Kirkland High

No More Netflix-- There's School! -Christie POV

The start of our Junior year in high school was way closer than I had thought. It was August, nearing the end of our short summer. It wasn't chilly out yet, but also not blistering hot- the perfect weather to be outside in. Of course, that meant I was sitting indoors being my anti-social self watching Netflix. There was only 3 days left before school starts, and I still had a full season of Parks and Recreation left to watch. Everybody knows once high school begins, your free time ends. While kids are laughing and playing outside, I'm inside trying to watch Netflix while I still can, before I'm swamped with homework.

There was a knock at my bedroom door. Somewhat annoyed, I paused the video to answer it.

"Yes?" I said, opening the door a crack.

My sister's head poked through the door. "Dinner's ready, Christie," she said in her usual perky voice. "I made tuna avocado sushi."

"Yum," I replied, pushing past her to make my way to the kitchen. There's never a moment when the kitchen is clean. My sister, Beth, is always cooking when she's home. When she's not, she's off in college, trying to become a professional in the culinary industry. She always leaves plates and pans all over everywhere, but I hate to admit that she does make delicious food. Of course, I'll never say that outloud.

Beth and I look very different. She has short black hair with bangs. I have medium-length dark brown wavy hair. She's tall, while I'm short. We both, however, share the same brown eyes. Our personalities on the other hand could not be more different. She enjoys cooking; I despise it. She's friendly and outgoing; I'm quiet and judgemental. Shy is not the word I would use to describe myself- I'm not afraid to stand up for myself or call somebody out. Usually I just keep to myself until somebody steps in my way.

"Christie?" Beth nudged my arm, bringing me back to focus. "Hurry up and take your plate." She handed me a dish loaded with sushi and a cup of soy sauce on the side.

"Learn this in college?" I joked, already making my way back upstairs.

"I don't need an overpriced school to teach me how to roll up rice, tuna, and avocado," she called up after me.

"Yeah, whatever." I closed the door to my room and plopped the plate down on my desk. "Only 19 episodes left to go." I muttered under my breath.

~~~~~~~~

"Gooooood morning!" I woke up to a loud, sing-songy voice. "First day of school! Are you excited?"

"Ughhh, my alarm clock didn't even go off yet!" I grumbled. "Why are you even up so early, Beth?!"

"Pfft, like I would sleep in today. Come downstairs, I'll make pancakes. This is so exciting!" She literally yanked me out of bed. "What are you going to wear? First impressions are everything, you know." The night before, I took the time to plan out my outfit. Mint green jacket, white tank, skinny jeans, brown combat boots. I explained it all to Beth while I was stuffing pancakes in my mouth.

"Sounds good. What do you have first period?" She asked.

"French with Mrs. Peters," I said in between bites. "Know her?"

"Yeah, she was there when I went to Kirkland High. Stay on her good side, and turn in all your homework on time. Miss one assignment and she'll put you on the list."

"Wow, a list. That's intimidating." I downed a glass of milk before I headed upstairs to change. Before I knew it, it was 7:28.

"I'm leaving! The bus is coming soon!" I yelled, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. "Bye!" The door slammed behind me as I jogged for the bus.

If you've ever been on a school bus, you know exactly what kind of chaos I'm talking about. Kids yelling, blasting music, throwing things. The bus driver either didn't care or was super oblivious, because he let whatever happen back there happen.

"Christie!" I heard a voice shout above the others. Lydia Maxwell stood up and gestured for me to come sit. "I saved you a seat."

Lydia was a nice, funny Hispanic girl with long black hair. She was curvy, and had brown eyes. I've known her since I was in kindergarten, and we've been friends since then.

"Lydia, you're a lifesaver." I thanked her and sat down, narrowly missing a pencil flying by overhead.

"No problem," she smiled. The rest of the ride was filled with stories about what we did over the summer and how excited/worried we were about school.

"I mean, c'mon. We all know there's gonna be drama. This is high school! It's practically unavoidable." I stared out the window at the trees and buildings passing by. "Who do you think is gonna be the center of it this year?"

"I have no idea. One of the Royalties, for sure. I don't know which one, but one of them." Lydia swatted an incoming ball of paper out of the way. "Look, we're here." She pointed out the window.

Central Kirkland High was not a very big school, compared to others. In fact, it's pretty small. The bus doors opened and we all piled out. On the first day of school, all 450 kids were out in the front lawn, waiting for the doors to open. It was a mess, teenagers pushing and shoving their way, everybody trying to find their friends in the crowd. Lydia and I spotted Jill Hawkins, another one of my friends. Jill was a lot like me, quiet but confident. She'll always have earbuds in her ears blasting music at any given moment. Her long, messy black hair matched the rest of her outfit- black top, black jeans, black boots. She only ever wears black.

"Hey guys!" Jill greeted us. "I haven't seen you in a while!" Jill and I hung out over the summer, but not a lot. We're still great friends, though.

I was about to reply when someone shoved me roughly from behind. I stumbled into Jill, who wasn't very happy. "Hey! Dirt bag!" She yelled. I knew she could say a whole lot worse, but I'm guessing she held back because after all, it was day one. "Watch it!" He quickly apologised, but it didn't seem very heartfelt.

"Eh, it's whatever." I said passively. "It's good to see you again. Where's everybody else?"

"Casey was looking for you. Follow me." Jill dragged me and Lydia past groups of people. Finally, I spotted Casey sitting under a tree.

Casey Scott was a 5 ft 7" girl with dark blonde hair with blue eyes like ice. Today, she was wearing a bright blue top with jean shorts and old worn out converse. She had her hair up and her cell phone in hand, probably texting me to see where I was.

"Hey!" I walked over. She looked up at me and smiled.

"I've been looking for you!" She exclaimed. "I was just about to text you and see where you were." She nodded to Lydia. "Hey, Lydia!" Casey and Lydia were pretty close, and had seen each other a lot over the summer.

There was still a couple minutes left before school officially started, so we all catched up with each other. Eventually, the mass of people moved and poured into the school. School had started.

~~~~~

The rest of the day was a blur, mainly. I was excited to see that Casey had all the same morning classes with me. All of the teachers went over basic classroom procedures, what was to be expected, that sort of thing. I met a couple other friends I haven't seen all summer, ate some gross cafeteria food (yum), and picked out a locker for gym. By the time I was all settled in, school was over. I had survived my first day back.