Prologue

"Mom!" I said. "I will not go to school today!!!!"

"Why? Today is your field trip! Mom said. "Field trip?????? Oh! I almost forgot! Definitely I am going!!!" And I left for school.

I am Kiara. I live in Virginia in suburban city. I am in third grade and I am doing pretty well in school. I have friends but no best friend yet. I got up on the bus. Then I reached to school. After reaching there we boarded the bus again. I was looking for my friend Nicole. She was who I hung around with. She didn't go to school today............. I was upset. Now I'd have no one to talk to!!!!!!

I looked around the bus. Laura was sitting with Kate, Janice with Tyler, Sasha with Jackson and Ryan with Jacob. They were some of my friends. I was going to sit when I spotted a boy who was standing and looking around. "Hey!"I called out. "Hello!" he said. I asked him if he was sitting with anyone. He wasn't. So we both sat on the bus. "I am Kiara." I said while smiling. "Oh, I'm Andrew. "He said. He was a cute looking boy with brown hair, blue eyes and a great smile. I never saw him before. "So are you new?" we asked each other at the same time and laughed. I found out he wasn't new, but he wasn't very popular too. I wasn't the most, but somehow popular. Andrew loved cars and hockey, and well, I didn't like any of them, about so we talked about our classes. We would start having the same classes from next week when our schedule s would change. It was fun talking to him. Oh I guess I didn't mention where we were going.

Well, we were going to the Double D farm. I was excited......... then we got to know that we needed a partner for the day. Andrew and I looked at each other and shrugged, we would be partners for the day. It would be fun. There were amazing things there like a hay maze, corn digging, honey straws and peacock dances. Andrew was really nice to me. He let me have all the good seats and he shared his candy....... I really liked that. We became friends on that day already. But after the trip, I would not see him in any of my classes this week. We looked forward to next week while saying good bye.

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After a month:

"So Andrew, I have got these really cool SpongeBob lollipops... do you want them?" I asked my best friend. Well he became my best friend two weeks ago, and we are so happy!!! We have many classes together. Though we do not share our deepest secrets, we share a few stuff like our feelings.

Our math teacher Mr. Jack had a throat problem. It was really funny hearing him. I and Andrew were laughing our heads off together. I could tell he was my real best friend because once a guy was picking on me; Andrew beat him up, for me. Boy, Andrew was strong. In gym class, when we were partners, I always used to depend on him; actually he helped me with all that while I helped him in math and science. It was really cool working like that in a team.

Our group became bigger. From when Andrew joined, he had brought three friends with him. I had almost seven people in my group. Though our friends circle was big, we never fought or did anything bad with each other. My friends Laura, Tyler, Sasha, Kate, Janice, Ryan and Jacob joined with his friends Zack, Dylan and Harvey. I don't mean to brag, but out of them, I, Janice and Jacob were the only one on the smartest group, so it was just luck that I shared many classes with Andrew. The recess bell rang....... we ran out!!!!I didn't go with Andrew and the other boys because today we had our Barbie show off day today. I brought my two favorite Barbie dolls. Then I saw Molly.

To be truthful, I was kind of scared of her. I thought she would take my Barbies because she was angry all the time. As she approached me, I felt scared. Then she smiled at me and gave me a pencil. I had forgotten about that, I had lent it to her...... Molly was in my smart team too. She became nice to me and was my friend eventually. In the next class which was art, my favorite, we did drawings of our friends. I drew all my friends. First, I drew Andrew. I drew his brown hair, pale face always with a smile on and blue eyes. Then I drew Laura. She had long reddish brown hair and a pretty fair face. Janice had long chocolate brown hair. Nicole had blonde hair and she never wore makeup or skirts, she was a pure tomboy. Kate was a tall girl with blond hair and lots of makeup ... then I drew Ryan and Jacob. They were twins. They had blond hair and were athletic people. Tyler wore glasses and was athletically weak. Zac, Dylan and Harvey looked very alike. They were all guys who had brown hair, played hockey, and they all looked good. Tyler was a very good friend of mine. He wasn't as funny as Andrew but he never was rude to me, for example, he always shared his candy with me even if Andrew wouldn't. I was so happy. I loved my school life.

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After one year:

"Mommy what did you say you would tell me today? I asked putting my head up from my pile of homework. Homework was good but the smart team homework was very irritating.

"Well, this is something which we have discussed. My mom said.

"What is it?" I asked

"Remember how we thought we would go back to India"- she started, but I cut her off.

"Yay!" 

We are going for a vacation to India again? Hurrah!!!!!" I shouted.

"No, no!!!!What I was saying is that we will return back to India, and STAY there." she said stressing on the word stay.

"But???? What about--no, I am so happy but so sad!" I said and tried to explain.

"It's okay, dear," my mom said.

"So are you sure we won't come back???? I'll miss all of my friends a lot. "I said upset again.

"It's okay honey. And just think about meeting your grandparents and family members in India and we will not come back to Virginia anymore." she assured me.

"Forever?" I asked my mom.

"forever." she confirmed.

I felt a tear in my eye.

 

 

Chapter 1

Five years later: "Back to school again!!!!! I love the summer but I was bored......" Kavya says looking out of our window. "Just wait for two days. Then you go to your dream school." I said to her.

Looking at my other friend Puja, I said, "I don't know what she finds so amazing in this school." Well, here I was, in India in eighth grade(class 8) in a school beside my house. I know it sounds weird but it was so close that my house and school shared the same boundary and my balcony was facing our classroom. In India we called it class eight. Anyways, I was with my best friend and my friends sitting in my balcony looking at our school.

I finally adjusted to the surrounding..........Well I had to, considering the fact that I have lived here for four whole years, almost five actually. Then my best friend Kavya asked me a question which made me remember those days in our elementary, the cedar ridge elementary. She said, so how was your school so much better than this one? I know that it's IN the USA!!!!!! " All my friends thought that the US was like heaven or something. I started daydreaming.....why the other school was better............. I remember........

"Kiara!! Will you be my partner for the multiplication activity?" It was at this time I had started to like Andrew. I was about to say yes when I saw a piece of folded paper on my desk. I opened it "will you be my partner?" It said. I looked across the classroom and saw Tyler smiling. He obviously might have sent it before. "Well," I said loudly, motioning for Tyler to come here, "let's do eenie meenie minie mo and see" they both agreed to do that. Well, Tyler won. Andrew made a sad face and left to find another partner. Working with Tyler wasn't fun considering that he was too smart and wouldn't make me laugh. If Andrew would be there, he'd make me laugh............

Then I stopped daydreaming as Puja poked me hard. "What?" I screamed irritated at her for breaking my dream session. "Stop dreaming about your prince charming. Why don't you even try and find him? There is Facebook for a reason." Kavya said. "I know, but I don't have a Facebook account....."I sadly said. "So? What are best friends for? I'll check for you.....what's his name again?" "It's Andrew. Andrew Menches." I confirmed. "Kay! Let's get to work. "She said as she opened the laptop and then fb. We searched for almost half an hour but there was no Andrew Menches. "Okay, so do remember any other friends? "She asked "Well, I remember only their first names."

