“It's kind of fun to do the impossible.”
-Walt Disney

That morning of January 3rd, 2005, my alarm clock went off at five a.m. I didn’t have to be at the school until 6:45, but a head start wouldn’t hurt. After all, the whole idea of another new school needing soaking in. Maybe the shock would wash off in the shower. The time went by pretty quickly, however, considering my shower was forty minutes long. Thankfully, I’d set out my clothes for that morning, which included my new sneakers, faded hip-huggers, and a long-sleeved shirt under a thin black sweater. It was understated, and didn’t draw out too much attention, but paired with some crystal earrings, it looked nice. I was straightening my hair when my mom walked in.

“Now why do you do that? You’re hair looks so nice otherwise.”

I gave her an ‘are you kidding?’ look. I had only straightened one side so far, which was glossy, and the other side was frizzy and my ends needed trimming. She reconsidered.

That morning, I skipped breakfast on purpose. If the day went horrible, I could scarf my lunch, and head off to my next class or walk around campus a little bit.

In the car, Mom said a few phrases that didn’t quite make sense to me. “You’ll do fine. Quit worrying. Things will be ok.” Uh….I was calm. I didn’t need this. The revelation came slowly. Mom wasn’t saying these things for my benefit, she was saying them for her own. She hoped I’d be fine, she hoped that I wasn’t worried, she hoped that things would be ok. It was a nice gesture, but I knew better. It was a new school, and it sucked that all of my friends were ten miles away, and everything, but whatever. It was the first day. I’d give it at least a month before I started bitching about it.

Upon arrival, we were ushered in by a student into the counseling office. The office was a joke. On the corner, in the middle of everything in the school’s office, there was a cubby-hole like area, which sat a desk covered in personal stuff, and two chairs. We had to wait a few minutes. The open area “office” was near a window, which seemed to look out into the hall of the school. A narrow window, I couldn’t see much, but there were feet moving, and walls with doors behind it.

That moment the counselor walked in. A tall woman in her forties, she came into the area. I didn’t catch her name or even her hair color. What did it matter? Anyways, she shook both of our hands, and asked questions about my schedule. Since I’d moved in the last three-quarters of the semester, the schedule would only last me a month before my new one had to be decided. For a month I had to put up with gym, earth science, and drama. My other classes like history, english, and math were going to be with me for the next semester. Electives were taken care of. My mom let slip that I sang competitively, so I ended up in choir. Another slip up was that Iplayed the keyboard, and the counselor put me into a guitar class. I didn’t even own a guitar. I knew four songs on the keyboard, and I wasn’t ambidextrous.

Once the schedule had been taken care of, there was another matter that gave me great grief. I was going to have a “First Friend” by the name of Felicia, who was designated to show me around to all of my classes, and introduce me to all my teachers, and show me the campus. This person would be with me for the majority of the day, including eating lunch with them in a spot in the cafeteria. Dang. Couldn’t they just give me a map? What happened to ditching lunch?

“She’ll be here any moment, she’s been anxious to meet you,” the counselor said. Riiiiight.

My “first friend” walked in. She was a girl about my height, black, and she had a long, thick braid to her shoulders. She wore a red sweater, with a gold cross necklace. She looked fairly normal. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. We left the counseling office together, and Mom resisted the urge to wave. Thank God.

We turned the corner, out of the office, walking right past the narrow window, which was actually a door that had merely had a window. The shadow must’ve eluded the doorknob. We walked through, and to my surprise, the window didn’t reveal a hallway at all, but a very large cafeteria, full of students munching away on breakfast, talking, and completely absorbed in their first day back from break.

