Snow White

Chapter 2: Eyes

[Recap: After half an hour of waiting anxiously for the bus to arrive, I heard a honking noise. It was time. I ran down the stairs, almost tripping. I was so nervous that I couldn't feel my legs. I said my goodbyes and exited the house. I stood right in front of the yellow vehicle and thought to myself "My first ever bus ride, alone yet surrounded by a dozen of students." I looked at the windows to see the people's reactions, but they were tinted. So, there was only one way to find out if I was truly normal or a freak. All I had to do was enter the bus. I slowly walked towards the door, and took a deep breath as I stepped in. ]

    The bus driver looked at me in shock. I was confused, at first, but then remembered that I didn't look like the others. "Welcome aboard", she greeted me with a warm smile, assuming she felt my discomfort. I thanked her and continued my path. All eyes were on me, from eight to eighteen year olds. I heard a young boy whispering to his older sister: "I thought you said aliens didn't exist". I even saw a girl in her teenage years taking a picture of me. I wanted to confront her, but I was too weak, and I didn't know how this school thing worked. I was a moping fawn in a herd of bulls, searching, hopefully, for another lost being.

I've been wandering so much, that I've already missed the first empty seat. There was a second one in the back, a window seat next to two good looking guys who seemed my age. It was too late to go back to the first one, it would look like I was avoiding them, which would make me look feeble, and I was, at the moment. Suck it up, I told myself. They've got nothing against me, I haven't done anything wrong, and they don't even know me. And besides, I may look different externally, but we're all the same internally: we all have two lungs, a heart, a rib cage, and it goes on. I raised my head high and walked confidently towards the seat. "Hi", I said, with the nicest smile I could ever give, to the blondie. He just nodded, with an uninterested look on his face, and looked the other way, where his brother or friend was sitting. Well, this is going to be one hell of a long ride.

To avoid the awkwardness, I put my earphones on and started listening to my all-time favorite song, Brave by Amarante -my mom plays it whenever I feel small. I increased the volume to the maximum to avoid contact with others. Unfortunately that didn't work as planned: the brunette pulled the earphones straight out of my ear. "Pose for the camera, sunshine", he mockingly said, and immediately took an off-guard picture of me. Before I could say anything, the bus has stopped: we arrived. I rolled my eyes, grabbed my backpack, and stepped on the blonde-haired boy's foot. I heard a groan coming from him as I walked out, and smirked.

    I stepped out of the vehicle, and looked at the wide building in front of me, astonished by the hundreds of students surrounding it. Before I could take another step, a random girl suddenly greeted me with a massive hug. "Oh I'm so glad you're here!", she paused and scanned my startled expression. She giggled and continued: "Excuse me. Your mom probably told you about me, but never showed you how I look like, I'm guessing". I, then, remembered last week's conversation with my mom: "Oh! You must be Codie, my cousin, right?" She nodded with a smile, appreciating my recognition. "And you're Everly, yeah?", and I responded with a quick "Yup". She grasped my hand and started leading me the way in: "You're going to love this school: lots of cool activities, hot boys, gossiping, and yeah all that shit you see in movies." I laughed at her comment, but then it hit me. What if she doesn't actually want to hang out with me? What if she's forced? I didn't want to be the one who ruined her reputation. She looked at me, concerned: "Are you good? Is everything alright?". I nodded to steer clear of sounding dramatic. She raised her eyebrow, looking at me in disbelief: "Honey, spill". I sighed and said:"I just don't want to keep your friends away from you. Like what if people start talking about you because of me? I just don't wa-". She chuckled: "Babe, don't worry about it. I don't give three fucks about what people say about me. Anyway, my friends have the biggest hearts, you'll love them". I felt relieved, and hoped she was right. "I'm guessing you need to head to the principal's office to collect whatever it is you need to collect?" I nodded, and she led me to the office. I knocked on the door, and waited for an answer. I had no idea how this worked. I sat on the chair until another person came out, assuming it was my turn to enter. I walked in slowly to find a grey-haired woman sitting behind a desk full of papers and pens, and a label which was written on it "Miss Grundy". She welcomed me, talked for a long while about the rules and regulations, and then handed me my locker number and schedule. As I exited, she wished me luck.

  I quickly started to head to my locker, before the bell could ring. I walked fast while looking at the floor, to ignore all the stares. I, suddenly, bumped into a stranger, and both dropped our belongings, just like the movies. Our eyes met. He didn't seem to care about my appearance. All he was looking at was my eyes. I felt something I've never felt before. He was a very dark red, almost brown, haired boy, with a well structured and symmetrical face, and deep brown eyes. He didn't seem like a snobby type. Our moment was, sadly, interrupted by the bell. Before we could pick up our things and continue our way, I read the name tag on his notebook which said "Elijah Waller", I think. Elijah. What an unusual and unique name. But you just made Riverdale HighSchool a whole lot better.