Dedicated to ZamTron for making me the book cover!
Chapter 1
Beep, beep, beep. I groaned and rolled over smashing my alarm clock, effectively silencing it. I stretched in my bed, the covers and the mattress felt so comfy right now that I snuggled deeper into them.
‘’Nina! Get up! You have to get ready for school,’’ my Dad shouted.
I groaned. High school as they like to call it. Senior year, yay. Note the sarcasm. I was so not looking forward to my first day at school and starting a few weeks late didn’t help much. I grudgingly got out of bed and went for a quick shower. Now, I need an outfit. I scrutinised my closet before picking out several tank tops and putting them on. I then pulled a faded black v-neck on top and paired it with a white skirt. I pulled my hair up in a messy bun, put my glasses on and bounded downstairs.
‘’Nina! How many times do I have to tell you not to slide on the railing?’’ my Dad asked with a scowl.
‘’Good morning to you too, Daddy,’’ I replied with an eye-roll.
Both my parents then took in my outfit and raised their eyebrows. It was quite comical actually.
‘’Do I want to know?’’ asked my dad, still with raised eyebrows.
‘’Nope,’’ I replied with a pop of the ‘p’.
Mom put some pancakes in front of me and I smiled gratefully at her before digging in.
‘’Are you taking your car, honey?’’ my Mom asked.
I shook my head ‘no’. ‘’I’m taking the bus.’’
Once again both my parents raised their eyebrows but thought better than to ask me. I looked at the clock and realised I was running a tad bit late. I gulped down the juice in a hurry before running out the house to the bus stop.
Once I got on the bus people stared at me curiously. I was the new girl, after all. I ignored them and took a seat in the middle plugging my headphones in and tuning everyone out. I was so lost in my own world that I didn’t realise we had arrived until I felt the bus stop. I looked out the window at the impending building of East View High. It was freaking huge! Probably bigger than my school back home… back home. I sighed. This was my new home and it was for the better. I got off the bus and headed towards the reception which wasn’t too hard to find. An old lady, probably in her late 60s looked up at me and smiled.
‘’Hi, I’m new.’’
‘’Ah, yes, Nina D’Von. Am I correct?’’ I frowned. She chuckled slightly which made me look at her questionably. ‘’Everyone knows there is a new student arriving so you’re quite the talk.’’ I frowned again. I did not want any attention… yet. She handed me my schedule and a map and sent me on my way. First things first: my locker.
Locker number 121. Finally finding it, I twisted the lock open after putting my combination in. I decided to leave my jacket in there so I took it off. I closed my locker and turned around only to come face to face with… Barbie?
Dirty blonde hair, grey eyes which were currently narrowed at me, designer scarf, designer top which was probably a size or two too small, a mini skirt, if you can even call it a skirt, a fake tan and 4-inch heels. Yep, definitely Barbie. I looked back up at her and she was scanning my outfit in disgust, her nose scrunching.
‘’So, new girl,’’ she sneered at me. ‘’Let me introduce myself. My name is Nicole, cheerleading captain and the girlfriend of Cole.’’ Then she took a step forward but I held my ground, clutching my schedule tightly in my hands. ‘’Let’s get one thing straight here, you do NOT talk to my friends, or my boyfriend or even look at him for that matter, you freak." Yeah, I feel sorry for the poor guy, I thought.
She continued. "Obviously judging by your…clothes, you belong to either the nerd group or the loner group. Even then I wonder if any of them would take you under their wing.’’ I clenched my jaw. Don’t hit her. Don’t hit her. I chanted in my head. People were now gathering around, probably enjoying the show. Her two minions, both were nodding their heads at whatever Barbie was saying.
‘’Am I making myself clear?’’ She got right in my face. I bit my tongue to stop from lashing out and gave a single nod. Seeming satisfied, she flipped her blonde hair over her shoulders, her minions copying her actions and strutted away. I looked at the people who were now looking at me, they had the same look as Barbie had a few moments ago: 'Freak' is what it shouted. I just rolled my eyes as it didn't bother me at all if they all liked to follow Barbie's 'rules' and headed to my class. I looked at my schedule and groaned.
-AP Calculus
- AP English
-AP Biology
-AP US Government and Politics
-AP Spanish
-Marketing Specialization
I headed off to my Calculus class; the map was pretty easy to read so I knew where I was going. I was right outside the class when the bell rang so I hurriedly made my way in to the teacher. He was a Korean man with glasses, not too old.
‘’You must be Nina. Well, I’m Mr. Lee and I will be your Calculus teacher. Take a seat somewhere.’’
I nodded and took a seat in the middle rows of the classroom but one next to the window. I looked out to see some students still lingering outside. The day was slightly chilly but the Sun still peaked through. A chair scraped next to me and I looked up to see a girl with red hair sit down.
‘’Hi! You are the new girl! I’m Jessie.’’ She smiled at me. So not all people were like Barbie. I tentatively smiled back.
‘’I’m Nina.’’
‘’I know!’’ she beamed at me. Her smile was infectious; her brown eyes held cheerfulness and her red hair bounced every time she talked. I looked forward as the teacher then started the class.
‘’So everyone as you all know, we have a new student. Nina, would you like to introduce yourself?’’
I stood up slowly feeling eyes on me. I cleared my throat and opened my mouth to speak when the door banged open making me jump. In came the sexiest guy I had ever seen. He looked like a model for Abercrombie & Fitch. Strong jaw, high cheekbones, dark brown messy hair and the most gorgeous forest green eyes. I was probably gawking at him when giggling interrupted my inspection of him. I looked next to him and of course Barbie was hanging off his arm.