She took me through a door on the opposite end of the cafeteria, down a hallway. “Your first and second periods are in this room,” she said, pointing to a locked wooden door. “Obviously we can’t go in yet, but that’s your first and second room of the day.” We headed just a few feet away from the door, and went through two heavy glass doors to the outside, which had two very tall buildings one side, and the building we came out of on the opposite. “The gym is behind this building here, and that building is for choir and band. She checked her copy of my schedule. You have gym third period, the girls’ locker rooms are in those doors there, to the left, “she said pointing. We walked on, outside the buildings. “Sorry it’s so cold out here, but they lock the doors for the hallways in the mornings, so we have to go this way.” We walked along an outdoor sidewalk, along another building, connected to an outside hallway that was lined with classes. My “first friend” let out a sigh of frustration. “You math door is locked, it looks like as well. It’s the second one on the outdoor hallway, ok?” I nodded.

The bell rang. That made it the second or third one that went off since I got there. “I have to go,” she said. “Just ask someone about your fifth and sixth period classes.” Nodding again, I watched her walk off. Great.

My first period, I was late, but my teacher knew I’d been taking my tour of the school. Sitting, she talked to the class about some sort of project they were working on before break started. Staying quiet, I took out a book and read the whole period. Earlier than I’d expected, the bell rang. It was a block class, so not a whole lot of people left for the break. I felt I had to. There was only so much reading a human can take.

“Good Grief.”

-Charlie Brown

I stood outside in the cold, against the wall of my English class. I was pretty alone, until a girl came out. She stood near me, but didn’t say anything. A couple was near to me, and they kissed rather alarmingly. If someone did that at CedarHill, you’d practically have the security called. Nevertheless, the couple was totally undeterred, kissing as if glued together by saliva alone. I wasn’t disgusted, it was more awe. Moments later, the couple came unglued, and walked, arms entangled, through the big glass doors that Felicia had let me through to the outside. That was the most interesting thing to happen during the morning.

Apparently I had first lunch. It was news to me that you went to lunch before you had your fifth period. I went to my fifth period, on the directions of some random student. The door to the outside classroom was open, but upon my reaching for the doorknob, a very tall, thin man came out of it, holding a set of keys.

“Did you want to put your stuff in there?” he asked.

“Uh…,” I had no clue! “I don’t know. I’m new here.” I handed him my schedule.

He looked it over, before saying, “Well, welcome to Earth Science, Kelly. You have first lunch, so you can drop your things off in here before you go.” He talked in a very deep voice that was odd to hear, coming from so frail a man.

“Ok, sure.” I ran into the room, and set my things down in a far corner. Then I went off to the cafeteria, just inside the doors by the office.

You could hear the cafeteria way before you could smell anything or see anything. It was very crowded, and Felicia was nowhere in sight. Oh well. I stood in line for my lunch, and took it down to a far end of an empty long table. I ate in silence, while pondering over my book from my first period, and hoped not to draw a lot of attention.

About ten minutes went by, and a girl and boy came up to the table, and sat across from me. I didn’t look up, although I could hear their voices. They talked until the girl said, “Hey, I saw you earlier today. Are you new?”

The girl was built very much like me. She was about five foot, with tiny hands, hips, and feet. She had reddish brown hair, but her features were paired peculiarly. She had very large, round eyes, and a pointy nose, on an oval face. Her smile was nice, but not white. My first thought was that she was a little girl with large breasts. Somehow, she looked vaguely familiar...

"Yeah," I said.

"I saw you see us, this morning," the boy replied, with a cocked head, curious look. The boy smiled at me. He had medium-length curly hair and he sported a soft sort of beard. He wore oval glasses, which complimented his amber eyes. He looked at me curiously. I felt like he saw right through me. Or through my shirt, anyway. My build was so close to his girlfriends' that, body-wise I was most certainly his "type." His see-through nature set him very apart from the girl in his arms, who was quick, and remained on the surface of the conversation. Though his evaluation of me seemed deep and intimate, he held a gaze that never lost the light of a flirtatious grin. He was attractive, but in a brotherly way. You could probably wrestle this guy, and then make out with him. This guy looked like he had a pal nature about him. Add the abundance of hair, and he may have just as well have been a teddy bear with a beer in his hand. He looked like a good time, littered with poetry.