"Then it's impossible........, .there are so many people!!!!! Ughhhh!!!!!!!" We browsed the Internet some more. Suddenly something happened. I just felt like saying it. "I wish I could go back to Virginia. I want to meet him, um, I mean them." I sighed. "A What?????????? Shut up Kiara!!!!!!! We don't want you to go! They said together. "Sorry, I just said it without thinking. How might they look now?" I must have gone crazy. I never blabbed like that before.

Well, I go crazy a lot nowadays as my friends say.......I don't even know why but I keep on thinking about Andrew. Maybe he looks the same. Maybe he's popular like the other guys. Or he might be really good looking now. He might be a loner too, all ugly and with few friends. I don't know, maybe he has a girlfriend........or not......... I should stop saying all this. After two days, in school I went to my classroom and saw my friends and almost the whole class gathered up at our desk. I went up to them. "Noooo! You can't come here!" Yesha, another friend of mine said. I actually made all good friends this year. Yup, u r thinking right, it took me three years to make good friends.

I loved my school life as I got good grades and had great friends. It looked like they had something written up and a girl had a cell phone with her. What could it be? Maybe they were discussing stuff about me , or maybe not. "What is it?" I asked. Everyone quieted down. I wasn't a bad person. Then they showed me a website of some middle school of Virginia. It had pictures in it of, wait!!!!!!

Maybe they had a Picture of him! I saw the article but there was nothing; it just had pictures of the teachers only. "How did you get this?" I asked. "Well, we found it on Google silly" Rani said. So they all knew about my secret now. I glared at puja. She gave me puppy eyes, they don't work on me. The rest of the day was ok.

Nothing exciting happened except for the fact that we got the schedule for our test s which were the next to next week. I hate tests!!!!! And we also have a field trip next week!!! Yay! "Come on Kavya! We'll miss the bus! Get out of the classroom! "I screamed. I was excited for the field trip as we were going to a state animal center to view stuff about endangered species. I love animals!!! We finally got on the bus and sat together. I went to other field trips before, but this one felt really weird. I really felt like I was there, sitting beside Andrew chatting with him. Since my daydreaming increased, my friends thought that I was going slowly insane. "Look, we'll take you to the doctor if you don't stop thinking about prince charming......" Rani warned me with a laugh.

"Ohhhh.....kay? I got it???? Sorry.... So what were we talking about? "I said. "Apparently nothing, we were looking at your faraway look. "Kavya said. We reached the center. It was really nice inside. There were many different animals, the only part I didn't like about the trip was the snake exhibit, and I hate snakes!!! My favorite part of the trip was the bird exhibit. I always wanted a pet bird, especially a dove. It wasn't possible as my parents were totally against pets. We weren't allowed to bring phones into school so anyways I couldn't click any pictures. After the trip we went back to school. We had a choice of staying back for two hours and helping out the teachers and stuff. I don't like working but it was a good opportunity to skip my drawing class I hated.

I, Kavya, puja, rani and Aisha stayed back. We actually enjoyed staying back. We just made posters and charts. It was fun. I thought of a similar day in elementary when we were making project cards for the class. God!!!! I should stop thinking about this! It really is weird how I never thought so much before. It's like an obsession now! After I got home I was in for a shock, I'll explain: Mom, dad, grandpa and grandma were all sitting in a circle with grave faces when I entered the room. I asked them what happened. They weren't going to tell me. But it looked serious so I had to know. I used my powers of convincing which always worked.

"Fine, we'll tell you. See your dad has been trying to ignore it but now it's impossible. "Mom started to explain. "Please get to the point fast mommy!!" I said.

"Well, we have to go to Virginia ....." She sighed. Unfortunately for her, my reaction wasn't what she expected. I jumped and said "yay!!!!" Everyone frowned. My smile changed into a frown realizing what I'd have to leave behind to go there. I sighed. I finally understood. A wave of anger rose upon me. "I hate you! This is what you wanted right????? I adjusted here and you are making me go back???? What do you think? I will go and spoil my life? I won't go!!!!!!!!"I shouted. My mom looked exhausted. "Look, we were thinking about this.

If you want to stay, you can--"she began. I just wanted to argue. "So you guys will have fun without me!" I said. On saying that I felt bad seeing the faces of my grandparents. Again another decision...ughhhhhh!!!!!! I should never have wished for.....wait?!?! I am going back so I'll meet him if he doesn't move to another place!!! I calmed down a bit.

"Okay. I understand. When are we going?" I asked. "As soon as possible as now your school year in Virginia is supposed to begin. We might have a visa interview in a month" my dad said. "Whoa!" I said to myself. My parents were more advanced than me, cool!!!!! And I realized that I was completely jumbled up in my emotions. My parents were sure we'd go. That means ill meet my best friend!!!! Yay!!!! But the whole process will take time, I said to myself, a long time...... Maybe I'll see him, what if he has a girlfriend?????? That will be awful!!!

I remember one day I had asked my mom if I could see my friends again. She had said that there is a ten percent chance. Can you imagine I got the chance? Yay me!!!!

Chapter 2

Nine months later...

 Hello! Tomorrow is my first day of high school! Yay! Yeah, I know that it took a long time for me to get here, but my parents decided to let me end my eighth Grade before coming here. I am in an apartment right now thinking about how my day will be tomorrow. I am joining when one month is over, but still I feel nervous right now. But I'm missing my grandparents and best friends. We chat often. I am a freshman! Hurrah!

The alarm clock rang. I woke up with a start. Glancing at the watch I saw that it was 7:30am. My bus would come at 8:30am. I know, I'm going to take some time. I brushed and washed my face. I changed into capris and a halter neck top. It was October, so a nice chill of air was blowing. I kept my hair open and braided a few strands if it. I applied some lip-gloss. Next, I had my breakfast. There was a purse in my hand with a binder and a pencil, and my other stuff. Okay, I was excited. Then it was time to leave. I told my mom and dad goodbye and walked to the bus stop.

There was another girl standing there. I looked at her to see if she was familiar to any of my elementary friends. Well, she wasn't. I smiled at her. She smiled back and said, "Are you new here? What's your name?" I nodded and said "Kiara." Then our bus came. I chose to sit alone. It was a 15-minute drive. When the bus neared, I saw a huge cream-colored building. I got inside, knowing that I had to go to the office. The inside was amazing. There were students everywhere, mostly elder to me. I asked a lady, maybe a teacher where the office was. While walking around I looked at the students. I just went straight and to my left as she said.

I entered the office. A bald headed man was sitting. He smiled at me. I smiled back and said, "hi, I am the new student Kiara Sharma." "Oh! You can sit down. Welcome to the Murray High School!" He said. "Thanks." Well I felt somewhat nervous. I never wanted to be bullied. I heard high school life was scary.

Thinking of this stuff, I must have missed what he was saying. "- is really high here. I saw your reports and enrolled you in honors classes for a few subjects. By the way, I am Mr. Falken" I just nodded my head. "To guide you around, we have a helper. Ashley!" He called. "Oh and here's a new student packet. I kept your schedule in it too." A pretty blonde girl came up. "Hi, I am Ashley; I'll show you around the school." "Hello" I said words barely coming to my mouth. Ashley was a sophomore. I didn't know if I could take this or not.

