Rise Up

Chapter Two

Jade fidgeted with her fingers nervously as she waited for Andy to show up. She had been up since six o'clock getting ready for school, mentally mostly. 

What if I don't fit in, she thought over and over. Jade tried to put together her best outfit this morning to make a good impression on her peers, but she wasn't sure it would be enough. What if they didn't like her personality? 

Jade flinched when she was brought from her thoughts by the beeping of a horn. A matte black G-wagon was parked in front of her, and she could see Andy sitting in the driver's seat looking at her expectantly. She took a deep breath before sauntering up to the truck. 

As soon as Jade was in the car Andy pulled off, not wasting any time. They rode to school to the tunes of the radio. The silence was comfortable, but Jade felt like she should make conversation with Andy.

"So, what grade are you in?" She questioned. 

"Sophomore," he stated in a clipped tone. He wasn't trying to be rude to Jade, but he hated mornings and school even more. Andy was smart and played sports, mostly cause his mom forced him to, but he hated how all the girls flocked to him only because they considered him popular. He hated the fakeness so much that he tried to keep his distance.

"Oh, me too," Jade said. "Do you play any sports?" 

"Yeah, I play football, baseball, and lacrosse," he informed her. 

"Woah, you sound like me," she chuckled. 

"You play sports?" Andy asked doubtful and shocked. To him, Jade didn't seem like the type. She looked like she spent her time at the mall buying the latest designer shoes. 

"Yeah, at my old school I played volleyball, basketball, and I ran track. I tried tennis and soccer, and I loved them, but I had to give some of the sports up because I was apart of a lot of clubs."

"Wow," Andy said. He was thoroughly impressed, to say the least. 

"What does that mean?" Jade asked curiously. She didn't want to assume that he was impressed. Maybe he thought she was an ass-kissing overachiever. It wouldn't be the first time someone assumed that. 

"It wasn't a bad 'wow'. It means I'm just impressed and shocked. Most of the girls I know that play sports aren't as girly as you," he explained, hoping he didn't offend her. 

He relaxed a bit when she laughed. "I bet they are girly. Maybe you just don't see them that way," she said with a shrug of her shoulders. 

They talked some more until they pulled up in front of the massive school. Jade looked at the school as if it would swallow her whole. "Welcome to Glendale High," Andy said before opening his door and leaving the car. 

Jade's hand trembled as she grabbed her backpack. Her stomach was twisted into knots. The breakfast she consumed threatened to come back up when she got out of the car. The students that loitered in the parking lot watched her get out of Andy's car curiously. 

Jade felt like her heart was about to jump out of her chest. She walked around the car to where Andy waited for her. "Do you need me to show you to the office?" He asked her. He did promise his mom that he would show her around and since he thought she was cool, he would go through with it. 

"Y-yeah, that would be fine," Jade stuttered. Andy nodded and lead the way to the office. Jade looked around at everything while they walked. The colors red, black, and yellow were everywhere along with signs reading, Home of the Cardinals and GHS.

When they made it in front of the office, Andy stopped and turned to her. "Alright, I have to get going. Do you have it from here?" He asked, partially hoping that she would need him to show her around. 

"No, I don't want to hold you up," she told him, feigning confidence. 

"Well, see you later," he said before walking down the hallway. 

Jade thought he sounded a little disappointed. Maybe she was reading too much into it, though. She brushed the thought to the side as she entered the office. 

Mrs. Pewter, the school's secretary, looked at Jade over the rim of her glasses. Her beady eyes were judgemental as she took in the girl. Another uppity princess, she thought as Jade got closer.

"Hi, my name is Jade McAlister. I'm new here," Jade informed the round, white-haired woman behind the desk. The nervousness in her voice was unmistakable. 

The woman gave her a pleasant enough smile. "Nervous?" Mrs. Pewter asked pretending to be interested. 

"Yes, ma'am," Jade said timidly."Is it that obvious?"

Mrs. Pewter examined the girl as she printed out a copy of her schedule. She might have judged Jade wrong. She was polite to her unlike the rest of the prissy girls that wore designer clothes and walked with their noses in the air. 

"Well, you have nothing to worry about, dear. You should do fine. Now, here is your schedule. Bianca, would you show this young lady to her class?"

Jade looked behind her to see a black girl the same height as her with straight, black hair. The girl smacked her red painted lips and rolled her dark brown eyes. She was one of the girls that Mrs. Pewter considered a prissy girl. 

"I don't think I signed up to be a tour guide today," the girl sassed. 

"Do I have to get Principal Sanders involved?" Mrs. Pewter threatened while casually typing away on her computer. 

Bianca huffed before yanking the schedule from Jade's hands. The school year just started, and she didn't want to have a run-in with Principal Sanders already, although she knew that she wouldn't get into much trouble. Principal Sanders and her father golfed together all the time. 

"Let's go," Bianca commanded Jade. 

They walked out of the office with Bianca leading while texting on her phone. Jade noticed a lot of people waving to Bianca or saying 'hey', but Bianca didn't seem to notice, or she didn't care. 

"My name's Jade," she tried talking to the girl. 

"Bianca," the girl said without raising her head from the phone. 

That didn't stop Jade from trying again. It's obvious Bianca was popular, and Jade wanted to fit in."I like your shoes. Jimmy Choo's right?"

Bianca paused and looked at Jade for the first time since they started walking. She hadn't noticed that the girl was well put together, and she didn't pay attention to the designed clothes that donned the girl's body. 

"Yeah, Jimmy Choo," she confirmed with a smirk. 

They walked the rest of the way in silence. They stopped in front of a door with the number 110 over it. Bianca didn't knock. She opened the door and walked in. Jade followed behind her nervously.

Bianca took her seat while Jade walked up to the teacher's desk. "Who do we have here?" The man's voice resonated across the room, making the little students that they had in the class perk up.

"I'm Jade," she introduced herself. 

"Well, Jade, I'm Mr. Petersburg, your Geometry teacher," he said, adjusting his glasses on his face. "Grab a book from the back of the class and take a seat at your desk," he instructed. 

Jade walked to the back and grabbed a book, then she sat in a chair close to Bianca. More students filed into the classroom as the bell rang. 

The next classes passed by dully. When lunch came around Jade was relieved. She was fit from playing sports, but she loved to eat, and right now, she felt like she could eat a cow.

She walked into the lunchroom and got in line. She grabbed a tray and looked over the food eagerly. She grabbed a burger and a bag of chips with a soda. She normally drunk water, but she wanted to cheat today. 

After paying for her food she looked around the lunchroom, trying to find a place for her to sit. She spotted Bianca sitting with a group of girls, and when their eyes locked, Bianca waved her over. 

Jade wanted to skip to the table, but she had to keep it cool if she didn't want to be labeled a loser. She slowly sauntered up to the table and sat across from a brown-haired girl with light brown eyes. 

"This is the girl I was telling you about," Bianca said to the brown-haired girl. 

The girl never took her eyes off of Jade. "You mean the one that almost got you in trouble?"

"Oh, I-I didn't--"

"I was just f*****g with you. I'm Melody Bane. You know Bianca, but this is Allison and Raquel," she said, pointing with her thumb to the identical blond-haired girls to the left of her. 

"We're The Prissies."