Waking up early to go to the school seems to be a bust. Christina isn't exactly happy about that. Once my mom drags Christina and I to the school, they tell us that we have to wait until the first day of school and come in that morning to get everything figured out.
I wake up just before my alarm Monday morning. I'm a morning person so I bounce out of bed and head for the shower. I'm completely dressed and making my way downstairs when I hear my mom knocking on Christina's door. My mom is dressed in uniform, ready to go to work right after leaving the high school. I can tell my mom is stressed, but she puts on the sweetest voice she can to try to get my sister awake.
"Christina, you can't be late for your first day."
Christina opens her door abruptly, only enough for her to stick her head out. "Technically if I don't go, then it isn't my first day." Christina shoots my mom a smile and goes to close the door, but my mom's foot stops it. My mom pushes open the door gently, and makes her way into Christina's room.
Christina's room has a door that leads into the bathroom that can also be accessed in the hallway. I walk through the hallway door into the bathroom and grab the towel that my mom had left on the counter for Christina. My mom ushers Christina into the bathroom, and I throw the towel at her. Christina knows she's defenseless against the two of us so she reluctantly gives in and agrees to get ready.
My mom swings an arm around me before we leave the room. She gives me a quick kiss on my forehead to thank me for not protesting like Christina. I know Christina wouldn't have time to eat a real breakfast so I put two Pop-Tarts in the toaster for her. Christina is definitely not a morning person.
We must get to the school right before the students start arriving because the only people entering the school look like teachers and other staff members. Christina and I follow my mom into the school and straight to the main office. My mom manages to do most of the talking so Christina and I sit silent for the majority of the next hour.
After Christina and I are officially enrolled and have our schedules, the counselor sitting across the desk from us stands, signaling that it's time for us to actually begin our first day. The counselor, my mom, Christina, and I walk back to the lobby of the main office. The counselor stops to greet a student who is sitting in one of the chairs in the office.
My mom turns to my sister and me and gives us both hugs. "Have a great first day. Work hard and be nice," she jokes. She looks directly at me and places a hand on my shoulder. "Are you sure you're not upset about all of this?"
I nod and send my mom a small smile. "Mom, I'm okay. Really." No matter how many times I reassure my mom that I'm fine, I know she'll keep asking. She gives us another quick hug then leaves.
The counselor walks towards my sister and me with the student he had stopped to greet walking beside him. "Hi, I'm Athena Weichsel." The girl flashes a big smile to us.
"She's going to show you two around the school this morning." The counselor hands a copy of our final schedules to Athena and walks back to his office.
"Okay so which one of you is Cameron and which one is Christina?" Athena asks, glancing through her glasses at the papers in her hand.
"She's Christina," I says pointing to my little sister. "You can call me Cammie."
"Awesome. Well let's get going." Athena swings her tan backpack over her shoulder and leads the way out of the office. Athena is somewhere in between Christina's height and mine. Her long strawberry blonde hair is curled and keeps falling in front of her thick black glasses. She has a sweet smile that makes me want to smile back at her every time.
Athena guides Christina and me around the school, pointing to classrooms and hallways, and occasionally pushes up the frame of her glasses to meet her coffee colored eyes. We spend the entirety of our first period getting familiar with the school, so Athena escorts us to Christina's second period just before the bell rings.
Athena then escorts me to my class as the hallways begin to flood with other bodies rushing to get to their next period. "Sorry you got stuck showing the new kids around." I apologize to her.
Athena sends one of her small smiles to me and shakes her head slightly. "Why are you apologizing? I love showing people around. Besides I'm an office aid first period so I don't do anything exciting anyway." She stops walking and hands me my schedule. "AP Calculus with Ms. Fitzpatrick." She announces. "You're lucky. You got the good teacher."
"Well I'll need all the luck I can get. I like math, but I'm not always the greatest at it." I admit. "Thanks again for showing me around, Athena."
"Anytime. I can meet you here after class since it'll be lunch if you want."
I nod. "Yeah that sounds great."
➳ ➳ ➳
Athena is waiting outside my class when the bell rings. She explains that everyone in the school has lunch at the same time, and that it's an open lunch, which means you can eat mostly wherever you want in the school. She takes me through the cafeteria, and heads outside. There are lunch tables directly outside the door, but there is also a large concrete staircase with a landing halfway down that has seating. According to Athena, that landing is where she and her friends usually sit on the nicer days. There is also a large grass area across from the steps with an old willow tree shading most of the grass area where students are sitting.
