Shades of Life ||Chp2|Claremont High|pg5 - Page 4

Chapter 2: 'Claremont High'

It was quite a long drive from the airport to our new house. I didn't want to guess how the house must be, because I knew I would start having high hopes. All I could do was just wait and watch.

I was busy listening to my player, while Karen yapped and yapped with dad. It's a good thing I had my headphones on, or I wouldn't be able to avoid the headache. I thought it would be a good idea to call up Amy. Guess she thought about the same thing because when I took out my phone to call her, I got her call.

"Hello." I answered.

"Hey El. How was your trip? Were you bored? How's your new house? New school? Did your dad come to receive you? We really miss you a lot. And you know…" Amy said all of it in one breath.

"Amy, breathe. My trip was great, though I just slept and did nothing. I wasn't bored because I was sleeping. I haven't reached my new house yet, we're still on the way. Now since I didn't reach my new house, I haven't seen my new school either. Anyway the orientation is tomorrow. Yeah, my dad came to receive us. And I miss you all too." I replied, one by one answering all her questions.

"Oops. I just couldn't help it. Hey, you have to call me after your orientation in school. I want to know everything about your new school. And please keep calling and stay in touch. I'll have to hang up now because I have to go have lunch. Talk to you later. Miss you." Amy said and then hung up.

I wonder if I would find such a crazy best friend like Amy here in Claremont. I looked out of the window. The sun was shining brightly and the roads buzzed with activity. I saw couples walking hand in hand, boys playing soccer and some road side stalls. It was so unlike Ohio. Everything about Claremont was different. We passed a huge building on our way and my dad slowed down.

"That's your new school Ellie Baby." He said.

I looked at it and read the huge sign.

"CLAREMONT HIGH SCHOOL

C.H.S"

"Impressive." I said, still gazing at the huge building. It looked really cool. I was actually going to study in there. Just 5 minutes later, we reached our new house.

"See, your new school is just 5 minutes away from our house." Dad said.

"Cool." I said. Karen and I got down from the car and took out our bags. Mom and Dad did the same while we moved towards the house. The house looked really good. It was built of red bricks and looked really cute and comfortable. Dad took out the keys and handed them to me.

"Here, open the door." He said.

I put in the keys and opened the door. I just stood still for a minute or two.

"What's wrong?" Dad asked.

"The house is really beautiful." I replied, still staring. I really meant that. It was really very beautiful. I'm surprised Dad was able to maintain it so well, without messing it all up.

"It's really beautiful." Mom said and Karen nodded in agreement.

I took my bag and went in. The living room looked really inviting and comfortable. There was a huge TV and the Kitchen was quite good too. I really liked the house.

"Your room in upstairs, second one on the right." Dad said, acting like a guide. "And Karen, yours is the first one."

"We have different rooms?" I asked, stunned. Dad grinned at both of us. "Dad I love you!" I exclaimed and went to hug him.

"I know." He said. Mom also hugged dad, looking really pleased with the house herself. "My Company offered us this house. They deserve the actual credit." He said.

I went running upstairs to check out my new room. It was really nice. The walls had nice funky wallpaper, and there was a computer on the other side of the room on the study table. There was a dressing table beside my bed and a huge wardrobe opposite my bed. I doubt I had enough clothes to fill it with. "I love this." I said to myself. I immediately put my suitcase on the bed and began unpacking. I had a huge collection of accessories which I would arrange neatly on the dressing table, and my clothes would go in the wardrobe, obviously. Oh, I forgot to mention, my room had an attached bathroom as well. How cool was that! I actually liked it here. I finished unpacking quickly and went for a bath. I came out and dressed up quickly and went downstairs.

Mom was busy in the kitchen and Dad was telling her where everything was supposed to be. Karen hadn't come out of her room yet. Maybe she was too happy to come out. I went and sat on the sofa and lay down.

"Elaine, you aren't in your room, unpacking?" mom asked.

"I'm done." I replied. My mom was surely shocked since she hadn't ever seen me do something so quickly. "The room's great, Dad." I said before Dad could ask.

"I'm glad you like it." Dad said with a satisfied smile on his face. "We're having pizza for lunch."

"Did I hear pizza?" Karen asked.

"You bet." I said.

The door bell rang. It surely was the Pizza guy with the Pizza. It was then that I realized I was terribly hungry. Dad took the Pizza and brought it in. I took a piece and began nibbling at it.

"So Elaine tomorrow is your orientation and your school starts on Tuesday." Dad said while eating.

"I know." I said, still nibbling at my first piece while Karen was already on her third. She could really eat when she was hungry. Dad started talking to mom about his job which neither me nor Karen were interested in.

