Riverside High Romance

Chapter 1

Abby's shoes echoed softly against the linoleum as she walked through the crowded hallway of Riverside High on that Thursday morning. The autumn sun filtered through the tall windows, casting golden rectangles across the lockers and faces of students who seemed to belong here, who seemed to know exactly where they were going. She didn't.

Her short dark hair fell just below her chin, and she'd chosen a simple grey sweater and jeans, hoping to blend in, to disappear almost. But invisibility wasn't working. She felt every glance, every moment of being the new girl. Around her, the school hummed with a life she wasn't part of yet — laughter that felt like inside jokes, conversations that started mid-sentence, groups clustered together like they'd always been that way, tight little constellations she had no map for.

Her grandmother's strict voice echoed in her head from that morning about being respectful and keeping her head down, about not drawing attention to herself in a place that wasn't home yet, might never quite be home. So that's what Abby did. She kept walking, kept her eyes mostly forward, stealing quick glances at classroom numbers, at the faces passing by, trying to map this new world in her mind the way she used to map new neighborhoods back when moving still felt like an adventure instead of something that happened to her. The cafeteria smell drifted from somewhere down the hall — something fried, something sweet underneath it — and she felt the weight of her new life settle heavier on her shoulders with every step. New school. New town. New version of herself that she hadn't quite figured out how to be yet.

She thought, briefly, of her mother — of the apartment she used to know as home, of the tired smile her mom always managed even on the worst nights, of the promise that this was temporary, just until things got easier. She didn't know how long temporary was supposed to last. She pushed the thought down before it could settle somewhere she'd have to feel it, and kept walking.

Abby turned down a quieter corridor, grateful for the momentary escape from the crowded hallway. Her footsteps were the only sound here, echoing softly off the lockers, and for a second she let herself breathe, shoulders loosening slightly now that no one was watching. She was so focused on finding her next classroom, tracing the room numbers with her finger against the printed schedule in her hand, that she almost didn't notice him until he was already past her.

Victor came around the corner with a basketball tucked under his arm, his movements confident and easy, like he owned the hallway, like the whole school had been built around wherever he happened to be standing. He was laughing at something one of his teammates had said, completely absorbed in their conversation, his voice carrying loud enough to fill the empty corridor all on its own. When his eyes briefly flicked toward Abby, there was no real recognition, just a quick, casual glance, the kind you give a stranger you'll never think about again, before his attention returned to his friends jogging alongside him. She was just another student in the sea of faces, nothing more.

"Come on, Victor, we're gonna be late for practice!" one of his teammates called out, and just like that, he was gone, his laugh fading down the hallway along with the rest of them.

Abby stood there for a moment, watching them leave, feeling like she'd witnessed something from the outside looking in — that same easy belonging she couldn't quite picture for herself yet. Then she turned back to finding her classroom, smoothing down the schedule in her hands, unaware that this boy with the easy laugh would eventually mean something far more complicated than a passing glance in an empty hallway.

Abby walked into the classroom just as the bell rang, and Ms. Chen, the teacher, looked up with a warm smile, gesturing for her to stand at the front of the room. "Everyone, this is Abby, our new transfer student. Please make her feel welcome." Abby felt heat rise to her cheeks as thirty pairs of eyes turned toward her all at once, the kind of attention she'd been dreading since she woke up that morning. She mumbled a quiet thank you and quickly scanned the room for an empty seat, trying not to trip over anyone's backpack strap in the process.

She spotted one in the middle row and made her way there as fast as she reasonably could. The girl next to her had bright purple streaks in her hair and immediately leaned over, whispering like they were already in on some shared secret. "Hey, I'm Maya." On Maya's other side sat a guy with kind eyes who leaned over as well, offering an easy grin. "I'm Cameron. Welcome." Their friendliness caught Abby off guard — genuine and uncomplicated, no hidden agenda behind it that she could detect, which was more than she'd expected from her first hour at a brand-new school. She felt herself relax just slightly, some of the tension she'd been carrying since sunrise finally easing out of her shoulders.

As she settled into her seat and pulled out her notebook, going through the motions of looking prepared even though her mind was still catching up to the room around her, she heard the scrape of a chair behind her. She didn't turn around immediately, focused on copying down whatever was written on the board, but something made her glance back eventually. There was a boy with gentle features, dark eyes, and an almost shy expression that mirrored her own, like he too had spent the morning bracing himself for something. He was looking down at his desk, notebook already open, but she could tell, in that quiet way you can just tell sometimes, that he'd noticed her. That was Flynn. And for reasons she didn't quite understand yet, Abby found herself watching him for just a moment longer than necessary before turning back around, cheeks unexpectedly warm.

As they walked out of the classroom at the end of the period, Maya linked her arm through Abby's like they'd known each other for years instead of forty-five minutes. "Come on, you're sitting with us at lunch," she said, not really asking, already steering Abby toward the door. Cameron nodded in agreement, and Abby felt a small rush of gratitude for the inclusion, for not having to figure out the terrifying logistics of where to sit on her first day.

They were heading toward the cafeteria when Flynn emerged from the classroom behind them, backpack slung over one shoulder, moving quietly through the crowd the way people do when they'd rather not be noticed. For just a moment, his dark eyes met Abby's. There was something quiet and thoughtful in that glance, and she found herself holding it a beat too long. Then he looked away, heading in the opposite direction down the hallway without a word.

"Ohhh, someone's interested," Cameron teased gently, having caught the whole exchange with an amused grin. Abby's cheeks flushed and she looked down at her shoes. "I'm not — I don't even know him." Maya grinned, clearly delighted. "That's Flynn. He's really sweet, super quiet though. Kind of mysterious. He's really into music, plays guitar I think, keeps to himself mostly. But he's one of the good ones, you know?" Cameron added, falling into step beside them, "Yeah, he's decent. Not like some of the louder guys around here." They continued toward the cafeteria, the noise of the hallway swallowing them up again, but Abby found herself thinking about that quiet moment, that gentle gaze, replaying it once more before pushing the thought aside. It stayed with her anyway, tucked somewhere she'd have to examine later.

Abby was picking at her sandwich while Maya talked animatedly about the drama club's upcoming auditions when the cafeteria suddenly got louder, a shift in energy that rippled through the room before she even saw the cause of it. A basketball bounced hard against the floor, echoing through the space. Victor came in with his teammates, laughing and shoving each other playfully, completely at ease in the crowded room in a way Abby couldn't imagine ever feeling here. He dribbled the ball casually, weaving between tables like he owned the place, greeting at least four different people before he'd even reached his own table.

"There goes the varsity crew," Cameron said, nodding toward them without much interest. "They basically run this school, or at least they think they do. Victor's the ringleader — he's funny, good at basketball, but he can be kind of a jerk sometimes, honestly." Maya rolled her eyes, unimpressed. "Yeah, he's got this thing where he makes fun of people just to get laughs. Like, he doesn't mean it to be cruel, but it lands that way." Abby watched as Victor and his friends grabbed their food, still loud and animated, completely absorbed in their own world, their own gravity. He didn't glance her way, didn't even seem to register the quiet corner where she sat with two people who'd been strangers just hours ago. She felt the contrast sharply — between the noise and confidence of Victor's group, and the small, uncertain space she was still learning to occupy in this new place. Two completely different worlds, existing side by side in the same room, and somehow, without meaning to, she'd already caught a glimpse of both of them on her very first day.