*a week later*
The first day of school had arrived. Mandy's stomach was tossing and turning. She wasn't sure what to expect, mostly because she had never been to the school before. It was going to be embarrassing enough because she had a student guide to help her through the first day. Her old school did that too, and she remembered the times where she met new students, and made them feel better about their first day. It was an ASB thing, which made her miss her school even more. All she could do was hope that her guide today was nice, and that it wouldn't be a train wreck. She tried her best to put that aside from her mind, and head out. She wore a casual pink dress for her first day, with white vans and a pearl necklace. It was simple, but still classy. She wanted to represent herself well, because as mentioned earlier, the way she carried herself mattered to her.
So she took off in her Range Rover, and made her way to the school. Mandy really didn't want to stand out, and her car was not helping that. There was no local Range Rover dealership in their new town, so there were little to no other Range Rovers on the roads. She finally pulled into the driveway and found a decent parking spot. She was fairly early, so the parking lot was not completely buzzing with people yet. She took the opportunity to head inside early, and find some of her classes.
Mandy began to walk into the entrance and saw the bright blue sign that read:
CLARENCE HIGH SCHOOL - Welcome back, Cobras!
Mandy's thoughts: "Cobras? That's the mascot? How embarrassing. Here we go I guess."
Mandy was planning on going into the front office first, but since she was early, she wanted to look around for a few minutes. She was surveying and gazing down the halls. As she wandered around, she saw foreign faces which all gave her peculiar looks. Most cracked a little smile, but it still felt pitiful to Mandy. There were quite a few buildings, but luckily she managed to locate a few of her classes within the first 10 minutes. She looked down at her phone to check the time and saw that she had 15 minutes before school started, so she made her way up to the front office to see if her guide was there. Finally, she stepped inside.
Office lady: "Oh hello! You must be Amanda."
Mandy: "Yes, it's just Mandy though."
Office lady: "Alright then, your guide is in the other room, I'll bring him in! Oh and also, welcome. If there's anything you need, you can ask me or your guide!"
Mandy: "... thanks" *she forced a smile and tried not to feel embarrassed*
Suddenly, the office lady came back in, followed by a spruce-looking young man. He looked an awful lot like Hunter. It clearly wasn't him, but Mandy couldn't help but think about him. One of the huge problems with this new city was that a lot of the boys looked the same, and they were all Mandy's type (which looked like Hunter). She pushed those thoughts of him away and tried to focus. The office lady then had to take a phone call, so the boy stepped forward towards Mandy.
Dominic: "Hey, I'm Dominic, it's great to meet you. I'm your guide for today, and I can't wait to get to know you more."
Mandy: "Oh, hi. I'm Mandy, and... thank you for doing this for me."
Dominic: "Of course. Here, let's head out and get to class."
He started walking out of the office and Mandy followed along. She thought he was cute, but didn't want to get involved or anything, especially on the first day, so she kept quiet. She felt like a hopeless, wandering toddler.
Dominic: "So, we have all the same classes, which means you're stuck with me all day haha. *Mandy laughed along* So.... are you nervous?"
Mandy: "Haha, very. Is it obvious? It's a little embarrassing."
Dominic: "No, you're fine. And you have no reason to stress. I'll be with you all day and will make sure to minimize your embarrassing moments."
Mandy gave a small laugh.
The pair continued to walk down the hallways. Mandy was on his right side, and tried to seem more chill, and less uptight.
Dominic: "So what are your hobbies? Like, what kind of extracurriculars did you have at your old school? You transferred from California, right?"
Mandy: "Yes I did. And, I sorta did all kinds of stuff there. But my main thing was ASB.
Dominic: "Oh that's awesome, I didn't realize I'd be giving a tour to an ASB gal!"
Mandy: "Trust me, me either haha. This is the last thing I expected." *she leaned her head down, reminded of the thoughts of her home town.*
Dominic: "I bet you miss it there."
