"Lee-ana?" called the short stick-thin lady who apparently was her homeroom teacher.
"Uh, Anderson. Lee-na Anderson?"
"Oh, uh, here," a student replied blinking twice trying to wake up.
"It's Lee-ana," she added a bit annoyed. The teacher nodded and continued calling names. When finished she pointed her finger to the white board that had been drawn on in green Expo marker showing a map of the school.
It was Leana's first day of high school and she knew absolutely no one here, having moved from Northern California to Southern California.
The school bell went off and students lept to their feet, anxiously walking towards the door, lugging their bags on their arms. Their eyes were filled with excitement and fear, Leana's showed little emotion as she followed the crowd. If anything she looked bored, but slightly frightened.
She was late to her first class: Geometry, she had gone to the wrong building twice and finally found herself in the right place. Of course being five minutes late on your first day isn't bad, but it was extremely awkward. Being an awkward person, not knowing anyone, and being late is just the worst combination of things.
She sat down in an empty desk next to a tall girl with long flowing hair. She reminded Leana of Repunzel. That might be an exaggeration, but compared to Leana, she was Repunzel. Leana's hair was short and choppy, and it barely grew. She longed for beautiful hair with length, but hers never grew past her shoulders.
A mixture between fear of having no one talk to her in class and the spir of the moment, Leana made an impulsive decision to introduce herself.
"Hey, I'm Leana," she said clearly with confidence in a voice that sounded nothing like her own.
"Camryn," she smiled, revealing braces with bright green brackets.
"What school did you go to last year?" she added, inviting conversation.
"Oh, I didn't live in the area last year," she paused,
"I just moved here from Northern California."
"Oh, that's cool," replied Camryn, not sure how to continue the conversation. Luckily, the math teacher began talking and ended their conversation for them. The next few classes were boring and lonely.
In fourth period, P.E, she began talking to another girl who didn't seem to know anyone.
"Those are some bright colored shorts," the girl had said when their teacher came out.
"Yeah," Leana laughed.
"I'm Allie," she said, brushing the loose hairs out of her face. Her auburn hair was pin-straight at a medium length. she had pinned her bangs out of her face with a couple of bobby pins revealing a pimply forehead.
After class, they sat together at lunch on the grass because all the tables were full. Allie had been home-schooled the last four years of her life, so the only people she knew were her old fourth grade friends, but their friendship hadn't ended on good terms. Allie started home-school because the bullying was too much for her. Her "best friends" made fun of her weight everyday and pretty much the entire school joined in on making her feel miserable. It went on for over two years before she left.
Before Allie came back to public school, she lost a lot of weight and started wearing makeup. Leana couldn't even imagine her being chubby, she was so thin. Her eyeliner had been applied perfectly, and her foundation was the perfect shade. It seemed her only imperfection was the acne you could see through her makeup. Leana felt a bit awkward with her frizzy hair and the rolls that formed on her stomach when she leaned over. But neither of them had friends, they needed each other.
Upon comparison of schedules, they founs out they also shared sixth period, Gifted Lit. In other words, a class full of over-achievers who could read before they could walk. Leana's mother had signed her up after reading her eighth grade narrative and taking a look at her large collection of novels. Leana begged her to atleast let her take the regular honors class rather than "gifted" but her mother was one of those people who said things like, "you have to challenge yourself," or "you learn more with people who are better than you, you can't learn anything when you're the best."
The melody of the end-of-lunch bell was shrill among the chattering students. Allie disappeared into a nearby building, leaving Leana lost and lonely.
