First Timer :)

[jessijor.livejournal.com]

Hey there. My name is Jess and I love writing for fun. This is my newest work in progress that is currently Untitled. I was just hoping some people could look over it so I could get a feel for it. So please enjoy and review!! :)


“Katie. Katie, wake up. Come let’s go.”
“Go away,” came the mumbled response.
“Oh, stop that. Let’s go. Mark made breakfast for your first day!”
“Great for Mark.”
“Dear, this isn’t our fault-“
“Mom, I am not in the mood for this. Let me get ready.” Shaking her head, Lillian McClare left.
Katie groaned and sat up in bed. Her mom meant well but Katie was miserable. In just two months everything had changed. Uprooted from her home, Katie was forced to follow her mom on her new life. A new life that included a new state, school, home, and Mark. Mrs. McClare’s new husband was probably a good guy but Katie was not having it. Shaking the thoughts from her head, she went towards her bathroom and began to get ready for the day.

“I’m trying,” Lillian cried, as she sat at the kitchen table. Mark turned around from the stove where he was cooking. He saw the look of despair on his wife’s face and couldn’t fight the guilt from climbing into his heart. He knew Katie wasn’t happy with moving or with him either, but Lillian and him had wanted this more than anything.
“She’ll come around,” Mark said and placed an arm around her. “Sure, she’s stubborn but she’s still trying to make sense of all of this.”
“Yeah, well how long is it going to take? I don’t want to live in constant battle with my own daughter. Don’t I deserve to be somewhat happy?”
“Lil, calm down. She’s probably just scared.” Lillian looked up at him and gave him a small smile. Mark leaned down to give her a kiss.
“Lovely,” Katie remarked as she entered the kitchen. The couple pulled apart abruptly. Katie grab a box of cereal and poured into a bowl.
“Kate, Mark made pancakes.”
“With chocolate chips,” he added in. Katie stopped pouring her milk for a second and looked at the two of them. She knew Mark was trying but this wasn’t right and she couldn’t just accept this.
“I’m not that hungry,” she mumbled and continued on with her cereal. Mark looked at Lillian and just shrugged.

After their uncomfortable breakfast, Katie made a hasty retreat to her room to grab her things. With everything in hand, she looked over at an old picture and sighed. ‘I miss you,’ she thought to herself and headed out the door.
“Bye!” she called and was about to open the garage door when Lillian appeared at the steps.
“Do I at least get a hug goodbye?” Katie turned around and walked up the stairs. “I love you Kate. I just want what’s best for you.” She hugged her daughter and said, “Be good. Have fun!” Katie made a face and headed for her car. The only positive thing about the move had been the chance for her to get her own car. The simple used Jeep Cherokee was one of the few things that kept her sane.
The ride to Twinsburg Regional High School was a short ten minutes. Katie had prayed it would be longer but it was impossible to prolong this day anymore. After finding a distant parking spot and collected her bag and headed towards the school. This was it. This was really begin to cement her new life, like she had a choice. ‘Maybe it won’t be that bad,’ she thought and then grinned, as she made her way to the main office.
The school was somewhat large and the thought of navigating it imitated Katie. Luckily for her, the office was just to the right of the main entrance. She entered the office to find a swarm of people running around to get ready for the first day of classes for the new semester.
“Can I help you?” a middle-aged women finally asked from across the desk.
“Uh, yeah, hi. I’m Katie McClare. I’m a new student here.”
“Oh right. You’re the only new student coming in this semester, lucky you,” the lady winked. “My name’s Beth. Take a seat and I’ll be right with you.”
Katie nodded and sat down on a wooden bench. She wished Beth hadn’t reminded her she was coming in halfway through the school year. It wasn’t bad enough she was new, she had to start in the middle of the year.
“Alright, Katie,” Beth appeared again. “Just come with me to my office for a second.” Katie got up and followed the women into a small office off of the main one.
“How are you, dear?” Beth asked, as she sat behind her desk. Katie looked around and gathered Beth was an important office lady. It almost amused her to think she got her own office.
“Just fine,” she replied.
“Glad to hear and from everyone here, let me tell you we are glad to have you here. We looked over your transcripts and you seem like a fine student. Are you excited to finish your senior year with us?”
“To be honest,” Katie said, looking Beth straight in the eye, “no.”
“Oh, don’t be silly. You’re going to have a great time here. Now, here’s your schedule and locker combination.”
Katie zoned out as Beth continued to talk about the wonderful school. She couldn’t understand how everyone thought she would be happy here. She knew everyone already had their friends and new students weren’t typically welcomed. All she wanted to do was quickly finish her last year of high school and get out of her ‘new’ life. Pennsylvania was not where she belonged.
“So, any questions?” Beth finally asked, pulling Katie from her trance.
“Yeah, how do I find my way around this place?” Beth laughed.
“Oh, it’s easy, don’t you worry. Here I’ll give you a map,” she smiled, pulling a little piece of paper from her desk. “If you need anything, all of us are always here. Now, your first class is in A263 and it already started, so I suggest you get moving.” Katie looked at her map and politely smiled her thanks.
In the hallway, Katie looked at her schedule in one hand and map in the other. Period 1 : Senior Literature A263. At 9:00 she was already lost.
“Need help?” a voice behind her laughed. Katie tensed up. Already she was going to have to deal with crap from students. She turned around, ready to snap, only to realize the voice belonged to a smiling boy.
“I, uh, what gave it away?” she grinned.
“Well most of us don’t walk around with a map and a schedule. But maybe that’s just me.”
“It’s not my fault this school is confusing.”
“Really, it’s not that bad. Where are you going?” he asked, looking over her schedule. “Senior lit. Alright, cool. You’re going with me.”
“Aren’t you late?” she questioned. He laughed.
“I can do whatever I want here.”
“Oh, excuse me!” Katie said, putting her hands up in defense.
“Come on, let’s go,” he smirked and they began to walk. “I’m Shawn by the way.”
“Katie.”
“Katie? Nice to meet you. And alright, here we are.”
They walked into the class already in session. Katie felt all eyes on them and the teacher turned her attention unto them.
“Ah, Shawn. How nice of you to join us. What is it this time?” the teacher questioned.
“Mrs. Campbell, I was just at home making sure I understood the readings,” he winked and took his seat. She shook her head and focused her eyes on Katie.
“And you must be Katie. Am I right?” Katie nodded. “Well everyone, please welcome Katie. I hope you don’t mind, but I like to do something to get everyone to know each other. We did it in the beginning of the year, but we’ll just do it now for you. I’ll have you stand in the front of the classroom and let the students ask you questions. You’ll get to know everyone then and vice versa. Sound good?”
“Do I have a choice?” Katie asked, half joking. Mrs. Campbell smiled as Katie took a seat on the desk in front of the classroom. Twenty-five eyes all focused their attention on her. She wasn’t a shy girl, but this was a lot.
“I’ll start,” Mrs. Campbell stated. “How old are you?”
“I just turned eighteen in November,” she replied and looked out at the other students. They all just seemed to stare at her. She waited in awkward silence and finally a girl raised her hand to ask a question. Katie acknowledged her.
“Hey, I’m Melissa. Where are you from?”
“Acton, Massachusetts. It’s just a small little town but it does the job.”
“So are you a Boston fan then?” a guy asked right after.
“Well,” Katie grinned. “Don’t hurt me but yeah, the Red Sox are my guys.”
“What do you for fun?” another girl questioned.
“I’m probably just like you guys. At least I would hope so. I love music, going out, driving around. Nothing too crazy or exciting here.”
The questions continued and Katie began to feel at ease in the classroom. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
“Alright guys, one more question then we do have do some learning,” Mrs. Campbell finally said after a while.
