Bright: DEH/BMC Fanfic

Chapter 2

Zoe woke up the next morning and quickly checked her phone. No notifications appeared on the front screen, so she unlocked it. She clicked the Instagram app and pictures of her followers appeared on her feed.

Lazily, she began scrolling through. Pictures of the beach and food flashed before her eyes. She saw a picture of her friend Jared appear on her phone. He was at summer camp. "I'm not surprised," she muttered.

After catching up with what all her old friends were doing, she hopped on over to Twitter. People were still reposting Evan's speech he made about a year ago and saying stuff like "R.I.P Connor" and "You will always be missed." Zoe had become used to people being so fake.

Finally she saw something that interested her. The school that she would soon be attending tweeted a picture with the caption, "Join us for Freshman Orientation! Transfers may attend too!"

She stared at it for a moment, wondering if she should go or not, "It's not like I have anything better to do."  Although the thought of being around freshman made her want to gag, she realized this would give her an opportunity to meet some new people and get a good feeling of the campus before school started.

Quickly, she changed out of her pajamas and into her normal style of choice: a plaid shirt,  jeans, and high-top converse. She smiled a little, seeing the stars on the cuffs of her jeans. They reminded her of sophomore year.

Zoe headed into the kitchen and saw a note on the counter. It read, "Got called in early. Make sure you do your chores and remember: Eat Your Lunch! I made you mac-n-cheese already so all you have to do it microwave it. Love you, Mom."

She looked in the fridge and sure enough, there was ready-made mac just for her. Sighing, she heated it up in the microwave and then ate in silence. 12:00 A.M. One more hour until the orientation started.

Zoe thought of her mom shelfing organic and expensive produce at Whole Foods. It didn't pay much, but it was enough to get by. Her dad had offered to help support the two of them, but her mom didn't take the offer. She wanted to prove that she could be a self-sufficient mother, and Zoe prided her on that.

After she finished her meal, Zoe washed out the plastic container which held her lunch, and then packed up some essentials in a purse that she'd take with her. Wallet. Check. Phone. Check. Snacks. Check.

12:45 A.M. At this time, she exited the apartment and headed towards the street. Without a car, she had to walk the mile to school. "Gah, I hope I won't have to do this everyday."

Upon arrival, she realized she made a big mistake. Crowds of freshman swarmed the outside of Middle Borough and her anxiety and disgust kicked in. They were so small and happy, which made her even more pissed off.

With a lot of struggle, she managed to make her way into the school building. Near the lockers, she saw a group of teens that looked about her age. They were wearing school colors so she guessed they were in school leadership or something.

Although she wanted to speak to them, she headed into the girl's bathroom instead. She stared at herself in the mirror. "Alright Zoe," she said out loud to herself after making sure no one else was in there, "You can do this. Just be friendly with people and try to talk to some seniors. Make small talk like... how's the band department here? Crap, no that's lame. GAH!"

As soon as she said that, one of the seniors Zoe saw earlier entered. She was a blonde, stereotypical popular girl all decked out in school sports attire. "Hey," she said, way to excitedly, "Are you new here?"

"Yeah," Zoe said, "I'm a transfer." She clarified quickly, "A senior."

"Oh nice! I'm a senior too," The blonde-haired girl said happily. "I'm Brooke. I run the school leadership program. You're just gonna love it here!"