Every Which Way

Chapter 1- The Half Blush

"Move," they seethed and when they looked back to glare at me as they walked by, I saw it was a girl with dark frizzy hair. She rolled her eyes at me behind her glasses and turned around as she resumed her rush to wherever the hell she was going.

With my mouth still gaped open in surprise I leaned down to grab my phone off the floor, ready to spew my thoughts at this crusty-haired-four-eyed-bitch. I stepped forward with my words at the ready, and just in case, my fists too.

And then someone caught my elbow. "You're so silly Row, the front office is this way," Cyrus said and then lowered his voice so only I could hear, "You are not getting into a fight on your first day here."

"Yeah well, she's just lucky my phone isn't cracked. What's so special about first days anyway? It's still going to be the same place and the same people tomorrow," I grumbled as he led the way down the hall.

But I knew he was right. Last year was filled with drama and the stress resulting from it. This was a brand-new start and I wanted this struggle of a transition to be as peaceful as I can possibly make it.

"The last time you got into a fight with someone was when you thought that girl called you a donkey."

I let out a goofy laugh at the memory and Cyrus glared at me. "What? Honey and Donkey sound very similar when you've had a bad day with no food. Plus, I apologized like a billion times, paid for her concealer to cover her black eye, and I fed a homeless man."

"What does a homeless man have to do with anything?" He asked as he held the door to the front office open for me.

"I don't know, like bad karma and shit."

He snorted, "speaking of Elizabeth, how you think she's doing over at Valley View?"

Eli and I were actually able to be somewhat friends after the whole donkey ordeal. It was a circumstantial friendship though, the kind of person you're only friends with because you see each other every day at school. I think Cyrus had a little crush on her.

"I'm not worried about her. She got stuck at the rich kid's school. I heard they serve caviar on Fridays."

We were greeted before he could reply. "Good morning, you look like new faces. Are you part of the lot coming in from Wilkinson?" The lady spoke from behind the desk. She had kind eyes and a warm smile. I found myself a little more relaxed at her welcome.

"Yes ma'am, we're looking for our schedules?" Cyrus replied.

"What are your names?"

"Cyrus Rivers." She looked at me next and waited.

"Oh, I'm Rowena Salone."

"Rowena is such a beautiful name. Well, I'm Mrs. Lester, the front office clerk. Let me just print these for you," she said while clicking her mouse around. The printer in the corner of the room started humming to work.

She handed off our schedules, the paper still warm, "These list class times and your room numbers. Your locker numbers are at the top of the page, along with your combinations. They'll be down the hall and to your left. If you need anything else this is where I'll be. Welcome to Routledge High!" She finished with a smile.

"Oh my god we're actually getting lockers at this school," I beamed to Cyrus as we exited the front office. We weren't allowed to use the lockers at Wilkinson after a kid snuck a shank into his.

You see this school switch was a very conflicting matter for me. I cringed thinking of all my old teachers and their monotone voices and all the worksheets that were thrown at us. I only liked Ms. Davis and she had been relocated to Valley View where Elizabeth was.