Chapter 1

“Brooklyn! Come on, get up, you don’t want to be late!”

I groaned in dissatisfaction as I rolled over in my double bed and pulled the covers over my head. That did nothing to drown out the sounds of my mother knocking on my closed bedroom door.  

Today was officially my first day at Tenafly high school. My family had just recently moved here from L.A. and I missed it already. Tenafly, New Jersey, is a nice town, but it didn’t even compare to sunny California. We had moved cross country and now I was in completely different territory, and about to face my first day as a junior in high school. This was the last thing I wanted.

After another five minutes considering if I could maybe fake being sick or say I wasn’t ready to go yet, I threw the covers off my body and grabbed my clothes from the back of my desk chair that I had planned the night before. I shuffled off to my bathroom to change out of my comfortable pajamas. It was a relatively warm day, so I had decided on a flowy shirt with sleeves that went just above my elbows, jean shorts, and a plain pair of gladiator sandals. 

My hair and makeup was the next thing to tackle. I was never one to wear much makeup, while this was proven as I quickly swiped on some lip gloss and mascara.

As for my hair, well…I decided to make it at least somewhat nice. And by nice I mean I just parted it to the side and put my long side bangs into a braid that went across the side of my head. It didn’t look to bad as far as I was concerned.

Sighing, I dropped my hands to my sides and looked at myself in the mirror. I could do this. 

After a small self pep talk, I felt I was finally ready to brave my new school. I re-entered  my bedroom only to get my book bag, before slinging it over my shoulder and hopping down the stairs. I soon found both of my parents in the kitchen, talking over the island. My dad was the first to notice me.

“Do you want me to drive you?” He asked. I only nodded while I made my way to the fridge and pulled out a water bottle. I had to get my own car still and I didn’t really warm up to the idea of taking a bus.

“Well, let’s get going.” He mumbled, picking his keys off of the kitchen table. I waited for him in the door frame while my mom jogged over to me with a big smile. 

“I hope you have a good first day sweetie. I love you,” She whispered in my ear as she wrapped her arms around me. I momentarily buried my face in her gorgeous dirty blonde hair. Looks like I wasn’t the only one hopping this first day would go smoothly.

~~

I had completely melted into a nervous mess halfway down our driveway. I was biting my lip, picking at my nails, and twirling my hair around my finger. All sure signs that I was nervous.

It felt like the ride to school only lasted five seconds before my dad’s black range rover pulled up in front of the large brick building. I stared out the window at the mass of teenagers walking across the grass, sitting at benches, or just generally hanging out in front of the building.

“Hey,” my dads voice broke my thoughts, his hand resting lightly on my knee and giving it a small squeeze. “You’ll do fine. I raised my little girl to be strong and independent.”

I groaned and put my head back against the head rest at the ‘little girl’ comment. I was a Junior in high school for crying out loud. He ignored me and kept going.

“First days are always hard, especially at a new school. But I’m just a phone call away. So is your mother,” He lifted his hand to give my knee a pat. “Good luck darling. I love you.”

I gave him a nod and a small smile. Picking up my book bag from the floor, I slung it over a shoulder and pushed the car door open.

“Thanks. Love you too.” I stepped down and closed the door, turning back around. I took in my surrounding with a sigh. My new principle had instructed me to wait next to the small fountain near the cement area in front of the school. Apparently someone would be coming to bring me to my classes.

I quickly made my way to the fountain, keeping my head down and my arms crossed. I could still see some people sneaking glances at out of the corner of my eye. Ah, the perks of being a new girl. I let out another sigh as I got to the edge of the fountain, and I took a seat, dropping my bag down next to me.

I pulled my phone out and busied myself with checking some social networking apps. Seeing posts from all my old friends in California made my heart hurt. I had only been in New Jersey a week and was already home sick.

A loud laugh brought my attention to the left of me, where a group of about three or four boys were hanging around a picnic bench. The one who laughed was sitting on the table part with his feet on the actual bench part. He had his head thrown back and his hand on his stomach, trying to control his laughter. The rest of his group were also laughing, but not as hard. Or loud. One of them had obviously said something the boy found particularly hilarious. 

The boy looked like he was probably younger than me. Too old to be a freshman, too young to be a junior or senior. My best guess was that he was a sophomore. A few seconds later, he had controlled himself enough so that he was only lightly chuckling. He dropped his head back down, his eyes landing on me. I gave a very small polite smile, turning my head back right as the bell rang.

