5.On the first day.
1926 Words
"Maria!" I yelled with excitement as soon as I spotted my best friend at the airport, her eyes scanning the area in search of us.
"I've missed you so much!" she exclaimed, pulling me into a bone-crushing hug. Her curly, brownish-black hair bounced up and down as her hazel eyes shone brightly.
"We have so much to catch up on," I told her as we headed towards my parents.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Walker," she said, waving shyly as they greeted each other.
We continued chatting until we arrived home, had dinner, and chatted as if there was no tomorrow, sharing every single detail about each other. Well, almost every detail - I didn't want to tell her about Kristrin and me, which I thought was no big deal and didn't want to get her worked up over nothing.
I sat there, giving her tips on how to survive at Williams Field High, from navigating the ranking system to avoiding pitfalls.
"I think someone's a little excited to see you tomorrow," I said with a smile and a wink.
"Who would that be? It's not like anyone here knows me," she spoke, bewildered at the thought of someone she didn't know being happy to see her.
"You'll see," I said, snuggling more into the warmth of my blanket.
"Well, anyway, I'm really tired. I'd love to chit chat some more, but I'd like to go to bed now," she sang sleepily.
She was super excited about her first day of school and wanted to sleep early to get as much beauty sleep as possible so she could make a great impression.
Meanwhile, I fell asleep without a care in the world.
•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
I hated waking up to go to school in the mornings, but then again, it was necessary for a better future.
I quickly took a shower, pulled on a plain pink sweater, black jeans, and black sandals, and made my way downstairs to join Maria and Antonio for breakfast.
Maria was wearing tight skinny black ripped jeans with a blue crop top and some white sneakers. She had put on a good amount of makeup, presumably to make a great impression, but who was I to say?
Filling my taste buds with chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, bacon, and orange juice always made my mornings a happy one.
As we decided to leave and head for school, we came across an excited Steff waiting for us outside our house... or should I say, waiting for Maria.
"Steff!" I yelled, happy to see that my best friend was here to pick us up for school.
"Anna," he replied, pulling me into a hug. But as I was about to make my way to the front seat, he quickly opened the door, allowing Maria to saunter in.
Groaning, Antonio and I made our way to the backseat, completely ignored as Steff spoke only to an excited Maria about school. After dropping off Antonio, he then made a dash towards our school.
"Wow, your school is really big, almost like a castle. This is like ten times bigger than the school I used to attend back home!" Maria said, gazing outside the car window."
"Yeah, it is, and it's even bigger on the inside," Steff countered, grinning like a madman.
"I can give you a tour if you'd like. We're actually fifteen minutes early?" he asked with a little pout.
"Sure, why not!" Maria replied, and they both exited the car, leaving me behind.
And like the tagalong that I am, I just strolled behind as they came to the end of their most fascinating tour.
"Let's go and collect your timetable," Steff's annoying voice said, putting his arm around Maria's shoulder and holding my hand.
Goodie! Now I'm the tagalong monkey... well, at least he remembered me.
"Here's your schedule, child," the lady at the admin office said, annoyance laced upon her face.
"You're in my math class," I pointed out, peeking at her timetable. Her second period would be music, which meant we'd all be in separate classes.
We quickly made our way to first period, remembering that Kristrin and Regina were both in my math class, but at least I now had Maria with me to chit-chat with.
"Oh my God, correct me if I'm wrong, but there are four super gorgeous guys sitting at the back of the class. What the hell are we doing up here?" she whisper-yelled to me.
"You remember the bad boys I told you about?"
"They are..." she trailed off.
"Yep. You see the twins, they are Maurice to the left and Marco to the right, and the one in front, Maurice is Kyle. Then you have Kristrin; he's the gang leader, as everyone puts it," I spoke, watching as Kristrin ruffled his hair while talking to his friends.
What I'd give to run my damn hands through it. I thought to myself, gazing longingly at my crush.
"I've reminded you seven times since yesterday, Maria. Please stay clear, trust me, there's trouble," I said to her.
"Do you see the blonde next to Kristrin? She's Regina, the school's queen bee, and also Kristrin's 'pass time'," I added bitterly, turning around in my seat.
She was such a clingy b***h, always hovering around them.
"Ohh," Maria replied.
In my opinion, he could do so much better than her!
"Okay class, turn to chapter sixteen in your textbook... oh, it seems we have a new student," Mr. Ford announced, looking directly at Maria.
"Would you kindly introduce yourself, Miss...?" he asked.
"My name's Maria Walker, sir," she replied shyly, standing up quickly.
"Welcome, Maria. And I assume you're related to Anna?" he asked curiously, gesturing between the two of us.