I text Christina and tell her where to go in case she wants to spend lunch with Athena and me. Athena leads the way up the large staircase and to the landing. She's in the middle of explaining something when someone walks over and swings their arms around Athena's neck.
"What, you aren't going to introduce your favorite person in the entire world?" The girl leaning on Athena is half a foot taller than her. She smiles at me, and I can't help but stare at her. Her smile is crooked, and reveals her dimples; both things that make her appear even more attractive than I initially thought. Her cheekbones are prominent, but not obnoxious and she has a jawline that I swear can rival that of Crystal Reed.
"Hi Logan." Athena sounds annoyed, but I can tell she was speaking sarcastically.
The girl pushes a strand of her long, dark waves behind her ear, revealing the small solid black gauges she has in her ears, and shifts her electric blue eyes from me to Athena. "How's my favorite short stack of pancakes?"
"I hate you." Athena attempts to sound serious but can't seem to help the small smile that tugs at the corners of her thin lips.
"Most people do." Logan shrugs. She waits a moment before continuing. "Well...?" She flicks her wrist to gesture to me.
Logan has a tattoo of a single rose on the back of her right hand. Tattooed on the outside of her right forearm, she has an arrow, and from what I can see sticking out of her shirt is a tattoo of birds breaking from a feather underneath of her collar bone on her left side. My eyes move around Logan's form, connecting her tattoos like dots in a coloring book. My eyes land on the ring hanging from the chain around Logan's neck. It's a simple silver ring, but I can't make out the engraving from where I'm standing.
Athena looks at me and sighs. "This wonderfully annoying human growth," Athena smacks her hand against Logan's arm that is draped across Athena's chest, "is the infamous Logan Spencer." Athena looks back at Logan. "Logan, this is Cammie."
Logan's eyes shift back to me, instantly capturing all of my attention. "Cammie...?"
I hesitate speaking for a moment, unable to get words out. Her eyes have me mesmerized and unable to form anything remotely coherent. "Bailey." I sound normal, but I can feel my heart beating faster. What the hell is that about?
"Is Cammie a nickname?"
I nod. "My full name is Cameron."
Logan half bows, releasing Athena from her hold, and extends a hand out to me. "Well it is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Cameron Bailey." Logan stands up straight, and I find myself beginning to laugh at her small gesture.
Logan is about to say something else when another girl runs up to her and grabs her arm. This girl stands just barely taller than Logan, but feels like she could tower over me. Her long brown waves fall to the middle of her chest, and her skin is absolutely flawless. "I need you." She speaks to Logan, ignoring the rest of the world around her.
Of course Logan has a girlfriend. How could someone who looks like that be single?
"My three favorite words." Logan flashes a smile at the girl.
The girl arches one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows at Logan. "I'm serious. Now."
"I love it when you get aggressive." Logan turns her attention back to me, ignoring the girl's urgency. Logan places one hand hovering just below the model's chin. "Cameron, this lovely brown peach-"
"Brown peach?" The girl cuts Logan off, stealing her attention once again. "Really? That doesn't sound pleasant at all. You couldn't think of something better than rotting fruit?"
"This lovely piece of caramel?" Logan searches for approval from the girl.
"Better." The girl beams.
Logan nods, looking at me once again. "This lovely piece of caramel here is Chloe Amber Morris."
Chloe grins at me, her pearly whites nearly blinding me with perfection. "It's nice to meet you. What was your name again? Cameron?"
I nod slightly but correct her. "Most people call me Cammie."
"Ah." Chloe lightly taps Logan's cheek, making me realize they're standing so close they're practically intertwined. "Well Logan here isn't most people."
Logan dramatically beams at Chloe. "You get me."
Chloe, ignoring Logan's statement, continues. "Well now that we're all acquainted, I have to steal Logan away." Chloe sends me another smile. "I'll see you around."
Logan turns to me and extends a hand for dramatic effect. "Until we meet again."
I can't stop the grin that pulls at my lips. "Until then."