I started to get nervous. Wasn’t my guide supposed to be here by now? Would I get in trouble for being late? I went back to nervously biting my lip. About a minute after the bell rang, I spotted a short blond girl running to me, struggling to keep her bag on her shoulder and balancing on her heels. I rose my eyebrows and watched as she got closer to me. Eventually, she stopped in front of me.

“Hi!” She said perkily, flashing me a million dollar smile. She huffed, obviously winded from her sprint across the court yard in the late summer heat. “I’m Alena.” She put her perfectly manicured hand out.

Slowly, I took her hand and gave her a smile. “Brooklyn.”

Her smiled stayed plastered to her face. “Nice to meet you, Brooklyn. Nice name, by the way.” She commented. “In case you couldn’t tell, I’m your ‘tour guide’ today. Sorry I’m a little late. I had to run to the office to grab your schedule.” She explained. I only nodded. She then pulled out two schedules, assuming one was hers and the other mine. 

“Hmm…” She mumbled, looking back and fourth between the two pieces of paper. “We have basically the same exact schedule. The only thing we don’t have together is first period. Figures.” She handed me my schedule back. I took it and looked it over. “I’ll bring you to biology, which you have first, then come pick you up a few minutes early so we can walk to English together.” 

I nodded again, giving her another small smile. I was always shy around new people. 

“Ready to go?” She asked. I put my bag back on and stood up, waiting for her to lead the way. She flicked her long wavy hair over her shoulder and started walking towards the front door.

We walked the halls to my biology class, Alena occasionally asking questions about me and California. She had never been. I made sure to ask her questions about herself as well so I wouldn’t come off as rude. Plus she seemed to be a nice girl, and I could really use a friend seeing as how I currently had none here. 

Moments later, we came to a closed door. “Here we are…” Alena said, opening the door. “Miss. Heather?” Alena asked sweetly. The teacher turned her head to look at us, along with every other head in the class. I felt my face flush. 

“Yes?” She asked.

“This is Brooklyn Faegan. She’s new to this school and she has your class right now.”

Miss. Heather turned to me with a bright smile, motioning me into the class. I was about to step in, when Alena grabbed my arm. 

“I’ll pick you up five minutes before the bell.” She whispered, before letting me go. I nodded, making my way towards my teachers outstretched hand. She was very pretty, and looked rather young. 

“Welcome to biology. Everyone, this is Brooklyn.” She said to the class, turning me to face them. There was a few mumbled “hello’s” and even a wave or two. Miss. Heather pointed me to my seat which was in the second to last row next to a girl with dark red hair. She gave me a polite smile.

“Alright everyone, I know most of you know each other, but I have a little activity for you. I will be announcing your lab partners now.” She reached behind her on her desk, picking up a clip board. “And then I’ll pass out a worksheet. It’s really just a paper to help you get to know your partner a little better. Okay so the partners are…”

I spaced out, not very interested on who was partners with who. I didn’t know these people anyway, so I wasn’t concerned. Not to mention I wouldn’t even know my own partner.

“Easton Olver and Brooklyn Faegan…”

My head snapped up at the mention of my name. I had no idea who Easton was, but apparently I was about to. She wrapped up the partner matching and then passed out the papers. Once she was done, we were instructed to find our partners. I nervously looked down around the room. 

Everyone was with their partners and then there was me. I figured I should probably ask who exactly my partner was.

“Uh, m-”

“Hey.” I was cut off by a voice next to me. I quickly turned my head to see a boy pulling out the empty chair next to me to sit. 

When he looked up, I was slightly surprised. Our eyes met and I remembered him as the same kid who was hysterically laughing outside fifteen minutes ago. I hadn’t seen him when my eyes had first scanned the room when I walked in with Alena. 

“Oh, uh, hi. I’m Brooklyn.” I said softly.

He gave me a smile, his green eyes bright.

“Easton.”

Reviews

[Vouren]

Very good. Indenting the work will make it a bit easier to read, but that's only a small detail. You do a good job describing things but it could have more detail. What did the school look like, the classroom? stuff like that, it helps add to the world and how you want the reader to feel (Examples; the town was gloomy, sunny, etc.) Interested to read more as you post more.

[Zachary_James]

Great descriptions I NEED MORE this is sooo good. This has potential to be a great novel.
Looking forward to reading more.

[Zoeeee]

I loved it. I liked how it described the people around her, without making it boring by giving everything at once. I'll read more! :)