school realized that sometimes the social life here can be a bit lackluster. So they put together the student council, and gave us tons of money to host ‘cultural events’ and ‘weekly study breaks’ and things like that. But, to be honest…” her voice dropped to a mere whisper and she bent close to me, “…we mostly just use the money to buy booze for real parties.” Then she straightened again. “The school realizes that, of course. They’re not totally stupid. But they turn a blind eye because it keeps the students happy. And we don’t cause them too much trouble that way, either.”
I stared at Liz. The administration here basically bought alcohol for the students? That was unbelievable. I’ve never heard of such a thing, and didn’t even know what to begin to think.
“Anyway,” Liz continued, “I’ll be pretty much your best friend here from now on. Who knows? If you turn out to be cool, I might even invite you to some of the real parties.” She winked at me in a way that said that was definitely what I wanted. “Oooh my god, but you’re so pretty!” she squealed, and jumped in for another hug, which I was more ready for this time.
Just as quickly as she had embraced me, she let me go, and twirled around to walk down the hall. “Come to breakfast?” she called over one shoulder.
“Uh… yeah, sure,” I said quickly, closing the door behind me.
“Great! I’ll introduce you to all my friends there. Oh, they’re definitely going to like you,” she cooed. “I think I already do!” It felt like a whirlwind with her. I barely had time to get a word in so far, and she’d already made up her mind about me? Well, at least it was a positive impression.
“You know, I think we really lucked out,” she said as I caught up to her at the end of the hall. From over the railing, I could see the foyer below bustling with activity. At the same time, most of the doors I passed on this floor were wide open, with kids I didn’t know yet inside. Music sounded from a few of them, and it varied from the top-40 to hardcore rap to good old fashioned rock. The only door that was closed, I realized, was Chris’s.
“Oh yeah? How so?” I asked.
“I was expecting you to be some dorky kid, but you seem totally normal.”
“Um… thanks? But why would you expect anything else?”
“I…” she started, but then cut off just as quickly. “Hey, Ashley!”
Down the hall, at the base of the stairs, a girl with beautiful raven hair was climbing the last few steps with a heavy looking backpack slung over her shoulders. On hearing Liz, she looked up, and her face instantly lit up in recognition. She dropped the bag, and ran right for us. Liz ran toward her, and they embraced each other in a giddy hug midway.
“…and you look amazing,” I heard Liz say as I came closer to the girls.
“Oh my god, and so do you!” the other girl exclaimed with equal enthusiasm. “I missed you so much!”
“Me too!”
The other girl – Ashley – looked friendly enough. She was also pretty, although not a natural beauty like Liz. She was closer to my height, and, judging by the amount of makeup she wore, definitely took a keen interest in her appearance. She wore a pair of ripped skinny jeans and a tight sleeveless black top that looked more like an undershirt than anything else. I stood by at the side and waited for the introduction I assumed was coming.
That was when Ashley seemed to first notice me. “Who’s that?” she asked Liz.
“This,” Liz said triumphantly, moving over to place an arm over my shoulder, “is Tracy. She transferred here this year. And she’s super cool.”
Ashley looked me up and down slowly. While she did so, she stuck her hip out to one side and put a fist on it, as if examining some sort of vagrant. I could feel her eyes on me, weighing and considering, and didn’t really know what to do. So I waited awkwardly, starting to feel my cheeks grow warm.
Finally, Ashley broke the silence. “That’s the new kid?” she smirked. “I didn’t know they let creepers in the school.” Before I could even think of a reply, she pushed herself past us, and continued down the hall. I took back my original assessment of her. She was totally bitchy!
I frowned at Liz. “What was that?”
“Oh, don’t let her get to you,” Liz said dismissively. “She’s always like that to anyone she just meets.” She started walking toward the stairs, and I kept up.
“What did she call me?” I asked as we passed Ashley’s forgotten bag on the stairs. “A creeper?”
Liz just shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. You guys will get to know each other soon enough, and I have a feeling you’ll get along just great.”
Somehow, I doubted that. Where had her hostility come from? I didn’t really want to make a bad impression on anyone here, but it looked as if I’d already done so… somehow.
“You guys are friends?” I asked.
“Oh, definitely,” Liz replied. “We were best friends all through elementary school. And freshman year, too, and last year. This summer though, she went away to travel through Europe,
and this is the first time I’ve seen her since the end of school.”
