Collision

The next morning my alarm clock rings two hours before I'm supposed to be at school. I force myself out of bed and walk into the bathroom to take a shower. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I walk by and cringe. My brown hair is tangled and there are dark circles under my eyes. I turn away from my reflection and start stripping down to get in the shower. I notice that I forgot my shampoo in my traveling bag so I just deal with the one that's already in here.

I wrap myself in a towel when I get out and walk over to the dresser with my clothes. I take out a pair of dark jeans with a white sweater and walk back into the bathroom to put them on. After I'm fully dressed, I put my hair into it's usual curls and put on a touch of makeup, making sure it's not too dark. By the time I finish making myself presentable, it's almost seven thirty.

I grab my bag that's hanging on the door handle and make my way downstairs into the kitchen. Mom has gone all out on breakfast for my first day of school and I repeatedly thank her as I pile a plate high with pancakes, bacon, toast, and a piece of fruit.

"You can take my car. My first day of work doesn't start until tomorrow." Mom tells me as I swallow the rest of my orange juice. I clean the rest of my plate off before handing it to her to wash. Just as she turns on the sink, Dad walks into the room and sets down his briefcase on the table.

"I'm off to work." he smiles at the two of us. Mom hands him the to-go plate she made him and kisses his cheek. With a swift hug, he darts out of the house and down to the driveway. I take a sidelong glance at the clock on the wall and begin checking to make sure I have everything. Once I confirm that I do, I take the car keys off of the counter and tell my mother goodbye.

I get to the school around 7:50, and at first I think I'm late, but there are only a handful of cars here. Regardless, I gather my things and head towards the entrance. I swing by the office to get my schedule and use my free time to tour the high school.

I make it to first period right as the bell rings and settle with the only empty seat in the front of the classroom. Just as I'm about to sit down, I catch glimpse of who's sitting down in the chair next to mine. The boy from yesterday who was staring at me is sitting down with his back straight and his hands folded in his lap. I look around for any other seat but each one is filled. I curse myself for not getting here earlier as I sit down beside him and keep my gaze in my lap.

The teacher drones on about the reproduction of bacteria and halfway through the period, the boy beside begins whispering to someone behind him. I try to take as many notes as I can but the constant chattering distracts me so much that I just quit trying. When the bell rings, I'm the first one out of the classroom and into the hallway. I see the irritating boy dart into another classroom just as I turn around and sigh in relief.

This time I make sure that I get to choose my seat and end up sitting next to a girl with dark brown hair. We're assigned a project together and unlike my last partner, she is actually nice. We finish our project before any other group and spend the rest of the period chatting while everyone else works.

"Why would you move to Colorado of all places?" the girl -who's name I've now learned is Kate- asks me.

"My dad was offered a job from some big detective agency." I tell her. The confused look on her face matches how I feel. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this move.

"That sucks." she laughs, lightening the mood a little. During our conversation I learn that she moved here with her family when she was little and plans on going to college the first chance she gets. I feel the same way but I don't think I'm comfortable with up and leaving my family so suddenly. Besides, I should focus on what's happening right now, not worrying about the future.

We're cut off by the bell but thankfully Kate and I have lunch together. We grab our food and sit down at one of the tables near the door with her friends. Among them sits the group of people I saw wandering around outside last night, including the irritating boy.

I feel put on the spot at first but soon everyone seems to forget that I'm the new girl. A tall boy with bright blue eyes named Louis begins telling a story about a crazy party they had last weekend.

"-long story short, we were banned from ever going there again." Louis is laughing so much that it looks like may pass out at any time, while meanwhile I feel like I'm under interrogation with the boy from earlier staring at me. Every time I move an inch, his eyes follow me he doesn't take his gaze off of me until someone talks to him. When he finally does look away, I
let loose the breath that I was holding and tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.

It feels like forever until lunch ends and by that time I've learned that the boy sitting across from me is named Harry from Kate. As we walk to fifth period, she tells me about a time when Harry was arrested for vandalizing a police car. I already dislike him and I've only known him for two hours.

Thankfully, Kate and I share the last two periods of the day, Statistics and Probability and French. During stats, Kate tells me things I need to know about this school, which teachers to avoid, who to stay away from, and all of the players who have tried to get with every girl in the town. She mentions Harry's name in the last two categories, not surprising me.

"If you don't like Harry, then why do you hang around him?" I ask her after we finish with our assignment.

"He's part of our group so I have to deal with him regardless. But he's not as bad as he seems." she picks at her fingernails as she says this. She doesn't have to hang out with him if she doesn't want to but I don't say anything else.

When we get into French, I sigh when I see Harry in the corner. Kate walks over him to immediately, despite our recent conversation. I sit behind the two, far enough from Harry but close enough to Kate. They talk about random things until a muscular boy with cropped black hair slides down next to me. Kate stops talking and watches him as he sits down whereas Harry tenses beside her.

"I'm Cody." He smiles warmly. I introduce myself too and we talk about different things until class begins. Throughout our conversation, Harry turns around and whispers something harsh into Kate's ear. She swats his arm and I can't help but think it's about me.

Notes