"Brooke, are you almost ready?" I hear my mom call from downstairs.
"Almost!" I called back as I braided my hair. It was the Monday, the 4th of October, exactly one week from the day I started my new school. Its only been one week, but now that I think about it, I don't know why I was so nervous on my first day. I have made new friends, I've caught up in all my classes, and I really don't mind the hot weather that Vegas brings. Oh, and I finally finished unpacking all my boxes! Now, my room is back to the way I like it: clean and organized.
I quickly packed up my bag and hurried out to my mother's car. "Ready." I said as I closed the door. We drove in silence most of the way, and I was texting some of my Orange County friends. My best friend, Paige, and I have called and skyped and texted almost everyday. She's making plans to come see me sometime in the next few months or early next year.
"Have a good day!" My mom said as we pulled up to the school. "Thanks mom!" I said as I opened the door. I walked through the usual crowd of teenagers near the entrance so I could get to Jessie and the rest of the girls. I finally saw Jessie's bright blonde hair and I hurried over to them.
"Hey!" I greeted. They all said their hellos and we gave eachtoher all a quick hug. We talked for a little before the bell rang and before I knew it I was off to my classes for the day.
Art was back to the way it should be. I don't talk to Ashton and he doesn't seem to give two craps about me. Whatever, though, right? Thats what I know is best for me becasue the last thing I ever want to do is get into trouble with this guy. He freaks me out, to be completely honest. The way he looks at people during class is full of pure hatred, and my best guess is that thats how he looks at everything else in the world. Not to mention, every single morning I have sit with the repulsive stench of weed and beer coming from him, and I really don't know how Ms. Hullen could be so oblivious to it.
My next period was AP world history. I didn't really like history, I thought it could get a little but boring sometimes. But no matter what I always mangaged to have a positive attitude and I always seem to pull out an A+ each semster. Nothing really interesting has happened in that class....or Spanish....or Calculous, for that matter. I was really excited for Chemistry, though. I haven't told Jessie or any of the girls about Nick, because I wasn't quite sure of how Jessie would react. From the looks of Nick, he's probably a smart, nice boy. A boy that I would actually love to talk to more and become friends with.
At lunch, I met up with my new freinds to ask them what I should do for the next period when I sit next to Nick. "Hey guys," I said. "I have quesion regaurding a boy..."
Jessie almost choked on her apple juice. "A boy!" She cheered. "Its about time, man!"
"Who is it?" Amanda pleaded.
"His name is uh...Nick?"
"Nick?!?"
"Nick?"
"NICK."
I was utterly confused by all their reactions to what I said. There's probably at least a hundered Nicks in this school. Are they all thinking of the one I'm thinking?"
"Nick what?" Annie said.
"I.. I don't really knowm to be honest." I replied. Jessie grabbed my arm and started pulling me towards the west side of the courtyard. Uh oh. She kept pulling me, the rest of the girls following behind us. We kept going unti we were probably 20 yards away from thre jocks and "comman white girls", as Jessie called them. "Do you see that guy over there?" She asked me.
"Which one?"
"Red shirt."
I looked for a guy in a red shirt, and I finally spotted one. It was Nick!
"Yeah! That's him."
"HOLY SHIT BROOKE."
"What?!"
"That's Nick Thames. Do you realize how hot he is?"
I really couldn't tell if Jessie was happy or upset at me at this point. I didn't really know what to answer. "Uh...yes?"
"I'm so proud of you!" She squealed and she gave me a big hug. I laughed and hugged her back.
"Honestly, Brooke, you should go for him," Abby said. "You guys would be adorable!"
"And, he's single!" Annie added in.
"Really?" I asked. I looked over to him again. He was laughing and smiling along with his friends. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy. I thought about it a liitle more. "You know what?" I finally said. "I will! Well, first I would talk and get to know him more, next class, I sit next to him...."
"You sit next to him!?"Jessie said. "Ugh, you are a god."
We all laughed and the bell rang, indicating that it was time to go to 5th period. "Alright its time for chemistry. Wish me luck!" I said and I waved my goodbyes to my friends. I walked through the courtyard, towards my 5th period class. I was a little nervous, especially now that I know that Nick is super popular...and I'm just... me? I know I wasn't just gonna jump right into his arms and call him my boyfriend or anything...my plan is to just talk to him a little bit more, and see if he actually is a nice, down-to-earth guy.
I took a seat at my lab table and read the white board. Turn to page 28 and do study guide page 4. I said to myself. I put my bag down to go get a text book from the back of the class. "Hey!" I heard a deep voice from behind me. I turned to see Nick handing me a textbook. "Happy birthday." He said jokingly. I laughed and thanked him. I sat back down and I started to do my bell work. "So, Brooke, I must ask you. How are you liking Palo Verde?"
"Oh! It's actually quite nice. I think I could even like it better than my old school."
"Where did you come from?"
"Orange county."
"Seriously? And you moved here? I'm sorry for your loss." Nick let out a little chuckle, and it was actually really attractive.
The rest of the hour was as it should usually be: taking notes and going over homework and doing an experiemt to test different chemicals in different solutions. Nick and I's experiment exploded and it was really funny, especially because his laugh was really deep and..well..hot. The bell rang, and Nick and I said our goodbyes. I wasn't really sure if I liked him or not, I'm not one to decide on how I feel about someone after one week of knowing about their existence.
