Ch. 1: New School (Annabeth’s POV)
I was dreaming. I had to be because I’d never met the gorgeous boy standing in front of me. Reaching for me. I felt drawn to him, and it made my breath catch. I didn’t know him, but I wanted him. No, I craved him. I reached out toward him, brushing my hand against his as tingles of electricity shot through me. I could almost make out his face.
“Anna…Annabeth, wake up now. You’re going to be late for school!”
My eyes snapped open, and I took in the walls of my new room, the last threads of my dream fading away.
“Annabeth, get up! Now!” my brother yelled, banging on my door.
“I’m up Johnathon! Give me a damn second,” I called back as I jumped out of bed. I gave my body a long stretch as I made my way to the closet. It’s my first day of school and I’m already off to a bad start—I have nothing to wear. I stood in front of my mirror, trying to picture what outfit I should wear. First impressions are lasting, after all. To make things worse, the current state of my hair was, in a word, disastrous. I let out a sigh as I shoved a curl out of my face. I shouldn’t have fallen asleep reading again.
Grabbing a hairbrush off my vanity, I got to work trying to tame the beast that is my hair.
“Ouch!”
I glared down at the source of the pain. The hairbrush had strands of hair stuck in it, as if mockingly telling me, “Next time, try combing your hair after showering.” I scowled for another second, contemplating if I should bother continuing the effort. My hand was aching, and I’d only brushed out one section of hair. I threw the brush down and grabbed a scrunchie, twisting my hair back into a messy bun. I gave myself a once-over. Hmmmm…decent enough. I turned my neck to catch a glimpse of the back of my head in the mirror. Perfect, you can’t even see the tangles.
Now for the hard part: clothes. I am what you might call “plus size.” I got my curves from my mom; I just got a little bit more than her, that’s all. If I was in California still, I would have grabbed some shorts because it would have been blistering hot, but according to the goosebumps popping up on my arm, shorts weren’t going to be an option. I pulled out some leggings—a girl’s best friend. They were comfy and they’d keep me warm enough. I grabbed my dad’s old Nirvana shirt from the back of my desk chair, threw it on, and reached for my sneakers.
Perfect. Chic, but comfy. I studied myself in the mirror for a full minute. Not bad, Anna. I smiled to myself and did a quick 360° turn to make sure everything was good from every angle. Now for some eyeliner and lip gloss. After smoothing on the gloss, I pinched my cheeks a bit, a trick my mom taught me. My cheeks turned a bright pink, then faded into a nice rosy color. Done.
I made my way downstairs, hearing my older brother, Johnathon, talking to my little brother, Sammy. They were both the spitting image of my parents. Johnathon had blonde hair and blue eyes, a carbon copy of my dad; Sammy had dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes, just like my mother. I couldn’t help but grin as I watched Sammy laugh at Johnathon, who was parading around in an apron as he cooked breakfast.
“Hey boys,” I said as I sat down next to Sammy, giving his shoulder a nudge.
“You ready for your first day of third grade?”
Johnathon slid a plate in front of me, and my tummy couldn’t help but grumble as I inhaled the aromas of crispy bacon and fluffy pancakes wafting up at me. Yum. I grabbed the peanut butter and started slathering it on my pancakes, then added some syrup. What? It’s good, I swear!
“I don’t know…I miss my old school and my friends,” Sammy said as he stared down at the counter. “What if the kids don’t like me?”
I put down my fork. “Why wouldn’t they like you, sweetie?” Sammy shot me an annoyed look.
“Because, Anna, I’m weird. I don’t like the same things most kids do. I like anatomy and science, and I’d rather read than play video games. People won’t like me because I’m a nerd.”
I let out a short laugh. “Sweetie, you’re not a nerd! We’re just a smart family, that’s all. So, don’t feel bad about being intelligent—believe me, those kids will love you and your big brain.”
We finished eating breakfast at record speed. I grabbed my purse and Sammy’s bag and turned to a worried-looking Johnathon. My brother was handsome, but way too serious. He had a great job working for a lawyer, but he was twenty-four years old and acted like he was forty. He’d always been serious, but since our parents’ deaths he’d become a different version of himself, more tense and anxious.
“Bye big brother, I’ll see you for dinner. Don’t forget to pick up my milk and eggs.”
I gave him a hug, and when I pulled back, I could see him asking me with a quirk of his brow if I was all right. I shot him a smile.
“We’ll be fine! Don’t worry so much, big bro. I got this, and I have Sammy covered.”
