by Jarica James
My old teachers weren’t as understanding since they knew I used to speak just fine and assumed it was me being stubborn. That’s the funny thing about when a tragedy hits a small town. The town and gossip move on from the tragedy when the next news hits, forgetting all about it. The family that it happened to doesn’t forget that easily, though.
Of course, those trying to help had no trouble telling me to move on. Like it’s some easy task. My past is something I relive every night, so it’s hardly something I can just forget and move on from quickly… if ever.
“Okay dear, smile so I can get your ID picture.” She holds up a webcam and snaps a photo before I can even truly smile. After clicking a few buttons, my ID comes out from the small printer next to her computer. She punches a hole and threads a school lanyard through it, working with a well practiced efficiency.
“Make sure you keep this handy, all students are required to wear it and today you’ll have to verify yourself and show it to your teachers, and every day you scan this in the cafeteria before you pay as well. Here is a campus map and your enrollment copies. I circled your locker on your map, and your combination is written at the bottom. Hand a copy of your enrollment form to each teacher today. If you have any questions, head back to me, and I will try to help. Here are all of your books. Have a good day, Miss Hendricks,” she finishes with a smile and hands me a stack of books, before turning back to her computer.
Grabbing the stack of books, I follow the map to my locker. Thankfully they put it next to my first class of the day. Of course, the map is a bit confusing and it takes a minute before I finally find my locker. My eyes flicker to the combination and I drop the books at my feet and twist the dial to unlock it. Of course, when I take the lock off, the locker itself won’t budge. I try a few more times, but it still won’t work. Growling in frustration, I pick up my books and turn to walk away.
“I had that locker last year, give it a hard tap right here and it loosens the hinges,” a guy says from behind me, pointing at the spot he wants me to tap. Hoping he isn’t just messing with me, I test it out and the locker groans but finally swings open. I swing around and give him a triumphant grin before turning back to my now open locker. Relieved to finally not have to carry the huge stack of books, I quickly put away the ones I won’t need until after lunch. Finally ready, I give the guy a quick wave and hurry off to class. I don’t want to be late on the first day, especially if I have to hand these out.
I manage to walk in just before the final bell rings. Glancing around, I spot the middle-aged teacher and hand him my form. He quickly reads it over and directs me to an empty seat in the middle of the room. I sit down, thanking god that he doesn’t try and introduce me to everyone.
“Hey,” the guy in the desk next to me says, giving a small nod. I just smile quickly and focus my attention on getting my notebook and history book out. “Do you like living here?” he asks, not so subtly trying to get my attention again. Trying to hide my frustration, I nod again.
Maybe it isn’t a good thing the professor didn’t mention me.
“Hey, new girl!” a girl says from my other side. I give her a quick smile, my nerves amping up until my pulse is pounding in my ears and making me feel lightheaded. “Where are you from?” I pull out my notebook and write down my answer and show her. She gives me an odd look but isn’t put out enough to stop talking, at least. “Do you like it here so far?” Another nod has her doing the usual annoyed huff and look, before finally turning away.
Well that was quick.
By lunch time, I’m a lot less positive about this place than I was this morning. I’ve gotten a handful of people annoyed with me already, but at least I don’t have anyone threatening to fight me. So, progress, I guess?
Trying not to get too down, I make my way to the cafeteria. At least there will be one friendly face today. As I walk up, I search for Abby. Apparently I beat her here, so I wait near the doors, getting curious looks from everyone who passes me. Apparently Arcadia Hills is a smaller town than I thought if everyone is so sure I’m new.
“Sorry!” Abby says as she jogs up to me, out of breath. I glance up, relief flooding me. “I got held up after class, and I am soooo not athletic.” She huffs, bending over with her hands on her knees for a second before she regains her composure. “Hungry?” she asks as we walk into the cafeteria.
