Take On The World

Chapter 1: Welcome To Cali

Disclaimer: I own nothing. 

Author's note: hi, this is my first fanfic so please don't hate me. Enjoy the story! -M
(In bold is her thoughts)

       The clock on my bedside table reads 6:00. Back in New York its four am, I'm usually asleep still. The clock starts beeping and I hit the off button, sitting up to rub my eyes. My windows are open looking out into the early morning. California is beautiful at night, I don't really know what it looks like in the broad daylight as this is my first time sleeping in this bed. Before I explain, maybe I should introduce myself. My name is Madison Rooke, but everyone calls me Maddy. I'm sixteen years old and I'm heading into grade eleven. Well technically I'm in grade eleven as today is my first day of school. My family just moved here from New York after a bunch of mishaps caused by my siblings. My dad is a psychologist who specializes in teen behaviour and my mom is a high school health teacher. While both my parents are from one child families, I'm not so lucky. I'm the middle of five kids, older brother, older sister, me, younger brother, and younger sister. But, back to business. My dad headed out here a few days ago to get the house ready, so when the rest of us got off the plane we could go home to a nice, comfy house. It was nighttime when we got here and we all trudged up to bed to sleep. Waking up in a new room and trying to remember how you got here is pretty frightining. But my brain is moving the clouds and the memory of shuffling into bed in my clothes is all coming back to me. I get up and go to the closet to pick out an outfit for the first day of school. Getting dressed in front of the huge full body mirror, I look over myself hoping I look California-ish to pass as a native. My 5"4", average frame doesn't compare to the tall, thin people I'll be sharing the halls with. I brush my dark chocolate brown hair and leave it straight and natural. Walking into the bathroom that is built into my room, I do my routine and come back to grab my bag, phone and charger. I take one last look in the mirror, take a deep breathe to calm the nerves and head downstairs to breakfast.

      As I walk downstairs, the familiar sounds of my family rushing around makes me feel at ease.  The new house is huge, unlike the tight little apartment back home. Seven bedrooms with a bathroom built in each room. A huge living room, kitchen and dining room. The basement has a flat screen mounted on the wall, an air hockey table, and a mini kitchen. There is also a door leading into a laundry room. On the wall leading downstairs there are pictures of my family and our relatives. There are also picture of each of my siblings and all of their friends in order from oldest to youngest. I stop at my picture, looking at my only friend staring back at me. Honestly, she wasn't really my friend. She was a girl I hung out with once or twice and had to convince her to take the picture with me. I have no friends that I left behind, unlike my extroverted siblings. I'm more of an introvert, keeping to myself most of the time. I shake my head, quietly tiptoe the rest of the way down and grab some toast and an apple.  The kitchen is a wide open space with an island in the middle that has a stove top and oven built in on one side. Sitting down across from my older sister Felicia at the island, Mom is telling all of us the usual "Make a good first impression" speech she gives every year. Felicia and Robby (my eldest brother) roll their eyes. Robby is taking online university classes as he already graduated. He would go to an actual university, but the cutoff date for the applications was the day we found out we were moving, which was the beginning of August. My older sister Felicia is in grade twelve, James is in grade ten and my sweet baby sister Chelsea is in grade nine. Surveying the scene before me, Dad, Chelsea, and James aren't down yet, Mom is frantically making lunches while shoving them into brown, paper bags with our names on them and Robby and Felicia are trying to not laugh at the sight before them. "They better get down here fast" Mom mutters under her breathe. As soon as she utters that sentence, all three of the missing family members come down fast and grab food. "We're going to be late!!!!" Dad yell at the top of his lungs. "Damn, I thought I was going to have more time to prepare what to say to people. But all time has run out". All of us rush out the door with lunches, backpacks and keys. Robby shouts out the door "Good luck losers". "Well", I think as he closes the door in our faces, "Time to take on the world!".

         Now normally we aren't late for the first day or any day for that matter. Usually we get to school at six,  not after. But since we just moved and took about four wrong turns, it's safe to say we have a pass. I look out the window at the beautiful scenery surrounding the car. It's strange to not see a billion cars and people speeding up and down the mean New York streets. I snap out of my gaze and look at the rest of my family. Mom took her own car to work as she was already an hour late, so Dad is driving us. He is silent, looking at the GPS every once in a while. Felicia stares at her phone, waiting for a text from her friends back home. James and Chelsea are quietly talking about what to expect when we arrive. Dad parks the car infront of the school and let's us out. As we each get out of the car, he fist bumps us. He stops me. "I know this is hard for you, but please try to make one new friend today. It doesn't have to be your best friend for life, just someone to help you navigate this new city. Promise?". He holds up his pinky and I take it. "Promise". I get out of the car and he drives away. I look around and find that my siblings have deserted me and disappeared into the school to go find the office. I look up at my new school. It has a castle look with stone features. Gargoyle statues are placed on either side of the daunting steps, staring menacingly at me. Students are everywhere reuniting with their groups, talking about their vacations. Then there is me. Standing here like the newbie I am, staring at people. "Go on, say hi to someone". Judging by the looks people are giving me, I'm concluding that I said my thoughts out loud. My legs are moving and my mind is racing. I'm nervous about the promise I made to Dad. Walking up to the start of the steps, I stop and look up. "Here I go" I think. With that, I run up the stone steps into my new school and my new chapter begins.