"Oh, sorry about that. I'm new, obviously." I said, blushing. Crap. Not exactly the most wonderful way to meet, watching someone and their girlfriend, like, so going at it during break. The boy noticed my blushing.

"Don't worry about it," him and the girl said together. They laughed. I giggled a little.

"Yeah, we do that, like, all the time, it's not really a big deal." The girl informed me.

"Won't you get into trouble for doing that though?" I pointed out.

The girl looked at me almost as if I was the equivalent of a mom and a fourth grader combined, and raised her reddish eyebrows at me a litte. "We don't really care, what're they gonna do to us?" She said it so defiantly, it was a bit of a relief. People that were honest were always on the top of my priority list. Diddling around with feelings was a waste of time to me. Although her defiance to the school was a little intimidating, she was still likeable.

The boy simply looked at me. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Kelly," I said.

"Ah, he said, obviously intrigued by my shy way of saying it. "I'm Josh, and this is Cecilia, but everyone calls her Kate." He was sincerely making an effort to make me comfortable, and it was really, really nice. My day had been tough so far, missing everybody.

"Nice to meet you," I said, as we all shook hands. I always enjoyed shaking hands. There was never enough human contact anymore. You give a friendly peck on the cheek, and suddenly everyone thinks you're dating. I wasn't touchy-feely, but a simple handshake, and the rest of the items from etiquette should never be ignored. Etiquette was a wonderful thing for humans. A handshake said a lot about the person you shook with, and their confidence, and forwardness was very attractive, and rather rare to find anymore. The handshake alone pleased me so much, that a real smile crossed my face, probably the first that morning, I realized. I talked with "Kate" and Josh that entire lunch, learning that I wouldn't be alone in my sixth period class, for drama. They'd be there, too. Suddenly, the thought of one more class period with nobody I recognized was quite depressing. Anyways, the lunch bell rang, and we arranged for them to introduce me to their friends in drama, along with the rest of the class.

“If it is your time, love will track you down like a cruise missile.”

-Lynda Barry

Fifth period was by far the most boring class that had ever come into my, let a loan anyone else’s, existence. My teacher’s name was Richim, and he made volcanoes, asteroids, and even catastrophic global warming sound like types of fabric softener. Halfway through the class, he quit talking, and we watched a movie about earthquakes, tornadoes, and other disasters, complete with the screaming people, and bad news casting. Nevertheless, Mr. Richim fell asleep about halfway through the video, and his head lolled onto his shoulder, revealing a bald spot no one of my height, (or lack thereof) would ever be able to notice otherwise. I couldn’t help giggling. You know your class is horribly boring if your own teacher falls asleep. Many a time I had to stifle my giggling that class period.

The bell rang for the five-minute break to get to sixth period, and even though I ended up sitting in the far row of the class, I was the second one out of the classroom. Kate and Josh planned to introduce me to everyone, and I wasn’t about to miss it, or chicken out.

I ended up finding the drama room easily, considering there was a stage at the end of the cafeteria, however, not being able to find a door, merely a stage with a large folding curtain. A few tables had been set up right in front of the stage so I sat on one of them. Kate and Josh quickly approached.

We exchanged greetings, and Kate commented, “You got here fast! Everyone will be here in a few minutes.” I nodded. Could your neck cramp from nodding all day?

The people I was introduced to were of all kinds. I met a tall Indian boy by the name of Aaron Newman, who’s eyes never left my chest, and many others that were hard to keep track of.

A guy that truly stood out to me was a guy named Gareth. He was wearing a long, black leather skirt, complete with a black jacket that had zippers and chains, in a pattern that resembled a straight-jacket. His hair had some grow-out of brown, covered by black hair dye. He had a prominent brow, which jutted out above his eyes, which were deep-set, and very dark. The eyes were lined with black eyeliner, and spattered with fading black eye shadow as well. Did I mention he towered over me at about 6’1”?