Mandy: "I do."
They made it to their first class of the day. It was English. Well, it was actually AP Literature. Mandy still managed to get a hold of the summer homework and books as the prestigious student she was. She and Dominic sat down in the middle section of desks, so that they could still converse without the teacher noticing that much.
Mrs. Wallace: "Good morning students, and welcome to your first day back! Now, please pass up the summer homework that was assigned and complete the worksheets on your desks with a partner. "
Mandy and Dominic passed up their work and began to examine the worksheet. It was just a small questionnaire about the summer book they read.
Mrs. Wallace: "Okay so although this is an AP class, your only homework and task for this period today is to complete the worksheet by tomorrow. So when you finish, you can just hang and talk with friends!"
Mandy finished the homework quickly and Dominic finished soon after.
Dominic: "Oh, so she's a whiz kid?"
Mandy: "Haha, I wouldn't call it that. I prefer the term 'diligent'."
Dominic: "Haha! Okay, so let me see: Nervous, California, ASB, diligent... what else? Do you play any sports?"
Mandy: "Not too many, especially since I moved... I did volleyball and basketball for a bit... I also did Mixed Martial Arts for like.. 11 years haha."
Dominic: "Oh no way! You better not go all Karate Kid on me though"
Mandy: "Haha! Of course not."
They spent the free time in class to talk more about the school, and their interests. She really liked Dominic. He was easy to talk to and so kind. He was really funny too. Mandy was introduced to tons of people throughout the day, and made quite a few new friends. There were a few girls, Arianna and Lauren, who stayed with her and Dominic for most of the day too. In the new town, people were much more nice, unlike the sort of snarky people in her old town.
A few more classes had passed, and lunch time came around. Seniors have the privilege to go off campus for lunch, so they got something together, and came back to the campus to eat it.
*in the cafeteria*
Mandy: "I can't believe there's a Chick-fil-A so close to the campus!"
Dominic: "I know; It's so convenient! Let's go sit with Arianna and Lauren."
They walked over to Arianna and Lauren's table, where there were 3 other students.
Lauren: "Sup guys! Oh, Mandy this is Kaela, Ryder, and Mason."
Mandy: "Hey haha."
Mason: "Oh she's better than you described, Dom."
Dominic: *Mandy and Dominic shared an awkward look* "Haha, glad you think so."
Dominic whispered to Mandy: "Mason is a little... bold. Sorry about him."
Mandy: "No worries, I can handle him haha."
So she sat down with Dominic and started conversing with the group. She grew to like Dominic more and more. She admired the soft, dark brown curls in his hair. His piercing blue eyes lit up his whole face, and was complimented by his perfect smile. Mandy tried convincing herself that she wasn't fully "crushing", and just temporarily peaked because he's new.
Once they finished lunch, they had some extra time so Dominic took Mandy to stroll through the halls, to kill time and continue to get to know each other. Dominic really began to enjoy spending time with her.
Dominic: "So, just out of curiosity... are you seeing anyone?"
Mandy: "Haha, no."
Dominic: "Really?! How have you not snatched up anybody yet? If you're willing to share..."
Mandy: "HAHA! It's not that I haven't... I mean I've dated a little. It's just.. there was this one guy, and he sorta changed everything for me, so when that crashed and burned I just never really found anybody I truly loved since, ya know?"
Dominic: "I totally get it. I'm sorry about whoever that one guy was. But he missed out. And I really hope you find someone great. You deserve that. And hey... maybe you'll find someone here." *he playfully smirked*
Mandy: *they both laughed* "Maybe..."
They continued to walk and talk, joking as they roamed through the halls. Then, they heard a pair of voices echo in the building. They could tell it was 2 boys just casually walking around too. Mandy couldn't depict what they were saying, but something sounded strangely familiar about one boy's voice.
Her mind drifted away from the voice she heard, and focused back on Dominic. They continued to laugh as they turned around a corner.
And that's when she saw him.