Trepidation | Sitkolson [ C ]

Chapter 1 | A Fresh Start?

I sat with my headphones in and my head against the window.

I'd miss Seattle, but I needed time away from my family. I couldn't take anything anymore. I knew it was only a matter of time before I just shattered, and I didn't want my mom or step-sister to see it. They didn't deserve to, because they did nothing wrong. Especially my step-sister. She was too young to witness the fights my dad and I got into, and I didn't want her to be brought up like that, so I left. Luckily, I had a friend who lived there who was more than willing to take me in.

I had never met her, but we had had many Skype calls. She seemed very nice, and definitely wasn't one to judge by the way I looked.

She was only three years older than me, so she'd obviously treat me like I child, and was practically my second mom... who I had never met...

I was only eighteen–months away from nineteen–and in my last year of school. I know, there was no point moving almost half way through school, but I couldn't take one more day. Besides, it's not like I'd be missed by many people. I had two friends. One my sister, and one from school.

I was hoping Scranton would be a good place. Mainly because there weren't as many people. Which, hopefully meant there wasn't as much drama.

In Seattle, people lived off drama. Not a day passed where some sort of rumour was made up. I always did feel bad for whoever it was about, but there was nothing I could do. Like I said, I had two friends. The most I could do was hope I could make a few more in Scranton. No drama attached.

As the cab driver came to a stop, I grabbed my wallet out and swiped my card before grabbing my bags and thanking him.

Jenna lived in a normal house. She occasionally modelled in magazines, so she obviously got payed well, but she kept it simple with a single story house.

Speaking of, she ran and tackled me in a tight hug.

"You look so different." She gushed.

I frowned, "We Skyped last night."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed my arm, "Come on, I'll show you around."

After at least fifteen minutes of showing me around her house, she made her way to the kitchen, letting me know she'd start making dinner.

Her house looked small on the outside, but was fairly large on the inside.

She had three rooms, two bathrooms, two lounge rooms, and a kitchen. It was a bit fancy, but not fancy enough to make her look like a 'rich bitch', because she was far from it.

In the two years of talking to Jenna, I was able to tell that she was genuinely nice. She went through a lot of trouble with her parents, so she sort of did the same thing I did. She moved away. Only she didn't live in Seattle. She was in California. Apparently, she moved with her brother's best friend for the same reason.

The front door opened and I turned to see who it was, frowning as the person kept walking down the hall.

"Devin!" Jenna called, mumbling something under her breath.

"What?" Devin snapped, poking his head around the corner.

"Are you not going to introduce yourself?"

Devin raised his eyebrow, then looked to me, sighing, "I'm Ghost."

With that, he continued walking down the hall.

He didn't look like a dick, he just seemed worn out. Not in the tired way, either. He looked like he just came back from hell. Which made sense, because he probably had to walk home from school.

Jenna sighed, "I'm sorry about him, he's... He had to stay back after school today."

I nodded, deciding to bring up the horrible conversation myself, "Do I start tomorrow?"

She hummed, nodding, "You were off the waiting list yesterday."

"Awesome." I mumbled, pouting slightly.

She chuckled, "Don't worry. I'll get Devin to show you around."

Well, I hoped he would. Maybe first impressions weren't the best, mainly because he was a little.. tired.. but I hoped he was nice when he was a little more... happy, I guess.

| | |

Surprisingly, Devin was in a better mood. I don't know if it was because he had to stay back after school the day before, or because he sorted whatever was bothering him, but he was a lot nicer and held a conversation with me. He was still quiet, though.

"I know you said you moved here because of your family and all of the drama," He started, sending me an apologetic look, "But there's worse things going on here, trust me."

"Like what?" I questioned, dodging a group of students.

"You can talk to anyone you want," He mumbled, "Just don't talk to him. Please."

"Who?"

His expression had changed. Talking about it seemed to take away the light in his eyes, and the energy out of his body.

"Ryan Sitkowski..." He looked down, "He's not who you think he is. It's best you stay away."

As we passed two guys–one a giant, the other fairly tall–, Devin picked up his pace, keeping his head down.

The two guys looked at me with confusion, the one with brown eyes frowning.

They were both covered in tattoos, I wondered why Devin didn't hang out with them. They acted as if they knew each other, but just didn't like each other.

"Was one of them Ryan...?" I asked, gesturing behind us.

Devin shook his head, "No, that's Angelo and Chris."

I nodded, deciding to keep quiet from there.

As we neared the end of the hall, Devin stopped beside a guy in a hood, tapping his bicep.

"Josh," Devin mumbled, "This is Ricky."

Josh introduced himself, as did I.

They both seemed as nice as the other, but they also seemed scared, or something. They were hostile, like something was about to jump behind them and snap their spine. It scared me because if they were this fearful and had been here for years, how would I know how to act? I could tell something happened by the way they looked at people, and by the way people looked at them.

They were sympathetic, for some reason, but Josh and Devin just kept ignored them. I didn't know what was wrong, but it wasn't good. I didn't know at the time that moving to Scranton was something I should've thought about more. Even if I did have Jenna here. It wasn't drama that caused everyone to act strange. It was more. Much more.