"Dad, how's my new school like?" Karen asked, trying to end their boring conversation.

"Your school? It's really cool." Dad said.

"What's it called?" Karen asked.

"It's called Claremont Middle School." Dad replied. Karen smiled and continued eating. She looked quite excited about her new school.

I was kind of excited too. I actually was. Maybe the new school wouldn't be bad. When I was done with eating, I hurried back to my room, and switched on the computer. I was hoping Amy would be online or any one from my old school. I signed in to my MSN account and was quite relieved to see Amy online. I noticed that my nickname wasn't changed. It was ElnSteVe and there were two hearts beside it. It was when Steve and I were together. I quickly changed it to Elaine and then IMed Amy.

Elaine: Hey Amy

Amylicious: El! OMG. It's you. You reached?

Elaine: Yep.

Amylicious: So when does your school start?

Elaine: Tuesday.

Amylicious: OMG that's cool. Are you excited? How's your new house like?

Elaine: My new house rocks. I have my own room and my own computer. And the school is huge. But I really miss you all.

Amylicious: We miss you too. Okay, I'll have to go but I'll call you in the evening. Have fun. Bye.

Amy then signed off. I browsed through my list and saw Steve was online. But I didn't know if I should IM him or not. He broke my confusion.

Steve: El! How are you?

Elaine: I'm fine Steve. Thanks.

Steve: How was your trip? And how's your new house?

Elaine: My trip was great. I had fun. And my house is great too.

Steve: Glad you're having fun. But I really miss you El

Elaine: Me too. I miss all of you.

Steve: And me?

Elaine: Of course I do.

I don't know how I typed that. Steve would have thought I still love him or something. Steve didn't send anything after that so I didn't bother. I was glad I wasn't in Ohio. I signed off and switched off the computer. I had to prepare myself for my new school that would start day after tomorrow. The day went by quickly and it was night already before I realized. It was when Dad called me down for dinner that I realized its night already. I went downstairs to join everyone for dinner.

"Elaine, Karen, you all have a surprise." Dad blurted. Mom gave him a sharp look and he bit his tongue.

"What is it?" Karen insisted. But dad didn't say anything after that.

Surprise? How many more surprises was I in for? The night passed by quickly too. I woke up to my alarm at 7:00 a.m. I lazily switched it off and slept off again. Ten minutes later, mom entered the room.

"Elaine, get up. You have to go for your orientation." She said. I got up immediately. I had actually been waiting for my orientation. I looked at the clock. It was 7-20 a.m. I went and got ready within 20 minutes and went downstairs for breakfast. Dad was already up, and was busy reading his newspaper.

"Morning dad" I said.

"Oh, morning Sweety." He said.

"Karen isn't up yet? She doesn't have her orientation?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Karen's school starts next week."

I actually felt jealous because Karen got a longer time to sleep. But I would start school earlier. I left at 10 minutes to 8 since it only took 5 minutes to reach school. I was a fast walker, so it would take me three minutes. I started walking it down, and in four minutes actually, I reached school.

I was kind of nervous. I saw a few nervous freshers' too. One girl was standing alone, looking almost sick. But I decided not to go to her because I thought she would throw up any minute. And she did. Man, it's really embarrassing when you throw up in your new school. It leaves a bad impression throughout. The girl was almost in tears after throwing up. I was glad I was strong enough not to throw up though my stomach felt weird.

All freshers were to stand in a line and they would be guided through the entire school. I was one of them too. I looked in awe at the school's interior and so did the others. The school was amazing. I still couldn't believe I would be studying here. I heard two girls whisper the same thing to each other.

They guided us through the entire school. Most of the way I was simply stunned. The school was really huge and had amazing interior. I couldn't believe I was going to study in this school. Karen would be so jealous. If only Amy was here too. But I was grateful about one thing. I didn't know anyone here so that gave me the chance of having a completely new image in front of everyone.

An hour later, we were done with seeing the school. They took us to one class and began introducing the school rules, how it worked, various activities that took place and the sports stuff. Half an hour later, we were done with orientation. I collected my schedule and also all of my books which I stuffed into my bag. From tomorrow, I was going to start school. Now that I was almost able to forget Ohio, I was actually quite excited. I couldn't wait till Tuesday. That would have explained the reason for the day passing so slowly.

It was finally night fall, and I went to bed in full excitement. I guess all my excitement vanished away because of my nightmare. I was in C.H.S, busy searching for my class, when this girl came over to me and suddenly turned into a devil. That was the only evidence I had that it was a nightmare. Well, two actually, since my mom came up to my room and started waking me up.