I really felt nervous. "Okay, so where's your schedule?" Ashley asked. "It's in here" I said taking it out. "Don't be nervous, it's not that bad." She said comfortingly. She was really nice. "So you have biology first period. Let's take you to your class. "She said. It was a huge school so it took like two minutes. She took me to a huge classroom. "Mr. Rode this is our new student Kiara." She said to me, "I'll meet you in the end of this class." "Okay," I said.

"Everyone, this is Kiara. I think she missed home room so ......" And he smiled. I smiled at the class. They smiled back. I heard many whispers. A guy said, "Whoa! You're hot." I think I blushed but I ignored him. "Behave yourself, Dylan." I had an odd feeling. Was this Dylan Neves? The guy who was my friend in the elementary? I had a good look at him. Well, he was well behaved before. Maybe in the US this is common, I said to myself. This was way different than I thought it would be. "Your seat is beside Abby, the girl on the third seat in this row." He said, pointing to the row in the middle.

"Okay, thanks..." I said. I went to my seat and was about to sit when I bumped into something on my leg. I forgot that I could only get in from one side. Seeing my silly act, two girls sneered. "So, what are we doing Abby?" I asked. "Oh we have some practical stuff to do. Maybe you won't have to do it." She said and smiled.

Mr. Rode gave me a few supplies and then they did some writing assignment which I didn't have to do. I looked around the class. Two or three people looked really familiar. I was confused about Dylan. He was nice before.  But now He always had a smirk on his face. You can't say he looked bad. He was really good looking. He must be a jock. Then it was time for the lab experiment...

I just stood beside Abby and watched her study the butterfly parts. I just organized the loose paper and booklet. After a few minutes, the bell rang. Everyone got out. Ashley was waiting for me outside. "Where do we go next?" I asked her. "English" she replied. "The teacher is really nice. So how are you feeling?" She asked. "Good....." "Are you from India?" She asked me. "Yah, but I've lived here before." I said. "Oh....look here's your class."Bye!" We both said after I introduced myself to the teacher.

Her name is Mrs. Martinez. She's old but seems nice. That's when I had my first shock in school. I got assigned my seat. To the seat next to next me, I saw a guy with a Menches jacket. He was really good looking, had brown hair, and blue eyes. Seeing that I was gazing at him who was really rude I guess, he smirked at me. Those made me feel like I saw that guy before. Who was he?

Of course!!!! It had to be Andrew because though he had changed, he still had some similarities. I was almost sure. And then I was in for another. Just before class was ending, a guy approached me. I didn't notice him at first. He said, "Hey! You look really familiar, almost like someone who was once my friend. What's your name?" I looked at him. Why does everyone seem so familiar???

"I'm Kiara." I said not able to recognize him yet. "Oh.....Kay!!!!!! Wait! This is silly but were you ever in Cedar Ridge Elementary?" He asked. "Yes. Then I -" I was about to begin. "Yeah, I remember, you left to India." I was impressed with this. "Cool! But who are you?" I asked not meaning to be rude. "Come on Kiara. We were really good friends in third grade."

I thought for a while. Maybe he was Andrew. Noooo!!!!! I am crazy! That's not possible. Then suddenly I remembered. He was also really nice. "You are Tyler .....Right?" I said. "Yeah!! Welcome to MHS!" "Thank you!" I said with a smile. But the Tyler I somehow have a mental image of, had glasses and was not athletic. Five years can really change a person. Tyler now did not wear glasses, was wearing a jersey and was pretty cute. The bell rang.

"Okay, talk to you later!" He said. "Bye!" I said. For the next period nothing too exciting happened. I met Laura in the next class. When the teacher introduced me, I saw her look at me. She was naturally pretty, even though she wore heavy makeup. She had bangs and her long hair was in loose curls. She said, "do I know you?" The nervous version of me took over. 'Umm, maybe....... Are you Laura?" I asked nervously. "Yes!!!! I am!!!! Ooh I'm so excited for you! How's India?" She said.  Weird question. I was literally out of questions so I just answered whatever she said. I had another class with Andrew later that day, but something weirded me out.

I saw him almost going to kiss a girl but the teacher came in. Maybe he was going to do something else.  The girl had an irritated look on her face. She looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't recognize her. He smirked and shrugged. "God!!!!! He looked so handsome doing that!" I said to myself. I decided to see if it was him or not. "Are you Andrew Menches?" I asked. He was tall so I had to look up while talking to him. "Yeah." He said. "Don't you recognize me?" I said. He looked at my face like I was some kind of Observation Object. "Sorry, I have to go now, but you do look very familiar." He said. Those words hurt me. How could he not recognize me? We 'were' best friends for crying out loud.

Who did he think he was? I would not talk to him anymore. If he knew me then he wouldn't do this. Was I really that unrecognizable???

I guess not because Tyler could recognize me. Why did Andrew forget about me? The rest of my day went okay, but I did meet two other friends. I met Zac and Sasha. Well I didn't actually talk to them or anything. Zac hung out with Dylan, so I guessed they would be the same type. Sasha didn't even notice me. She had a group which she hung out with. I thought I'd talk to her later one day. I guess I forgot about lunch. I just joined a table where I thought people would be friendly.

I looked around the cafeteria. There were ten tables. The jocks, the cheerleaders, the nerds, the weirdos, the goths, the smart but rude people, the nice but dumb people, our table and an extra table for punished students. I think I chose that table because there were girls who were smart and funny. The only problem was that they were all best friends. A girl named Lisa was there who was in my elementary. I wasn't exactly friends with her, she was too quiet. I could have joined another table, but I just didn't. I'd have to be one of them, I said to myself. When I got back home, my mom started asking me her never ending questions.

"How was your day? Did you meet any of your old friends? Do you like the school? Are the teachers nice?" The best way to bypass these questions is to smile and nod your head and that's exactly what I did. I took my phone out and messaged Kavya. Because if the time differences she was sleeping now. I realized I needed to buy some stuff so I walked to the store. It felt a bit chilly. I put my hands inside my pockets. The next day at school I met Ashley. She told me that I had gym today and told me about the school.

I got in homeroom and again those whispers started. We were assigned seats. I asked the teacher. "Hi, I am Kiara, the new student. Where do I sit?" "Okay, you go sit beside Lesley and Dylan, he said pointing to a table. "Okay," I smiled and said. It was good as I could talk to him and see What was going on? I took my seat in front of him beside Lesley. I smirked at him. He said, "What?" I said, "come on Dylan, this isn't how You treat your old friend." He looked even more confused.

"What do you mean?" He finally said. "You don't remember me from third grade? "We were friends!!" I knew he didn't remember but he acted like he did. "Yeah, I remember." He wouldn't talk to me anymore, so I talked with Lesley. She wasn't the friendliest person either. It was just an introduction. Dylan looked weirdly at me. I felt like he was thinking of something. Who cared about what he was thinking anyway? Next, we had biology, so I followed Dylan into the class. As I got in, everyone was talking to someone. I was the only one who didn't have Anyone to talk to. So I opened the biology textbook and started reading it. I couldn't focus on the subject as I was thinking of the next Period. With Andrew. I didn't know if he'd even talk to the weirdo me.

