High School Struggles and New Girls

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: Kaitlyn
  "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, it is so freakin' good tuh see ya!" Grace Hamilton giggled as she joined Kaitlyn Parker in the locker-lined hallway.
  Kaitlyn giggled too as she threw her arms around her bestie. It was sooooo good to see her after 50 whole days apart! "Back at ya!" Then she raised her eyebrows. "Hey, where are Kayleigh and Morgan?" She knew her other two best friends were on the same bus as Grace, so she was wondering why they hadn't come along with her. "Were they on the bus today?"
  Grace gasped as her eyes widened, shockF that Kaitlyn would ask such a dumb but obvious question. "Of course! No one misses the first day of school, especiY when they're a senior! Kayleigh's telling the driver about''' you know." Her voice trailed off, but Kaitlyn didn't need to hear her finish the sentence. Kayleigh was overly sensitive to loud and unexpected noises.
  "Oh." That totally explained why her friend was so overly late!!! "What about Morgan?"
Grace made a duuhhh face and punched Kaitlyn playfully on the arm. "Oh, you know Morgan. She always sticks around to offer quote-unquote moral support."
  Kaitlyn rolled her eyes. Grace was so right! In her opinion, Morgan offered too much moral support, but she had a good fashion sense and taste in music, which were practicY the only reasons Kaitlyn was keeping her in the clique in the first place!
"Hey, guys, what's up?" A nervous-sounding voice interrupted from behind them.
Kaitlyn whipped her head around and saw Laura Brayton, her biggest wannabe, standing there. Inwardly groaning, she plastered a huge fake smile onto her face. "Hey, Laura. What's up?"
Laura's face lit up, and Kaitlyn wanted !roll her eyes. The girl always got way too excited when she talked to her. "Nothing much. What about you?"
"Same," Kaitlyn replied with an oh-so-casual hair toss, ever-so-subtly checking Laura out. The girl had a cringe-worthy pink--pink?--shirt that looked like it was waaaay too big for her and pants with random specks of glitter all over them. All Kaitlyn wanted to do was get away from her.
"Cool," Laura answered. "Oh my freaking God, remember in art when Robert tried !accidentY-on-purpose squirt the paint across the room?" She let out a too-loud giggle.
Kaitlyn let out a barely audible sigh. She hated how the wannabes tried to talk like her. "Yeah," she answered, her voice considerably softer than it had been a moment ago. "I remember."
Laura looked concerned. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, totY!" Kaitlyn responded quickly. She reY did not need or want this run-in with Laura Brayton to ruin her rep!
Laura put her smile back on. "Okay, good. So I'll see you in art?" Kaitlyn nodded, and with an overly fluttery wave Laura scampered off.
Kaitlyn turned back to Grace. "Thank all the Gods out there that she's gone."
Grace giggled. "I know, right? I mean, if you want annnoying, just talk to Laura Brayton, everybody!"
Kaitlyn quickly covered her mouth to muffle her giggle.
"Katiiiiiii!" She heard someone squeal suddenly.
Turning sharply, she saw Kayleigh, the obvious source of the squealer, standing with Morgan. She let out a little squeal of joy. "Kay!!! Oh my freaking gosh, how the heck are you?" she shrieked, purposefully directing all of her attention toward Kayleigh.
Kayleigh laughed. "I'm great! You?"
"Never better," she responded, super happy to be able to talk to her friend face-to-face again. Then she saw the bored look on Morgan's face and smirked to herself happily.
"Summer was soooooo boring without you!" Kayleigh cried.
Kaitlynn tossed her head confidently. "Well, duh. I totally rock!"
"You totally do!" Grace and Kayleigh agreed in unison.
Morgan didn't say anything, instead just biting her lip and nodding.
Suddenly the bell rang, signaling they had five minutes to get to their first classes. "See you guys at lunch," Morgan mumbled before grabbing her backpack and hurrying off. Kaitlyn wasn't sure, but it looked like she was just dying to get out of there.
"Gotta head to English, but I'll see you guys at lunchies!" Kayleigh called in her quirky way.
Kaitlyn waved before she and Grace started walking to art together. "I cannot believe Laura seriously had to run into you uh-gain!" Grace whispered so the victim of their gossip couldn't hear.
Kaitlyn shrugged nonchalantly. She was used to random people in the hall coming up to her and saying hi, wearing outfits that they thought would impress her but were actually total fashion NO's.
"Whatever," she said, opening the door of their classroom. "Let's just go in and forget all about it." She knew deep down, though, that you couldn't reY ever completely forget a wannabe--no matter how hard you tried.