“Nice to meet you, Kelly,” he said solemnly. He shook my hand as he said it, which had painted black fingernails, and was covered with silver skull rings. His appearance was rather shocking to me, but somehow, the urge to pee my pants inspired confidence.

“I love your outfit, babe,” I said pointing.

His face split into a humongous smile, like the sun through a heavy April rain. It was so inspiring, I smiled eagerly back. This guy was just like Josh, flirtatious, but still rather serious.

“Your red hair is gorgeous, “he said, even lifting a black fingernail or two to grab a strand, and twirl it between his fingers. He was like me in the way he wasn’t afraid to touch, or say what he thought. I liked him right away, though our differences were rather great at first sight. Gareth was interesting, to say the least, but he wasn’t like the second-to-last guy I met.

The second-to-last guy was shorter, maybe 5’9”, but he was amazing. His hair was down in chocolate waves that curled at the ends, by his ears. He was meaty, like a hockey player, with voluptuous curves that made him look like a marble statue of a Greek God, though not nearly as lifeless. He wore a black and yellow Ninja Turtles jacket, which was sexy, for whatever reason. It was stretched gracefully over every beautiful curve in his upper body. He wore dark blue jeans that ended with whitish sneakers, with some design on them.

His face was the most lovely, round, and curvy, lightly dotted with moles, and a creamy complexion free of acne or redness. His eyes were a very dark, yet warm brown color, that were looking out behind glasses frames that blended so well you could hardly see them. Even his mouth was curved into a very friendly, charming grin. Everything around me dissolved, and it was only him I saw. I had never seen anyone that looked even remotely like him. He looked like a Clark Kent, and a Superman.

Kate was saying something. “Hey, Oliver, we have a new student.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

The God-like Oliver came over to me and Kate. He stuck out his hand, which was also quite curvy, and said, “It’s nice to meet you…” he waited for a name, although I didn’t let Kate introduce me. He was mine.

“Kelly, Kelly Koffel,” I said breathlessly, smiling at him in complete admiration.

He was smiling right back at me, and then the smile faded, and he looked at me in a rather shocked silence. Something was happening, I knew it, and he knew it too, as it was written all over his face. His eyes drank in my appearance, from my height, to my clothing, the wavy, long red hair, green eyes, and even my lustful stare.

His observations seemed to catch up with him. “Wow,” he breathed. Then he seemed to regain his composure. “Oliver Gove.” He said it GO-Vey. “Nice to meet you,” he threw me a flirtatious grin and his eyes squinted a little, then nodding while he finished, “Kelly.” His tongue emphasized my last name, and it rang in my ears like clear bells, as I caught him catching a glance at my curves. How beautiful.

“Kelly is from Port Trees, just a few miles from here,” Kate told him. His eyes didn’t leave mine, and neither did his smile.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” I replied, totally cutting Kate off. “My mom got married…again.” I laughed a little at that, and slightly rolled my eyes. My mom had been married just two days ago on New Year’s Day. It was her third marriage.

Oliver seemed to catch on that my mom may have had a few before. He seemed to laugh a little too.

“Again?” he said

“Again.” I said nodding sideways, and never dropping my gaze.

“Ah. That’s cool. Well, welcome to Fairview.” His hands opened as if in an embrace, while he said it, and it was almost my immediate reaction to rush into his arms, and be wrapped around in them. Consequently, getting wrapped in someone’s arms you’ve known for two minutes might be slightly awkward, so I refrained.

He walked a little ways away, tilted at an angle as he picked up his backpack that was slung over only one shoulder. It was cute. Not the angle. His tush.

“Tell me whom you love and I will tell you who you are.”
-Houssaye

Oliver turned to face me again. He said something that made me laugh, but I couldn’t remember later what it was. When he walked off to hop on the stage, Kate ushered Josh and I into the drama room, which was off to the left of the stage, through a small door. I lagged a little, watching Oliver onstage. Josh did the same. It wasn’t until Josh said something that I even registered he was standing by me. He must’ve noticed what happened between Oliver and I when we met. You couldn’t even write that kind of a meeting in a movie.