Biology class was okay, as the topics were easy. Next period I had English, so I went to the class. The starting bell rang. The teacher Mrs. Martinez, told us all to get up as she was arranging us to groups of Four for the next two weeks for a project, which she said she'll explain later. Since I literally knew no one in the class except for Andrew and Tyler, I had no specific partner expectations. "Okay, this is how we'll pick groups," Mrs. Martinez said and showed us a jar with folded Pieces of papers. "Your names are all written in the Chits and I'll pick three for each group." She explained. "Got it? "She asked. We all nodded our heads. Apparently no one was very delighted with her plan. She started. "Cassie, Mason and Jason you are a group. Ashley, Taylor and Jordine you are another......." She kept on calling names till six of us were left. "Fawn, Stella and Cameron you are another and," She looked at us three and said, "Andrew, Tyler and Kiara you are the last group." I looked at my teammates. They were looking at everyone ....... Seriously this was so not what I had expected. It just was not real.

"Choose a creative name for your team."Mrs. Martinez said. We Three moved to a group seat. "So what name do we choose?" Tyler said. I had no idea. "Kiara, you were really smart in third grade. Come on, think of a name!" Tyler told me. I raised my eyebrows. Andrew seemed to wake up from his dream. He looked at me then at Tyler. "Wait? You know her? Isn't she new?" He asked Tyler. "You should remember her; she was your best friend!" He said. "What? "Andrew said. I felt that I should speak.

"Well I tried to tell you." I said looking straight into his face for the first time. He had really blue eyes... 'Whoa! Kiara! I'm sorry! I completely forgot! Yeah we were best friends! "He said. I just nodded and smirked at him. Only he thought it was a smile. Tyler looked like he was watching an interesting movie scene. "Okay! So let's decide a name now! We have, like, a minute left," I said glancing into my watch. "Okay, how about reading rangers?" I suggested. Andrew seemed okay with it, but Tyler said, "No, it's too common." "Okay, um how about triforce?" Andrew suggested. I thought it was perfect, but I did not want to look like I adored whatever he said so I was like, "yes, it is good," and looked at Tyler.

He seemed okay with my idea. Just then, Mrs. Martinez said, "Okay, your time's up. Write your names in a piece of paper with your group name." we wrote our names. Well Tyler wrote it. Amazingly, he remembered my last name. Then Mrs. M started telling us what we would be doing.

"Okay, now you must be wondering what we are doing, so I'll tell you. Okay, we are going to work on poetry. I will assign you poets and you will choose two poems and do research on them. I will tell you what exactly you have to research for. For now, choose a number. We'll see who gets who."

After all the choosing, we found out that our poet is Shakespeare. Before discussing our topic any further, the bell rang. I knew that this period would be interesting. I mean, grouped up with two of my closest friends in the elementary is nothing but exciting.

Next, I had French. Since I had no idea of the language, I chose to take first level. Apparently, no one I knew before was in that class. I felt lonely. However, I knew I had to make new friends. I looked around for anyone approachable. There, I saw a girl with long blonde hair. She was sitting alone. The teacher had not come yet.

Therefore, I went up to her and introduced myself. "Hi, I am Kiara. What's your name?" I said to her. "I'm Fawn." She said with a smile. Before we got to say anything, the teacher came in. I went back to my seat in class.  

Chapter 3

I didn't know that she'd be so easy to talk to. She was nice to me,  like everyone, but there was something interesting about her, which  made me want to be her friend. She was always cheery and perfect. I  couldn't talk a lot to her but I found out she's in my gym, choir and  French class.

Next period I had study hall. The only study hall I had  in a week. I entered the class and looked at my seat. I was just next  to the whole gang of populars. By populars I mean the group of guys  who were extremely hot and were not approachable by me. I know it's  weird. I am a weird type of person too. I sat down on the chair, and I  took out my stuff and reviewed what I needed to organize. I know,  third day of school and organizing!

Due to boredom, I started  daydreaming .... "Andrew I like you." "Kiara I like you too." " So will we officially  be declared a couple? " "We should, but what about that blonde girl  who's after you?" "Ohh I can leave her for you"..........

I snapped out of my cheesy daydream on hearing a "thump!" Sound. Guess  what? When I looked around, blondie (girl who was about to kiss  Andrew) was looking right at my face, amused by my expression. Also,  she was sitting right next to me. Another person I had no intentions  of talking to. But why was I dreaming of Andrew?

He couldn't even  notice me. I had no chances of going out with him. Plus, he was taken.  I hated hearing that. I always thought he would be there for me. Maybe  fantasy was taking over realty in me... I am totally not a girl who  goes gaga for guys.

But Andrew might be an exception. I hate  exceptions. Study hall was a long class. I decided that if I become a loner, I'll  remain one forever. So I looked at blondie and smiled. She smiled too.  Then she asked me," What's your name?" "Kiara." I said. "Really?" She  said. Awkward. Then I asked her name,I can't keep calling her Blondie  forever. "Nicole." She said. "Were you in Cedar Ridge Elementary?" I  asked that stupid question again.

"Yeah. Why?" Nicole said. "Oh my god! You were my friend back there."  I said. She looked surprised. "That's why you looked so familiar!" She  said. I took a breath. My close friend Nicole who never talked much to  boys was now dating Andrew? I had to find out by engaging her into a  conversation. "So, what's going on?" I asked. Seriously, is that your  best question? I said to myself. Nicole raised her eyebrow.

"Do you  mean you want to know about our old friends?" She asked. I nodded my  head. But that's when that huge group of guys came over. "So Nicole , wanna go out on Friday?" Andrew asked her. I guess I  blushed because I could feel my burning cheeks. Not wanting to be  embarrassed I looked down on my desk pretending to be absorbed in  writing my name on a worksheet. "Kiara no one ever does study hall  worksheets!" Nicole exclaimed. Then looking at the guys she says,  "Okay, this is Kiara from elementary. She went back remember?"

Out of  whoever was sitting there, I could recognize only three. Study hall was a long class. I decided that if I become a loner, I'll  remain one forever. So I looked at blondie and smiled. She smiled too.  Then she asked me," What's your name?" "Kiara." I said. "Really?" She  said. Awkward. Then I asked her name,I can't keep calling her Blondie forever. "Nicole." She said. "Were you in Cedar Ridge Elementary?" I asked that stupid question again. "Yeah. Why?" Nicole said. "Oh my god! You were my friend back there." I said. She looked surprised. "That's why you looked so familiar!" She said. I took a breath. My close friend Nicole who never talked much to boys was now dating Andrew? I had to find out by engaging her into a conversation.

