Kaleidoscope- a Cherry Valance fanfic

First Day

Mornings were always rough for me, not because of anything, in particular, I just HATE waking up early. They were also the one part of the day that could affect my mood for the rest of it. A bad morning leads to a bad afternoon, which leads to a bad night and possibly bad sleep. 

Anyways, this morning I was awoken by Dallas aggressively shaking me and telling me to 'wake up kid.' I drowsily made my way downstairs almost tripping over a couple of steps. I was greeted by Soda, Darry, Pony and Steve. Steve was chowing down on some chocolate cake so I followed suit, grabbing my own slice. I wasn't in a particularly good mood considering I had to go to school, but I didn't want to seem like a bitch, so I decided to stay quiet instead. I finished eating and went to brush my teeth and shower quickly. 

When I got to my room, I had two choices; 1. not putting any effort into my appearance, or 2. putting in effort and making sure everyone knows I'm pretty. After much deliberation, I decided on #2. I picked out an outfit that was cute, not too revealing, and something that Dally would let me leave the house in. I then did my hair and makeup, going for a natural look, besides the eyeliner. Once I was ready, I headed back downstairs. This time, only Johnny and Pony were there. Both of them eyed me, Johnnys gaze soon shifted but Pony's lingered and a slight blush seemed to have covered his cheeks.

"Steve, Soda and Darry already left for work and uh I don't know where Dally went. Johnny and I was waiting on you to walk to school," Pony spoke.

"Thanks," I said, as I walked out the front door. Johnny followed but Pony was still stuck in his spot. 

"Well?" I said, gesturing from him to the porch.

He shook his head a little before walking out in front of me. We all made our way to school, arriving there around 7:20 am, 10 mins before class starts. 

"Do you need one of us to walk you to the office to pick up your schedule?" Johnny asked.

"No, I think I'm good, thanks," I responded.

I walked into the office and was greeted by a short lady with sloppy makeup. She was looking down and didn't seem to notice my presence, so I cleared my throat. 

"Hi, how can I help you?" she smiled, a dash of her red lipstick smeared on her teeth. Her high-pitched voice almost made me cringe and she sounded way too cheery for 7 AM on a Monday.

"Um, I came to pick up my schedule, I'm new," I said.

"Name?" she asked, looking down at some papers.

"Y/N Winston," I answered.

"As in, Dallas Winston?" she questioned, squinting her eyes and inspecting my face. 

"Yeah?" I said, diverting my gaze. When I looked back, her previous happy expression had been switched for one of disgust and a little hatred. 

We stayed like this for what felt like hours, until I cleared my throat, causing her to find my schedule and hand it to me. I looked down at it and realized I didn't know where the classrooms were. Stupid, I thought. If I had kept Pony or Johnny with me, they could've shown me where to go. 

"Is there anything else I can help you with, Ms. Winston?" she asked rudely.

"Uh yeah... I don't know where any of these classes are." I said.

"You, over there, can you show this young lady where her classes are," she said, pointing at a student. 

He looked over, quite obviously checking me out, and nodded. He had a stupid smirk on his face and I could already tell this was gonna be a long walk. I rolled my eyes and began to slowly walk towards him.

"Oh lord, when I saw her last name I was hopin' it was either a coincidence or that she just wouldn't show up, like her brother," the secretary whispered not-so-discretely to one of her coworkers, not even bothering to wait for me to leave the office.

"Hi, I'm James," the boy said. He had short blonde hair and had brown eyes. He wore a light blue cardigan and some khaki pants. All in all, I could already tell he was as dumb as a doorknob.

"Do you know where room 301 is?" I asked/

"Yeah, but I know somewhere else we could go if you want," he offered. 

"No thanks," I said. He must not get much attention considering it took him about a minute of knowing me to ask me out.

"Alright, no need to get defensive," he said, jokingly throwing his arms up in surrender before throwing one of them over my shoulder.

I pinched the fabric of his sweater sleeve and moved his arm off my shoulder. 

"So you're not gonna tell me your name?" James asked while turning right down a corridor.

"Y/N," I stated blankly, wanting to avoid any pet names that would come from refusing to tell him my name.

"Pretty name for a pretty girl," he flirted.

I kept my gaze on the doors, not giving him any attention. I sighed out in relief when I saw room 301. 

"Oh look, it's my class! Thanks for all your help, James!" I said sarcastically, although I doubt he picked up on it.

"So, when am I gonna see you again?" he said.

"Never, hopefully!" I said, crossing my fingers as I walked into class.

My first three periods were nothing interesting. They all went the same, attendance that led them to question if I was related to Dally, them making up their minds on how they felt about me from that new information, and finally, a lesson that I only paid attention to occasionally.

I had finally made it to fourth period, the last class before lunch, I took my seat at the back of the class, making good time. It was about 3 minutes before class started, yet many of the seats were empty. I pulled out a notebook and a pencil and began mindlessly tapping it against the tiny desk. I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard a familiar voice and giggle. I looked up and saw Cherry Valance. God, she looked beautiful. Her hair flowed perfectly over her shoulder and her pink sweater brought out her eyes. I quickly averted my eyes when I realized I might've been staring.

"Excuse me, this is my seat," an annoying voice stated. I looked up to see a tall blonde standing in front of me. Her outfit was similar to Cherry's but was in different colours. She might've been pretty if it wasn't for that nasty scowl on her face. My patience was low from the experiences with James and the secretary, in addition to my rude awakening. 

"Really? It doesn't have your name on it," I said, lifting my book up and looking around. I was in no mood for bullshit and I didn't want anyone to think I took shit from anyone, especially not some bitch who clearly thought she was better than everyone.

"Well, I sat here last class and the ones before that," she scoffed.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to find another seat." I shrugged.

She was about to say something when Cherry interrupted.

"Grace, lay off, she's new," Cherry said.

Grace walked away and found another seat, while Cherry sat next to me. Marcia, the other girl from the drive-in, sat in front of her, too.

"You didn't have to do that," I said to Cherry.

"It was nothing. I'm Sherri, but my friends call me Cherry cause of my hair," she said.

"I'm Y/N," I said back.

She opened her mouth, but the teacher began to talk, signalling the beginning of class. We both turned to face the front. I placed my chin on my hand and found my thoughts all wandering back to her.

Maybe a bad morning doesn't have to mean a bad rest of the day, I thought.