II. SENIOR

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

CHAPTER II. SENIOR
Senior year speedily approached, and it was soon the first day of Autumn term, August 25th. I had tried to get an early night's sleep but failed, getting to sleep at 3am. The night before was spent straightening my hair and prepping the small supply of makeup I had received for my 17th birthday. I hoped to impress, being an A+ student back in Pennsylvania meant that I was yearning to have the same kind of friendly teachers and peers. But all I could do was wait.

'Adriana! Time for school!' My early-bird mother shouted from the bottom of the staircase at 7am. I merely turned over and shut my eyes again. 'Are you awake?!'

'Yes! Yes! I'm awake!' I pushed myself up from the mattress and felt a wave of sorrow wash over me as I looked back at the comfortable bed. My bare feet took me to the bathroom where I washed my face, brushed my teeth and brushed my hair. I applied my makeup in no less than ten minutes before I reached for my new striped jumper, a moving present from my father. It was colourful, a mixture of primary colours, so represented my father easily.

I stepped down the stairs in my worn-out converse, lugging along my backpack at my shoulder.

'There she is!' My father stood up from the sofa as soon as I came into view. I could hear my mother in the kitchen. 'Helen, get in here with the camera!'

'Oh no, is that necessary?' I ask with an awkward smile.

'Of course, it's necessary. My baby is growing up.'

'Oh wow, you look so studious!' My mother shrieked with glee once she had stepped into the living room from the kitchen; polaroid camera in hand. 'Smile for the camera!'

I awkwardly stood as the bright flash of the camera was set off before me. My dad soon moved beside me with a thumb up.

'Come on, Helen, let me get a picture with her.' Another flash.

'Okay, my turn!' My mother called and swapped the camera with my father.

'I really should get going.' I said but my mother just shushed me as she put her arm around my waist. Another flash.

'All done. Hold on, let me get you your lunch bag.' Mother rushed back into the kitchen. My father placed the camera onto the sofa, looking delicately at each polaroid with delight.

'These are going on the wall.' He said as he retrieved a permanent marker from the back pocket of his jeans and began to write at the bottom of one polaroid. 'Adriana Loomer's first day in senior year.'

'We still need to get some more groceries but, this was the best I could do.' My mother said once she had returned, holding a small clear plastic bag. I could see a tin-foil-wrapped sandwich inside, along with a banana and a 5-4-3-2-1 chocolate bar.

'Thank you, mom, you didn't have to.'

'No worries, sweetheart. Now go! You'll be late for your first day!' She said, grabbing my arm and gently leading me to the front door. I stepped outside and over to the garage entry, where my silver bicycle was leaning.

Once my lunch had been put inside the back pack, I sat onto the seat and began to ride away; not without one last wave to my parents who were still standing on the front step.

My new high school was called Foundered High and it thankfully wasn't too far from my new home. I noticed that Bridgemont Valley seemed very green and colourful as I cycled my way down each street, noticing some neighbours in their front gardens who would send a small wave my way. It was when I was about to turn into the school's car park that I was cut off by a Mercedes-Benz, loudly blaring Prince's 1999 from its interior. I stopped my bicycle from moving further as I heard obnoxious laughing immediately afterwards.

There were idiotic teenagers in every high school, weren't there?

I knew I shouldn't lose hope too soon as I parked my bicycle at the bicycle stand, securing it with a chain and padlock. Feeling like Sandy from Grease, I approached the reception desk of the school to inquire about my timetable.

'We haven't currently got any full timetables printed, but I can write down the classes you have today and give you your timetable tomorrow morning?' The blonde-haired receptionist told me as she adjusted her cat-eye glasses.

'Sure.' I replied, trying to stay out of the way of numerous students heading to their first period in the entryway.

'Here you go, sugar. You have double math until 11 this morning.' She told me, and I thanked her, taking the piece of paper.

