1First Impressions

The first day of high school. You know how it is. Stares boring through you, animated whispers surrounding you wherever you go, rumors spreading about you when you haven’t even muttered a single word – it turned out that I joined a cult, but was kicked out of it against my will and now I follow ant trails whenever I’m free because I believe that these trails will lead to my true calling. Whoever made that up was going to have hell to pay – and the over-friendliness of the school’s staff.

After my mum remarried to Josh Heinz, we were – well, I was – forced to move to sunny California to live with him and his 4 year old daughter, Lily. It’s not that I despised California, I just despise the sun. I’m a true-born Ocean Shores girl. Seriously, in Ocean Shores, Washington, the clouds practically shielded any rays the sun emitted every minute of the day. You hardly ever saw the sun. In California, now that was an entirely different matter. The sun was always in view.

Along with the moving package, I had to transfer schools. Josh insisted that I attend some private high school instead of a public one. So, I’m now attending the prestigious school called Autumn Springs High. Take note that I use the word ‘prestigious’ with lots of sarcasm. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s not like ASH (yes, the abbreviation for my school is ASH) isn’t prestigious or anything, it’s just that I don’t give a damn. My previous school had been a public school and I turned out just fine. I don’t need anything exalted. Sure, I ended up in detention a bunch of times, so? You could pick up very useful stuff during detention.

Other than the absence-of-the-sun factor, the only other thing I would miss terribly was my best friend of 10 years, Brooke. We were both very different in many ways. While I had brown hair and brown eyes, Brooke had straight, strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes. That was one thing that I was jealous of. I always wanted green or blue eyes. But, hey, it’s not like I could choose which genetics were paired up in me.

The other difference was our height, while I was an astounding 5ft 3in; Brooke was 5ft 6 in.

Our personalities have much to say for themselves, too. While I suffered from temperamental mood swings – sarcastic one moment, bubbly the next – Brooke was more collected. However, there was always the moments where we would totally spazz out and do the wildest things. We would end up laughing over the most ridiculous things, like cheese.

That’s the thing I hate about moving. Leaving Brooke. As you know from my mood swings, I cried my heart out when we said our goodbyes. She did too. I really miss her. I feel as though my confidant was missing.

Damn teenage hormones.

But, seeing as how happy my mum is ever since she met Josh, I couldn’t complain. It was good seeing her smile again ever since my dad passed away. I never talked about my dad with anyone, except for Brooke. Since he died, my mother has never really been quite the same. Including me. Until she met Josh, that is. I’m thankful for Josh’s existence in my mum’s life for that. So I decided – very half-heartedly – to move with her. Josh was some big business guy in California so there was no way that he could leave and move to Ocean Shores.

Back to the point, my first day. Awkward. I had decided to wear my favorite pair of black pants, an orange tee that Brooke gave me, and my blue converse. So what if it didn’t match? I was not one of those oh-my-god-my-hair-doesn’t-match-my-nails-so-I-can’t-leave-the-house type of girls. Heck, I didn’t even bother to even look at the mirror this morning. Maybe a glance, to see if Lily had managed to sneak into my room last night and turn my face into her living, breathing canvas again, but other than that, why bother?

When I got to first my class, which was the ever exciting subject of English, I was met with the eyes of the entire class. One figure at the back of the class particularly caught my eye. Not that he was looking at me funny or anything, but it was the fact that he wasn’t.

I handed my slip to Mr. Gordon to sign and turned to face the class. The only seat available was right at the back, next to the boy who did not look up. Even now.

I hastily moved towards the back of the class, making a point not to meet anyone’s stare. I put my books onto the table with a soft thump, which was when the boy turned to look at me.

He had this bad boy vibe coming from him, but he certainly did not look it. He had messy black hair which was somehow perfectly gelled into place, a well-defined jaw and thick lips. Then I noticed his eyes. I would never, never, ever have admitted this to anyone even at death point, but I was hypnotized. His eyes were the lightest shade of brown, almost chocolate, which went on for miles. I could definitely look into them for hours.

His body wasn’t that bad either. I have to admit, he was very good looking. His polo shirt did not hug his body, but I could still see his well built muscles. I was sure he was athletic. And he was not one of those overly-muscled guys either. I could not help myself from ogling. I never ogle. Mostly because there was nothing ever worth ogling at. Until now.

However, whatever good impression I had of him at that moment vanished instantly when he muttered his first words to me.

“What?” he said, exasperated.

Well, it was nice meeting you too.