➳ ➳ ➳
My wonderful luck causes me to miss my bus. The bus lot is confusing to me, and I can't figure it out before the busses make their ways home. Christina somehow manages to find the bus just in time. I tell her it isn't a big idea and that I'll find my way home. I pull up the GPS app on my phone and plug in my new address.
I only just begin walking away from the school when a large, black SUV pulls up beside where I'm walking on the sidewalk. I glance at the SUV in my peripheral but keep walking.
"Cammie!" A voice successfully manages to get me to stop. I look through the rolled down window on the passenger side to see Chloe leaning towards the window. "Do you want a ride home?"
"Oh no, I'll be okay." I politely decline. I don't want to impose.
"Don't be crazy. Get in." I can tell she isn't going to take no for an answer. I finally agree to her offer and climb in the passenger seat, and she follows my phone's instructions on where to go.
When my phone isn't ordering her where to turn, Chloe is asking me about moving, where I'm coming from, why, and other small talk. We pull onto my street when she suddenly asks, "So did you leave behind anyone special back in Florida?"
"No." I can hear the disappointment in my own voice.
"No boyfriend?" She pauses and arches an eyebrow. "No girlfriend?" My heart skips a beat. I start to feel it slowly getting ready to drop to my stomach.
"No." My answer is barely above a whisper. "I'm single." I hesitate before speaking again. "No girlfriend. Sadly..."
Chloe lowers her eyebrow and smiles at me. I worry she's going to bring up something about staying away from her girlfriend. The fact that her smile actually seems genuine worries me more. "So you are into girls?" She closes her eyes and shakes her head slightly, clearly embarrassed by her own question. "I'm sorry if that was rude to ask. You can't really assume anyone's orientation, but I saw the way you were gawking at Logan and was just curious."
And there goes my heart dropping to my stomach. "Gawking? N-no I wasn't gawking at her." I can't help but stutter in response. "I-I would never look at someone else's girlfriend like that. I-"
"Girlfriend?" Chloe interrupts me. She breaks out into a small fit of laughter. "Logan is the most single person I know. Believe me, you're allowed to look at her anyway you want." She calms down, but still has a smile plastered on her face as she turns to me. "Who did you think she was dating?"
I shrug slightly. "Well you." I really just feel embarrassed about the whole situation.
My response elicits another small chuckle from Chloe. "No no." She corrects me. "Logan is my best friend. We love each other, but we could never date. We're basically platonically married." She explains. I nod, understanding what she means. I fail to realize until that moment that we're now parked in my driveway. "Do you have your phone on you?" Chloe asks, changing the subject.
I nod, pulling it out of my pocket. She gives me her number and tells me to text or call if I need anything or just want to talk. I thank her for the ride and slide out of the car, pulling my bag behind me. I make my way through the front door of my house and head straight for the family room.
I notice Christina lying on the couch so I plop down on top of her and drop my bag on the floor beside us. "What are you doing?" Christina asks through her laughter. She squirms under me, but I snake my arms around her and squeeze. "Stooooppppp." She pleads. She struggles some more, but I don't move or loosen my grasp at all. She eventually gives up and reaches for the remote on the coffee table. "Mom got the cable working. What are we watching?"
I shrug, finally letting go of my grip around her. "What's on Disney?"
"You are such a child." She teases me. She takes distracting me as an opportunity to push me off of her. I roll off, landing on the ground with a thud. Christina snorts at me and I smack her with the pillow that had landed beside me. After calming down, Christina starts to browse through the channels.
I take the pillow that I had attacked her with and place it under my head, not wanting to put in the effort it would take to get up off the floor. I'm comfy enough where I am. "How was your first day of school?" She asks not breaking her stare with the TV.
I shrug and fold my hands together over my stomach. "It could've been worse."
Christina rolls over, hanging her head over the side of the couch to look at me. "Do you think we'll like it here?" She asks sincerely.
I take a moment to think about my answer. Although I hadn't minded Florida, Christina had different feelings. She hated Florida. She hated middle school, and the kids she had to deal with. "Yeah. I think we will." I sincerely believe that we could like Maryland. "I felt weird about it – well actually indifferent really – a couple days ago, but now I don't know. I think this place is going to be different for us."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey everyone, I hope you're enjoying the story so far. Thoughts?
This chapter's song is "Perfect" by One Direction.
Until next time,
Adrienne (: