Beautiful Secrets

Chapter 1

I never asked to move. I actually, never wanted to move. I loved Georgia, I was born and raised in Georgia, all I had ever known was Georgia, but when my "very cool comedy writer" mom got hired on at The Tonight Show, that meant moving to a new city, a new school, new people. No more hot summers spent swimming in the lake, no more short shorts, no more open air. Of course we moved in the smack middle of the school year, November. I was just starting to enjoy my 10th grade year at Manchester High and had even made new friends, but my mom went and lost her job at her old writing studio and that means goodbye Georgia, hello New York, City. I've never been the outgoing type, I mean, I can be outgoing if I want, but if I feel uncomfortable, don't count on me saying hello first. I have 1 sister, Kennedy, she's only 12, but she's already gotten scholarship information from 13 colleges, she's really smart. Me on the other hand, is more artsy, creative, not as hard on myself. I like to lay in bed and listen to music or paint on rainy days. I love to play guitar and write poetry. I'm also a giant fan of old music. Elton John, Bob Marley, Bruce Springsteen, and so many more. I was even named after a famous musician, Stevie Nicks. My name is Stephanie Adele Collins, but I go by Stevie for short. I just turned 15 in June and I'm so excited to start driving. I live with my mom and sister, my dad walked out on us when I was 12 and I have yet to see him since. He apparently, cheated on my mom with his assistant and the when my mom kicked him out, he went to live with her. It doesn't really bother me much because he wasn't there a lot, always working, but I do miss him sometimes.

"Stevie, are you excited about your first day?" My mom asked as she poured milk into my Cereal bowl. I looked up at her and raised my eyebrows. No. "Stevie, you are going to have so much fun here. It's New York for crying out loud" she went on. I rolled my eyes and ate my cereal. I looked out the window and saw it had started to rain. It had been raining ever since we got here, 4 days ago. Is that all it ever does here? "I hear at your new school they have an excellent art program, maybe you could join art club or band or......" She could see I was not interested. My mom rolled her eyes and walked to her room. It was also her first day working at NBC studios as a writer. She was definitely nervous. I looked down at my outfit. I had on a plaid button down shirt with blue skinny jeans to where with. To top it off, I paired the whole outfit with brown boots. My brown hair was carefully curled in beautiful long curls. My make up was perfectly applied and I felt confident. I ate one more bite of my cereal and got up from the table. As I walked to put my cereal bowl in the sink I stared at our new apartment. The walls were bare and boxes sat in every corner. The only thing we had unpacked was clothes and bathroom stuff. Enough to get by. We planned to unpack everything this weekend, but I liked the boxes and bare walls. It reminds me that this isn't my home, Georgia is and I'll be back soon.

"Mom! Let's go, we're gonna be late!" I yelled as I slung my backpack over my shoulder. My sister Kennedy walked downstairs and grabbed her backpack. She looked adorable in her pink dress and white converse. "Alright, alright, I'm coming" my mom said as she walked out her room. She looked panicked and rushed. I laughed and looked at her. "Mom, you're gonna be fine, you're gonna love the Tonight Show and they're gonna love you" I said. She smiled at me and kissed my head. "I love you, Stevie" she said. "Oh and say hi to that famous guy you're working for" I added. She laughed and smiled at me. "If I see him and his name is Jimmy Fallon".

When I got to school, I was completely blind sighted. The school was weird and confusing. It was 3 stories and all the grades were mixed. At my old school, the freshman had their own hall, the sophomores had a wing, and then juniors and seniors were on the second floor. It was easier that way because then I wouldn't bump into seniors on my way to 10th grade history. When I finally got to my first class, I was exhausted. The other kids on the class, had assigned seats which meant I had to awkwardly stand at the front of the class waiting for the teacher to notice me. "Are you new?" This girl asked. She had Barbie blonde hair and crystal clear blue eyes. She was absolutely gorgeous. She made me feel plain and average looking. I looked down at her Letterman jacket and saw 3 cheerleading patches on the right sleeve. Of course. "Uh yeah, yeah I'm new" I mumbled. "Oh, hi I'm Jessica. Where are you from?" She asked. "Georgia"
"Cool! My uncle lives in Georgia!"
"Ya......" Awkward silence broke across Jessica and I. "Well I better go to my seat, but nice meeting you!" She said as she walked back to her seat. "Hello?" A voice said from behind me. I turned around and saw a woman about mid thirties standing there. She had folders in one arm and a coffee cup in the other. "Are you Stephanie?"
"Yes mam"
"Oh yes, they told me you were starting today. Welcome to New York."

As the school day went on, I kept hearing the same thing. "Your from Georgia? Do you have an accent?" Or "Do you eat like a lot of peaches?" Crap like that. At lunch, I sat with Jessica and some other cheerleaders. They were all wearing some sort of cheer material. I felt out of place. All they talked about was the upcoming playoffs and what stunts they were gonna do. It wasn't really my thing. The whole first day was just a big "I'm so out of place". When the final bell rang, I trudged all the way to my moms car. She was waiting for me. As kids flooded out of the building, they all went towards some New York Sub place. I had overheard Jessica telling the other cheerleaders to meet at the "Sub" after school. It must be like a hang out. When I got in the car, my mom had a big smile on her face. "How was it?" She asked over excitedly. I raised my eyebrows at her. "Oh, it will get better! You'll make friends." She said as she pulled away from the school. "I have good news!" She Beamed. "Today, Mr. Fallon himself introduced me to the work place! He was so nice and showed me around. You'll have to meet him one day!"
I smiled at her. She seemed so happy and excited. It made me feel happy and excited."Thats so cool, mom" I said back. "Yeah, it was pretty cool"

When I got home, I got on Twitter and went through my feed. I managed to find Jessica's Twitter. I followed her and in less than 5 minutes, she followed me back. She must be on her phone all time.

"Bzzzzzzzz" went my phone. I woke up and turned on my light. I checked my clock and saw it was 11:00 at night. Who could be texting me? I opened my phone and saw Jessica had messaged me on Twitter.
"Hey, there's this big party going on on the roof of Rockafeller Center! I can all of you guys in!" I checked the message and saw it was a wide sent message to like 76 people. I kept reading.
"Hurry and get here before midnight! Bring fake id's"
I bit my lip. This would be really fun, but my mom would never let me. She's most likely asleep. I looked at me door and at my closet. Should I? Maybe I'll make like a ton of friends. Hmmmmmmm. Oh fuck it. I replied.
"I'm down"