“He’s single, you know,” Josh said, standing on my left.

I registered this. Then my hormones kicked in.

“He is?” I asked excitedly. There was no way. How could such a gorgeous guy be single?

“Yes…,” he said slowly. I didn’t like the way he said it. It opened up a million worries and a thousand questions. I thought it would be best if I started off with one.

“He’s gorgeous! Why would he be single?”

“Well, he’s a nice guy and all…” he started. This could take all day.

“But?”

Kate chose this time to come in. “He’s gotten in trouble before.”

“Trouble?” I asked.

“Yeah, he did something in..,” she caught a look at Josh’s face. He was ever so slightly shaking his head. I loved him for it. I didn’t want to talk to Kate just now. I wanted to find out something from Josh.

“Never mind,” she said, and walked off, into the room. I could breathe again.

“Look, he’s gotten into some trouble before, and even if you find out what it is, don’t judge him for it. He’s a good person who just made a mistake.”

I didn’t even ask. I wanted to avoid this completely. Whatever Oliver had done, I didn’t want to know. It was as if I knew already, but it was quickly forgiven. He was wonderful, and funny, and gorgeous, and it was a nice thing to hold on to. Maybe I looked downcast.

“Look,” said Josh, slouching to my height, “you like him. He likes you, I can tell.” My whole body seemed to lift off the ground at that. “If you want him, and I’m sure you do, don’t let something like this get in the way.” Suddenly Josh was the older brother I’d never had. I wouldn’t let it get in the way not in the slightest.

“It’s ok. I’m fine. He is gorgeous though, isn’t he?”

Josh raised his eyebrows. “He’s not bad, but I don’t really look much.” He smiled at me. I felt like a bit of a dork. I smiled back.

It turned out that Oliver only had one scene to do that day, so he said his lines, and soon after sat on the stairs on the side of the stage next to me. He sat above me, only a stair away. He could’ve sat someplace else, but he didn’t. My heart fluttered a little. He didn’t have to sit so close.

“So how’s your day been so far?” he asked me. “Do you like all your classes?”

“It’s been ok,” I said smiling, “I think I’m gonna like this class the best.” He didn’t seem to catch what I meant, but that was fine. Or did he?

“Yeah, Malley’s cool,” he said, watching the people onstage. Malley was my teacher, according to my schedule.

“You’re a freshman, right?” we both asked at the same time. We laughed rather awkwardly.

“Yep, I’m a freshman,” he clarified.

“I’m not, I’m in eighth.” I was glad he wasn’t in my grade. It made him that much more mysterious.

“Really?” he asked, surprised.

“Really. I don’t look like it, do I?”

“No, you don’t,” he said smiling at me, and shaking his head.

I had always looked older than I was. In two years flat I had gone from an ‘A’ cup to a ‘D’, which aided greatly in this. My hips had suddenly flared out, which led to jean shopping. My butt had shrunk considerably, and I didn’t even work out. My body felt new, and sexy. My skin took on a permanent milky glow that year, which made my green eyes stand out, and my hair was grown out past my chest. Mom’s Navy buddies would always hit on me, only to find out I was thirteen. It scared people a little, I think. I never talked like someone my age. I had a subscription to National Geographic. I had mostly guys for friends. I was the most untypical teenage girl, and I most certainly didn’t look like it.

“So what part do you have in the play?” I asked him.

“Oh, I’m Eggbert. I’m an evil stepbrother to Josh. I mean, Bob, that’s his character.”

“So how is it?”

“It’s fun. I’m an only child, so it’s funny to think of Josh as my step-brother,” he said matter-of-factly. He smiled out of the corner of his mouth.

“Yeah,” I giggled.

“Do you have brothers or sisters?” he asked me.

“Nope. Just me.” I didn’t think mentioning my biracial half-sister in California was ok just yet. It was a little too personal. We were getting to know each other, and I didn’t want to bowl him over with information.