Johnathon gave a slight nod and I grinned at him before making a funny face. His lips twitched, but he didn’t fully smile. I missed his real smile.
School was within walking distance; it took about ten minutes to get to Sammy’s school and then another five minutes to get to mine. I wrapped my arms around myself as we walked, trying to ward off the chill. I looked to the sky, and there were gray clouds overhead. I’m glad I dressed warm. I led Sammy to his first class and made sure he was situated properly before I left for my new high school.
The high school was a decent size, though not as big as my old school. It was all white, with pops of pale blue. I stared at the kids hanging around in groups. Some groups were more expected than others—I saw a group of cheerleaders near the main entrance, laughing and talking with some guys who were clearly football players. Some cliques are universal no matter what school you go to, and they all just looked so happy. Suddenly, one of the football guys turned to look at me. His hair was black and a little bit long, but it was his eyes that made me gasp. They were a light, icy blue, like a glacier. I’d never seen eyes that looked like his. He stared back at me and I wondered how he’d picked me out of the crowd. I saw his lips pull up as if he was about to smile, but I didn’t want to wait to see. I was already nervous enough; I didn’t need any unnecessary attention on my first day.
Taking a deep breath, I opened the main door to the school, keeping my head down as I made my way to the front office. The woman behind the desk reminded me of someone’s sweet grandma, with her curly white hair and round glasses.
“Excuse me, ma’am, I’m a new student and it’s my first day. I was told to pick up my schedule here.”
She eyed me up and down and then gave me a wide smile.
“I love your manners, darling! Let’s see…you must be Annabeth Miller, correct?” I gave her a quick nod as she continued speaking. “OK, here is your schedule, your locker number, your lock, and oh, a map—just in case, honey. Now you have a great day, sweetheart.”
I gave her a huge fake smile and thanked her as I opened the door. I let out a huff as I looked down the hall and then down at my map. OK Anna, you got this.
It took me like eight minutes to get to my locker, ominously numbered as locker 666. Hmm…I’ll take that as a bad omen. I chuckled quietly at the thought. I put my bag, books, and jacket in my locker and looked at my schedule. I already knew there was no way I’d be able to navigate the halls and make it to class on time. Being new to school sucks, especially for your senior year. I give up, that’s it—I’m telling Johnathon I want to be home schooled, or else.
I was still standing by my open locker, contemplating how to tell my big brother that I wanted to be home schooled, when I heard a tiny cough come from behind me. I turned to see a girl, about 5’4”, with fiery red hair that fell in waves down to her waist, and wide green eyes. Does everybody at this school have eyes that are so distinctive and colorful? I touched my cheekbone absentmindedly, thinking about my own muddy brown eyes. The girl just continued to look at me until I gave her a small smile, prompting her to speak.
“Hi! I’m Janet. Are you new? You look new. Not that you look weird or anything, you just look lost—but I mean, not like, stupid or anything; in fact, I love your outfit. Well, do you need help? Because I can totes help you out. Maybe we can be friends! Oh, let me see your schedule.” She snagged my schedule out of my hands as she continued. “Oh, we have three classes together—and lunch. Awesome sauce!”
Wow, this girl can talk…which kind of benefits me as a not-very-talkative person. In fact, I was pretty shy. I know, I know. Me? Shy? Pssh. But that’s the truth. I couldn’t even say anything in reply before Janet started dragging me to class. For such a small girl, she was deceptively strong. She was talking about everything as we made our way down the hall, from the kids here, to the teachers, to her parents, who happened to be fashion designers. I was so busy trying to keep up with her, hold onto my books, and nod my head at the appropriate times that I didn’t notice the group of boys turning into the hallway in front of me until it was too late.
Oomph. I fell straight on my plump backside, smashing my spine into a wall of lockers. I sat there, stunned, as pain radiated up my back. It wasn’t until the sudden shock of the pain faded that I noticed two things. One, the guy I’d bumped into was currently standing over me, and two, the whole hallway was filled with people quietly watching me. I looked down quickly. I could feel my cheeks burning, and I knew they would be pink soon. I looked up at the guy again and noticed his hair was a dirty blonde color, and he had almond-shaped green eyes that had specks of gold in them. He was tall, maybe like 6’1”? He looked like he could be an athlete or something. I noticed he was frowning as he looked down at me. He bent toward me and squatted down to my level as he eyed me up and down, as if checking for injuries.
“Hey, are you OK?” he asked. Still a bit stunned, I just gave a short “Yep.” The quiet crowd started mumbling, which caught his attention. He glanced at the crowd before he quickly stood up and cleared his throat. My stomach started to hurt, and I had a bad feeling.
