Shooting Star

Chapter 4

"Alright, Miss Schultz, you're all set up," the lady at the office told me. "Just hold onto that map of the school so you don't get lost."

"Thank you," I told her before leaving.

"Are you going to be okay?" Ross asked.

I shrugged. "I guess. It'll just be weird not knowing anyone." Even when we moved to California from Wisconsin, there were people who we knew. My uncle and their friends lived there and helped us out a lot. My uncle's friends are actually Miranda's parents. That's how I met her.

Thinking of Miranda made me think of my other friends. Good going, Destinee, I thought.

Ross seemed to sense my sadness and he pulled me in for a big, brotherly bear hug. He pulled away and put his hands on my shoulders. "You'll be great, Dest. Don't worry." I gave him a small and very forced smile.

"Ross?" I heard a girl's voice exclaim. Suddenly, a small group of people walked up to my brother. There were five of them.

"Hey!" Ross greeted them.

"Who's your small friend?" one of the girls asked. She had long, wavy blonde hair and bright pool blue eyes. She was average height, taller than me but shorter than Ross.

Ross looked at me and shoved me toward the people. "This is my baby sister. Destinee. She's new."

"Destinee this is Sofia, Mila, Jeremiah, Tina, and Corey." I gave a small nod.

"She's so adorable, Ross. I'm jealous. I wish my little sister was as adorable as her," the same blonde girl, who I think was Sofia, gushed.

"Hey, I'll meet you guys by the senior lockers, okay?" Ross said to them.

They all nodded in agreement and headed down the hallway. "So you think you can figure this out?" he asked me. "You'll be okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

"Alright. The Sophomore lockers are that way," he said pointing. "I'll see you at lunch. If you make no friends within that time, you can sit with me and my friends."

I nodded again. "Okay."

Ross gave me a reassuring smile and a quick hug. "See you then." With that, I was left alone. I looked at the map and found where the sophomore lockers were. I took a deep breath and headed down the first hall. I thought through my plan in my head. Maybe for the first few weeks it would be best to just stay in the background.

As soon as I entered the main hallway, I looked around for anyone who looked helpful. "Excuse me, but do you know where the sophomore lockers are?" I asked a girl with blonde hair.

"Yeah, it's just that way." She pointed to where she was talking about.

"Thank you!"

"No problem," she smiled.

As I walked, I looked at the map. It didn't look anything like the actual school. I huffed and looked up, only to come face to face with someone turning the corner.

Er, face to chest. We both fell over and the basketball he was probably holding was flown to the other side of the hall and bounced around aimlessly.

"Sorry," the guy said, standing up. He reached his hand out to help me up, and I reluctantly took it. "Freshman?"

I shook my head. "Uh, sophomore."

"Cool, me too!" he replied. "First day?" I nodded. "Lost?"

"Just a little bit," I said sarcastically.