I looked over the page, searching for the room number, before heading that way; not without checking the numbers on doors every few seconds. The other students would catch my eye every now and then, realising I was new. There were vivid red lockers in each corridor, many were open with small groups of students standing nearby. I saw some lockers being held open by female students, a mirror attached to the inside of their doors. The bell eventually rang, and the students made themselves scarce, all crowding into their classrooms. My heartbeat began to race as I was the final student in the hallway, still not having made it to my room.

This feeling disappeared very soon, though, as I turned to my right and found the door I needed. I clutched the handle, pulling it open, and immediately felt uncomfortable as I realised the teacher had already began teaching.

'Algebra is a major part of our curriculum this semester -- oh, who might we have here?' The teacher turned to the door, along with the heads of every student, and I was frozen to my spot.

'I'm Adriana Loomer, I'm new to Foundered High; I think you're my new mathematics teacher.' I said. He turned around to grab a clipboard on his desk and used his chubby finger to scan the list. His head was bald, he held an overweight frame and sported a bright red tie and navy suit combo.

'Well, Adriana, you've thought right.' He turned back around with a large smile. 'We recently lost a classmate in the front row, so you can take his seat.' His hand gestured to the table nearest the left wall, near a girl with deep brunette hair, whom beamed at me when I took my seat. 'I'm Mr Stemming and I'm the head mathematics teacher at Foundered High.'

'He loves to tell everyone that he's the head of the math department.' The girl whispered towards me with a little giggle and I returned it.

'Okay, class, I'm just going to set up this math problem; if you could give me a moment to do so.' Mr Stemming told the class and muffled voices filled the room.

'So, where have you come from?' The girl spoke again. I now noticed that she had a rose behind her ear and her eyes were delicately winged with deep black eyeliner.

'Pennsylvania, I got here in May. Have you lived in Maine all your life?'

'Yes, I was born here. I'm Lana by the way.' She reached out to shake my hand before gesturing to the rose in her hair. 'And that's my last name.'

'Lana Rose?'

'Yeah.'

'That's a really nice name.' I told her, and it caused her to blush slightly. 'I'm Adriana.'

'It's good to meet you, Adriana. My friend, Harry, used to sit in that place but he got taken off the math curriculum last year because of his bad behaviour.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, he used to throw rulers around the classroom and swear at Mr Stemming in front of the class. One time he even hit some poor kid in the eye with the edge of his ruler, he was suspended for three days.' I noticed she seemed to enjoy talking about this boy's escapades.

I had a free period after math so spent it in the library, just going over the math problems discussed in today's class. When the bell rang at 12pm for lunch, the anxiety truly began to set in. I stepped along the corridor, eventually finding the canteen; a huge clinical-looking room filled with rectangular tables. It was starting to fill at a rapid rate and I felt an overwhelming desire to turn around, find a bathroom, and eat my lunch in there instead. As I did so, I bumped into no other than Lana.

'Hey, Adriana! Come hang out with me and the gang.' She linked her arm through mine and guided me towards a part of the cafeteria.

'The gang?'

'Yeah, there's me, Harry, his best friend Kian, my friend Dua; which is her nickname, her real name is Denise, but she hates it. Oh, and Dua's boyfriend, Kendrick. They're all really nice people, we've known each other for years.' We eventually halted at a table. I glanced on to see three people, a quiet-looking boy with medium brown hair, a girl with short puffy hair and emerald eyes stood out by a bright blue bomber jacket, and a dark-complexioned boy with ebony hair. 'Hey, guys, this is Adriana.'

I was met by their eyes and a chorus of 'hey Adriana's as I sat beside Lana.

'Are you new here?' The girl asked with a welcoming smile.

'Yeah, I'm from Pennsylvania.'

'Oh, that's cool. I'm Dua, it's nice to meet you.' She looked at the boy sitting next to her with deep admiration, he eventually turned to look at me.

'Yo, I'm Kendrick.' He said and Dua giggled out of the blue at his words. They both engaged in their own conversation shortly after.

'That's Kian.' Lana said, gesturing to the brown-haired boy nearby.

'Hey, I hope Foundered High meets your expectations.' He chuckled, raising his hand for a shake. 'What classes have you had today?'