“Good. Next time, watch where the hell you walk. I mean, damn, I almost got smashed because of your fat ass.” He smirked down at me.
The crowd snickered, as well as his four friends. If I hadn’t been so embarrassed, I probably would have looked at his friends more—I got the impression that they were all very handsome. My stomach twisted and my cheeks burned more as I ducked my face away to avoid everyone’s stares. I felt him walk away, his steps hesitating at first, then becoming more confident as the crowd started to disperse. I sat there for a second or two and was about to get up when a hand gently touched my shoulder. I looked up, expecting Janet, but instead it was the boy I’d seen at the school entrance, his icy blue eyes staring at me with concern. He held out his hand and I reached up to grab it, wincing as a sharp pain shot down my back as I stood up. The guy let go of me once I was on my feet.
“Are you OK? That was a hard fall.”
I gave him a fake smile. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m quite clumsy, so it’s not my first time falling.” I gave a short laugh, trying to brush it off, but he just stared at me with slightly narrowed eyes, like he knew I was lying. He gave a short nod after a moment.
“All right. My name is Matt, by the way.” I smiled, a real smile this time.
“My name is Annabeth, but my friends all call me Anna.”
The bell rang, signaling that we were all late. Matt glanced behind him and then looked back at me. “I’ll catch you later, Anna,” he said as he turned to walk away, but then he suddenly turned back to look at me.
“Hey, don’t worry about what happened. Everyone will forget by lunch.”
I smiled at him, and he turned again to leave. Maybe it won’t be too bad here after all. I turned around to walk to my class and let out a small yelp of shock as I nearly walked into Janet, who was right behind me. My hand flew to my heart as I looked at her. How long had she been there for? She didn’t even make a noise.
She didn’t say anything, she just took my arm and steered us to class in silence. Finally I’d had enough, and I turned to face her.
“What’s the deal? You were all cheery and fun until that douche ran into me and called me fat. So, what gives?”
“Well, see, that was Luke you bumped into, and he is like, bad news—really bad news. I mean like drugs, sex…” I couldn’t help but interrupt with a little laugh as I shouted, “And rock and roll!”
She gave me an “Are you crazy?” look as she continued. “Rumor has it he’s in a gang, and he’s in like this weird, toxic relationship with Christy, the head cheerleader. What if Christy gets mad because you touched Luke?”
“Janet, please—I’m sure you’re overreacting. I didn’t even touch him, he ran into me! Everything will be fine now, so can we please get to class? We are so late already.”
She didn’t say anything, she just pointed to the classroom door. Before we walked in, she whispered to me, “I hope you’re right, Anna.” I shot her a small smile as we headed in, and I thought to myself, me too. I had a feeling, though, that Luke wasn’t going to be that easy to avoid.
My class was boring. Every class I had this year was boring, which made me cringe, knowing that this was my last year of high school. I don’t even know why I chose to do all AP classes. I had AP Calculus, AP English, AP Economics, and AP Psychology in the morning, then lunch with Janet, then Home Economics in the afternoon, followed by Study Hall.
I missed my old teachers. Granted, not necessarily the people, but the place. I missed that feeling of familiarity. I was born and raised in California. It had been a great place, until my parents’ car accident. I shivered a bit thinking about it. We’d moved to Last Fall, Michigan, a month ago. It was beautiful, but kind of secluded. Johnathon loved it, Sammy loved everything, and well, me? I felt like Last Fall was a punishment.
My classes flew by, not because of the fabulous learning and knowledge that was being taught to us, but because of the many people in my classes who had all kinds of questions for “the Hollywood girl.” I was asked if I’d lived near movie stars, if I went to Disneyland, and—my personal favorite—did I have a chihuahua? My answers: Oh, yeah, I lived right next to Channing Tatum and Emma Watson. Of course, I go to Disney all the time! As for the dog, WTF? I told everyone that I had a lion named Garfield instead. Did these people really think I would own a lion, or be rich enough to live next to movie stars? I shook my head in disgust as I made my way to the cafeteria for lunch.
I put up no arguments when Janet led me inside the cafeteria, taking the liberty of filling my tray up. She sat down at a table in the back of the cafeteria. I sat down across from her, glancing at all the people around. No one was staring at me. I smiled widely, noting that Matt was right about everyone forgetting my embarrassing fall by lunch.