“Huh. So you live with your mom and new step-dad then?” he asked.

“Yeah. He’s got a house, and three dogs, and well, everything my mom wants, really.” It was true. He had three dogs, and a house, with a backyard. Mom and I were living in an apartment with my last step-dad until something had happened. We were rooming with a buddy of hers named Houston, to pay the rent. For a month or so, we traveled between the house in Stalban and the apartment in Port Trees. Now we lived fully at the house. I was perfectly fine living with just my mom and I, but knowing her, there always had to be a double-income, or some man to take care of us. I hated that. Sure, it was nice having a house, and dogs, and a backyard, but I was fine with us being on our own.

“Yep,” Oliver said.

Oliver and I watched the rehearsal. Apparently it was a parody about the timeless tale of Cinderella, with twice as many characters, and a lot more corny jokes. Called Twinderella, it told the story of not only Cinderella, but Bob as well. Josh played Bob, which was interesting. Josh seemed rather quiet and shy to me, but onstage, he became looser, and funnier. Anyways, Oliver and I watched the rehearsal, with the occasional flirting.

“Gareth seemed to like your red hair. He’s single, you know.”

I laughed. “He’s not really my type.”

“So, what’s your type, exactly? Leather and chains not your thing, huh?” He was joking. He barely knew me and we were already joking together.

“No,” I said giggling, “I like hockey players. They’ve got some meat, you know?”

“Hockey’s pretty cool. So you like hockey players, huh? Why them?” He seemed to be getting at something, but I wasn’t sure of what it was just yet.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s all that testosterone. Tough guys that aren’t afraid to bleed, ya know? I’ve been watching hockey all my life, so I’m used to them, I guess.”

“Huh,” he said, looking at me. He seemed to be doing math in his head or something. “You know, I play hockey.”

Jesus, he was gorgeous, he made me laugh, he liked drama, AND he played hockey? Could he get any more perfect?

“Oh,” I said, giggling. “What…uh…position?” Oliver seemed to like the word position. His mouth curved out one side, and he couldn’t stop it spreading to the rest of his face. I knew what he was thinking. Thank God all the sexual tension wasn’t just felt by me. He felt it too. Not to mention the fact he was thinking about sex. Two dirty minds thought alike.

He cleared his throat a little, after choking for a second from laughing. “Well, I play right wing. I’m left-handed.”

“Nice,” I said admirably. What couldn’t this guy do?

Suddenly, his expression turned serious and cold. Did I say something wrong? Crap! Then I noticed the angle of his head he wasn’t looking directly at me, but over me.

“Your backpack’s falling,” he said.

Sure enough, as I turned around, my backpack promptly fell off the table, and onto the floor behind me. I got up, hopped over Oliver, and put it back on the table. Just as I had come back and sat on my stair, Oliver pointed behind me again. The backpack fell a second time, but I caught it right before it hit the floor. It hit the floor anyway, because my arm strength wasn’t too good, with all the heavy books inside, but I had my hand on it at least. Oliver stifled a snigger, which I heard, and turned to him. He immediately stopped his grin, and cleared his throat. Clearly I was having issues.

“I’m having issues, can’t you tell?” I asked him.

“Um, no, not at all,” he said stifling a grin and a snicker. What a smart ass. I loved it.

I put the backpack in the middle of the table, and left it there. I sat on my stair by Oliver, only to hear the fall of the backpack again. Oliver and I looked at each other, then the backpack on the floor, and we both laughed. His smile was beautiful, and the backpack stayed where it was.

The bell rang a while later. Oliver and I got off the stairs to collect out things, though we did so rather slowly. I started off towards the doors for the front, while he started to go the opposite.

“Where are you going?” I asked him. It wasn’t any of my business, but hey, this cute guy couldn’t get away!

“Oh,” he said, “Band Room, then home.” He waved a little, and I did the same. I watched him walk out past the cafeteria, and down the hall past my first period class. Regaining my senses, I went outside to find my bus.