Begin Again

by Mulliner, Brittney

  “Nice of you guys to join the world. Looks like you guys don’t bounce back quite like we do.” Carter laughed and returned to his sandwich.

  “Yeah, good to know you can’t cover up late nights like I can sis. You’ll never get anything by me.”

  I did the mature thing in this situation and stuck out my tongue at them and focused on coming up with food. Mckayla was ahead of me handing Alexis eggs and bread. She looked over at me as she grabbed a bowl out of a cabinet.

  “French toast okay?”

  “Yum! Yeah, let’s make that and then you guys need to help me pick out an outfit for tomorrow!”

  “We’ll do that but you need to pick your classes, too. You have to register before school starts tomorrow so you’ll need to have an idea of what you want to take.”

  I groaned, not wanting to think about starting a new school. I had everything figured out at my old school. Who to be friends with and who to avoid. What classes and teachers were the easy A’s. My dance studio was close and I was captain of the dance team. Starting over and figuring out my place was going to be hard, but at least I had the girls to coach me.

  ☀☀☀

  I picked Mckayla up early for school so she could help me register and give me a quick tour before class started. I had the top down and music blasting as we pulled into the student lot. If there was anything that could put me in a good mood and calm me down before my first day it was my beautiful car, good music, and Mckayla by my side. I looked around at the other cars in the lot and was pleasantly surprised that mine seemed to fit in. I pulled into an empty spot and we got out heading to the front office.

  Bay View High School was different than my large brick three-story school in Chicago. There was a sprawling lawn in front of the main building with “Bay View High School Home of the Pirates” painted on the front, and hallways leading away from a center courtyard behind the front office.

  A middle aged woman sitting behind the counter greeted us as we walked into the office. “Hello Ms. Page. Did you have a good break?”

  “Hi Mrs. M I did, thank you! This is my cousin, Aubrey, she transferred here from Chicago.”

  “Oh right! Ms. Tate. We received your transcript and your guidance counselor is waiting for you in her office to set up your schedule, just go on in girls.”

  We started down the hall and Mckayla said thanks over her shoulder before guiding me through another hall to an office with a giant poster of Wonder Woman on the open door. I knocked as we entered and another middle aged woman greeted us with a wide smile. She had a dirty blonde bob and a kind face.

  “Come on in and have a seat, nice to see you Mckayla.” She turned to me still smiling. “And you must be Aubrey Tate! I’m Mrs. Finn. I must say I was excited to meet you after reading through your transcript. It seems that we have gained quite the student with you. Your previous school even included letters of recommendation from several teachers, your coach, and head mistress. I’m very impressed. I hope you find that our school lives up to your standard.”

  “Wow, I was not expecting that! How nice of them. I look forward to starting over here though.” I tried to sound as polite as possible.

  “That is just the attitude we need around here. Now have you thought about what classes you want to take? I’ve done my best to match up your old schedule but you have two elective periods you need to decide on.”

  I glanced at Mckayla and saw her give a little nod of encouragement. “I know since I’m coming in the middle of the year my options are limited, but I was wondering if I could join the yearbook staff and maybe the dance team?”

  “The yearbook staff seems like a great option for you with the experience you have from your old school. Dance team isn’t an option though since it’s the middle of the year. Although, we can put you in one of the dance classes so Coach Sandra can get to know you. Maybe you can try out for next year.”

  I had figured there was a slim chance of joining midseason. This just meant I would have to find a studio fast to keep up with everything.

  “That sounds good. Thanks for all of your help!”

  “Of course, it was my pleasure. Let me just print out your schedule and you two can be on your way. If there are any problems don’t hesitate to come in and talk to me.”

  She smiled at us as she handed me the schedule and we left her office. Once we were out of the main office and into the center court yard Mckayla asked to see what classes I got.

  “Geez overachiever! Didn’t anyone ever tell you high school is meant to be easy?” She laughed and hip bumped me before taking a seat at one of the picnic tables. ”Alright let’s see if you have any classes with us . . . Algebra II, nope. Dance, oh, our friend Cassie is in there with you. She’s really nice. I’ll try to introduce you two before then. AP English, have fun with that one. I think Talia is in that class though! AP US History, Alexis is in there with you. Yearbook with me, yay! I’m so glad she let you in there! Chemistry, nada! Well at least you have some classes with us and you’ll make friends really fast too. Let’s go find the girls and Cassie so you have a friend in dance.”

  We wandered around the courtyard then to the lawn in front of the school before we saw Alexis and Talia talking to a petite brunette girl. We walked over to them and Mckayla introduced me.

  “Hey guys, we were just looking for you Cassie! This is my cousin, Aubrey, she just transferred here and she’s in your dance class. There! You guys are officially friends now!”

  Cassie laughed and smiled at me. “Nice to meet you Aubrey. I’ve heard all about you and the parties, sorry I couldn’t make it to either of them. I was in Aspen with my family. I’m glad you’re in my class though, we always need partners for warm ups so we can team up.”

  The bell rang and people slowly began making their way toward the buildings and we filed in with them. The girls dropped me off at the math hall and Cassie promised she would meet me by the gym to show me where the dance room was. When they were gone I looked at the door leading into my class dreading starting everyday with math, my worst subject.

