Perfect Red

Chapter 1

She's perfect.  I want her, even if it's my first day at this school. I never wanted to move here but I'm glad I did because I think I just met 'the one'.

That sounds so immature and silly but I'm sure of it. 

She's wearing red. Lustful red.

Her auburn hair flowing behind her as she parades down the hall, her glowing green eyes are the perfect shade between dewy grass and the most shimmering emerald, her perfect birthmark under her eye, the way the red reflects in her eyes and her dress hugs her body in the most amazing way.

She's looking at me, she noticed that I was staring and I'm blushing as she walks towards me.

"Clementine right?" Oh. My. God. She knows my name. SHE KNOWS MY NAME. I shuffle on my feet and look back up at her waiting for my response.

"Uh, yeah it is." Oh God. She's smiling at me and I totally just messed all of this up, what to do, what to do.

"Do you want to come sit with us? We'd love to have you in our group! I love your hair by the way, it's super cute." She smiles at me, the cutest smile ever and she just complimented my hair. OH MY GOD. I know I'm blushing and she coughs. I look at her and she has her head tilted to one side waiting for my answer.

"Sure! I'd love that. It's Everleigh isn't it?" I realize I'm a bit too eager but it doesn't matter. She shifts her weight on her feet to move her Louis Vuitton bag so she can put the book she was reading, Capital by John Lanchester, inside it. I love that book and I feel butterflies in my stomach.

"Hey, is that Capital? I love that book! It's amazing how you start with the impression it's a company trying to take the houses but in reality it's just another guy on the street." I think I said too much as the girl behind her looks at me like I've overstepped a line but Everleigh perks her head up with a little laugh.

"Yeah, that's what drew me into the story the first time I read it. I've read it so many times it should be illegal to read that much." She raises her hand, confusing me for a second. "Guilty of being a bookworm here" She laughs a little more and honestly it's cute.

I'm glad I've made a friend on my first day, even though it seems like that girl doesn't like me; it's hard moving schools, I struggled in all the other schools I had to go to. Dad has this complicated job that means we have to move all the time, I'll be surprised if we don't move again next year although then I'll be 17 and old enough, according to my Mom, with the money they've saved for me to buy a place. It's not that much but it's enough. 

We walk down the halls and she keeps looking at me and smiling. It's cute but what's the deal with this girl? I'm not even sure if she has a girlfriend, heck I don't even know if she's into girls, she could have a boyfriend. I have to find this stuff out, I'll have to figure out her surname so I can look on Twitter and Instagram, if needs be, Facebook even though I cannot stand that site; full of people who share posts of unfunny memes and 'share for Justin Bieber' pictures, gah.

I get surprised when I'm dragged to the side into a classroom by a guy. I think I see Everleigh and the other girl stopping after they saw me being taken away. I don't know who this guy is, I don't know anyone here.

"I'm Asher, your new best friend." What now?! He can't just kidnap me into a classroom and say that.

"Excuse me what? How do you know that I even want to be your friend? You could be some creep who's going to pretend to be my friend to get in my pants and then spread rumors about me around this whole school." I shuffle my weight onto one foot and fold my arms. Yeah I'm harsh, but I have reason to. When you've been in as many schools as I have you'll get it.

"Okay so first, I'm gay." Well I was not prepared for that. "Second, who hurt you?" I mean he seems nice so maybe I'll let this 'best friend' thing go on but right now I have my new friend waiting outside for me. I sigh.

"Well okay, Asher, this best friend thing can at least have a trial run. I'll see you outside school after the bell." I walk out and make my way back to Everleigh with that cute smile on her face.

"What did Asher Knight want with you, Clem?" Awh that's cute, she gave me a nickname already. I laugh a little and her face turns quizzical.

"Oh, he wanted to be my best friend or something? I just said he gets a trial run and we're meeting outside of school after the bell. No biggie." She jumps up and down clapping her hands.

"Eeek that's awesome Clem! You got yourself a GBF on your first day. Asher's a really cool guy, he just never wanted to be friends with me for some reason, maybe you can ask him for me after the bell?" She tilts her head again, gah why is she so cute?

"GBF? What even is that? And maybe I will ask him for you, Ever." She smiles at me and links her arm with mine as we walk on, leaving the other girl, who's name I'm still oblivious to.

"Oh it's Gay Best Friend boo, you're really not from around here are you?" She skips a little while we're walking and we walk on.

"Hey Ever? What's that other girls name? You know, the girl that was with us before?" I look at her as we turn the corner and she looks back slightly as if trying to find the girl I mean.

"Oh, that's Beth, she's kinda shy. She's besties with Asher, they always disappear at lunch, that's probably why she left us when you came out of that room. If Ashers serious about this 'best friend' thing then you might want to get on her good side because Beth's his 'other half' as he says. They do everything together and if she doesn't like you then you're out, or maybe you'll be different, we'll see. Anyway you're stuck with me for the time being so, buckle up." She pokes my side as we come to a table in the cafeteria, presumably her usual table and she unlinks her arm from mine and sits down with her bag.