“I got a good one,” a girl grinned. Katie didn’t like the looks of her. The raven haired girl had a smirk on her make-up clad face. “What do you miss most about home?” Katie sighed. What didn’t she miss was a better question? She missed everything. Her home, her old family, her friends, and him.
“Hello? Are you going to answer anytime soon?” the same girl retorted. Katie blushed slightly.
“Sorry. Well I miss the comforts of home. Like actually knowing where I’m going or knowing the people around me. Here I guess I’m pretty much out of my comfort zone.” Mrs. Campbell smiled.
“Thanks Katie. You can take a seat.” Katie nodded and jumped off the desk. She took the only seat available, in front of the raven haired girl.
“Nice answer,” the dark haired joked, mostly to her friends. Katie sighed and sank into her chair more.
The class carried now and Katie was able to forget about the girls behind her. She actually enjoyed the class and felt some relief with being in the new school. After Mrs. Campbell dismissed the class, Katie felt in a hurry to try and find her locker that she hadn’t had time to do before.
“Hey! Wait up!” Katie looked behind her to see a girl she recognized as Melissa calling after her. “Where’s the fire?” she smiled.
“I got to find my locker.”
“What hall?”
“Um, C?” Katie replied, looking at her schedule.
“I’m in B, but I’ll walk with you to yours. Help you out.”
“You think I need help?” Katie grinned as they started to walk.
“This school’s weird. I actually just got here last year so I think I can kind of relate to what you’re going through.”
“Really? Did you ever start to fit in then?”
“Yes and no. It’s just like any high school. I’m sure you’ll be able to meet people.”
“I’m not too concerned about that. I’ll be gone in June anyways.” Katie shrugged and stopped once she finally found her locker. She played with the lock and threw in the things she wouldn’t be needing.
“So, what class you got now?” Melissa asked.
“Apparently Statistics or so my schedule says.”
“Well, I have the oh so fun, Biology. Meet for lunch.” Katie nodded and went off to find her next class. As she walked, she had to smile. She was glad Melissa had almost attached herself to her. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she did need a friend. She liked how Melissa didn’t let things get to her. The blonde seemed intelligent.
“Hola.” Melissa casually said as she sat down at the table. Katie had found a small table off to the side and had hoped Melissa would find her.
“You find me.”
“You can’t really hide here,” Melissa joked. “Hey I forgot to tell you about.”
“Well, well, well, look who we have here,” the dark haired girl from Katie’s first class smirked, interrupting Melissa. “Our little new girl has a friend.”
“Catherine, go away.” Melissa shook her head.
“I just want to welcome, Katie, here to our school. What’s so wrong with that.” She smiled at Melissa and turned her attention on Katie. The two other girls she was with, laughed in the background. “I’m Catherine and the two behind me are Samantha and Kristin. Listen, stay out of my way. I don’t have time for people like you.”
“Great welcoming speech,” Katie commented.
“Listen, sweetie. I saw you walk in with Shawn, so don’t get any ideas.”
“That boy’s been after Catherine since freshmen year,” Samantha chimed in.
“Congrats.” Katie rolled her eyes and went back to her food.
“Don’t piss me off, Katie,” Catherine warned and stormed off.
“I was going to tell you not to let that bother you,” Melissa finally finished.
“She’s kind of angry, huh?”
“Everyone kind of laughs at her. Ever since she saw Mean Girls she’s been trying to take over the school or so I’ve heard. She’s a little daddy’s girl, rich and all that. But dumb as shit.”
“No, you don’t say,” Katie grinned and just shook her head.
The rest of the day passed somewhat quickly and Katie was relieved to finally make her way to her car. Altogether her classes weren’t bad and she figured she could survive a few months there. As Katie approached her car, she noticed a tall guy leaning against it.
“So, how’d it go?”
“How’d you know this was my car?” She smirked, putting a hand on her hip.
“You know me. I have my ways. But seriously,” Shawn smiled, standing up straight, “how was your first day.”
“Not too bad. I met your biggest fan apparently.”
“Who?”
“Catherine.” Katie noticed his eyes grow.
“Oh. She’s an interesting girl.”
“To say the least.” Katie sighed and felt a silence pass over them. “Okay, can I go or do I have to stand here all night?”
“If you answer me one question.”
“Alright, let’s hear it.”
“Will you hang out with me sometime soon?”
“We’ll see,” she smiled and managed to get into her car.
“Oh, that’s just mean,” Shawn called after her as she started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. She really had no intention of hanging out with Shawn in a date like setting. He was cute with this shaggy brown hair and blue eyes, but Katie just wasn’t interested.
“Katie? Is that you?” Lillian called out. Katie moaned to herself. She had just walked into the door.
“Hi, Mom,” she greeted and meet her in the kitchen. She plopped down on a chair and threw her bag down.
“How’d it go?”
“You know,” Katie began, “it could have been a lot worse. I think I can manage it there for a few months.”
“Really?” Lillian was shocked. She had thought her daughter would continue to be miserable for months. The sudden turn around filled her with hope. Maybe Katie would not resenting her and the move. She could only pray. “Did you meet anyone?”
“Yeah. I mean this one girl who seems pretty cool. And some guy helped me out this morning.”
“A guy?” Lillian really perked up.
“Mom…” Katie sighed. Her mother didn’t understand her and relationships.
“Kate, he hasn’t called.” Katie turned her head away from her mom and fought the tears that threatened her.
“He’s always been busy. He said he’d call as soon as possible.”
“Kate. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I can take care of myself, Mom. I have all along haven’t I?” Katie quickly grabbed her bag and made her way to her room. She went over to her desk and found the picture she was looking for. She was smiling brightly with her arms around a boy with blonde hair. He was looking down on her with a grin. Katie put the picture down and wiped away a tear.
“Why haven’t you called?” she whispered.