Blandview High Musical

1. New Kid In School

I sighed, leaning my elbow on the rim of the window of the front passenger seat. Condensation rolled down the window smoothly as the car bounced along. "What's wrong, honey?" My mother asked, she reached over patting her hand on my leg. "Nothing." I said, using a dismissive tone.

If you're wondering what's really wrong, let's start with this thing called my life. Things were really fabulous until my dad decided that he was going to leave us. It made things very difficult for my mother and I. Since then, all we've done is move around. Every single year, I'm going to a new school. I have to make new friends, experience new things...all of the shit I'd rather not do.

What's the use of getting attached if I'm just going to turn around and leave? At every single school, I've made use of the theater department since middle school. I've been in countless plays and it's really become an outlet for me. Sometimes I wish my life was a musical. I wish people would be dancing and singing and that would just be my whole life. You know, like Grease or High School Musical. But beggars can't be choosers. Instead, I'm stuck in this shitty life for the time being. "Listen honey, this will be your last year and then you can take up permanent residence somewhere else or here if that's what you want." My mother offered. "Yeah, I plan on moving far away from here." I sneered. I heard my mother sigh. I wasn't really in the mood to even make eye contact with her.

She pulled up to the school and I got out. I didn't even say goodbye. I could feel students' eyes falling all over me as I walked. My anxiety was creeping up and it was making my ears feel like they were on fire. The last thing I need is to feel that twinge of social anxiety, then I'll really sabotage my chances of making friends. I just pulled my bag closer to myself as I walked towards the front of the building. Standing on the outside of the building was a girl. She had long brunette colored hair, pulled into a half up do. She smiled at me. She was standing with another girl who had red hair and one who had blonde hair. I just looked away. Only I could screw up something like that. I pulled the door open and walked inside. The crest on the front of the door was blue and gold, the letters circling around the crest read: BLANDVIEW HIGH SCHOOL, LA CALIFORNIA.

Originally, I'm from Pennsylvania, but like I said previously, we move around a lot. Our final stop is here in California. I've spent most of my high school years in this state, whereas my middle school years were spent in Arizona. While it was all in the same state, we just moved towns/cities a lot. I approached the front desk and was met with the smiling face of an older woman. "You must be new here." She said. Oh yeah? How can you tell? "I am." "First and last name?" She asked. I sighed. "Gillian Demofonte." I said. "Demofonte? That's an interesting name." "I'm sure it is." She started in with idle chatter. I didn't want to be rude, but I was nervous enough already. "Can I just have my schedule?" I asked. Her brows raised. "I'm sorry, I just have really bad anxiety and I need to get to the bathroom so I can vomit it all back up." I said. The printer finished whirring and she picked the paper from the tray. She handed it to me. "Welcome to Blandview High." She said.

I plucked the paper from her fingers and turned around to walk out into the hallway. As I was going, the bell rang and students started flooding in from outside. I just ducked into the bathroom. I found myself leaning over the toilet, vomiting into it. I heard the main door open as I was wiping my mouth. Heavy footfalls fell against the tile flooring before stopping at the sink counter. I stood up, flushing the toilet. I pushed the door open and that brunette was sitting there on the sink counter swinging her legs. She smiled once more. I moved towards the sink, turning on the water so I could rinse out my mouth. "Gum?" She asked. Her voice was soft and endearing. I spat the water into the sink, raising my head and looking at her. "Excuse me?" "Do you want some gum for that?" She asked. "Uhh..." "It's peppermint. I was just thinking about your breath for the rest of the day." She said. "Oh! Umm...sure thing." She immediately moved to shuffle through her bag for the gum. She pulled it out and handed it to me. "My name is Jade." She said.