One Minute Till Tomorrow

Chapter One

"Have a great day!" Mom's voice was the polar opposite of how I felt. She was bright and cheery while I was starting to regret waking up this morning. "You'll be fine! Make lots of friends!"

I took a deep breath and opened the car door, swinging my backpack on my shoulder. I didn't slam the car door-although I really wanted to-and looked at my new school. People buzzed all around me, each in their own respected groups.

I took one painful step forward, then another, and another. Once I stepped foot on the curb my last chance of escape drove off. I sighed and slowly made my way to the front office, getting nearly ran over multiple times.

The secretary had a phone balanced between her ear and shoulder, typing at an unhuman speed on her keyboard. She smacked her gum between her bubble-gum pink lips. After a minute or two of me standing there awkwardly, she hung up. "Name?" Her voice was an annoyingly high pitch.

"Gwen. Gwen Lighton." I adjusted my backpack.

"Well, what do you need Gwen Gwen Lighton?"

What do I need? "Well, I'm new here and it's my first day,"

"So?" She sat there looking at me, smacking on her gum.

"Oh she just needs some help, Marilyn,"

I turned around. A tall man, brown hair and brown eyes, kind but chiseled face stood-I'd call him hansom if he wasn't obviously a teacher. He smiled and held out his hand. "I'm Mr. Philps, the guidance counselor."

I shook his hand. "Gwen Lighton, new,"

"Where're you from Ms. Lighton?"

I bit my lip, almost embarrassed by the answer. "California,"

He tried not to laugh. His attempt ruined by the secretary's laugh. "California? To North Dakota? Are you serious?"

I nodded. "Sadly,"

"Well, would you like me to show you around?"

"Actually," I felt like a freak for asking. "If I could just get a map that'd be great. I like figuring things out on my own."

He was taken aback. "Sure, I guess you could get a map... Here," Mr. Philps handed me a piece of paper with a poorly drawn "map" on it.

"Thanks," I gave that I-made-awkward-eye-contact-with-that-girl-passing-me-on-the-street smile and left the office.

Let me tell you; this school is confusing. But maybe that's the Californian in me talking.

So, the school. It's "separated" into three buildings. Building A (BA), Building B (BB), and Building C (BC). From the outside they all look like one building. Here's where I got confused: each building is separated by one wall with no doors, the only way to get from BA to BB is through the outside. It's the middle of winter in North Dakota. Luckily, it's really, really warm inside so you get warmed up pretty quickly.

Walking to my fourth hour-an elective, thank God-I totally ran into an upper-class man. All my books fell to the ground. The upper-class man helped me pick up my books. "Here," he handed me a pile of loose papers. For the first time, I saw his face.

"Caleb?" I was shocked.

"Gwen?"

"Wow, it's so great to see a familiar face. What are you doing here? I thought you lived in California?" I smiled.

"I should be asking you the same thing. My dad's job relocated him here. You look really good, I mean, the last time I saw you, you were so... small. I mean, not that you're big or anything, I mean-"