“Whisper hello
I miss you quite terribly.”
I sing along to my favorite song by HelloGoodbye.
“Gracie,” I hear my mom yell “Get down here and get some breakfast!”
“I’ll be down in one second!” I yell back. I turn back to the mirror. Today is my first day at Dearling High school. I am a little more nervous than usual. Usually, I know I’m only going to be there for a few months, so I learn not to get used to it. But now I am staying till graduation. For me, that’s a
very long time.
I adjust my skirt. I’m wearing a grey skirt, soft pink tee with a white polo over it, and long strands of fake pearls. After fixing my wavy black hair, I leave my room to go to the kitchen.
The kitchen is something out of the fifties with new appliances. It is the ugliest thing, but I got to learn to deal.
“Hey baby doll. My oh my. You sure are dressed up.” My mother sighs.
“Well, since we are going to be here awhile, I thought I should make a good first impression.” I reply. I give a quick little twirl to show off my outfit.
“I made you toaster waffles and microwaveable bacon. Enjoy.” She says pointing to my breakfast on the green counter. I pick it up and walk over to the table. I take a bite of bacon.
“Thanks mom.” I sigh.
“No problem sweetie.” She says in a cheerful voice, trying to make herself feel better. Mom looked down at her watch.
“Oh dear! Got to run Gracie. I got to get to work. Love you!” Mom says in her high-pitched voice. She quickly gathers her things and runs out the door.
“Good luck.” I whisper to myself as she slams the door.
After I finish breakfast, I wash and put away my dishes. I then proceed to get my backpack and head for the bus.
The walk to the bus stop isn’t very far. I just go to the end of the block and wait. Five minutes later, another kid comes to the stop. He looks to be about my age. His height is about 5’10” and has dark brown hair. He looks over at me and smiles.
“You must be the new girl. I’m Troy Marks.” Troy holds out his hand to shake while using the other one to push back his hair.
“I’m Gracie. Gracie Montez.” I reply back. We take each others’ hands and quickly shake.
“So where are you from?” Troy asks.
“Originally?” I ask. He looks back at me weird.
“Um, yeah, I guess.” He says. I sigh.
“I’m originally from Chicago, but because of my mom’s job, we move a lot. So my hometowns are L.A., N.Y.C., Forks, Denver, Miami, and a bunch of other places you never even heard of.”
“Wow. Forks? Is that even a real place?” I laugh.
“Yeah. It’s in Washington.” Troy blushes a bit.
“Don’t worry. I get asked that all the time.”
As his face gets back to its normal shade, the bus pulls up. It’s a rickety old thing, but it runs.
“Gracie, you can sit with me.” Troy waves me over to sit with him. I slowly make my way over to our seat trying to figure out the other people on the bus. Behind Troy is a tall blonde with super long curls. Obliviously the popular girl.
“Troy, who is your new friend here?”
“This is Gracie. Gracie, this is Kate Anderson.”She stuck out her hand and we shook quickly.
“Nice to meet ya. You have been the buzz around here since Friday.” Kate said smiling. I guess this is supposed to make me happy. It doesn’t though. I’m kind of used to it now.
“If you ever need anything, you come find me, okay?” Kate says, pointing at herself. I smile and nod.
The rest of the day is uneventful. Kate or Troy are in my classes unless there AP classes. I felt alone. Welcome to Dearling High.
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