"So, what's going on?" I asked. Seriously, is that your best question? I said to myself. Nicole raised her eyebrow. "Do you mean you want to know about our old friends?" She asked. I nodded my head. But that's when that huge group of guys came over. "So Nicole , wanna go out on Friday?" Andrew asked her. I guess I blushed because I could feel my burning cheeks. Not wanting to be embarrassed I looked down on my desk pretending to be absorbed in writing my name on a worksheet. "Kiara no one ever does study hall worksheets!" Nicole exclaimed. Then looking at the guys she says, "Okay, this is Kiara from elementary. She went back remember?" Out of whoever was sitting there, I could recognize only three. Andrew, Tyler and Dylan. "Kiara this is Zac , Richard , Nick, Andrew, Tyler , Dylan , Ryan and Jacob. They all looked up and smiled. I smiled at them and mouthed a hi. I didn't actually notice Ryan and Jacob before. They were changed but had a mischievous look in their eyes. By then I guessed I met all my friends. They were like a huge group now. But Nicole really amazed me, she just wasn't social, always quiet and- "what the f***? That's not funny," Nicole said.

Okay, swear words? Soo not Nicole. I decided to start talking to them , but then a guy with almost black but dark brown hair stood beside me. "Look do you want to go to the library with me? You are new and you might like it." I shrugged. "Sure! Lets go." I said. I signaled a quick bye to Nicole. She clearly wanted to talk to me some more. I took my stuff realizing that maybe the period might end. "Okay! Lets go!" I said to the guy. We got out of the class and went out into a long hallway. I looked at him and said, "So, what's your name?" "Michael, what's yours?" He replied. "I'm Kiara." "Nice name." He said grimly. Okay, was he always like that? I had no idea where he was going. He kept on opening his mouth to say something but he never said anything. Now that was weird.

Then we reached the library. As Michael opened the door, I was literally amazed. It was the best school library I've ever been to! It was huge! I loved it! I guess I was a nerd after all. But it was amazing. Michael then broke my amazed phase. "So aren't you gonna browse through?" he asked me. I said, "Y-Yes..... Sure... I-I- Will" god! talk about being amazed by a library! "So do you want me to show you through?" he asked. I replied, "Nope. I'm good on my own." I said. He sgrugged and went of to the other side.

" I hate school projects." Andrew said. We four were teamed up for a project in science.( In grade 3) "No problem. It's easy." I said. Tyler agreed with me . He loved science too. "So I'll go grab some books for this thing?" Nicole said. She never denied anything but she personally didn't like science that much....... Nicole came back with two books in her hand."Ooh I got an awesome topic!" Tyler said. "What?" Andrew asked. "I read about it in an encyclopaedia. How about the phases of the moon?" "What's that?" I asked. Andrew and Nicole also never heard about that. "See, I dont know everything but its about why we see different shapes of the moon. Like the full moon and the half moon. You know..." "It's an amazing topic," I said. "Lets do it!" Andrew said. "yeah, this is exciting, we'll get the highest grade." Nicole said. "It's not going to be easy," Tyler said. "So? We'll do it!" I and Andrew exclaimed, "Thats called spirit!"

Lets see, Sci-Fi, Horror, Humor, Cooking?, Art,............Romance. Thats just what I want. I might be a nerd but I adore all sorts of romances and teen fiction books. I went to the Romance section and scanned through the books on the shelves. One caught my eye. 'Keeping The Moon by Sarah Dessen." I never heard her name in India. Maybe her books were available here. As I was about to take it, I saw Michael In the Sci-Fi section. I personally did not read that genre ever. I went up to him. I just felt really cheery so I started talking to him.

"So do You come here alot?" He looked at me and nodded. "Yeah..." I looked inquisitively at his face, hoping he'll ask me something. Well he did. "So have you chosen a book?" "Um yeah......" "Okay, lets check out." I followed him to the desk in the front. "hi, I'm the new student Kiara." I said and put on a smile. "Nice to meet you. Welcome to MHS. I'm Mrs. Carter." She smiled.

"Thank you," I said after getting the book from her. On our way back, Michael asked, "So, I heard you are a 'not so new' student." I loved hearing the words'Not so new student' so I smiled and said, "yeah, I was here in elementary school." By then I could see our classroom. "If you need any help or anything tell me," He said. I smiled and said, "Yes. Sure." Wow that was really nice of him. He was so nice to me. When I got in the class I saw that we had 10 minutes of class left. I decided to test my luck with these popular guys.

I put on a smile and sat down on my seat. "Did you like the library?" A red haired girl said in a not so nice tone. "Yeah" I said in a not so confident voice. Nicole laughed and said, "Don't mind Audrey, she's always like that. She is trying to be nice....." I shrugged. I realized one thing. The attitude of my Indian friends is totally different from the attitude of the girls here. I'd have to change.....again if I didn't want the weirdo label. Ryan asked, "So are you liking it here?" Before I could reply, Jacob said, "What kind of a question is that ? That is so derpy." "Whoa dude! I was talking to HER! Not you!" Andrew chose to talk to me.

"They are always like that." I gave him a small smile. He returned me another smile. I felt so crumbly inside and immediately looked down hoping no one would notice. Since I was new I had no idea what they were talking about, so I got bored.... I started reading my book, glancing at Michael. He was staring at the ceiling. Why was he so weird? He looked at me. I gave a weak smile but he didn't exactly smile back. What was up with him?

I literally had nothing to do. Next, we had lunch. I followed Nicole. They got in the caff. It looked like they wouldn't want me to join them in their popular table. So I shrugged and went of to my own table. I took a seat. All the girls in my table were talking. I felt someone was near me. I looked up and saw two girls observing me. I tilted my head. "Hi I'm Kiara." Out if them both, one was Japanese and the other was mixed I guess. "Oh I'm Janice and she's Kim." They both smiled. "Why don't you sit near us?" "Ok." I said and I moved towards left of the table. Was Janice my friend?

"So um Janice, do you know me?" "Huh?" She asked. "Wait, your kiara right? I think I knew someone named kiara." "Well, I was in cedar ridge elementary and a girl named Janice was my friend." I said as a matter of factly. 'Ohh! I remember!!!" She said and the same thing happened which all my other friends did. She introduced me to everyone in the table and asked stuff about me. Kim started talking to me. "This is silly but do you eat rice at your house?" She asked. "Yeah. Why?" I said. "No, no, it's nothing. I love rice and I heard Indians eat rice. I'm not racist!" She said all at once.

I just smiled. "Ohh..." I said. Kim was more interested in me then Janice, she kept on talking nonstop with me. "So umm what do you call your parents?" She asked. "Ma and baba." I said. She looked really into Indian culture. After lunch we had algebra honors class. I got in the class and saw that Laura, Tyler and Ryan were sitting together. The teacher asked me to sit beside Ryan as the seat beside him was the only empty one. As I sat, he smiled at me. "Hey," I said. "Ohh hi," he said. But we couldn't talk more because class started.

"So today we will work on functions." Our teacher Mr. George said. The whole class groaned. I had a little idea of functions, and I heard they are hard. "Okay, turn to page 340 in your textbooks." I raised my eyebrows. I guess Ryan saw me doing that so he told me,"We got textbooks in the beginning of the month, you need to get one from him," he said pointing to Mr. George in the back. I turned back. Tyler was sitting right beside me. He smirked when he saw my bemused expression . "Ohh I'll go and ask him for one." I gave him a grateful smile.

