% CHAPTER 15 %

I get dressed and put on a tiny dash of make up. Today is my first day and I plan to make the best of it. Unlike Bret who only cares about school for his social life, I'm going to worry about friends later and focus on my education instead. That's what school is for, right?

My clothes are casual. I'm not trying to make a fashion statement for my first day, even though I know a lot of girls are big on that sort of thing. I would be too usually, because I like looking good, but this school is only a temporary situation. I also accidentally left my nice clothes in my trailer... I needed to make sure to get those so I wouldn't look like a slob all week. Once or twice is enough. I can't go looking too casual all week.

"You ready?" Bret asks. I ignore him and walk out of the house. "I'll take that as a yes," he says while following me.

I get in the passenger seat and don't reply. I'm giving Bret the silent treatment. After that stunt he tried to pull last night he deserves nothing less.

Ever since yesterday, I haven't been able to face him for two reasons. One, because whenever I look at him, a surge of anger rushes to the surface, and two, because whenever I look at him, something starts stirring in the depths of my stomach. Butterflies? Probably because I'm so embarrassed about yesterday. Embarrassed but still very angry.

I could not believe he had the nerve to accuse me of making the first move! Okay, so maybe I was leaning down to kiss him, but I wasn't in my right mind! He made the first move, and because of my hormones from my period -- which I'm still mad he found out about by the way -- and his closed eyes, I reacted to it! Still, if I would have told him the truth, his super huge ego would have gotten so big, it would have suffocated me.

Bret just needs to die in a hole. Have I said that already?

We make it to school and I walk inside alone, not caring if any people are watching me get out of Bret's car. We're "cousins" anyways.

"Hey pretty girl. Do you need help finding the front office?" I turn around and see a guy wearing a polo shirt looking at me. I narrow my eyes at him before turning around and walking on. He's a fool if he thinks I'm going to let him show me the way to the front office. "Wait up!"

I immediately spot Isaac in the throng of students up ahead. "Isaac!" I shout desperately.

He hears me, and after looking around a little to see who called his name, he spots me and walks towards me with an arrogant smile on his face. "Hey what's up Taylor?"

Is Isaac really any better? Well, at least I know him, unlike the other guy.

"Do you know where the front office is? I'm sort of lost." I bite on my lip. Damn it. I really hope he doesn't notice my nervous habit.

After looking attentively at my lips, he nods his head. Darn it. He noticed. Isaac grabs onto my arm and says, "It's this way."

Leaving the other boy behind without a second glance, I follow Isaac through the school. He stops at a door and opens it for me. "You'd think the front office wouldn't be too hard to find since it's at the front of the school, but our school is shaped pretty weird. Here you go."

I walk inside, leaving Isaac behind. Nodding him off, I let Isaac know that he doesn't have to wait around. There's a girl, typing furiously on the computer at her desk. Wow, public schools have student staff members too?

"Hello. I'm a new student and I need my schedule."

"Name?" The girl asks and shows her face. She honestly does not look too happy to see me. I bet when Bret came in here, she was all smiles. Well, it's not like I came to make friends here anyways.

"Taylor Bradwick."

Instantly, her eyes go wide and she shoots me a big smile. "Oh, okay. Nice to meet you Taylor. I'm Sasha."

She types away on the keyboard before using her mouse to scroll and click. I hear the sound of a printer whirring before she takes a printed sheet out of a stack from the printer and hands it to me.

"There you go. Hope you like your new school." She gives me an even bigger smile than before. I begin walking out when she stops me with the sound of her voice. "Wait! You're Bret's cousin right? Can you tell him I said hi?"

I offer her a tight lipped smile. "Sure thing."

I walk out with a roll of my eyes. I don't even care if she saw. If she did, it would be even better, because then she'd know I wasn't about to go do her bidding for her. If she wanted Bret, she could go after him herself. To think I almost kissed this guy yesterday. I was almost going to tell him that too, but thankfully, the boys stopped by just before I could tell him.

I don't even try to close the door behind me nicely. Instead, I just let it slam shut. My whole "I don't care" attitude is very short lived though when I bump right into someone. Luckily, I don't have any books or anything yet since I just started out.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry!" The girl that bumped into me says. "I should've been watching where I was going."

I look at her with wide eyes. She could be a model with her blonde hair and fabulous pink streaks; and her legs! Her legs are so long, putting her at least half of a foot above me. I don't mean to sound cheeky or anything, but I really want her legs.

Suddenly my horrible social skills kick in. I feel like a fish out of water. She's so gorgeous. She's a swan and I'm the ugly duckling. It's frustrating when nice girls are also really beautiful. I quickly put my hair behind my ear awkwardly, which I never do because it looks weird on me, and clear my throat.

"No!" I yell. Quickly regaining my composure, I shake my head. "I mean, no. Um, it's okay. You're fine. I should be the one apologizing," I say politely.

