Shattered Glass

Chapter One

New start, new me. This is gonna rock!

Until, of course, I walked back through the front doors of Penn Hills High School. Then that thought went out the window.

I walked through the mostly-empty hallway, searching for my locker. After finding it and stashing my stuff inside, I heard an elated voice from behind me.

"Kay!"

I turned around with a grin spread across my face. My best friend since 7th grade, Nadia, came skipping up to me.

"Hey, Nadia," I said. She squeezed me into a quick hug, then held me at arms length. She looked me up and down.

"I never thought I'd see the day," she said, then hugged me again.

"I know, me too," I squeaked out, gently prying her arms off me. She grinned at me, practically bouncing where she stood. I gazed around me at the senior hall, wondering why it had seemed so big just two short years ago.

"I can't believe you got lucky enough to have a locker in this hall. I got stuck surrounded by sophomores and other juniors."

I chuckled. "Last name, sweetheart. Last name."

She laughed too, and then we started walking. As we walked, we talked about what we had been up to since we last saw each other.

"You do know we just saw each other two days ago, right?" I asked, laughing.

"Of course I know that!" she cried. "I only helped you move and you only spent seven nights in a row at my house."

"Ah, I wondered where those days went."

Nadia gently punched me in the arm. "It was fun and you know it."

"Fun? Maybe. Interesting? Absolutely."

She punched me in the arm again, then asked, "How's soccer going?"

"It's going great! The guys are pretty accepting, and thankfully the 6 a.m. practices are over. I think the coach likes me."

"Wow, how did you manage that?"

"No idea," I said with a laugh.

We continued walking and talking about summer and how we already missed it as more students came filing in from both the front and back doors. Pretty soon, the hallways were filled with chatting kids. Suddenly, I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Jay Janes. No frickin' way."

In front of me stood my other best friend. Six foot two, 200 pounds, (not to mention absolutely adorable), Jay had been my first boyfriend back in seventh grade. We had been best friends ever since.

"Kay Wolfe. No frickin' way." He grinned lopsidedly at me, and I suddenly found myself throwing my arms around his waist. His strong arms wrapped around me, squeezing softly.

I pulled back, a slight flush covering my face. "It's good to see you," I said. It's also nice that puberty hit you like a truck.

"It's good to see you, too, Kay."

Just then, a short girl came up behind Jay and hugged him. A smile like I've never seen before lit up his face, and he grabbed her hand to pull her up next to him. "Kay, meet my girlfriend Felicia."

Felicia smiled at me, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Ready to go to class, sweetie?" she asked, not taking her gaze off me.

"Sure thing," he said, the grin still plastered on his face. "Catch ya later, Kay." They turned around and walked away, his arm draped across her shoulders and her arm around his waist.

"We should probably do the same," said Nadia, breaking my trance.

"Yeah, good idea," I murmured.

Nadia gave me another quick hug, then said, "I wish you would have done a.m. VC."

"Yeah, but p.m. lets me see my dad more," I answered. She smiled grimly at me in understanding, then took off for the Vocational Center bus.

I headed to my first hour with a whirlwind of thoughts clouding my head. I knew as I sat down in English that this was going to be one heck of a year.