A Rough Beginning

Kayla's senior year began perfectly - a girl basically plastered herself on top of the first guy she got to talk to, another girl yelled at her not once but twice, and other kids just laugh at her.

Kayla stood in the middle of the gym - first hour, first day of senior year, first day in her new school with a mascot of a white wolf. She kept sniffing the air and each time she did, it was as if she smelt a delicious spicy smell. She slowly turned to the left in the middle of the gym to catch more of that spicy smell. It was as if it was drawing her forward, as if she was attracted to it.

Another sniff and she took a step forward. And then another one and she bumped into someone, almost toppling the person over. Sturdy hands secured her as her eyes landed on a perfectly sculpted face. Brown curls framed the majestic face, with dark green eyes and full lips. For a moment she just stared up at the face, forgetting the smell and everything else.

Loud laughter from somewhere to the side jerked her away from the stranger.

“I’m Nick,” those perfectly sculpted lips pronounced, “And you must be new.”

“What? My name isn’t New,” she responded, her mind clouded over by the deep voice of the stranger.

“Of course it’s not. I meant that you didn’t go to this school last year,” the smile that stretched across Nick’s face, added to the cloudiness in her mind.

“Oh, right,” Kayla mentally face palmed herself, “I’m Kayla.” She outstretched her hand. Nick looked at it, and Kayla saw him reach for the awkward handshake. Their hands almost made skin contact, but at that precise moment, a girl stepped in between them, basically plastering herself on Nick. Kayla slowly withdrew her hand, looking around to see if anyone was paying attention to her awkward moment with the hot guy.

After she assured herself that no one was looking at her, she took a slow step back and then another. She almost stopped herself, when she realized that the further she moved from the happily kissing couple the smell disappeared. Damn them. She walked around them, towards the door of the gym, trying to find the source of the smell, but it seemed lost to her.

“Hey, Kayla,” a deep voice echoed through the gym, enveloping her in a safe cocoon. She didn’t need to turn around to know that it was Nick.

“Yes,” she slowly pronounced as she turned around. She awkwardly looked at the girl, who had destroyed her moment of interaction with Nick.

“This is my girlfriend, Sarah,” Nick introduced, “Sarah, this is the new girl, Kayla.”

“I hope we will become good friends,” Sarah plastered on a fake smile as she plastered herself on Nick’s soldier. Kayla returned the smile.

“I certainly hope so,” her statement was genuine. Sarah giggled and then turned away. She grabbed Nick’s face and then kissed him deeply. Kayla witnessed this gesture of affection and something began to form in the depth of her stomach. She rushed to the locker room, out of which she had come out 10 minutes before.

She barely made it to the bathroom before the contents of her breakfast piled out of her. She slowly lowered onto the floor, taking comfort in that it was as clean as it could ever be, since it was the first hour of the first day of school. Heaved breaths escaped her mouth as she tried to analyze what was happening to her body.  

No reasonable explanation jumped at her. Maybe it was stress, it had to be stress. Nothing else made sense. It’s not like she had eaten anything new or different. It must be the stress from moving into a new town and starting school.

“Whoever is in the bathroom, better clear out. I still need to use it,” a booming female voice called out.

“Just a second,” Kayla responded, as she pulled herself up. She rinsed her mouth and then splashed some water on her face.

“About time,” the snarky female greeted Kayla as she came out of the bathroom, her bright red hair bouncing with each step.

“Sorry,” Kayla mumbled. The female flipped her off and entered the bathroom.

A sad sigh escaped Kayla. This was never going to work. The two girls that she talked with so far had been nothing but mean to her. It was obvious that Sarah had made a point about Nick, something that warned Kayla to stay as far away from him as she could. Kayla almost felt angry at that. It’s not like she had been hitting at the guy. Okay, she might have admired his perfectly shaped lips, but it’s not like she was sending signals to him.

She angrily pushed the door to the locker room open, and it bounced of the wall with much more force than it should have. If the wall had been made of less sturdy material, then a dent would have joined the countless other dents. As she stepped into the gym, she felt a pair of eyes on her. After a search, she found Nick staring at her as Sarah frantically talked in front of him.

Finally seeing that Nick was distracted and after unsuccessfully snapping her fingers before him, she turned to look at the distraction. Disdainfully, her eyes landed on Kayla. She threw her arms up in frustration and stalked away from Nick.

Suddenly the locker room door flew open.

“Move out, freak,” the same snarky voice proclaimed and Kayla once again turned to face the red-haired female.

“Sorry,” Kayla mumbled a second time, in the past 5 minutes.

“Don’t be sorry, get out of my way,” the redhead motioned, snapping her fingers.

“Feisty as ever, Scarlet,” a deep drawl addressed her. Kayla slightly tilted her head in order to take in the boy who was standing at 6 feet and smirking at the red-head.

“Shut up, Edwin,” the redhead responded, “Or I’ll make you.”

“Oh, Scarlet, we all know that your bark is bigger than your bite,” the boy said, his smile making his angular face seem even colder. However, Kayla couldn’t deny that he was attractive. As his blonde hair fell into his cold blue eyes, she even let herself believe for a moment that she was looking at an angel from above.