Ryan was a very studious person, as he was actually doing all the work. I didn't even talk to him that much. Tyler, on the other hand, was having an amazing silent flirting time with the girls. I turned towards him and mouthed, "what are you doing?" With a smirk. Now that was a lame question. He didn't reply. He just raised one eyebrow and smirked. I didn't know how the American teens normally conversed . This stuff was way too confusing. After we finished our work, we got some free time where everyone was moving to seats near their best friends.

Laura was approaching towards me. I was ready to talk, really happy that shed come here just to talk to me. I was wrong. She went near Ryan's seat and they both started talking to each other. It looked pretty cute. I had no idea what they were talking about, but Laura was blushing. I had no one to talk to. I opened my book and started to read it- "Ow !" I said after I felt something poke me. I immediately turned back and saw Tyler. He was smirking with a pencil in his hand. "What?" I said in my most 'i'm irritated' voice.

He looked sideways into my desk. "Are you seriously gonna read that?" He asked. I had no reply to that. Maybe the girls here didn't read these types of books. "Umm yeah, why?" I asked him. "No never mind." He said. I didn't talk anymore with him because that's exactly when the bell rang. We went out. I got into my history class and introduced myself to the teacher. Her name was Mrs. Stevens. In the History Class, I could see three people I knew.

Chapter 4

Well those three people were Jake, Andrew and Michael. Well, I didn't actually know them but you know, they were the closest of anyone I knew till then.  As a matter of fact, Mrs. Stevens made me sit beside Michael. To be honest, I kind of wanted to sit with him. I took a look around the class. There was Jake sitting in the middle, looking downwards (I guess he was texting). Way behind, sat Andrew. In the same row, in the fourth seat in the row sat Michael. Everyone looked pretty bored.

I took my seat and smiled. He smiled back. He had a notebook on his desk. Well, only five students had notebooks and only two were actually writing down whatever Mrs. Stevens was saying. I thought about taking out mine. From my knowledge of teen movies and novels I'd be considered a nerd or geek. I totally didn't want to be that. So I just sat there. I thought the class was pretty interesting. They definitely had a different style of teaching style than in India. This was much better than the boring lectures we had to hear.

After her class was over she gave us a worksheet. It's due tomorrow. A few people worked on it, while the others just talked. I decided to take my chances with Michael. "So um what's your favorite subject?" I asked him. "Hmm I like english." he said.

English was the subject I was the worst on. Speaking of which, it was the class where I had to be teamed with Andrew and Tyler. Anyways, after that I had tech. ed. Well, we would design a little car. I was excited about how we would make it. Plus, it would be my first ever woodwork. In India, we never did woodwork or had a class like this. 

Well Nicole and the twins(Ryan and Jake) were there. They were all sitting together. I saw that no one is never mean to the new student so I decided to give it a try. I went to the empty seat beside them and saw that they were talking about something I had no idea about. It was weird listening to them and not being able to say anything. They were talking about their hangouts. Maybe I would never hang out with them again. Maybe I would never be one of them again. Anyways it wasn't that they were rude to me or anything. They were pretty fun people. Nicole paired up with me, for our team selection. That was very nice of her. 

The rest of the class went by. Next period I had choir. I was a good singer(not boasting!) so I was pretty confident about the class. Laura met me by the door of the class and asked me to sit with her. I was about to sit with her, when our teacher Mrs. Morgan asked me to audition for my group. I had no idea what that was. In India, in singing class, we all sang in a single group. She asked me to follow what she did. She played some notes on the piano while singing them in do-re-mi form. I repeated them after her. After singing, she said,"Okay, you go sit with the Sopranos." "Sure." I said. 

Later, I learnt that there were three groups. The sopranos, altos and baritones. We were handed sheet music. The sopranos sang such high pitches! It was good altogether.

After dispersal, I sat on the bus listening to music. I played an indian song. It reminded me of my friends back in India. We had so much fun! I had finally made best friends but now I was here, to make friends all over again. I hoped I would have good friends. Well, after a few days I would find out, as everyone was nice to me because I was new. 

Back at home, I had nothing to look forward to. I opened my facebook. I had almost twenty notifications and messages. It was from my friends back in India. I realised that I would have to send some friend requests to the people here. I started searching. 

 Well, I looked over the pages of Fawn, Janice, Laura, Ashley( remember the girl who was my 'mentor'), Michael, Molly, Nicole, Zac, Dylan, Tyler, Ryan and Jake. I still couldn't find the profile of Andrew. Maybe he didn't have a facebook account. Feeling I had done enough, I switched my computer off.

Chapter 5

The next day at school, you could say I was pretty excited. Well, I sat with Annika in the bus. Then everything went okay. It was just embarrassing to talk to everyone, because I just didn't know them and it was pretty boring being by yourself . Well everyone had a best friend except me. But during biology class, I was in for a surprise. A new student came! Exactly. It's weird I know. The kid's name was Eric. I could understand why the teacher told me that I was Abby's partner for 'awhile' only.

Well, Eric looked pretty friendly to me. So for me, it meant a new friend. I sat with Eric in the first row. He smiled at me. I smiled back. He asked me what my name was. I told him my name and mentioned that I was new too. He looked pretty comfortable after that. I felt that he could be a good friend of mine.

Well, I learnt some things about him. Like he was from England , had three brothers and a sister. It was fun talking to him. I felt like I would not suffer from loneliness again.

Later onwards, during English class, I sat in my little group with Andrew and Tyler. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. Andrew and Tyler were jocks so naturally I was the only one who worked.

They did talk to me though. Tyler was busy flirting with some blond haired freak. "So hey Kiara, how's it going ?" Andrew asked me.

I was going to reply, well , I just could not reply to him . "Y-yeah, it issss going g-good" is what came out of my mouth. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. "Ohh....kay" Andrew said. Naturally I had nothing to say. Tyler broke the silence. "So you decided what poems we are choosing?" To be honest I actually didn't want Tyler to come. I sort of wanted to keep on talking to Andrew about our old days to make him remember how we used to be best friends, but I couldn't as I just couldn't talk to him. It felt so weird.

I think Tyler expected me to know the answer, because, when I said, "nope!" Popping the p, he looked surprised. Andrew looked busy tying to yank a piece of paper out of his stuffed binder. Yup, that's what these things were called. Never heard or used them before. Anyways, I think I zoned out. Seeing my ex best friend after so many years made me feel awkward. But what if he didn't feel the same way about me. Tyler understood the tension between us and shrugged. "Dude! I'll go check on Natalie..." He said emphasising on the word check while false battling his eyelashes. I had no idea how an American girl would react to this, so I did what I saw most of the girls doing. I rolled my eyes.

To be honest, I had no idea about what was going on with Andrew. He was staring at me. "What?" I asked softly. "Oh, it's uh , nothing, actually" he stuttered. I shrugged and smiled. God why was he so cute looking? But he wasn't cute for a long time, because , right then, came two girls and some guy. I think it was Zac. They just sat down beside Andrew. Andrew shrugged at me and turned around to talk to them. I tried joining their conversation, but they were talking about some girl named Emily who I had no idea was. So I went towards a little shelf where I thought I had seen a book on the works of Shakespeare. I grabbed it and got it.