  Giving up, I ambled into the room and noticed other people talking to each other before separating to seats on opposite sides of the room. Unless people don’t sit with their friends at this school there must be some assigned arrangement. I looked at my schedule to check the teacher’s name before approaching him.

  “Hi Mr. Cox, I’m Aubrey Tate. Today’s my first day. Is there . . .”

  Without looking up from the paper he was reading he interrupted me. “We will be changing the seating chart, they just don’t know it yet. Stand by the door and I will assign everyone.”

  I walked back hoping not all my teachers would treat me like a child and waited.

  When the bell rang signifying the start of class Mr. Cox stood and asked everyone to gather their things and stand at the front of the class to wait for their new seats. Everyone groaned but obeyed. He went through the roll and had us sit in alphabetical order. How original. I waited as the desks filled, glancing at the few students that remained at the front of the class with me—a common drawback to a last name late in the alphabet. Finally, he called my name and I took a seat in the row closest to the door and half way back. I took out a notebook and pen and waited for Mr. Cox to begin. He stood with a stack of papers in his hand.

  “This is your syllabus for the semester. We will begin instruction tomorrow. You have the rest of the class to use how you wish. Just keep the noise level down, please.”

  I was shocked! I expected him to be a strict teacher, but he just blew off the rest of the fifty minute class.

  I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around. I was face to face with a Polynesian god. Was everyone that lived here gorgeous? He had smooth brown skin and short black hair, but what I noticed first was his huge friendly smile, like he’s constantly on the verge of breaking out into laughter. The second thing I noticed when I could pull my eyes off of his face was how small the desk seemed compared to him. He was all muscle a
nd I could tell he was tall. He spoke before I could finish taking inventory of his looks.

  “Are you the new girl?”

  “I don’t know. I’m sure there’s more than one new girl.”

  “Nah, you’re the only one that has brown hair and a hot bod.”

  I was caught off guard by his bluntness. “Excuse me?”

  “Everyone has been talking about you and the New Year’s party. I was bummed I missed out, especially when word got out you’re so hot.”

  I had no idea how to reply to any of the things he was saying. “Thanks?”

  “Yeah, I mean Hawaii was fun, but I wanted to get back sooner to meet the girl everyone has been talking about. I’m Mike by the way.”

  “Aubrey.” I smiled at him very glad at that moment I moved here.

  The cute, blonde guy sitting next to me leaned over to us. “You’re the infamous partier, Aubrey?”

  “Yeah Nick this is her, but back off I have dibs!”

  Nick turned and threw a glare at him. “Whatever Mike.” Turning back to me a smile lit up his face. “It’s nice to meet you Aubrey. I wish I could have come the other night but I was still on vacation with the family in Costa Rica until last night. I heard I missed a great party though.”

  Does everyone go on extravagant vacations here?

  “Oh thanks, too bad you couldn’t make it. Next time I’ll make sure Mckayla lets everyone know and hopefully more people will be in town.”

  “I have a better idea, give me your phone.” I handed it to him hesitantly since I didn’t want to get in trouble with Mr. Cox but he seemed to be trying his best to ignore the class.

  Nick handed it back to me after a moment. I looked down and saw a new contact.

  “Future Husband, really? I expected you to come up with something more original.”

  I laughed and Mike reached forward and grabbed my phone before I could react. After a second he handed it make with a smile.

  “Mike ‘The Babe’ Thomas? You both need to use your imagination more.”

  Other guys around us noticed what we were doing and before I knew it my phone was being passed around the class. A few girls saved their numbers waving and smiling at me, but almost every guy gave me their number. When I got it back I laughed at the names saved in my phone. “You guys realize I don’t have the majority of your real names. How do I know who I’m talking to?”

  Nick leaned toward me, “That’s half the fun.” He winked and leaned back in his seat.

  A girl that had been sitting on the other side of the room came toward me with a determined look on her face. “So you’re the one all the guys are talking about? Personally I don’t get what all the fuss is about.” She made no attempt to cover up the fact she was sizing me up.

  “So what—or who—did you do over the break to get all of their attention?” She leaned forward putting her hands on my desk clearly trying to intimidate me

  It took a moment for me to understand what she was insinuating, but Mike spoke up before I could say anything back to her. “Get over yourself Sydney. Aubrey here happens to be nice, funny, pretty, and she throws great parties. All things you know nothing about. Leave her alone and go back to your seat and play with your makeup or something.”

  She looked like she just got smacked. “Whatever Mike! My CD came out over the break and I invited everyone to the release party in LA and no one is making a big deal about that. Why are you guys freaking out about some dumb party put on by a nobody?”

  “Because no one cares about your crappy CD your daddy paid to have produced. Get over yourself.”

  Evidently this girl saw me as a threat and when I looked around me I realized the majority of the guys were standing around me ready to take her on. Hmmm . . . these guys are super protective of a girl they didn’t know and pretty awful to this Sydney girl. I almost felt bad for her but she seemed like she had spent years building her reputation.