I walked quickly to the last period of the day, English with Jessie. I saw her walking up ahead of me and called her name. "Oh, hey!" She said as I caught up to her. We made it into our seats with 30 seconds left to spare. I noticed how that out of the 3 times I've been in this classroom sinceI came to this school, I haven't really taken the time to see who was in this class along with me and Jessie. I guess its just because I've been too busy catching up in all of these classes.
Jessie and I sat on the right side of the room, so I just gave a couple glances up to see if I knew anyone else. All I saw were people that looked like they weren't really that social, a couple girls that i recognized from my calculous class...and-
My eyes stopped dead in their tracks when I looked the the back of the room. I was totally and utterally confused at who I saw sitting in a desk that really shouldn't belong to him.
"How the heck is Ashton in English 11 honors?" I whsipered over to Jessie.
Jessie sighed. "Dammit, I thought you wouldn't notice. I uh... really don't know."
I could tell Jessie really didn't want to talk any more about Ashton...which really confused me. Does she like, know him personally? Why does she hate him this much? Well, I could see why anyone could hate him...but it feels weird when Jessie says anything regaurding Ashton.
I decided not to ask any more questions. I kept looking over at Ashton at random times, still very confused on how he's in an honor's class. But, I soon pushed that thought away for a while. I needed to focus on the lesson.
About 15 minutes later, a student walked in the class with a little slip of paper in his hands. He handed it to my teacher and walked out. As he read it, I decided to get back to work on my plot analysis paper. "Brooke Anderson?" My teachers voice seemed to echoe through the room. I looked up to see him waving the slip of paper in the air. "They need you at the office."
I looked over to Jessie, who just shrugged. I slowly got and took the paper from him, and quickly made my way out of the classroom. As I walked towrads the front office, I silently prayed that I didn't do anything wrong. I know its stupid, because I know that I haven't done anything wrong, but stIll. I get nervous when this stuff happens. I finally get to the office door and open it. I went up to the old woman who sits at the front most desk, Mrs. Stevens. "Excuse me?" I said politely. Mrs. Stevens looked up from her paper work and recognzed me. "Principal Vallens needs to speak to you...don't worry sweetie, you're in no trouble." She must've noticed the nervousness spread across my eyes. I laughed lightly and said thank you. I walked passed her desk to the back, where I saw a sign on the wall that read "Mr. Vallens". I opened the door to see my principal sitting at his desk. He looked up when I knocked on the inside of the door and smiled. "Brooke...?" he asked. I nodded and he wlcomed me into his office and offered me a seat acrosse from his desk. '
"What's up?" I asked, trying to be as casual as possible.
"Brooke, I want to talk about your Review Assessment score, you know, the test you took last friday."
I thought back to a couple days ago; my calculous teacher had me take a test that I had missed taking earlier in the year at my other school. It was a review of algebra and geometry. It was extremely easy, to be honest. "What about my score?" I asked.
"You did... well...perfect! Every single answer was correct, and all the work was spot on."
I nodded and gave myself an invisible pat on the back, and turned my full attention back to him as he contiued to speak.
"There's this program we have at this school...its a tutoring program, and what happens is students with grades and test scores like you tutor other students at this school that are struggling with math or english or science. Being a tutor doesn't necessarily earn you money, but it does give you a lot of college credits. I think that you're a very organized and bright girl, and we could diffidently use you to tutor geometry."
I sat back and thought about that. I've always wanted to be a tutor, but I've never gotten the offer. And, geometry was one of the easiest classes that I've taken. AND, college credits! It sounded like a pretty good gig to me... so why not?
"Sounds awesome!" I finally said. Mr. Vallen sat up and smiled. A glimmer of....what was that? Hope?... shone in his eyes as he gave me more details. He already has a student for me to tutor (I'm guessing they would be a freshman since this is geometry we're talking about) and I will be going to his/her home every monday and wednesday, or every wedensday and friday, to tutor them. "Thanks a bunch, Brooke," Mr. Vallen said as our meeting came to a close. "I've already given your parents a call so you don't have to worry about informing them. Come back to my office when 6th period ends so i can get you and your student set up."
I nodded and said goodbye for now. As I walked back to my english class, I thought more about this situation, and I became more and more pleased with my decision to take this tutor thing up. I got back into my class and into my seat just in time for the next lesson. Jessie gave me the look of "What just happened?" and I replied with a wave of my hand to tell her that I'll tell her after school.
Before I knew it, the final bell of the day had rung and I was off to my new tutoring gig. "So wait," Jessie said as she followed me out of the door and into the courtyard. "What did Mr. Vallen need you for?"
"Oh, I'm doing that tutoring thing. You know, where you tutor someone for free for college credits?"
"Oh yeah! I've heard of that. Damn, Brooke, you must be smarter than I thought."
"Its just for geometry," I laughed. "Its probably some little freshman."
"Well good luck wih it," Jessie said as she gave me a little fare-well-for-now hug. "I have to go and get started on a science project thats due tomorrow,"
I laughed and said goodbye. I turned and walked over towards the office, saying a quick goodbye to Abby, Amanda, and Annie. I opened the door and smiled at Mrs. Stevens as I walked past her desk. I opened the door to Mr. Vullens's office, excitement buzzing around my head and a new found love for this school forming through my blood.
My excitement soon vanished.
Sitting with Mr. Vullen at his desk was the student I was going to be tutoring.
It was Ashton.