Teardrops of Roses [Completed]

Chapter 1: Old in Town

Though my time in Larrington was short before moving to Perth, it was long enough to see that the school must've gotten a massive facelift. 

A new large cafeteria was now located in the center of the school, along with a new swimming pool next to the oval. All the learning departments have been shuffled around. A world-class performing arts center was now standing by the northern quarters where the dingy Math rooms used to be. Only a few things remained the same such as the gymnasium oval and the sports sh–

I took another deep breath and shook my head.
I was determined to have a new start.

Depending on how things went today, I might just be that new kid all over again.

Reality check. 

By lunch that day, things weren't going the way I'd imagined.

Firstly, I was late to the first assembly of the year and had to sit at the back along with all the emos, skaters, and punks. In the seat next to me was a boy who reeked like the ashtray of a 50-year-old chain-smoker. He even lifted a baggie containing something white and mouthed to me, "want one?"

My eyes grew about a foot wide and I rattled in my seat. Somehow I managed to squeak a 'no' before scooting to the left, closer to the punk girl who gave me the coldest scowl on Earth. That, at least, I can handle.

Secondly, I was late for almost all of my classes. After not being here for so long and with the school makeover, I'd completely forgotten my way around and so had to walk around like a loser with a map in my hands which slowed me down and drew unwanted attention my way.
I was too nervous to ask for directions. Everyone else seemed so confident, zooming past me in the halls. Even the tiny eighth graders knew where to go. I guess I only had myself to blame for skipping orientation day as I feared I would get cold feet before starting school. 

Thirdly, I'd accidentally spilled juice down my shirt in front of a group of strangers. They pointed at me and laughed as I turned beet red while running off to the bathroom. Standing under the hand dryer stretching my shirt out to dry, I felt ashamed as a patch of my top had soaked through, the transparency revealing the top of my bra strap. It was already worrying that our uniforms were white, but with how see-through they were when wet, I felt as though I was naked. 

While waiting for the stain to dry, I almost gave into tears. I couldn't bear the risk of exposing my body and putting myself in danger again. Rationally, it was only a small part of my shirt that had become see-through, so I knew I was overreacting. But it was only the first day and so much had already happened. 

My one saving grace, the only thing pulling me through all this, was to think about my idol. 

Lea Worthington wouldn't fret over this, so I shouldn't too. 

I had to constantly remind myself that while I got readjusted to life here overreactions were bound to happen. It was completely normal. 

With all that said, the one last thing I couldn't ignore on my first day was how my ex-best friends totally hated my guts.

"Did you see the way she PURPOSELY spilled the juice down her shirt in front of the guys during recess?" Melissa asked her friends without being subtle as to 'who' she was referring to. It was hard to not notice when they were being so loud with their disdain.

"Oh my gosh, yeah. First day back from disappearing into dust and she's already trying to get some guys. I guess old habits never die." Okay, that one hurt a bit. That was Cassie, the lead. And from what I can gather, the golden girl of the school.

Even when we were friends, Cassie had always been extremely popular and attractive. But three years later, maturity had catapulted her beauty to another level. And as gossip seemed to rule the hallways of Larrington, I'd heard through the grapevine (that was honestly just behind my locker door), that Cassie was an Instagram model with over 800k followers with another 1.5M from her Tik-Tok videos. Admittedly, it was quite a decent feat for the small town we were in.