  She stood facing the class. “You’ll all come crawling back to beg for forgiveness when I have invites to the big parties and award shows in L.A. We’ll see then who really matters.” She glared at me then the guys one last time before walking back to her chair where two blondes were waiting to console her.

  When the bell finally rang I gathered my things and followed Mike out the door. He smiled back at me and stopped to let me catch up to him.

  “What class do you have next?”

  “Dance, I think that’s by the gym right?”

  “Yeah it is. I’ll head over there with you.”

  As we wove our way through the crowd of the math hall and back to the courtyard he told me about the football team and his trip to Hawaii. I didn’t even notice we were standing in front of the gym until I heard someone calling my name. I turned and saw Cassie coming our way.

  “Hey Mike, you move fast. Second period hasn’t even started yet and word is going around you staked a claim on Aubrey.”

  I raised a brow and looked at the two of them as they started laughing.

  “Don’t worry Aubrey, Mike is quite the ladies’ man and no one will take it too seriously. Let’s get to dance. I think Sandra is just going over the semester so we don’t have to change luckily.” I said bye to Mike and followed her through a door to the side of the main gym that led into the dance room.

  Chapter 8

  I sat next to Cassie on the hardwood as we waited for Coach Sandra to come in. There were only girls in the class, different from the mix in my classes in Chicago. I didn’t recognize anyone else until Sydney walked in. We made eye contact and she scoffed and sat on the opposite side of the class. Coach Sandra walked in wearing yoga pants and a school tee; she looked only a few years older than us.

  “Welcome class to Dance II. This is the advance level so for those of you who were not approved by me will have to be assessed tomorrow to make sure you’re in the right level class. For today we are going to go over expectations and assign lockers for the semester.”

  “We have to try out for this class?” I leaned over to Cassie trying to be discrete so Sandra wouldn’t notice.

  “Unless you’ve taken the beginner class yeah, but it’s pretty basic as long as you’ve danced before. She’ll ask you to do one move or an eight count then you just perform. Nothing too bad.” She smiled at me then turned her attention back to the front.

  The rest of the class was uneventful and when we were walking back to the hallways Talia met up with us.

  “Are you surviving so far? I heard about Mike and your phone . . . and Sydney. Way to get noticed on the first day. The most popular guy is school loves you and the meanest girl hates you. Well done young grasshopper!”

  I rolled my eyes at her as we walked into our class. I figured today couldn’t get any weirder, but I was wrong. Sitting on the far side of the room was Mr. Mysterious from the bon fire. I hadn’t told the girls about it so I tried not to react as Talia and I sat down. Our teacher, Mrs. Alexander, began reading off the roll. I was reading over the syllabus trying not to let myself get distracted by his presence but when she read my name I heard the slightest grunt and looked up making eye contact with him. Oops. His face radiated anger and for whatever reason it was directed at me.

  Talia noticed and leaned over to me. “What did you do to piss off Gage Vance?”

  I shot at glance at him to see if he heard then whispered back. “Nothing! I mean I ran into him at the bon fire, but nothing.”

  She shamelessly looked over at him. “Doesn’t look like nothing. What did you do? He barely pays attention to anyone at school let alone some new girl.”

  “I was just trying to say hi. Then I fell and swept into the water a little.”

  “Oh yeah . . . so that’s why you had to change. Well I don’t know what you did to set him off but I recommend avoiding him at all cost.”

  I sighed leaning back in my chair. I hadn’t meant to make him mad that night, but apparently I did something wrong. What was his deal anyway? He didn’t speak to anyone, he seemed too
cool for school, and yet he’s in AP English. Something about him didn’t add up. I put him out of my mind and focused on our teacher praying the class would go by fast. Fortunately we were given assignments to work on and no talking was allowed so I was able to focus on that rather than avoiding Gage’s burning stare.

  Talia must have alerted the girls before class ended. The moment I walked out of the room I was grabbed and pulled out of the hall by Mckayla with Alexis and Talia following behind.

  “What is happening? I leave you alone for three classes and I’m getting texts from everyone asking about you or warning me you already have enemies. Sydney I can understand, but what did you do to get on Gage Vance’s radar?”

  “I already told Talia, I saw him at the bon fire and tried to say hi. He pulled me up when I fell in the water. He has no reason to hate me. I should be the one avoiding him after that embarrassing moment.”

  “You tried talking to him?” Alexis was standing with her hands on her hips, easily the most serious I have seen her.

  “Yeah? He was at the party I was just trying to meet everyone.”

  “Why would he be there? He wasn’t invited and more importantly he never shows up to parties.”

  They began talking amongst themselves trying to solve the mystery but I soon lost interest and began watching the students around us. Most of them at least glanced our way. A few yelled hi as they passed and several guys stopped trying to get their attention before giving up and walking to class. They seemed to be well-known and popular even though they didn’t seem to acknowledge it. They all turned to me breaking me from my thoughts. Mckayla spoke first.

  “We’re telling you this because we love you. Stay away from Gage. I know you were trying to be friendly, but he’s not a nice guy, okay? We can deal with the other people later. Now, let’s get to class.”