I guess I was already awake because I actually got up on the second time. I glanced at the clock beside my bed. It was just 7:00 am. I did not hurry this time, and took my own time to get dressed. I bet Amy was getting ready for school too. Suddenly, I began thinking of what the others would be up to now. It pained a little to think of them, but it was all fine the next minute. I had to look my best. I did not want to create a bad impression on the first day itself. I put on my favorite pair of jeans, and cool and funky tee.

Yeah, it just wasn't like me to go all trendy looking to school. I never cared about what people thought. But for some reason, I felt the need to do so. My thoughts suddenly drifted away to what dad had said when we had just moved in. You have a surprise that was what he had said. What sort of a surprise was this? Well surely it couldn't be something really unexpected. I looked at the clock beside me and was really surprised that it was already 70:45. I had to leave for school. As that thought entered my head, my stomach began churning. I was having butterflies in my stomach. Not the kinds you would feel when you see your crush, but the nervousness one.

I took my bag, filled in all the books I would require and went downstairs.

"Hey El, you're ready for school?" mom asked me as I finished drinking my juice. I nodded and rushed out. "Hope you have a good time" she called back behind me, but I'm not sure if I heard all of what she said.

I walked it down quickly, my stomach churning even more than before. I was going to be around completely new people. There weren't many new comers with me, because there were hardly 4 to 5 people during the orientation. I reached the school, but didn't enter it immediately. I saw everyone in groups, chit chatting, and some soccer players playing around, and a few seniors troubling the juniors. I took a deep breath and went inside.

It wasn't that bad. No one seemed to notice me. I looked around here and there, not able to figure out what I was actually in search of. I entered the school, carrying my schedule and locker number in one hand. Maybe it wasn't something everyone here did, since all of them began staring at me. I quickly ignored all of them and hurried forward. This was definitely the most embarrassing day of my life. I had a tough time searching for my locker, since all of them were so alike. Where was I supposed to find locker 777?

"Need help?" a guy asked. I thought he was talking to some one else, so I did not bother to reply. "Excuse me?"

I turned around, only to see a really cute guy staring at me. He had blue eyes, dark brown hair, and a tanned skin and was really muscular and amazingly gorgeous. But I didn't care, since I had promised myself I wasn't going to fall for anyone until it was time. And surprisingly, I felt nothing at all. I just looked at him like he was any other person I would talk to.

"No thanks." I replied politely.

"You're new here. Let me help you with that." He said, taking the paper from my hand in which my schedule and locker number was written. By the way people were staring at us; I was positive that he was the popular guy here, whom girls were crazy about. I just looked around helplessly.

"Cool, your locker is just beside mine. Let me take you there." He said.

"Thanks" I said almost in a whisper.

He began walking ahead of me, and I followed him quietly. "So, you're new around here?" he asked.

"Yep." I said.

He began gazing down at my schedule. Suddenly, his mouth broke into an amazing smile. Why was he smiling? He turned around to face me, and grinned. "We're in English class together." He said.

Really? Like I cared! I smiled at him so it didn't look rude. What was I supposed to do if we were in the same English class? Wasn't that kind of normal in schools! We reached my locker, and he handed back the schedule and locker number to me. "You'll get used to your schedule pretty soon. And as for your locker, you wouldn't need the number anymore." He said.

"Thanks." I said. Why was he even trying to help me? Was he trying to show-off that he's really nice and innocent and that people always misunderstand him? If it were so, I wasn't buying that at all. Steve had given me similar explanation and had managed to trap me into it. I wasn't falling for that again.

"I'm Chris, by the way." He introduced himself, bringing his hand forward. Instead of shaking hands with him, I kept my hand beside me.

"Elaine Evans." I said.

He looked at my hand, and then pulled his hand back. I could feel too many eyes glaring at me, giving the typical expression of you're-such-an-idiot-that-you-didn't-shake-hands-with-him. Chris seemed a little embarrassed by the way people were looking at him, and then at me, that he quickly said bye and went his way. I sighed and was thankful that he had gone. I hated people staring at me.

"Seems like you've already met Chris?" a girl asked me. I turned around to look at her. She had brunette hair, and was really fair. She was pretty too.

"Not really." I replied.

"Oh never mind! Girls are really crazy about him. Even if he smiles at one of them, they're like 'O-M-G Chris smiled at me!' I'm Shirley, by the way" The girl said. It was kind of funny the way she imitated the other girls.

"Elaine, Elaine Evans." I said.

"Nice to meet you." Shirley said, extending her hand forward. I extended mine too. "So, how come you didn't shake hands with Chris?" she asked casually.