“That’s because I don’t bite,” Scarlet responded, “Biting is your gang’s speciality. But then, you always do bark harder than you actually bite!”

“Oh, that’s right, but what exactly do you do? You mumble under your breath, and hope for the best,” Edwin retorted, his angelic features hardening into a haughty grimace. As Kayla realized that the heated debate between the two wouldn’t end anytime soon, she slowly retreated until she bumped into the wall.

She leaned against it, trying to look further than the people she have met so far, because truth be told, if everyone in this school were the same then Kayla was in for a rough senior year. To top it, this school was small - that meant that everyone knew everyone and Kayla would just stick out. She didn’t understand why her godmother had to pick this town out of all the moving choices she had looked into.

“Frantic aren’t they?” she was drawn out of her thoughts, by a warm voice. She turned to find a younger boy standing next to her.

“Yeah,” she responded.

“That’s my one and only sister,” the boy pointed at the redhead, “Leera, although most call her Scarlet. Let me tell you though, if you want to get on her good side call her Leera.”

“Noted,” she replied, “Although I could see why someone would call her Scarlet.”

“Never let her hear you say that, she will melt your tongue for that,” the boy laughed. It felt so nice to have a normal conversation that Kayla couldn’t help but laugh herself.

“Noted once more,” she replied, “With your guidance I might yet survive senior year.”

“Oh, you’re a senior,” the boy’s vibrant green eyes dulled.

“So?” Kayla asked surprised by the sudden change in the boy’s attitude.

“I’m a sophomore, your classmates don’t want to associate with me. Even my sister avoids me like the plague. So if you want to start of this year good, I suggest you don’t talk with me,” he mumbled, turning away from her. Kayla was surprised.

“Hey,” Kayla called out, grabbing his hand, “If they don’t want to hang out with you, it’s their loss. You seem pretty cool to me.” Kayla offered a smile as the boy looked her over.

“You’re either crazy or,” the boy seemed to consider it for a moment, “Or super crazy.”

“I don’t know which option is more insulting,” Kayla tried to pull of an offended expression.

“Fine, I’m Chris,” he introduced himself, “Commonly known as Flea.”

“Oh my, how does this school come up with such names,” Kayla asked.

“See, that group over there?” Chris asked, pointing at a group of students that had formed around Nick, “They’re considered the cool popular kids. They label everyone here during the first week of school. The nickname they give you, sticks with you throughout your high school career.”

“That’s brutal,” Kayla answered. Chris sighed.

“Tell me about it. I have been called Flea for a year now and it still hurts,” he replied, and then brightened up, “Are you going to tell me your name? Or do I have to read your mind to find out?”

“Kayla, it’s Kayla,” she answered with a giggle.

“Oof, that saved me some energy. Nice to meet you, Ms Kayla,” Chris attempted an extravagant bow.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Kayla replied. The door opened as yet another perfectly sculpted male walked in and some air rushed in. Kayla caught the sniff of the spice smell again. “Do you smell that?”

“What?” Chris asked after a sniff. Kayla sniffed it again and then took an involuntary step towards it.

“That spicy smell,” Kayla practically moaned, as she took another step. Suddenly, a hand snaked around her, halting her transition forward.

“What the hell are you doing?” Chris tsked at her, “Do you want them to think you’re mental?” At his sharp words, Kayla was finally able to understand the insanity of her actions. She jerked back, away from the smell, resisting its pulling presence.

“You honestly don’t smell anything?” Kayla asked him.

“No, but I think I’m beginning to understand why you are,” Chris muttered under his breath, “Does Fate honestly hate me so much?”

“What?” Kayla’s confused eyes returned to Chris, as she continued to sniff the air.

“You don’t even know yourself, huh?” Chris asked, and then mumbled something close to a curse under his breath.

“Whatever,” Kayla ignored Chris’s outburst and sniffed the air again. But, she could no longer detect the smell. Whatever the source of the smell, it had moved too far away for Kayla to detect it. Something near self-pity rose in Kayla’s chest when she wasn’t able to sniff in the delicious air fragrance.

“Stop sniffing, there is nothing there,” her new friend almost sounded angry. Another sniff confirmed Chris’s words to be true. There was nothing in the air.

The gym teacher decided to make her appearance at that.

“Now, now, seniors, let’s calm ourselves - we have a long year ahead of us,” the short, but chubby woman spoke over the loud senior class.

“That’s my clue to go,” Chris whispered, “Tell Leera ‘Chris has a meagle.’”

“What?” Kayla asked, but Chris was already gone. Sighing, she turned towards the teacher and towards the next hour of her life.

“Class, please welcome our new student, Kayla Smith,” the teacher proclaimed. Whistles and jokes went around the student body and Kayla suddenly knew that this would be much harder than she thought. As she swept her eyes through the crowd, her eyes paused on Nick, who was laughing at his friend’s joke. She quickly looked away, and tried to shut off her ability to see in detail. But not before, she helplessly noted that the only person not making fun of her was Leera.

Reviews

[Warrior]

I like how this chapter already draws what the character is facing, the adversity from her peers. It's great.