By then, I saw that Tyler was back. He too was talking to them. I realized that I was going to be quite lonely. But Tyler turned around to face me. "What's that?" He asked me. "Oh, it's just a book that has the poems I guess." I said. He looked interested. "Okay, look this is straightforward but Andrew is NOT smart," he said quietly,"so we are gonna do this ourselves." I nodded . I remembered that I was the one who used to help Andrew in these subjects. "Yeah, I remember..." I added. Andrew's friends went away so he turned around. "Got anything?" He asked me. "Nope. You can help." I said, hoping what I said didn't sound sarcastic.

Then we decided our poems. I wrote one down. I didn't feel like talking anymore. I felt like I should just keep quiet. But I realized I had to ask one question. "Hey Tyler, who's your best friend?" The moment I asked it, I felt like I shouldn't have asked that question. "I am." Andrew said. So Andrew was listening to us. I was silent. Somehow I uttered the words "ohh good.." I realized my friend Andrew had moved on. Even , his new best friend was Tyler. Well I didn't know if it was new or not.

Anyways, I realised that two of MY closest friends were also players. Well, I found that out during lunch when I was asking my friends about them.

"Do you know Andrew Menches?" I asked a girl, I think her name was Alice. "Andrew Menches the jerk?" she asked me. "Maybe. You see the guy in the blue tshirt? Thats the Andrew I'm talking about." I explained. "Yeah, he's not a good guy. You should stay away from him. Wait....Do you like him?" she asked me. Then all the girls turned towards me. "Huh? No! N-Why would I like him?" I asked her. "Oh, I don't know....yeah you are right..why will you like HIM?" she said. Then they all started talking about him. "You know what? Andrew asked me out this day..... I found out he was just having fun. I actually went to the mall and saw that he was there. With his friends all laughing at me. It was so humiliating!" She said. I was kind of shocked. How

could the sweet and nice Andrew I knew do this? "Oh and there was his bff Tyler with him. I guess he felt bad or something, so he apologized for him. He said it was some sort of joke the guys had." Tyler was cute.

But these weird feelings about Andrew would never go no matter how popular he was. It was just too weird. I looked over to the 'popular' table or so as it was called. There were almost all my old friends sitting over there gossiping and flirting or whatever. I just felt that I didn't belong there. So I listened to what all the girls were saying. It was so foreign to me, they were talking about things I never understood . I hope I will gradually adjust to all this.

After lunch in my algebra class, it was hard. Not just the things which we were learning but also focusing on my attitude difference from the other girls. The good news was that Eric was in my class. So I kind of felt better that I had someone to talk to. But according to what I saw, Eric was popular already.

Well I accept I was a bit jealous of him. Why would he not be popular???? British accent, football player, he also did swimming. In America, these were somethings popular guys needed. I have no idea why, but the American girls love British accents. They pounce on guys like him, I just realized. He got in a minute after me. He took the seat beside me. I smiled at him. From behind me, I could hear some girls whispering , probably about him. "Well, look at you, you're popular already," I told him. He smiled. "Well, it's not in my hands." He said.

I personally didn't like British accent. Even in India, I was the only one who disliked British accent. "You know what? I just found out rugby is football." "Yeah." I said and sighed. He was smart too. Nicole was in there too. She came up to me and him. I said hi to her. After she said hi to me, she started to flirt with Eric. I was annoyed. Didn't she have a boyfriend already? Why the heck was she even near him? I frowned and carried on with those hard problems we had to solve in math.

Nothing exciting happened today ...except for choir class. Today I heard Michael sing. Alone. Well we are doing this song for our concert, so the auditions for the solo were going on. I heard Michael try it out. Gosh, was he amazing! I mean, it was perfect. I thought it was a perfect singing voice and he should definitely have the male solo. I would have auditioned for it if I knew the lines.

So that's what happened. In the bus, it looked like Annika wanted to sit with me, so I grabbed a seat beside her. She was listening to music, but she took her earphones off. We talked. Back at home, I checked my Facebook account . It was filled with 'miss you!'s from all my friends back in India. Also, many people accepted my requests. I sent some more today. After all that stuff, I opened my binder and took out those math problems. Boy, those were hard! I wonder what's gonna happen in school tomorrow. Well I am excited for school!

Chapter 6

It's been a month since I joined the school. Let me tell you what's going on. Well, our English project went okay. We got a B on it since Andrew had no idea about the thing when we presented. I guess our research wasn't very good either. I got really close to Fawn, it's like she's my closest friend here. Also, I get really bored in lunch. Everyone talks to themselves but me. I mean they do, but, it's pretty boring. Andrew's 'on and off' girlfriend is Nicole. They are fighting now. I think they'll break up..

I also think very soon I will get the classification of geek. I am pretty good in my classes and I suck at anything related to sports. Maybe I would have been better if I actually lived here because I remember being really good at basketball. Basically I would play with Andrew and Tyler. In India, the only sport I played was badminton. There were other classes but no such craze as here.

I joined the science club. Well, Nicole, Eric and Michael are there in that too. I don't talk much with Andrew or Tyler anymore. Eric is a cool guy and well, Michael is too quiet for me. I mean I love his singing voice but I am a very talkative person, and well, he's not. Molly..... I think I kind of forgot about her. She's not the nicest person in the world. She hates the world, she says.

I found out some stuff about Andrew. He still plays hockey, and also football I guess. He has a group of best friends who are all the popular people and majority of them were my friends in third grade. I heard all the girls who are his friends are 'biatches' , but they've never been rude or anything to me yet. It's probably because I'm new.

I look like his stalker but everyone knows all this stuff about him. Tyler, on the other hand is a baseball player. He is currently dating some girl named Anna. Dylan, if you remember him, he's not that good of a person, but now he's considerately nice to me. I mean, he teases me but he has helped me sometimes too. Probably because we were friends before. He is one of the rudest boys in ninth grade.

Occasionally I get lonely but I do have people to talk to. Just one problem, actually a huge problem. The Racism. I mean, some people just ignore me for no reason. Sure, I'm Indian, but that really doesn't mean that I am some kind of idiot. The racist people are either straightforwardly racist (Like saying rude racist stuff in your face) or the twisted kind where you insult a person but it takes time to figure out insults. I mean, those bug me the most.

The people here have these things called comebacks, and boy do I suck at them!!! Whenever someone says something like "Your ugly.", everyone knows what to say to them back. I take time to think of a comeback, which gets on my nerves a lot. Plus I noticed that some people here just don't answer your question. I mean, that is so ignorant and rude!!!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In school, the other day I had quite a good day.

So it all started with me almost being late... To biology class. The bell rang ,like , 3 seconds after I entered the class. We had a quiz last week and today we'd get back the results. I got a 100 percent! Eric got a 95 percent. He said he thought he'd get a low B or something.