'Only double math this morning.'

'Oh, you had third period free?' He asked, and I nodded.

Lana interrupted. 'That's lucky, nobody usually has a free period on Mondays.'

There was a brief moment of silence before Kendrick stood up. 'Who wants fries? They're on me.' Kian and Lana agreed to his offer and he left to join the line of other students at the counter.

'What's up, shitheads?' A loud voice boomed from behind me, and I noticed Kian seem to perk up. Soon enough, a boy stepped close to the table and stood on the opposite side to me. He had pushed-back chocolate hair and dark olive eyes, he wore a white dress-shirt and black pants which I thought was strange attire for school. 'Who's this?' He had a slight British tinge to his voice.

'This is Adriana, she's new here.' Lana explained.

'You're a senior?' He faced me, I found him slightly intimidating.

'Yeah.'

'Who goes to a new school for senior year?' He burst out into a laugh.

'People who move.'

'You couldn't have waited?' He finally took the seat opposite mine.

'Nope. There's this thing called circumstance.' I replied.

'She's feisty.' He commented aloud to Kian, whom looked slightly uncomfortable with his bolshiness.

'And she's right here, don't speak about me in third person.' My fists balled up. If I hadn't had a tense day already, this guy was making certain that I did. He looked confused at first before he chuckled, keeping his cool. I didn't like him.

'You go, Adriana!' Dua shrieked with delight at my words. He sent a snarl towards her before turning back to face me.

'Where did you come from?' He questioned, leaning his elbows on the table.

'Pennsylvania.'

'Why did you move to Maine?'

'This isn't a job interview.'

'Touché.'

Kendrick returned just after his final word, placing down three baskets of fries at the centre of the table. 'Harry isn't berating you already, is he?' He asked with a grin.

'Oh, you're Harry?' I asked, turning back to look at Harry, and a look of confusion flashed over his face.

'Yes, you had already heard of me?'

'Only from Lana.'

'Oh, none of your Pennsylvania friends knew of the Harry Styles?'

'Don't get ahead of yourself.' I said, and he laughed.

The rest of lunch period consisted of Harry and Kian talking about girls like they were their products, and Lana and Dua excitedly discussing watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off together after school.

The end of the day arrived, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Lana was in my last period Chemistry class, along with Dua, so we exited the school together. Kendrick caught up with us outside the entrance.

'Where do you live, Adriana?' Lana asked, running her shiny red nails through the bottom of her hair. The sun shined down onto the concrete of the school grounds and a slight breeze was constantly in the air.

'Sedate Hollow.'

'I live near there in Headway Port.' Kendrick said with a deep smile. 'Anyway, we better go.'

'See you later, Lana. Bye, Adriana.' Dua told us as they steered off over to Kendrick's car.

The Clash's Rock the Casbah began to play loudly, and I followed the sound to see it coming from the same Mercedes-Benz from earlier; it wasn't any surprise to see Harry and Kian leaning against it. They were both talking to two blonde girls in low-cut tank tops. Lana noticed me looking towards Harry and Kian.

'That's Harry's new car, it's a Mercedes-Benz s60. He went on about that car for months until his dad bought it for him.' She told me, as we both stood still at the side of the car park looking towards Harry.

'Where does Harry live?'

'He lives in Danver Estate, the richest estate in Bridgemont Valley. His dad invented a new kind of vacuum cleaner.'

'Go figure.'

'You don't like Harry?' She turned to face me.

'Not at all.'

'Dua lives in Danver Estate too, her dad owns a computer company.'

'She's rich too?'

'Yeah.' She chuckled slightly. 'Kian and I live in Cobble Creek, the working-class side of Bridgemont Valley.'

I nodded, not enjoying the idea of acting as though where you live dictates who you are as a person. But my eyes instinctively found Harry again, who was now holding the back door of his car open for the two girls. Kian was getting into the passenger seat as Harry eventually opened the driver seat door.

He suddenly glanced up towards Lana and I, catching my eye contact. A smirk found his lips as he sent a bold wink my way before entering his car.

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net