This is definitely not Starbrooke. Inside of the cafeteria, it’s busy, though busy is an understatement. It’s packed wall to wall with students, and there are several food lines and options. It’s a nice change from the awful food we had at my old school, at least. The smell alone enough to make me feel a bit optimistic.
“How was your day so far?” Her voice is sympathetic while she waits for my facial expression. I grimace and she bursts out laughing. Her laugh is contagious, one of those laughs that just makes you happy to hear it. “That bad? Ouch.”
I shoot her a playful smile and shrug as we pile our trays up with food. I’m thankful it isn’t all healthy food; after this day, I’m in serious need of carbs. Looking over the options, I eventually choose a grilled cheese sandwich and fries. I even grab a bowl of fresh fruit so I can convince myself I make good choices occasionally.
“I usually sit with my friends, is it okay if we join them?” she asks before we try to find a seat. I nod and she leads me to a table near the middle. Thanks to her description yesterday, I’m not that surprised when we walk up to a table full of guys. My eyes go wide as I take them in, every single one attractive.
“Hey guys, this is Charlie. Charlie this is Adam, Cole, Alice, and Trent.” I give a shy wave before sitting between Abby and Cole.
Her friend Adam is tall and muscular, clearly the athletic type. He has dark brown hair and warm brown eyes with flecks of honey. His smile is friendly as he nods at me and takes a huge bite from his sandwich. I recognize him as the guy who helped me with my locker. He grins around his sandwich as my cheeks turn red and I quickly look away.
Alice seems really shy. She has her red hair braided to the side. Her big green eyes are hidden behind black rimmed glasses. She puts down the book she’s reading to give me a tentative smile and wave.
Trent appears to be laid-back and cheerful. He’s leaned back in his chair and his lips are tipped up in a lazy smile, perfect white teeth flashing at me. His style is casual, sporting jeans and a bright orange shirt. He has flawless, dark skin and long lashes. He could be a model with those features. The guy is captivating, our eyes locking for a moment as we study each other.
Cole is the last of the group. He has the whole dark and brooding look going on, shaggy black hair falling slightly in his face. He’d have been one of the guys picked on at my old school for being too emo. The band tee he’s wearing immediately grabs my attention. It’s actually one of my favorite punk bands, and I can’t help but appreciate his taste in music. Something about him intrigues me. I assume he plays music because he has one of those chunky leather bracelets guys wear, with a guitar pick holder woven in. If I didn’t think he was attractive before, that just added to it.
When he looks up at me, I’m struck by his amazing bright blue eyes. He’s gorgeous with his long lashes framing his striking eyes and his chiseled features. I feel heat creep into my cheeks, which he clearly notices because he gives me an amused half grin. I quickly look away and focus on my food instead.
“How is your first day going?” Trent asks, flashing his smile at me. I give a shrug and look back down at my food. I try to keep my face from falling while I brace myself for their reaction. Here’s the point where everyone starts to judge me. I really don’t care what most people think, but I suddenly hate the idea of Abby and her friends not liking me.
What the hell is wrong with me?
“She doesn’t talk, guys,” Abby states in a firm voice before giving them each a serious look. I appreciate her wanting to stand up for me. It’s something I haven’t had happen before and I relax a bit. Even Lizzy wrote me off as a lost cause bef
ore too long. Though I can’t say she didn’t try at first, I was just too far gone at that point to care.
A loud beep comes from my back, and I dig around for a second and pull out my phone. Thank goodness it didn’t go off in class or I’m sure I would have been in trouble. It’s a text from Sophia, which is what I suspected. Only her and Danielle have my number.
Sophia: Good first day?
Me: It’s alright. Could be worse. Only a few awkward moments so far.
Sophia: Hang in there, it will get better! I just have a good feeling about this. We can get ice cream after school to make it better.
Leave it to Sophia. She’s a forever optimist and the offer of ice cream actually helps. When I finally look back up, Everyone is giving me confused looks. I didn’t think having a phone was weird so I glance down to make sure I didn’t make a mess with my ketchup or something. What the heck?