Speaking of Matt, I spotted him sitting down at a table across the room. I made a mental note to thank him later for being nice. I must have been staring at the jock table for a bit too long though, because a girl suddenly turned to look at me. She was beautiful, with corn silk blonde hair that was pulled back in an elaborate braid. Her eyes seemed to be a light hazel color. She had full lips and a tiny mole by her upper lip, which gave off Marilyn Monroe vibes. I met her eyes, and she didn’t look mad, but she didn’t exactly look happy either. A hand started flapping in front of my face, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I looked toward Janet. “Huh? Sorry, what happened?” I asked her as she leaned toward me.
“I was just saying, don’t look too long at Christy. She’s like Medusa, she’ll turn you to stone.”
I gave her a short laugh as I went back to eating my food, trying to not look back at that table. I had this weird feeling, like someone was staring at me. My eyes strayed to the table across the aisle from us. I noticed the boy I’d bumped into, Luke, was staring straight at me as his friends sat around talking. I couldn’t help but look at him once more, taking in his good looks and chiseled jaw. I met his green eyes briefly and he smirked at me, making me look down and blush.
I tried to focus on Janet, I swear, but I couldn’t get my heart rate to slow down enough to participate in the conversation. Next thing I knew, Janet suddenly grew quiet, which I did notice, because the one thing I’d learned about Janet so far was that she didn’t stop talking very often. I gave up trying to stomach my cafeteria food as I glanced up to ask her what was wrong. That’s when I noticed Luke standing next to our table, and the other four guys standing behind him. I couldn’t speak. My tongue was glued to the top of my mouth, and Janet, well, Janet looked like she was about to puke.
“Hello, ladies. Do you mind if we join you for a second?” His voice was like hot honey drizzled over vanilla ice cream. I must have looked like a deer in headlights, because he raised his eyebrows and smirked.
“So, can we?”
I gave Janet a long look as she nodded her head yes, when I wanted to scream no. They all took a seat around us, and Luke sat next to me.
“I wanted to apologize to you for what I did earlier, so I thought I should get you this,” he said as he pulled out a glossy, fudgy, triple chocolate cake slice, which he pushed toward me. I stared at the cake in confusion.
“Thank you, but I’m not really hungry,” I said uncertainly. Luke gave me an incredulous look as the other boys all leered at me. I didn’t get the joke until he opened his mouth.
“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you don’t like cake, because you look like you like everything,” he said mockingly. Everyone around me snickered, and I blushed in embarrassment.
I looked down at the cake and back at him, his bright green eyes staring into my plain brown eyes. He was right. I felt the tears welling up as he continued, speaking loudly over the now-quiet cafeteria.
“Here, just take the damn cake. It’s OK, believe me—it won’t make you any fatter than you already are.” My mouth fell open at his cruel words.
Everyone around me laughed and Janet looked at me in horror. I felt my tears start to fall as I looked into his eyes. For a split second, I thought he looked sorry, but then he gave me that smirk I was now starting to hate. I stood up, grabbed my stuff, and walked out of the cafeteria, but not before I heard him call out to me.
“Hey! You forgot your cake!”
The sound of everyone laughing echoed in my ears as I ran straight out of the cafeteria and into the nearest bathroom.
Damn, why me? I can’t believe this only my first day and I’m already the biggest loser in this school. I cried and cried until I’d had enough. I stood up and gave myself a long hard stare in the mirror as I cleaned my face up. I can get through this. I’ve been through worse. My hand absentmindedly traced the scar that snaked down my right thigh. I shook my head to clear the thoughts away.
“OK, Anna. You got this. You are smart and strong. You have been through so much, and no idiot boy is going to undermine you.”
I gave myself a quick smile and turned to grab the door right as Janet ran in. She gave me a sad, horrified look.
“Are you OK, Anna? I can’t believe he did that, OMG.” She reached out and gave me a tight hug.
“It’s fine, really. I’ve had worse than that happen to me, but hey, let’s get to class before the bell rings.” I gave her a smile as we walked out the door. We immediately ran into Matt, who looked pissed. His fists were clenched as he stared at me. I gave him a small smile and he shook his head.
“Don’t tell me you’re fine, Anna. What Luke did was shitty. It’s only your first day and he’s treating you like this, it’s crazy.” I let out a breath and looked at Matt.
“You’re right. What he did was stupid and ignorant and hurtful, but I can deal with it, so let me do it.”
He gave me a nod before walking me and Janet to our next class, which happened to be Home Economics. I could feel the crowd of students around me staring at me, their looks varying from laughter and humor to just plain pity. I lifted my head higher to let them know I wasn’t someone to pity.
