Two Stars- An Auslly Fanfiction

Chapter 6

This time, I actually do walk through the door, though I'm still just as nervous, plus I'm not sure if I'll be in trouble for being late.

But luckily, as I slip breathlessly through the door, and take a seat, no one makes a huge deal, about it. Hardly anyone even looks up from their desk.

"Ally?" the teacher asks. I nod silently. "Welcome." He grabs a mathematics textbook off of his desk, and plunks it on mine. "Pages three-thirty to three thirty-two. It's just basic review; everyone else is in the middle of a test." I nod again. "My name is Mr. Sinclair. Tell me if you have any questions." He walks back to his desk at the front of the room, and I look around. My seat is by the door, since I'd wanted to sit down as soon as possible, and not draw attention to myself. Next to me, on the left, a girl with long dark hair, and a nose piercing has already finished her test. She nods at me, and goes back to drawing on her paper. But after a second, she slips me the paper.

Hey, I'm Sonali. Never seen a nose piercing before?

She must've caught me staring. I blush. I also have no idea what "btw" means, but I have a feeling a normal girl would, so I don't question it as I start to write back. Except then I get nervous. I don't know this girl, at all. She seems nice, I mean, she's the first girl to talk to me here, but anything I say could give her the right to judge me. I glance at her sideways, but she's rummaging through her backpack. Oh, what if she didn't even want a reply? What now? I know I'm overreacting, but...

Be brave. Stay strong.

Hey, you probably know that I'm Ally, and that I'm new. Can we talk after class?

A few seconds after I pass it back, she nods, and I get started on the math. It is pretty basic stuff, for me. My mother's homeschooling has taught me since I was in first grade, fortunately.

The bell rings, and Sonali grabs my shoulder.

"Hey, Ally." Her voice is the slightest bit accented.

"Hi," I say softly.

""What's your next class?" I reach into my book bag, an old one of Sabrina's, and show her my schedule. "Ooh, looks like we only have math together. But if you want, we can meet back here during lunch?" My mind flits back to Austin, him saying that maybe we'd see each other at lunch. But that was just a maybe, plus I'd most likely end up embarrassing myself again.

"Okay, I finally agree.

The next few periods leading up to lunch go smoothly, mainly because I'm too scared to talk to anyone else, and no one tries to talk to me. At first, though, when I try to get to my classes, the number of people is overwhelming, I can feel my breathing quicken again. I actually kind of wish I was with Austin during that, because if I was, I'd be too busy blushing over him to be afraid of the hundreds of people surrounding me.

When the lunch bell rings, I go back to room thirty-two, and Sonali is waiting for me. She drags me along by the arm, the way Sabrina has done before, until we stop at a deserted corner of the school. Oh, this is much better. Another girl is sitting on the ground, eating an apple and drawing something.

She's pale. That's my first observation. Pale skin, pale blue eyes that I see when she looks up for a second, even pale hair. She's a redhead like my cousins, but while their hair is bright and fiery, this girl's looks faded, washed out.

"Holly," Sonali calls. I laugh to myself, and she gives me a confused look.

"You're names rhyme," I point out. Sonali smiles.

"Yep. Anyways, you know this is Holly." Holly waves, and goes back to drawing. "I do enough talking for both of us. She's shy." And there's a lot of truth in that; for the next twenty minutes, Sonali talks and talks about her background, while Holly says nothing. I learn that she has two younger sisters, a set of thirteen year old twins. She moved to Florida when she was eleven, from Nepal.

Sonali is about to describe how she got her nose piercing (a topic that up until now, I'd managed to skillfully distract her from, it kind of grosses me out), when a door opens behind me. I turn and see Austin. He doesn't notice me at first.

"Hey Rej-Ally! Hey Ally," he says, and I can tell he's shocked to see me. When I look at Sonali and Holly, I'm surprised by their expressions. Holly is staring intently at the floor, as if ignoring Austin's presence, while Sonali is glaring at him.

"Hi Austin," I reply warily.

"Well, I gotta go. See you later maybe." He dashes off.

"You know Austin Moon?" Sonali asks, her voice appalled. It's kind of scary how icy Holly's eyes have become, as she watches Austin in the distance.

"He's my cousin's best friend...is that a problem?" Sonali tries to hide her anger, and smiles.

"No, no problem at all. Now where were we? Oh yeah, my nose-"

"Just tell her, Son." Holly's voice is soft, and even in a harsh tone, it's relaxing. But now no one is smiling.

"Okay, here's the thing. I know you must be Dez and...Sabby's cousin, and...to their group, to Austin's group, we're known as "The Rejects." And most of them aren't particularly friendly towards us." My cheeks are hot, and for once, it's not from embarrassment.

"But-how-I mean, you guys...?" I'm confused, and kind of, deep down, hurt that Austin could be like that, which hardly makes sense, because I hardly know him.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter." I frown at Sonali's words. I wonder what I'm supposed to say next. Finally, I tell them the best thing I can think of.

"I'm going to change that." Sonali shrugs indifferently.

"Don't, " Holly warns.

"Why not?"

"It's always been this way." Now I truly am speechless. Luckily the bell rings.

"See you later, maybe," Sonali calls I don't think she realizes that Austin said the exact same thing.

Before I know it, it's the last class of the day, and I'm somehow alive. I didn't choose art as an elective, but it was all they had. I would've preferred something music related, and I'm not very good at art. My teacher, Ms. Myracle, asks everyone to take out their pastels, but I of course have none, so I ask the girl in front of me if she'll share.

"Who are you?" she asks, a bit rudely. The girl to her right leans over and whispers in her ear, though I can still hear perfectly fine.

"I think that's Sabby's cousin, remember the one she was telling us about? The girl from nowhere?"

"Oooh!" the first girl says, then out loud, "You're the wild tree girl!" like it's perfectly normal, but I know they're making fun of me, I know it's not normal at all. They turn back around, and supply no pastels.

Then I spot Holly in the corner, I hadn't even seen her until now. I think she heard what the other girls said, because she's giving me a sympathetic look, and gestures to her pastels.

"Hello, fellow reject," I sigh as I join her. She says nothing in reply, obviously. There's no good way to respond to that.

I'm hardly even thinking of Austin anymore, like I was for the majority of the day. All I can focus on is how out of place I am here, just like I knew I'd be. I've only been in Miami for two days, but all I want to do is go home. I just want this day to end.