"Uh, yes, we're actually cousins."
"Good. As you're a week late, I'd expect you to get the notes from Anna," Mr. Ford spoke strictly, returning to the board.
About half an hour into class, as Maria and I worked on math problems together, I received a text from an unknown number.
"What now!" I thought to myself, feeling anxious.
The unknown number texted me, saying "Hello princess."
"Who the hell are you?!" I replied, feeling unnerved.
"Now, now, princess, let's not be rude," they responded.
"I asked you a question, didn't I? And stop calling me princess," I retorted.
"Let's play a little game," they suggested.
"I don't have time for games! Goodbye!" I said, frustrated.
"My hot minty breath filled the sweet tingly taste of your neck. My hand held you tightly as I gazed upon you brightly. You'll be mine sooner than you think, soon princess... very soon," the unknown number texted back.
Where had I heard those last four words before? It was Kristrin!
My widened eyes quickly snapped to the back of the class, assessing the silver-eyed culprit who was staring back at me with a smirk on his handsome face, making me blush.
"Kristrin?" I texted back.
"Took you long enough," he replied, making my poor heart flutter.
"How did you get my number?" I asked.
"I have my ways, princess," he replied.
I blushed at the nickname the school's bad boy gave me but then frowned at the fact that he was texting me. Why would he be texting me?
"Okay, either you're gonna tell me who you've been texting or I'm gonna have to rip it out of you," Maria whispered, trying to get a glimpse of my phone.
"It's n...nothing," I stuttered out, quickly slipping the phone into my backpack.
"Okay," she trailed off, knowing that I was definitely hiding something but not wanting to push the matter further.
The bell rang, signaling the end of class, making me sigh with relief. I hurriedly dashed towards the door, not waiting for Maria, but the question still remained: how did Kristrin get my number?
Praying to God that I wouldn't come across Kristrin in homeroom, call me a coward, but I'd like to keep my intestines intact, thank you. And thankfully, I had no class with Kristrin after this.
For my second period, I had science with Steff. Fortunately for us, our teacher was absent, with no substitute. We gladly chit-chatted until lunch came.
A while ago, I had received a text from Maria saying she wanted to eat outside because she preferred being outdoors.
We both grabbed sandwiches with chicken nuggets, juice, and an apple while we waited for Maria to grace us with her presence at the bench where we sat outside.
"It's been ten minutes, and she still hasn't showed up. Do you think something's wrong?"
"I'm pretty sure that nothing is wrong with Maria, or she'd have somehow let us know. I also didn't mind eating outside. Anything is better than eating your lunch while watching Kristrin and Regina go at it in the cafeteria. The thought of them sucking face made my stomach churn."
After another long ten minutes of unanswered calls and texts, we decided to eat lunch, not wanting the bell to ring with an empty stomach.
"I see you and Kristrin have hit it off," I quickly looked away as I felt my face tingle.
"No, it's just a coincidence!" I yelled defensively, stuffing my face with my sandwich.
Wait...what would he know? I never told him anything.
"Hmm, so what were you doing after you disappeared the night of the ball, then came back almost an hour later looking flushed?" he asked curiously.
"I-I got lost," I half-lied.
"He smirked, as if he knew what I had been up to. "Sure," he replied.
"I can see you've been clinging onto Maria like a second skin," I teased, trying to change the topic that had my poor heart running a heptathlon.
"What you saw was nothing. I was just making her feel a little more comfortable," he blushed.
"Yeah, I'm sure your hands were doing just that," I retorted, rolling my eyes nervously, more like ecstatic.
I wanted to tell him off about ditching me and leaving me all alone, but that would be selfish of me. Since it was Maria's first day at school, I held back, and it seemed he wasn't the only one doing all the ditching that day.
"I think we should go. The bell's about to ring, and I don't want to be late for class," I said.
We stood at our lockers, taking our books for the next period before the bell rang. I was doing food for my next period, and I was super excited for it. I loved baking, and I wasn't going to let Maria get me down.
"She was the one who suggested it; she better have a good explanation for not being there."
"I can't believe she ditched us without even replying to our texts," Steff ranted, pissed.
"Um, hey guys," Maria said timidly, coming into view.
"Maria, where were you? I thought you said you wanted to eat outside and..." I was rudely cut off as Regina and her friends' high-pitched cackling rang out loudly as she pushed me to the side. Luckily, Steff had caught me just in time.
"Maria, we had so much fun at lunch today, so we decided to throw a party this weekend for the new addition to our squad. Make sure to be there!" Regina sang with a fake laugh on her stupid face.
Leaving me and Steff shocked at her newfound revelation.
She f*****g ditched us!
- Writer
