Rodeo was absolutely, hands down, the most boring town I had ever been to, let alone lived in. With a population of roughly 8000, surrounded by refinery smoke and about an hour's bus-ride from the nearest city, every teenager that inhabited Rodeo was plagued with the same question:
What the hell is there to do?
It had been a month after my mom, my stepdad and I had moved from New York, and yet I still wasn't used to the quietness and mere isolation of the tiny town. I had biked around the entire 3.7 square mile area at least three times, checked out four books at the library that I had already read, and went otter watching at the lagoon ("Come explore our local wildlife such as majestical pelicans and our vast array of fish species" as the official "Rodeo Attractions Book" stated. I only ended up seeing a very sad looking toad) just for something to do. That's how I spent my first summer in California. Occasionally wading around at the pebbly local beach and frying up in the hot, hot sun while avoiding the curious looks from the teenage residents. I had made exactly one friend; my next door neighbour Mona, who was sent over to introduce herself with a basket of homemade cookies. She was very chatty, was African-American and had long gangly legs. We ended up eating all the cookies in my bedroom, talked about high school and by the end of the summer we had become firm friends.
"How is the big apple?"
She asked as we lay, sprawled on my wooden floor, drinking Kool-aid and sharing the relief of one little rickety fan.
"Overrated. What are the teachers like at Pinole?"
"Some sleep during class, some will kill you if you breath too loud. There is no in between."
"What are the kids like?"
"They're kinda all stupid... Have you met any of them yet?"
I grabbed a handful of nachos and shoved them in my mouth before answering the question.
"No."
She sat up, looking at me in disbelief.
"No?"
"Nope." I shook my head slowly, popping the "p".
"You mean I'm your first friend?"
She was grinning, and I could tell that being friends with the new kid was probably a big deal in a town which barely anyone ever moved to.
"Yup, the one and only."
"Well not for long. Last day of summer there's a party at Chuck Berry's house. Everyone in the grade is going. So, that means you are coming as my plus one."
"I think I'm busy that night..." I lied, thinking of nothing worse but to be swamped by a bunch of drunk school kids.
"No, you're going and thats that."
"Monaaaa..." I whined like a 5 year old, giving her my best puppy dog eyes.
"Annabellll..." She copied, smirking.
"Fine but I hope you know I'm going to hate every moment of it." I huffed, getting up to make more Kool-aid.
"I can live with that." She called.
It was 6 on the dot when Mona came around to pick me up.
I was lying in my pyjamas (An oversized the Clash tee shirt and no pants) and eating ice cream out of the tub while reading a few comic books, aka living the good life, when she burst into my room, hair straightened and wearing a mini skirt and bright red lipstick. We both looked as stunned as each other.
"Why aren't you ready?!" She shrieked.
"I had an urgent meeting with Batman that could not be rescheduled."
"Get up."
"But..."
She stalked over to my closet, her high heels clicking sharply as she pulled out my nice pair of high waisted jeans and then sighed and paired it with a Ramones shirt.
I grinned at her.
"You can wear it if you hurry up. And I'm doing your hair and makeup."
I groaned theatrically and disappeared into my bathroom to get changed. I reemerged to see her pulling all sorts of things out of her handbag, lipsticks and eye shadows and gadgets meant to beautify me that I had never even seen before. She looked at me, and smirked.
"What?"
"No. No way."
"Yes way. Sit down or I'll tie you to the goddamn bed."
After what seemed like an eternity of spreading goo onto my face, she finally announced she was finished.
"Please tell me I don't look like a drag queen."
"I barely put any on you. You look great!" She grinned as she passed me a mirror. My blue eyes were framed by long sooty black lashes, smudged with liner and my lips painted dark purple. My light brown hair was pulled back from around my face, the curls falling down to my waist.
"I look...ok..." I allowed.
"Oh come on, your easily the prettiest girl in the whole town." Mona rolled her eyes.
I managed to slip on converses without her noticing before leaving a note to my parent and step-parent that I was going "socialising" with the girl next door and I would be back before midnight.
We stood out on the curb for few minutes, as if we were waiting for someone.
"What are we..."
I began, but then my question was answered when a beat-up looking car blasting music came rolling down the street.
It stopped in front of us, and I found it loaded with guys. They all fell silent and I raised my eyebrows as their wide eyes took in every inch of my body.
"Boys, this is Annabel. She's new."
I gave a little wave and then watched Mona clamber into the front seat. She looked back at me, grinning.
"What are you waiting for?"
I rolled my eyes and huffed as I climbed into the back over a few guy's laps and fell into the spare seat by the window.
A/N Okey dokey smokey I hope you liked the first chapter! I know it's probably complete shit but we get to meet the boys soon so that's exciting!
Life's pretty good y'know.
