Looking Glass

Chapter 1

Waking up was the hardest thing I had to do that morning. A different bed, in a different room, in a different house, in a different city, in a different province in a different country all together. It was all so foreign to me, I'd never been out of my neighbourhood and now I'm being forced to start all over. Apparently, it was the only way to save me.

But starting over wasn't enough. No, I could not just change my name, hair and wear colored contacts. To make this new person as real as possible, I'd need a completely new wardrobe and a brand new attitude, one that was way worse. Although it wasn't the worst part of this entire experience.

You want to know the worst part? Well, I'm getting to that, today. I have to start school and I only got in last night. It was only the second week of school and I would start on a Monday, and today was Monday. So instead of getting proper sleep like I should have, I had to wake up and play dress up until it was considered safe for me to go back home.

To start this little game, when I woke up I headed straight for the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. Taking my hair out of my braids I gently sprayed a bit of hairspray on the waves they created, so that it would stay. Personally, it felt weird to have extensions to make my hair appear longer. As well as having bleach and auburn highlights in my hair to make it a different color.

Looking in the mirror, I grabbed my make up bag and pulled out my the colored contacts. Carefully putting them in as it was rehearsed, my eyes went from brown to blue in a matter of second. It was scary how I would have to pretend to be someone else. 

I applied the foundation of my make up and then went into adding blush, blood red lipstick, red and black eyeshadow, a thin line of eye liner and mascara. That is everything and a little more than what I would normally apply, which was nothing. 

Getting out of my pajamas I threw on the outfit I had laid out the night before. It was a black and white striped dress with a gold chains necklace and red blazer for color effect. Slipping on heeled half boots sprinkled with studs at the back I checked the mirror and should my head. This was going to be the hardest first day of my life. 

Stepping out of my room, I descended the stairs where there was a few maids cleaning and a meal waiting in the kitchen made by a chef. At least that wasn't anything out of the ordinary. So I quickly ate and headed for the door. 

Fortunately, my host family consisted of a wealthy man and wife that had a son only a year older than I was and a little girl about seven. The story about where I fit in was that I was adopted a week ago, even though I only arrived last night. But they were nice about it and understood everything and they did treat me as if I were their child, which was nice. 

Another nice thing about where I was placed, was that I was placed in a big house--much like my own--and it was walking distance from the school--which was also like my old home. So there wasn't really much difference between where I lived and where I was living, the only big change I had to make was in my head. 

According to them, I was lucky. There were people that went from royalty to rags because they had to hide. And I wasn't royalty and I got transferred to a country that has a strong wireless signal, so I can't exactly complain about much. 

So I sighed and stepped onto the paved brick pathway that led up to the front doors of the three level--five building school. Reaching the front doors, I easily pulled them open and made my way towards the front office. 

Glass covered from floor to ceiling there was window to speak the secretary and a sliding door (also glass) to get inside. From where I was standing the inside looked massive, which made me feel a little nervous wondering how big the school really was if that alone was the office. 

Although the feeling didn't last long, I couldn't let it because I need to learn to hide my weaknesses and only appear to be strong. And a bitch. I'd have to become a bitch for this whole thing to work. Which wasn't going to be easy, let me tell you. I'm not that type of person and I never hoped to be. 

Clearing my throat I took a confident stride forward. "Excuse me?" Resting my arms on the small ledge, I waited impatiently for her response. She looked up from her paperwork and nodded her head for me to continue. "I'm new here and I was told to come here for my schedule." 

"Oh yes!" She smiled warmly and punched a few things into the computer. "Can I get your name?" 

"Azel-ie." It came out as a bit of a stutter but I did my best to cover it up. "Azelie Tanner." 

"Here it is!" She secretary typed in a few more things and then a piece of paper came out from the printer resting behind her. Immediately she stood up to grab it and then handed it to me. "We work on a semester system, so you'll have five classes every day for the first half of the school year and then you'll change to the other five classes. The scheduling sheet explains it all." 

Nodding and smiling I took a look at the sheet. Surprisingly, it also contained my locker number. The locker that was set up the same day I arrived in this town, so there was already a lock on it and I had been given the combination before I even knew I was starting at a new school. 

Making my best attempt at looking where I was going as I made my way through the crowded hallways to my first class, where my locker was close by. English was room 213 so it was on the second floor. 

Finding it was easier than I thought it would be, and my locker wasn't too far from it. Locker number 666. Of course, it was only locker that hadn't been assigned to a student so I was the one stuck with it. But he did say that it would give me something to work with. 

With my head down I attempted to cross the hallway when some guy bumped into me and the single binder that I did have to bring with an assortment of notepads tucked messily inside all fell out of my hands and sprawled onto the floor. My first reaction was to pick them up and apologize to whoever had walked into me, but I snapped myself out of it. New place, new me. 

"I'm sorry." He was first to speak as he knelt down to collect my things. When he stood back up I shot him my death glare and snapped my stuff from his grasp. "I wasn't watching where I was going." Smiling at me he looked like the type of guy who would be popular around here, and judging by the way people had stopped to stare, I'm guessing he was. 

"Well you should have been. Next time, be more careful." I snapped and made my way around him to get to my locker. My hands were shaking as I turned the Master Lock's dial to the correct combination. Luckily, it only took one try and I shoved my bag and books into my locker. 

That was a little bit shocking and quite a bit of a rush. Maybe I could get used to this for the time being, although it wasn't me. I would also have to start using normal people words when I spoke, I'm no longer taking AP classes or suppose to look like I should be. 

"My apologies." He appeared leaning on my locker with one hand up and holding the corner of the locker door trying to look attractive. I can't deny the fact that he looked extremely attractive and that I was doing my best not to melt at his voice. "How can I make it up to you?"