Orchid

Introductions.....ha ha

I wake up to the bright sunshine peeking in the window.

What the heck? Bright sunshine? I must've overslept!

I roll right out of bed and glance quickly at my alarm clock. Its face is black and empty. God, my brother Ross must've been up to his little tricks. A sophomore and still immature.

Just a brief intro about me: I'm sixteen and a junior at Crestwood High, and my name is Orchid Evergreen. I know. Kinda cheesy name. My sister is Arya(short for Aurora), and she's a senior at the same school. Ross attends Crestwood too. So we're all "connected." I have white-golden hair and blue eyes, and Arya has dark hair and green eyes. Ross has dark hair and blue eyes. So Arya and I aren't exactly immediately identified as sisters. OK, intro's over. I throw on some random but stylish clothes: like a dark blue hoodie over a clean pink shirt, and jeans.

After my "bathroom" time, I fly down the stairs, grab my heavy book-filled backpack and a sandwich, open the door, and...just run. I devour my sandwich as I run past 6 blocks. It coulda been worse. My elementary school was a lot more than 6 blocks. Try....40 blocks.

As I skid past a bush to the front door, something trips me. So I lunge for the bush instead of the ground. Dirt you can wash off. Scabs...you can't.

I end up bumping my chin against the window that's right above the bush, attracting someone to come over.

Xander, my Oh-my-God he's so damn hot crush, comes over and fixes his alluring icy-blue eyes on me. He opens the window high enough so I can climb in. "You OK?" He tilts his head, allowing his sparkling white teeth and high cheekbones to show.

"Yeah. I guess." I allow myself to enjoy him as I scurry in.

My homeroom teacher, Mr. Burke, notices me. "Ms. Evergreen. You are nearly forty-five minutes late. Do you have an excuse?"

"Yeah. My alarm clock got jacked up," I half-lie. Mr. Burke would never believe Ross, one of his favored students, would cause me trouble.

"My alarm clock never gets jacked up." There we go. Jennifer Robinson, the biggest and richest snob in the whole entire school. But if you don't call her Jenna, she'll make your life hell in this school. "So if yours does, maybe you're jacked up?"

Her bunch of friends, known as the Queen Team to them but as the Cruel Crew to others, laugh their hearts out. If they even have any. There are only four true members. The other girls who hang around them are just trying to be popular. Their names are Jenna Robinson, Lillian(Lily) Burke(yes, she's the daughter of Mr. Burke), Katherine(Katie) Patterson, and Anastasia(Anna) Creeks. Though they're popular, they're downgraded in some way. Jenna has big fat liar scrawled all over her, Anna is homeless and an orphan(she currently lives in a brown box outside Jenna's alley and the school took her in as a community service project), Katie is seriously tiny, and Lily should've been in college second year, but she had to repeat a few years. But they're all stuck-up and act rich because Jenna is rich and she decided to choose them as her friends. Sad, right?

Mr. Burke narrows his pale blue eyes at the Cruel Crew. "Ms. Robinson, Ms. Burke, Ms. Patterson, and Ms. Creeks. That is not polite." I know. It's weird that Mr. Burke would call Lily Ms. Burke. But Mr. Burke always calls his students Mr. or Ms.. His daughter isn't an exception. "In the future, do not laugh at Ms. Evergreen in public. You may in a private place, but it is highly rude that you laugh in front of her face. The next time you do this, it's extra homework."

"Yes, Mr. Burke," Jenna answers for all of them, shooting me a look laced with venom.

I take my seat, next to Xander and Jason, my best guy friend. He's cute and kind, but my heart beats for Xander. Jason is loving, but I don't think he's right for the future.

"Heard you came in kinda late," he whispers, running a hand through his dark hair. "Anything bad happen?" That was Jason, my sorta knight in shining armor, there to make sure no harm befalls me, the supposedly princess. Except Xander's the king with all the power.

"No," I whisper under my breath back. "I'm not sure, but I'll bet that Ross pulled my alarm clock wire out of its socket."

Jason sucks in his breath. "Oh, God. He was the first one here at school. He looked proud of himself."

I smirk. "Oh, I am so going to to kill him when I get home."

"Good luck." Xander leans in, smiling.

Jason's face darkens. "Get out of this. Nobody invited you."

"What's the harm?" I say. We sit in the back, so Mr. Burke can't possibly notice us whispering. But how could Xander hear us whispering? Must be a boy with a cute face and super hearing. The boy I like.

Xander grins at Jason. "Yeah, Jason, what's the harm?"

Jason's eyebrow quirks. "The harm is that I'm not going to take part in this conversation." He takes a worksheet from Lucy Fitzgerald, who's handing out papers. As Lucy passes us and my paper comes fluttering down, Lucy bats her eyes at Xander and a wide grin spreads on her tiny pink-glossed lips. "Hey, Xandie." Dropping a nickname for him? Seriously. We're not in kindergarten.

"Call me Xander," Xander corrects her firmly, giving her a teasing and beautiful smile. No duh. Every girl in this classroom(including me) has fallen in love with him. He blows her a mocking kiss.

Lily, who sits in front of Xander, turns around. "Hey, Xander," she says in a flirty, girly voice. "Lucy's lame. You should seriously take me out one day. For real." She moistens and rubs her lips together, as if she wanted to taste Xander up and down.

Xander grins. "Sure, Lily, but I like Lucy a whole lot better. Meet me tonight, Lucy?"

Mr. Burke notices. "Ms. Burke and Mr. Jackson. Please stop talking." He goes on to his lecture. "As you know, history often repeats itself. Just look at World War I and World War II. If in the future, if peace agreements do not last long, there will be a World War III."

After we complete our worksheet(just a list of wars we have to describe and explain), the bell rings and we get up to transfer to our next class, Foreign Language. As we walk carrying our books to our lockers, Jason bumps me lightly. "Orchid, what the heck?"

"What the heck are you talking about?" I unlock my lock and slam all of my books in. When the last Social Studies notebook flies down, I shut my door, lock it again, and turn to face him. "I just walk down the hall normally, and you're asking me a random question?"

Jason rolls his eyes. "No, you dummy. Why the heck are you being friendly with Xander?" He empties his load and comes back, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Hello. Are you like the rudest person ever living? He's a normal human boy. Like you," I nearly shout at him. "So maybe Xander should treat you like you're an alien from Mars."

"Well, I'm not. That's the point." A smile creeps on his face, but it hardly lightens my mood. "And him....he's got like half the class's girls chasing on him. Would you really want to like a cheater?"

"Xander doesn't cheat." I turn, my back facing him. Jason knows I like Xander, up and down. And he's apparently jealous, though he never said it. "He sticks to a choice. He's stubborn."

"I just don't want you to get hurt!" Jason hollers as I sprint toward Latin class.

"Don't bother. I'm nearly seventeen. I can protect myself." OK, maybe that was a little too sharp and mean. But I'm steaming mad. And when I'm steaming mad, that's not a good thing.

I wish I never stepped through the wooden brown door of Ms. Amphrite's room.

I had no idea my life would change and spin upside down with that little step into the room.