“Is this school filled with rednecks or something?” I asked disgustedly, nodding towards the rednecks as they walked away.
“Rednecks and preps sadly.” Aaron told me.
“Ugh.” I groaned right as the bell rand. “Oh great.”
“Come on, I’ll show you where the drama class is.” Aaron pulled me along with him and Gina.
“What lunch do you have?” I inquired, already getting nervous again.
“Second, we both do” Gina smiled adoringly up at Aaron, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“Dang, I have first lunch.” Disappointed, I walked into the drama classroom alone. Intro to Drama, a class I had been waiting all of middle school to finally take. The next couple of hours went by slowly. It turned out I recognized a few kids from this morning in my first block. The teachers droned on and on about the normal first day stuff.
When second block came, I recognized Tyler, one of the guys who had been with Eli this morning, so I sat with him. He talked to me while the teacher called role.
“Hi, I’m Tyler.” He smiled. “You’re Onyx, right?”
“Yeah,” I looked down, thinking of my embarrassing introduction this morning and Eli.
“Vanessa?” Mrs. Lake, our English 1 teacher, called.
“Here,” I said quietly, raising my hand then quickly shrinking down in my seat. As she continued, Tyler asked me “Wait, I thought your name was Onyx?”
“My real name is Vanessa. I’ve hated that name my whole life, so I’ve gone by Onyx since I was 10.” I explained.
“Ah. Okay.” We stopped talking after that. Time passed by slowing during the rest of class, so we passed notes. When the bell finally rang we both stood up to leave.
“So, do you want to walk with me to lunch?” Tyler asked as we left the classroom.
“Sure, it’s better than walking alone.” I shrugged, trying to hide my increasing anxiety about the possibility of running into Eli in the halls. When we got further down the hallway, I turned to him and asked, “So who all has lunch now?”
“Me, obviously, Eli,” My heart instantly skipped a beat at hearing I would be in the same lunch as him. I couldn’t believe I was getting this way about a guy I didn’t even know. “Jake, Skylar, and Brandi. Oh and a few others will be at my table.” He finished naming them off. “Wanna sit with us?”
“Sure!” I couldn’t believe how many friends I had made already. Way more than I had back in Nevada. Well, I know I don’t truly have that many friends yet, considering I didn’t know any of these people well yet, aside from Aaron. I tried not to be excited about seeing Eli again. In all reality, I shouldn’t be, I don’t know anything about him. But of course, I’ve always fallen for guys too easily and too quickly.
“Are you coming?” Tyler poked his head back into the hallway.
“Oops, I zoned out again! Sorry.” I ran out after him.
On the way to lunch, we passed a small group of preppy girls. I saw that the two from my bus stop were also there. And of course, as soon as they saw me, they started laughing. When we walked by them, I heard them saying things like, “Freak” and “You know it’s not Halloween yet?” followed by a chorus of them snickering like hyena’s.
“Just ignore Renee and her wannabe’s.” Tyler said to me.
“Is everyone at this school like that?” I inquired. As soon as we opened the cafeteria door we were greeted by the aroma of the usual cardboard pizza and gross fries that every school must serve. Looking around the cafeteria as we walked in, I finally noticed the complete variety of the cliques. Everyone seemed separated into their own groups. Near the doors, the nerds, geeks, and outcasts with fewer friends than me, sat. Then there were tables filled with jocks, cheerleaders, and preps alike. And on the farther side of the cafeteria, there was the usual table of band kids. I would fit in there, but I couldn’t get band class this year because we moved so late. A few tables away were filled with a combination of chorus and drama kids. Between those tables I saw Jake, Skylar, and some other people sitting.
The New Kid
Start from the beginning