“You can hear?” Abby asks quietly, the first of them to finally say something. I nod slowly, still not sure what she’s talking about. I didn’t use sign language in front of her. “Whoops, I told the others you were deaf. I’m sorry,” she says sheepishly. I give her a shrug and a smile. I don’t care what she told them. Hell… maybe it will spread around the school and make my life easier.
“Why don’t you talk then?” Alice asks bluntly. I meet her gaze with wide eyes. Knowing this isn’t the time or place, I just shake my head and look away. A shiver of fear rolls though me and I have to fight to keep the panic attack away.
“You don’t ask people questions like that, Alice!” Adam says in an exasperated tone. Her face immediately flames to a dark red, and she mumbles a quick apology. Abby reaches over and squeezes my hand when she notices I’m not eating. She doesn’t let go, instead shifting her fingers so they are intertwined with mine. When I look up, her smile is different, and I can clearly see she’s interested.
“It’s okay, Charlie. Our group of misfits doesn’t care if you’re different,” Cole speaks up, giving me a wink and a reassuring smile.
“What’s your afternoon look like?” Trent asks, and I reach into my bag with my free hand and pass over my schedule. “Anyone have biology, gym, or the arts coming up?”
“I have biology with Walters next,” Alice announces without looking up from her book.
“I have biology with Green. Who does she have?” Adam calls down to Trent.
“She has Green. I have gym with you, we’re playing basketball this week. You any good?” Trent looks up at me expectantly, and I nod. I’m actually pretty good at volleyball and basketball, at least. “Sweet,” he says with a big grin, dimples flashing. “You can join my team then!”
“I have the arts for last period,” Cole adds as he looks at me. I offer him a small, shy smile. It’s not my usual smile. I generally appear pretty confident in my numb state, mostly because being emotionless leaves little room for letting others get to you. For some reason this group is shaking my barriers and I don’t even know them well. Part of me is screaming to stop, knowing they’d never truly want me.
“Phone?” Adam reaches his hand toward me, his question more a demand than inquiry. I give him an odd look, not sure why he wants my phone. Whatever, I doubt he’s going to run away with it. When I hand it over, he taps his fingers across the screen for a few moments, before handing it back with a smile. “Now you have our numbers and a group chat. Let me know if anyone messes with you. We protect our own,” he says and levels me with a challenging look. I nod and pull out my notebook writing out a quick thanks to show him. It’s so odd to have them looking out for me, but he’s clearly pleased I agreed and gives me a big grin.
They continue the conversation around me, and I’m happy to listen and eat my food. I actually feel fairly comfortable with them. Though I hardly think they qualify as misfits, I’m assuming they just grew up together since they’re a mix of nerdy, outgoing, sporty, and punk.
As lunch winds down, I throw away my trash and gather my bag up. I’m glad I visited my locker before lunch so I have my afternoon books and gym clothes already, so I glance over my map again to figure out my path.
“Come on, Charlie, we can walk together,” Adam says, motioning me over. I slide my backpack over my arms and follow him. He leads me through the masses of students, but I can hardly keep up with his long legs and the pushing crowd. He eventually reaches back and grabs my hand, pulling me up next to him. “Don’t let the crowd push you around,” he jokes but keeps my hand locked in his until we’re outside of the classroom. I hate to admit how nice it feels. Part of me wonders if it’s just that I’ve been starved for attention this long or if I like their brand of attention. Calm down, Charlie… it’s day one.
When we step into the classroom, he drops my hand so I can hand the teacher my form before he just motions for me to take a seat. Adam grins and points to the seat next to him and I do an internal happy dance. Thank god I won’t have people talking to me again, I’ve had enough of it today already.
Having an ally in class makes it much easier to tolerate. He gives me a rundown of what I’ve missed so far before the teacher starts class up. Thankfully I’m not that far behind them, from the looks of it. Though I already have a stack of makeup work a mile long.