During English class, I found Andrew looking at me. But when looked towards him, he just looked away. Probably he was embarrassed. We were doing another project, but this one, with one partner. My partner was Tyler. Though I personally wanted it to be Andrew , I was happy. Maybe I could be close with them gradually.

We had an announcement. There would be a school dance after two months. We would get the details on it later. Wow! A school dance? It would be my first. To be honest I actually never thought that school dances existed. I mean, only in movies and books! I already pictured myself dancing with Andrew. Well now I'm embarassed. Forget that I ever thought of that.

Then later on in lunch, I found out that Janice was part Indian. She had an Indian grandma. We talked about some Indian stuff. It was cool. I talked a lot with my friends today.....

In fact, at home I had another surprise awaiting me. It was my aunt Sophia. Her actual name is Sharmila but she changed it to Sophia. I've only seen her once before. She would be sharing a room with me. Yay! Though we didn't meet, we frequently chatted and sent emails. She just finished college. I'm pretty excited about what we are both gonna do. She's a very fun person! Sometimes a bit too fun though!

Chapter 7

I took Sophia to my room. She was actually more of a sister than an aunt to be really honest. "Wow, nice room." she said. "Nice sarcasm...." I said trying to sound as grown up as I could. "Well it wasn't sarcasm though...." Sophia said with a smirk. We both sat on my bed. I jumped off my bed and went to the kitchen to get two glasses of juice for the both of us.

I handed her a glass. "Thanks," she said while taking a sip. "No problem." I replied with a smile. "So how's your new school?" She asked. I actually had a lot to say, but I just wasn't feeling like telling her everything now. "It's good." I sighed. "Ohh well, we'll find out." Sophia said. 

I looked at my phone. A reminder popped up. I had homework to do. Not just a bit, but like three subjects. It is so annoying.... like I could talk to her about so many things! But no, my homework has to ruin the moment. "I'll go get my backpack," I said and left the room. 

"Homework huh?" Sophia asked. "Yeah," I said. "Well you can leave those alone." She said with a twinkle in her brown eyes. "Huh?" I asked. "Yeah, tomorrow you are gonna spend some time with your aunt. We are going somewhere!!!!! But it's a surprise.... I've said too much." She looked so happy. I knew missing a day of school meant missing a lot. Who cares? I'd go somewhere with Sophia!

We told my mom that me and Sophia would just go for a drive or something. It was pretty good that my mother didn't know Sophia's wild side. If she knew, then I'd probably never be allowed to go with her.

It was 8 in the morning. Sophia pulled up my covers and I immeadiately woke up, all annoyed. "Wha-" I started, but then I stopped remembering the fact that we would go somewhere. As fun as she was, you wouldn't want to get her mad.

"So where are we going?" I asked, right after having my breakfast. "It's a surprise!" She said in a chirpy voice. "Okay, what type of clothes should I wear?" I asked. She looked thoughtful. "Just wear capris and a shirt." I took it literally and wore my denim capris with a plaided shirt I had got from Hollister.

After 15 minutes, we got out. The wait in the car felt longer than usual. "So do you like sports?" she asked me. I honestly did not like sports or knew anything at all about them at all. Maybe she was taking me to a game. I actually had no idea about any game. I didn't want her to change her plans. "Yeah.." I said trying so sound as happy as possible. God this was going to be boring. Soooo not like Sophia though.

To my surprise, the car stopped at what appeared to be an outlet mall. I was surprised. It was huge and  all I said was "Wow." 

"You need cool clothes.... I saw your clothes. Come on!! Get some shorts!" She said. True, my closet wasn't very cool. It had plain stuff in it. "For this guy..... I forget...I think his name is Andrew... you need a makeover. I know you like him, and if you want to be cool, you need to dress cool... " she said.

I tried to remember when I told her about Andrew. Oh well, she could help me. I knew she could. The populars did wear nice preppy clothes. 

We went and shopped at Hollister, American Eagle, Abercrombie, Wetseal and Victoria's Secret. I personally had no idea why I had to wear a $50 shirt only with the words LOVE PINK  to school. It didn't even look very good. When I asked Sophia she was like, "You'll see." We both bought shoes. Oh well, my aunt was rich. Plus she's spending HER money on me, so, who cares? I had like, practically six bags of stuff . I'd probably not need to buy anything for a year. It was 2 in the afternoon. 

"Where do we go now?" I asked. "We'll have lunch. Wanna go to subway?" she asked. I love Subway. "Sure." I said and we headed in for lunch.

After lunch, around three, Sophia was taking me somewhere again. I had no idea where. Now the final part of your little makeover. Your hair and makeup!" She exclaimed.

I had a mini shock. Why my hair? And makeup? I never wore makeup!! I liked my long black hair just the way it was. I think Sophia read my thoughts. "Don't worry, you are pretty!! You are gonna get highlights! I have makeup for you! Natural ones, so don't worry...." she said

I was so excited!!! I would get highlights!!! Yay!!! I love my aunt!!! She's so awesome!

At the salon, the lady was pretty nice. I realised I'd get a haircut and then brown highlights. I was so happy!!!!!! 

My hair was now shoulder length( a bit longer than that actually) with layers and amazing brown highlights! Sophia put on some makeup which hid two pimples I had. This might sound weird, but I look amazing! 

After I went home, my parents were really surprised. They probably didn't expect that! I was super happy and clicked some pictures of mine. I uploaded them on facebook. I was extremely excited about school tomorrow. But then I remembered, my homework!!! Ugh! 

It took me two hours to complete that pile of homework.

............................The Next Day......................

I woke up to the sound of the alarm clock. I was so excited! I chose a light pink loose shirt and my new denim shorts to wear. I looked at my hair. It looked pretty good, so I didn't need to do anything. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I put on concealer to cover up those blemishes. 

As I got on the bus Annika looked pretty surprised on seeing me. "Love your hair!" she exclaimed. "Thanks" I smiled. I told her about Sophia and how she gave me a makeover. She was impressed. I was actually nervous. Like I was on the first day of school. 

We finally reached the school. I walked up to my homeroom. Everyone started to say stuff I had no idea about. I heard some whisper my name.... It was a weird experience.

During biology, Eric looked amazed. In fact, I saw him looking at me more than once. "What?" I said with a smirk. "Nothing, It's just.....you" he uttered. "Huh?" Is all I could say. "Well you changed" he said. I think he liked the old me better. But no way was the old me coming back. I loved the new me already. 

I got a lot of attention today. But three people gave me the most. Andrew, Tyler and Michael. Now Andrew looked really surprised. I think he liked it better. Tyler kept on flipping my hair to annoy me. He was cool with it too. But what surprised me was Michael. I mean, he was all negative. He didn't like my new makeover. I was wearing branded though. I don't know why but Andrew talked to me alot today. I mean, we havent talked so much for nearly a month.

Maybe he talked to me because I dressed like a popular. Or even a wannabe. I hope I didn't look like a wannabe. Oh no! I think I did. Now I understand why Michael was so negative. Thats why the populars payed no attention to me. Oh no Sophia!!! What have you done?? 

Anyways I hope my friends are gonna remain my friends. Maybe my chances to be popular are gone. Maybe it's all over. Or maybe not.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 14.06.2013

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