"I don't know. Just didn't feel like it. It's a long story." I replied.

"We've got half an hour. Go ahead." Shirley said. She wasn't going to give up. I began narrating the entire story to her, as in, everything about Steve. And all that happened between us. I must say, she was a really good listener. She knew how to react to a particular part.

"So, that's basically the reason." I concluded.

"Mmm. That is not so justified though." She said thoughtfully.

"Forget all that." I insisted. "Tell me something about yourself."

"I've got nothing interesting to tell." She said with a grin.

Shirley was really helpful and sweet to me. She helped me through my schedule, told me where each of my class was and also promised that she would meet up after school. The day passed by quickly, until English Class. I didn't quite know why I was afraid to face him. I did not even know him! I quietly went inside. Everyone was busy with their own stuff. I looked around to see if any place was vacant. There was one in the corner, so I went towards it. I sat down and began waiting for the teacher to come. I couldn't find Chris anywhere, luckily! I still couldn't figure out why I didn't want to be around him.

Just then, I saw him. He was coming towards me. I looked down at my desk immediately.

"Hey," he said.

I looked up at him.

"Hey" I said. I don't know what it was but I think he winked at me. Anyways, who cared! He sat down on the bench beside me. Was it his usual or what? I continued to look down at my bench. Why hadn't our teacher come yet? I looked up to the door, hoping she would come soon. English had been my all time favorite. The teacher entered just as I looked back to my bench. Everyone stood up to wish her, and so did I. This wasn't alien to me. We did the same thing back there in Ohio. Actually, nothing about this school was alien to me. It was a whole lot like Ohio. Just that I knew everyone back there in Ohio.

I began listening with a lot of interest to what the teacher, Mrs. Martin was speaking about. My interest suddenly faded when I realized she was talking about Romeo and Juliet. I could see everyone's interest increasing, while mine was decreasing. I guess that showed on my face since Mrs. Martin was looking at me. She suddenly stopped talking, raised one finger, pointing at me.

"You there, please stand up." She said sternly.

Now what did I do? Everyone turned their heads to look at me. I looked really nervous. I stood up slowly.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Elaine" I replied obediently.

"Elaine what?" she asked. I was confused for a minute.

"She's asking for your last name." Chris whispered to me.

"Evans" I choked out.

"Miss Elaine Evans is that it?" she confirmed. I simply nodded my head. "Please sit." I followed her obediently. The last thing I wanted was my English teacher having problems with me! The class ended quite quickly. It wasn't so bad. I mean the Romeo and Juliet lecture she was giving. It didn't hurt as much when I heard her talking about it. It felt beautiful and romantic again.

I saw Shirley waiting for me outside class. "Hey, so how was your first day?" she asked.

"It wasn't so bad. It was good, actually." I replied. I actually meant that.

"So, which teacher, do you like the most?" Shirley asked. I became thoughtful for a moment. All of them seemed quite nice today. I couldn't tell though. Mrs. Martin looked quite sweet and gentle to me, but I didn't know how she would be later.

"Mrs. Martin, I guess." I replied.

"That's weird. Chris likes her too." Shirley said.

"So, can't two people have one favorite?" I asked indignantly. I really hated it when people made a big deal if there was some similarity between me and a boy.

"Alright, sorry." Shirley apologized. I looked around here and there, and spotted Chris. He was busy talking to two juniors. Man, I hated it when guys flirted. I never let any guy flirt with me, except Steve. Steve. The moment I thought of his name, my heart twitched a little. Was I ever going to get used to this? I suddenly remembered the hug he gave me in the caf. It was so unusually long. Okay, I hated myself for this. However hard I tried, I did end up thinking of him in the end.

The day finally ended, and I went towards my locker. Most of the students were staying back late. Most of them were the football players, who had an important game tomorrow, and the cheerleaders, who were busy cheering them up. I went up to my locker and opened it. I was busy fiddling with something in it, when I heard someone call my name. I turned around to see Chris standing.

"Hey Elaine." He said.

"Hey" I said. Why wasn't he leaving me alone?

"I was thinking, we have a football match tomorrow, an important one. Would you like to come and watch? You can bring your friends along."

Friends? I only had one friend. And what was with the whole coming and watching the football match thing? Why was he giving me so much of attention? Why was he talking to me every now and then? I never had a guy behave in such a way with me. But apparently, Chris was! That was the funniest part. This had got to be the funniest and weirdest first day ever!

I nodded my head and smiled politely. He then walked away from there.

It's too long I know, but hope you liked it. Do comment and press the like tab :)

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