“Oh… well, maybe that’s why she didn’t like me? Maybe she wanted to catch up with you?”
“Nah! We’ll have plenty of time for that later. My priority is showing you around.” Liz beamed at me again. “Seriously though, don’t worry about it,” she confided, “I can talk to her later if you want. But for as long as I’ve known her, Ashley’s always had a dislike for anyone she didn’t yet know.”
“No, you don’t need to do that,” I replied. “I’ll see if I can catch her later, maybe, and have a chance to patch things up…”
“That’s the spirit!” Liz exclaimed. “Anyway, you’re going to love the girls I’m going to introduce you to at breakfast. They’re all friendly, like me! And they’re all going to love you, too.”
“I hope so,” I said, sidestepping two guys carrying a futon up the stairs. “So what were you saying earlier, about expecting me to be someone else?”
“Oh, that. Not much, really. Just that, in the past, most of the transfers here always ended up kind of weird.” She made a face, and stuck her tongue out. “I don’t know why, that’s just been the track record. But I can tell you’re definitely not like that.”
“Your friend doesn’t seem to think so,” I said under my breath without thinking. Luckily, Liz didn’t seem to notice. I really hoped that her other friends were friendlier than Ashley had been.
“So what’s your story?” Liz asked just as we exited the building. The outside air was warm, warmer than yesterday morning. Again, the sky was absolutely perfect. There was not a cloud to be seen anywhere. The sun was shining brightly from its perch about halfway up the sky. I took a deep breath before answering. All I could smell was the scent of fresh, clean air mixed with a tiny hint of the ocean.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Oh, you know,” Liz shrugged. “All the boring, awkward stuff: Where you’re from; why you’re here, so on. Anything you can tell me that’ll make introducing you easier?”
“Well, I’m originally from Washington,” I began, then, seeing the look on Liz’s face, corrected myself. “The state, not the capital. I’m the only daughter of two parents. What else… uh, my dad went to Harvard, but never graduated from there because he got married to my mom instead. And I came here because I know this is a great prep school for getting into the good colleges.”
Liz raised her eyebrows. “I’m impressed! The daughter of a Harvard grad? You must be super smart!”
“Well, he never actually graduated…” I began, but Liz cut me off.
“That doesn’t matter. Just saying that should get you some serious cred. There are tons of wannabe Ivy League types here anyway. Very few of them actually have parents that went to the schools. They’ll all worship you instantly.”
“I doubt that,” I chortled.
“Anyway, now that the boring stuff is out of the way,” Liz said with a glimmer in her eye, “let’s get to the juicy stuff. Do you have a boyfriend?”
“What? You mean right now?” Liz nodded. “No, I mean, I just got here…”
“I meant from Washington, silly!”
“Oh. Then no to that, as well.”
“Great!” Liz exclaimed. “You wouldn’t want to keep up a long distance relationship anyway. It’s a nightmare. Trust me, I know.”
“Do you have a boyfriend from far away?” I asked her.
Liz shook her head. “Nope. Although I did freshman year. Let me tell you, you miss out on all the fun that goes on around here.”
“Hmm. I mean, I guess that makes sense.”
“You’ll see soon enough. But now you gotta tell me – have you ever had a boyfriend?”
“Not really,” I admitted after a bit. “My high school was tiny, and there was nobody that—”
“—really interested you?” Liz burst in, and I nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Well, you won’t have that problem here. We’ve got some of the hottest guys on the East Coast coming to Oliver Academy.”
“Sounds great,” I said half-heartedly, all of a sudden becoming very conscious of the lie I had just told Liz. The truth was, there were guys I was interested in at home. But every time I tried to talk to them, I ended up stumbling over my words and making a complete fool of myself. None of my friends ever really had that problem. It seemed like I was the only one with that deficiency, for whatever reason. Back when I had applied to Oliver, a small part of me hoped that I could leave that all behind–that starting fresh would help me find a guy I really liked.
“You don’t sound too enthused,” Liz said.
“I just haven’t seen any yet,” I replied quickly.
“Ooh, so you’re one of those ‘see-it-to-believe-it’ girls, are you?” Liz teased. “That’s perfectly understandable. And you’ll see soon enough. What I told you about the guy population here is no exaggeration. But you totally have to tell me: have you ever… kissed a boy?” she mouthed the last words in a mere whisper.