She squints her eyes at me before tilting her head slightly. "Are you new?"

I nod. "Actually I am. I just got here."

She giggles a little. "I'm so sorry about bumping into you like that. My name's Victoria." She holds out a hand to greet me.

I gladly shake it and give the best smile I can muster. I don't know why, but I'm really nervous. Maybe making friends is a good idea after all. I mean, where am I going to sit at lunch? What if someone wants to pick on me? I don't like depending on people, but having some friends to back me up would be nice too.

"I'm Taylor."

"Cool. We just got another new kid on Monday so maybe you two could help each other out."

"No thank you," I grumble. She looks at me questioningly. I sigh and explain. "That's Bret, my cousin. He's an asshole."

She laughs. "Yeah I'm not too fond of him either."

I sigh in relief. "Thank god! Finally somebody who doesn't care for the prick!"

It's actually not as hard to make conversation as I thought it would be. Talking with Victoria feels so natural to me. It's not like we've been friends for life or anything, but she reminds me of a more stable version of my best friend, Whitney, from back home.

Victoria laughs again before settling down. "So what classes do you have?"

I scratch my head. "Well I haven't exactly looked at the schedule."

Victoria holds out her hand. "Let me help you with that." I hand my schedule to her and together we skim through the writing. "First period English. I'm in that class so we can go together," she chirps.

We stroll down the hall together. Everyone watches our moves like a hawk. Of course Victoria is one of the popular ones. I'm pretty sure they're printing, "New Girl meets Victoria..."-- whatever her last name is -- in their heads. Maybe I'm acting too outlandish. I mean popularity can't really mean everything here at public schools...right?

Finally we make it to class. Right before we walk in though, someone calls my name. "Hey Taylor!" I hear Aaron before I can see him. "And Vic," he says after he sees her. Vic. That's a weird nickname for a girl.

"Hey Aaron. You coming over tonight or no?" I ask without thinking about how it sounded. I mentally smack my forehead. That hadn't come out the way I wanted it to.

Luckily, he doesn't notice. "Yeah. Bret already invited us to watch the game. You gonna join?"

I shake my head in disgust. "No thanks."

Victoria looks at us closely. "Interesting," she mutters.

Aaron glares at her before turning to me with a bright smile and then says, "Okay I'll see you later then. Have a great first day!"

I nod and then look at Victoria. "What?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "Let's find you a place to sit."

We walk into the classroom and I follow her down the rows of desks. She then takes her seat in one and motions for me to sit next to her. I do so and sit there, surveying everything around me. This teacher seems to be a little organized, but something about her classroom throws me off. It's missing those cool teacher posters that hang on the wall and explain things like conjunctions or transition words. Her handwriting on the board is a bit sloppy too. How did she become a teacher exactly? She was so boring. I could already tell by her room.

The bell rings and everyone has taken their seat. We wait there for a couple of seconds. It looks like Victoria's about to talk to me when a guy rushes into class.

"I'm sorry class! I was just chasing down a new teach- hey!" His eyes meet with mine.

Oh god he's...please don't tell me...that guy trying to flirt with me in the hallway was my English teacher?! I try keeping my cool, but it's a lot harder than it looks. I knew there was something odd with him. I can't believe he tried hitting on me. Did he seriously think that I was a teacher? Bret always tells me that I look uptight, but I never really believed him until now. I don't look that uptight, do I?

"That's Mr. Hemley," Victoria explains. "He's somewhere in his twenties. Oh wait I think he's talking to you."

"New student?" he asks, pretending we'd just met.

I suppress the urge to say something highly inappropriate and nod my head politely. "Um yes...sir."

He looks at me for a second and smiles. "Great. Your name?"

"Taylor Bradwick sir."

He checks his roster for the day and nods his head when he sees my name. Taking a yellow highlighter, he highlights my nodding his head in confirmation.

"Okay Taylor Bradwick you can sit...here." He points to the seat closest to his desk. "You're a bit late. The new semester started a month ago, so you might have some catching up to do. I think it's best if you sit close by so I can catch you up."

"But sir, someone already sits there." I bite down on my lip. I don't want to leave Victoria.

Mr. Hemley turns to the occupied desk in front of his own desk and takes a look at the student."Well in that case, Arnold, trade desks with Miss Taylor."

I puff out my cheeks and look at Victoria for guidance. "Sit with me at lunch," she whispers, shrugging her shoulders.

I nod and swallow. Arnold is already standing by the seat that's now his. I get up and gather my things that I just took out of my backpack. Then I move to the desk Mr. Hemley wants me at and sit down.

For the rest of that class, I let Mr. Hemley explain stuff and then he goes to his desk. Even though I'm trying to work, I can see him stealing glances my way. This is totally making me uncomfortable. Is he staring because he genuinely wants to catch me up on what I've missed at school, or is he staring at me for other reasons?

