Young and Foolish

Chapter 12: Settling In, Smooth Sailing

Sarah's POV:

I returned home after dark yesterday, and was lectured throughout dinner about the importance of safety. Thanks to the amount of times I had gotten it, I had the entire lecture memorized. One would think that would make me take better care of myself, but I just couldn't help it sometimes. I was accident prone or something like that. 

It totally wasn't my fault that the tree bach had to snap right off! I could've gotten out of the tree in a safe manner if the tree didn't have it out for me. 

My room was full of moving boxes, and I unpacked all the things I would need for the night and tomorrow morning, like my pyjamas and a backpack. But even with my pillows and blankets, my bed still felt foreign to me. It was hard, uprooting my life so suddenly. I missed everything already, and everyone. 

I pulled out my laptop and clicked on a video chatting app. There was only one person that could make me feel better: Danny. 

He answered immediately, and just seeing his familiar face relieved some of my tension. 

"Hey Lily!" he grinned, calling me by my middle name, "settling in all good?"

I held up my casted hand for him to see. He burst out laughing. He held up his foot, with a cast as well, and I couldn't help but laugh either. 

Danny was my best friend. The two of us were as inseparable as peanut butter and jelly. We were both very 'accident prone' and spent too much of our time together in hospitals. 

I usually hated to see other people in hospitals, especially after Jessica's, my late older sister, illness. But I was fine if it was Danny or me, because I knew the both of us could walk away from any injury. Usually, with a tall tale to tell. 

"There was a poor, injured squirrel family living in the chimney, but up on the roof, the wind speed was hard enough to near cause a tornado! I managed to rescue the little guys, but in the process, I got this," he explained. I doubted the half of it was true. 

"I was going to meet up Annie, and obviously I had to scare her like we used to do when we were kids, and I climbed this 20 metre tall tree. Suddenly, I hear this crack, and then I'm falling! I barely escaped alive." 

We chatted well into the night, and I only hung up after he had fallen asleep at his screen. With Danny, I didn't have to worry about anything. He already knew about everything that plagued my mind, and he knew just how to make me feel better. 

He was the one person I missed most from my old life. And I tried to not think about the void his absence created. 

I didn't get much sleep throughout the night. By the time I did manage to catch a few Z's, my alarm rang. 

But I didn't want my dad or Vivian to worry, so I washed up and got dressed, and walked out as if I was excited and well-rested. 

"Good morning!" I greeted cheerily, grabbing some fruit for a nice, healthy breakfast. 

"Want a ride, Sarah?" Vivian asked. I nodded, and followed her out. She was the vice-principal at my new school, and I was glad I had someone to go to school with and come back every day. She switched on the radio, and I was glad the car ride wasn't quiet. After Teddy's departure, I realized I hated quiet car rides. 

She slowed to a stop a block away from school. 

"You can get out here if you don't want to walk in with me," Vivian suggested. 

"What? No way, I'm totally fine with being seen next to you!" I cried out. She let out a breath of relief, and I was glad I refused. She was trying so hard to get us to like her, but she didn't have to try at all. 

"I just thought most kids wouldn't want to walk into school on their very first day with the vice-principal breathing down their neck," she joked. 

"Nope, no one would want to mess with me if they knew I had a VP as my guard dog," I giggled back. 

We continued driving and arrived shortly after. I walked to the office with her and waved goodbye as I grabbed my schedule and a map of the school. I sent Annie a quick text of my schedule as I headed to my first class. 

I had Math, and Colby was already sitting there when I arrived. He waved me over to sit with him and we chatted for a bit. He took a look at my schedule and told me I had English with him too, and History with Ryder, but unfortunately nothing with Annie.

It was a good thing I had Colby in my hard classes, because he offered to tutor me so I could catch up on the little I had missed. 

I was going to settle in just fine.