When the bell rings, Adam takes my hand again, giving me a wink when I make a startled noise.
“You’re small and this makes it easier to keep you close.” His words make sense but I don’t miss the hint of flirting behind it.
We walk quickly through the crowd and he leaves me at the entrance to the gym before literally sprinting away. Smiling to myself, I head into the locker room.
Gym should be a lot easier since sports don’t exactly encourage chatting. I change and avoid everyone until I can make my way to Trent. The teams have clearly formed in previous classes, so he just waves me over to join his.
Before I can fully reach Trent, I go flying forward as something beams me in the back of the head. A basketball rolls into my line of vision as I’m sprawled out on the floor, vision blurring slightly. The impact steals my breath, and it takes me a second to get my bearings before I can get off the floor.
Seriously? This is going to start already?
“Oh my god Charlie, are you all right?!” Trent helps me to my feet and checks my eyes, before running his fingers gently over my scalp. I wince as he hits a tender spot and he frowns. But once he sees I’m mostly all right, he runs off across the gym. By the time I stumble over to him, he’s in a familiar girl’s face.
“What the hell, Callie?” he yells. I immediately notice that she’s the girl from my history class. I didn’t realize she was that offended that I didn’t talk to her.
I put a hand on Trent’s shoulder, and he meets my eyes. I shake my head and try to gently pull him away but he doesn’t budge.
“She needed to know her place! You don’t get to be the new girl and a complete stuck up bitch! She completely ignored me in class like she was too good to talk to me. Me!” she shrieks, pointing an accusing finger my way. At this point, we’re causing a scene. This whole time I keep trying to move Trent away, and he almost caves until she says that last sentence. Now he looks livid as he swings his body around to face her again.
“She can’t fucking talk! You didn’t stop to think why she was writing her answers down?” he snarls, before he grabs my hand and pulls me with him back to our team. I give his hand a reassuring squeeze before I risk a glance behind me to take in Callie’s reaction. She looks chastised, but then quickly changes back to angry when she sees me looking. This is not going to end well.
When we make it back to our team, he’s breathing heavy and still doesn’t look like he’s calming down. It doesn’t scare me, I don’t think he’d ever hurt anyone. Not sure what else to do, I quickly take my hand out of his and put a hand on each shoulder, so he can see my eyes. I take exaggerated breaths to encourage him to calm down. Apparently my new friend has a bit of an anger issue. I smile softly to show him I don’t care, and he smiles
back, finally breathing normally again. The whole reaction was unexpected since he seemed so chill before.
The gym teacher finally comes in and blows his whistle. Trent goes with me to hand over my paperwork and claims me for his team. The coach just nods before blowing his whistle again and yelling, ‘Game on.’ He starts going around the gym, taking in faces and marking off on his clipboard as he takes attendance, but that’s about it out of him.
The rest of gym class goes smoothly, until the locker room. I finish changing and start pushing the door open when Callie shoulder bumps me, pushing me into the door and walking out.
“Stay away from Adam, he’s mine,” she hisses as she closes the locker room door in my face. For a moment I’m stunned, then I roll my eyes. New school, same bullshit, I think as I walk to my arts class.
When I get closer I see Cole waiting for me in the hall. He spots me and gives me that half grin of his. As I get closer, he wipes a smudge of dirt off my cheek and tries not to laugh.
“Have a fun time playing dodgeball?” he asks in a fake innocent voice. I immediately cover my face in my hands as he continues laughing at me. I’m not even upset by it, just embarrassed at how quickly I became a target. Though the joke took me by surprise, I didn’t expect that out of him. I expected a more serious demeanor to go with his broody looks. But I do love that he’s already comfortable enough to joke with me.
“Come on, Charlie girl, don’t be embarrassed. Callie’s a bitch.” Gently, he pulls my hands down and grins. When I return his smile with one of my own, he finally releases my hands and heads into the classroom. Feeling a lot lighter now, I follow him in.