‘’Mr. Walters. Care to explain why you’re late?’’
‘’Sorry, Mr Lee. Won’t happen again.’’ Damn. His voice!
Barbie giggled again and I had to roll my eyes at her. Mr. Lee just sighed and the infamous couple went to the back of the classroom to take a seat.
‘’Ew. Why is the Freak standing?’’
Mr. Lee looked at me apologetically and I just pressed my lips together. He still wanted me to introduce myself. Urgh.
I cleared my throat again. ‘’Um… My name is Nina-‘’ I was interrupted again by Barbie.
‘’Freak with a British accent.’’ The whole class laughed but I didn’t see what was so funny. I looked at Jessie who she had lips tightly pressed like I had a while ago. I just gave a look to Mr. Lee before sitting down in my seat. He continued with class but I couldn’t focus. It was stuff I knew so it didn’t matter whether I listened or not. I was brought out of misery when the bell rang.
‘’So, what do you have next?’’ Jessie asked beside me, still with a smile. I wonder whether she ever stopped smiling.
‘’AP English,’’ I muttered.
Her smile fell slightly. ‘’Well, I have Biology so I guess I’ll see you at lunch?’’
Wow. I don’t have to sit alone. I smiled and nodded.
‘’Great!’’ she replied and headed off.
I reached my English class late but the teacher didn’t say anything but just sent me to a seat next to a girl with glasses but hers were better than mine. She had black hair and blue eyes. She was really cute!
‘’Hi, I’m Nina.’’
She smiled shyly before replying, ‘’I know. I’m Marissa.’’
Laughter from the back of the class interrupted us.
‘’Oh, look! Freak and Nerd-show are getting along so well!’’
Once again the class laughed and it was like déjà vu from first period. I looked back to see Barbie laughing like a hyena. She hi-fived some guy sitting near her before leaning back in her seat and reaching up to Cole to give him a kiss. I gagged mentally.
‘’Enough!’’ the teacher shouted. ‘’Nicole! I have had it with you. I gave you a final warning last lesson. You are interrupting my class and I told you no PDA! Move seats with Nina.’’
‘’But Mrs. Anderson!’’ she whined in her high-pitched voice that I had to refrain from putting my hands on my ears. But Mrs. Anderson wasn’t having it.
‘’Now!’’
I looked at Marissa who looked like she was about to cry. I nudged her slightly. ‘’Don’t let her get to you.’’
She gave me a surprised smile. ‘’You’re just like my best friend. She says the same thing.’’
‘’Well, you should listen to her. See you at lunch?’’ She nodded and I got up, making my way to the back of the class. I passed Nicole who put her foot out and I almost tripped. The class laughed again. My hands clenched. She so needed a lesson.
I took my seat next to Cole. Damn that boy looked better up close. I realised I was staring when he raised an eyebrow at me. Sexy. What?! I looked away embarrassed.
‘’So class, I want to continue reading from wherever you left off from last lesson. Nina, you have some catching up to do with your reading.’’ I just nodded at her and got to it.
Half way through, Cole was on his phone typing away. The silence in the class made his fingers hitting the keys sound even louder. I tried to ignore it but I just couldn’t.
‘’Can you put your phone away?’’ I hissed. He looked up at me and raised his eyebrow again. I guess it was his trademark thing or something because he just gave me a smirk and went back to his phone. So infuriating! After a while I gave up reading and just stared at my book blankly. If I wanted to get the story of Romeo and Juliet properly, I would just have to read up in my own time.
The rest of the day went by smoothly, except for a few nasty comments here and there. Lunch arrived and I made my way to the cafeteria. I spotted Jessie at a table near the corner but not too far back. I bought a sandwich and made my way to her.
‘’Hey!’’ Jessie smiled at me. She was sitting with a girl who turned around and I looked at her in surprise.
‘’Marissa?’’ Jessie looked from Marissa to me and back.
‘’You guys have met? Awesome! Now I don’t have to do the introductions.’’ I chuckled at her.
‘’Is she always this happy?’’ I asked Marissa who just laughed.
‘’Hey! I’m sitting right here you know.’’ I smirked at her in response.
Looking around the cafeteria, the noisiest table was the one in the middle and yep, you guessed it right; it was filled with jocks and cheerleaders. Of course Nicole and her boyfriend were there too. Then there was a table right at the back where the emos’ were and another table with what looked like nerds. Total American high school cliché.
Jessie noticed me looking around. ‘’So, I’m assuming you’re from the UK since you have an English accent?’’ I just nodded, not wanting to give out any more information. She continued, ‘’Well, as you already know, Nicole is the Queen bee of high school here and her boyfriend is the captain of the football team. Yeah, I know another cliché. Nicole is a slut but her boyfriend doesn’t know or doesn’t seem to care. They all are rich. Nicole has been cheerleading captain for a while and she is deathly afraid of spiders. Cole is, well, Cole. He is rude, arrogant and mean. He and Nicole make the perfect couple.’’ Jessie finished all in one breath. I nodded slowly trying to take in the new info.
I looked at the table ahead of us and Nicole seemed to be sitting on Cole’s lap. Her eyes met mine and she gave a death glare but I kept my expression blank and looked away. I went back to my sandwich when an idea hit me…
That took a while! Here's chapter 1 :) It isn't the best and there's probably some grammatical errors but hey I don't have a Masters in English or anything so I guess it's expected... Anyway, I wonder what idea Nina got ;) Hmmm... Until next time!
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