“Of course!” I answered quickly. “It’s not like I’ve been locked in a tower my whole life.”
“Oh, good,” Liz said, looking visibly relieved. “Just checking. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to get you started from scratch.” Then, looking around, she added in a hushed voice, “What about… the other thing?”
“What do you mea—oh!” I blushed scarlet. “Uh, no. I’m… still a virgin.”
Liz looked at me in surprise. “That’s not what I meant—” she began, then changed what she was going to say and quickly wrapped her arms around me in a hug. “Me too,” she whispered in my ear. “But don’t tell anyone!”
“My lips are sealed,” I assured her. “As long as yours are, too.”
“Of course!” Liz replied.
By now, we had reached the main yard, which was much busier than the last time I’d been here. There were students walking along the pathways and sitting in groups on the grass outside the buildings. Here and there, I saw a few wide-eyed freshmen, walking about and gaping at the structures all around them, probably looking much like I had yesterday. There were a few couples walking hand-in-hand. Far away, a group of scary-looking Goths were standing around in a private circle. There were a lot of older people, too. Again, I assumed most of them to be the professors or faculty of the school.
“The cafeteria’s just up this way,” Liz said, leading me by the hand. “It’s where everybody comes to eat. It’s also one of the main places we all hang out when the weather gets crappy. The building’s open 24/7, and on the roof there’s a great little private courtyard with an amazing view of the whole island. You need a key to get up there, but as part of the student council…” she winked at me, “…I’ve got that covered. So, once you meet that special guy, taking him up there is more or less a necessity.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I laughed. “Thanks.”
“No problem. You’ll see. Being friends with me has a ton of benefits.”
I wouldn’t doubt it, I thought. But in the back of my mind, a small voice asked me exactly why Liz was being so friendly toward me. It seemed totally random. It’s not like we knew each other very well yet. I pushed that voice away.
Suddenly, I remembered that I had promised to meet Chris for breakfast. He was probably already in the cafeteria waiting for me, wondering what was taking so long. Then again, it wasn’t like meeting Liz had been that long a detour. At the same time, I knew that Liz wanted to introduce me to her friends. That meant I’d probably have to invite Chris to eat with us. I wasn’t sure if he would want to, if what he said about not having many friends was true. Liz had already told me pretty explicitly that she liked to party, and Chris mentioned that that wasn’t his scene. I had a suspicion they wouldn’t get along.
Thankfully, that turned out to be a non-issue. When Liz and I walked into the cafeteria, I scanned the room quickly, but didn’t see Chris anywhere. Liz, on the other hand, instantly spotted her friends, sitting at a big tab
le in the middle, and waved enthusiastically to them. They all waved back. There were five girls that I could count. Liz hand signaled that she was going to get some food before joining them. She pulled me toward the start of the line.
“Those are all the girls I want you to meet,” she told me cheerily. She picked up a tray and put it in my hands. “They’re all cool, but it’s been a long time since we’ve had anyone else join our group. We’ve all been best friends since our first day here. I think all of them will like you, but don’t take it the wrong way if you don’t get along with each of them right away. It might take some time but everyone will like you.
“Except for Ashley,” I muttered.
“What was that? Never mind. Anyway, like I said, they’re cool and all, and you seem to be as well, so far. But, you have to promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t embarrass me.” She said the three words so gravely it felt like they came from a different person.
“Um, okay? I’ll try?”
“Nuh-uh,” Liz said sternly. “Not good enough. You have to promise.”
I didn’t even know what I could do to embarrass her. Still, she seemed to be taking the potential for it pretty seriously. The way we were getting along so far, I didn’t want to jeopardize our budding friendship. “Sure Liz, I promise.”
“Good!” In an instant, she was back to her bubbly self. “Not that I expect you to, of course, but it’s good to make sure.”
“Of course,” I said. The line to the buffet had moved quickly, and we were already at the front. Liz scooped up a small serving of scrambled eggs and half a bagel, while I opted for a grapefruit and some oats. Liz frowned at my selection, but didn’t make any comment. Once we had both shown our student cards to “pay” for our food. Everything was included in the yearly tuition, but apparently they still wanted to scan your card to keep track of how much you ate. Then we headed back to the middle table.