Once the bell rings, I gather my things quickly and wait for Victoria in the hall because I can't stand that English classroom. There's no way I'm spending more time than I absolutely have to.

"Taylor!" I hear that annoying voice call. I know that tone so well. His day is going really well and now he wants to annoy the hell out of me the make it even better.

"What do you want Bret?" I grumble and puff out my cheeks.

"Just wanted to say hello." He then stops suddenly. He's looking behind me.

I look there too. Victoria is standing at my shoulder. Now I feel the need to introduce them to each other. "Oh Bret, this is Victoria. Victoria, Bret." I use tiny hand motions filled with sarcasm. I honestly could care less about them knowing each other. I just felt obligated to introduce them to each other. Now I'll be having my friends over at the house Bret.

"I'll see you later Taylor," Bret says without any explanation and pushes his way into the crowd. What the heck? Did he have something against Victoria?

I turn back to Victoria to see that she's smiling. "Well as long as I'm around you won't have to worry about your dear asshole cousin coming anywhere near. I'm the bug repellent." She winks at me and I laugh. Maybe she really is. Maybe, just maybe, I'm glad that I've got Victoria around to keep Bret on edge. I finally have something I can use against him.

$_$_$_$

Lunch comes. Finally. I've been hungry for the past two periods. It turns out most of my teachers are men, and they don't like students eating in their classes because they're too stuck up and don't understand that students are human beings who need food to survive. At private school, we were all very close-knit, so the teachers would let us eat all the time.

I get in line and pick up some food. After paying, I look for Victoria, but my search party gets cut off by someone grabbing me by the arm and dragging me closer to where Bret sits.

"Sit with us!" Jake says.

I shake my head immediately. God no. I'm not sitting with those guys. "I'm sorry, but Victoria asked me already so-"

"Isaac's cousin asked you to sit with her?" Jake asks.

I furrow my eyebrows. That's something new. "Isaac and Victoria are cousins?"

"Yeah. They're actually pretty close as family, but in school they're in different cliques."

I nod my head understandably. "Well I'm sure she won't mind it if I sit here for a little."

I pop a squat right in front of Bret. "Did you bring your friend?" He asks warily, on the lookout for Victoria.

I give a wicked smile. This could work out so well for me. "No, but I can gladly fetch her if you really want me to."

"No!" Bret says quickly. "Sorry, but she sorta nerves me. Whenever I'm around her, I get antsy."

I chuckle. "Maybe she's got on bug repellent."

Bret laughs sarcastically. "Very funny Taylor."

All of a sudden, a swarm of girls come around Bret. Wow. Jake was not kidding when he said Bret got girls.

"Who's this?" Blonde #1 points at me.

Bret chuckles. "Oh how rude of me! Girls, this is my cousin, Taylor Bradwick. Taylor, meet the girls who don't embarrass your gender."

I scowl at him while they giggle. "Bret I noticed your girlfriend didn't drive you today," Redhead says while biting her lip. Bret frowns at her, but covers it up exceptionally well. I wonder what he frowned for. And Bret has a girlfriend? I didn't know that.

"Oh well you see," he takes a breath to slowly put his head down. "She broke up with me." Bastard. I grit my teeth as tears start forming at the base of his eyes. "I thought it was love. But she denied it and now I don't know where to turn."

He's playing them. Typical Bret, always trying to play people. And typical girls for falling for such a sob story!

"Did you tell her you loved her?" Blonde #4 asks.

Bret nods sadly. "That's why she broke it off. She said she was only looking for a fling."

"Don't worry. You'll find the right girl out there some day," Blonde #2 says, rubbing his back affectionately.

"I'm out of here," I say before I gag to death. "Isaac, where does your cousin sit?"

He points to a table near us. Victoria is sitting there. I breathe a sigh of relief before taking my food and walking over to her. "Vicki!" I say gratefully. "That table is torture!"

She laughs and pats the seat next to her. "Come sit." I do so and then she starts introducing people. "Taylor this is Aria, Gwen, and Connie."

I nod my head. "I think you're in my history class," I tell Connie.

She nods her head. "Yeah."

Connie has midnight black hair that goes to her elbows. Right now its in a ponytail so I'm sure its longer than that. Her skin is very tan though. I usually expect black haired people to be extremely pale. She looks good with it though.

Gwen has very light red hair and freckles consume her face. Her skin is not too pale, but it's definitely not tan.

"So how is your first day?" Gwen asks.

I smile. "It's pretty good actually. My cousin won't leave me alone though," I grumble.

"Oh that's right. You're Bret's cousin! Someone needs to get a leash on that dude. It's revolting," Gwen snorts in disgust. We all agree.

All four of us eat and chat as if we were old friends catching up. By the end of lunch, I'm so comfortable with the way things work at this school it's unbelievable. Maybe it's a good thing Ms. Simmons left for a few weeks.