Falling

Ryland

"Ryland? You go here?" She said and I finally put all the pieces together. How did I not recognize her car?

"Kenna! How did we never tell each other which schools we were going to?" I asked, kinda shocked even though the pieces of this puzzle had all been sitting right in front of me this whole time, god I was such a dumbass.

"I have no idea, but I'm really glad you're here because I was just about to get even more nervous," she said with a light laugh. I could tell she wasn't kidding though- her face was always pale but at the moment it bordered on ghostly.

"Hey, me too, but don't worry about it, today's going to be fine. It's just high school right?" I said, a little color coming back to her face.

She let out a breath and nodded. "Right. Ok then, what are we waiting for?" She grabbed my arm and we walked up to the main building.

They had emailed us schedules ahead of time, but we still had to go to the office to get our school computers and key cards to get into the other buildings. Luckily we were a little early, so we would have time to do that and then figure out how to get to class.

*****

"Right, so now what?" Kenna asked after we'd left the office.

"Now we check our schedules to see if we have any classes together, then we hope we find a map or something because I have no idea where...Mr. Riley's homeroom is." I said after scanning my schedule.

"Well then at least we'll be lost together, because I have no clue either," she said with a smile after looking at her own schedule.

"Locker number?" I asked her.

"257, you?"

"258, nice to meet you, locker buddy."

*****

After somehow managing to find our lockers, we both struggled for a second trying to use the new lock combinations the office secretary had scrawled onto our schedules.

During the process of putting away my books and organizing my locker I noticed the girl beside me. The girl at locker number 259 had sleek dark hair. Her olive complexion was dotted with freckles and her bright almond shaped eyes had a friendliness to them. She seemed like a nice person, but in my experience you should never judge a book by its cover.

However, deciding to be bold- and in the interest of making at least more than one friend-I introduced myself.

"Hey, I'm Ryland, you don't happen to know where Mr. Riley's homeroom is do you?" I asked, hoping she wasn't another new student.

"Don't worry! You won't have to go far, the room is right here. Since lockers 250-280 are all in his homeroom, I can show you. I'm Emily by the way." She said, before returning her gaze to her own books, stacking them neatly in her locker.

"Thanks, that would be great. Me and Kenna only barely managed to find or lockers in this place." I said, and as I finished putting everything away, I turned to Kenna.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Ready." She said, and our lockers closed with a the sound of clashing metal.

Emily led us to the door, opening it to a classroom filled with students, the crescendo of voices intensifying as we stepped into the room.

I saw some groups but to my surprise they didn't seem clique-y or exclusive- but again,  I judging by covers. Teenagers wandered around the room, catching up with friends they hadn't seen since last school year, or speaking with new friends they had just met. The kids looked normal enough, and friendly, chatting with those around them. This was a little different than the school environment I was used to. I had dealt with my fair share of teenage drama.

Emily led us to a clump of desks, the chairs all pulled away from the tables and the kids that sat in them had formed a sort of circle.

"So, these are some of my friends," Emily said and immediately began listing names.

"That's Casey," she said pointing to a thin boy with blond wavy hair and light green eyes. He seemed like a shy kid, giving me a nod before going back to a conversation with a tall, dark haired girl sitting behind him.

"And here's Lucas," she said pointing to another boy, with a dark complexion and black hair that was cropped short. He was muscular, that much was clear as his t-shirt stretched across his biceps. And even in the chair in which he sat, I could tell he would tower over me if he were standing. But, when his face broke out into a grin, I realized his muscles were the only thing intimidating about him. I threw a smile in his direction as well.

"And that," she said gesturing to the last person, a petite girl with shoulder length, light brown hair and bright blue eyes, "is Kyla." Kyla had one of those faces that looked sweet, with its heart shape and the soft eyes peering out.

"She might look little but I'd bet on her in any fight," Emily whispered and I couldn't hold back a laugh.

"Em, come on, what are you telling him?" Kyla asked, literally face palming.

"Nothing, nothing," Emily replied, shaking her head as she visibly withheld her laugh.

"Nice to meet you all, I'm Ryland," I said, hoping they wouldn't mind me joining heir group for now.

They all turned expectantly at Kenna, waiting for her to introduce herself as well.

"I'm Kenna," she said with a nervous smile. However, as we all got to talking, the nervous hesitation in Kenna's smile melted away to reveal the warm, genuine, smile that I was used to.

Kenna and Kyla were in an enthusiastic conversation at this point. Kyla was amazed that Kenna was able to deal with the cold winters of the north east, and might even enjoy cold weather, while Kenna was shocked that Kyla had never seen snow.

"I mean I guess I've seen snow on the mountains and stuff but never really experienced it you know?" She said, her face scrunching up as if she was tying to imagine it.

"Really? Then if I ever visit Pennsylvania in the winter, you're coming with me. You haven't lived until you've experienced the joy of reading a good book, with a cup of hot chocolate, on a snowy day." She said laughingly and of course Kyla couldn't help but join in.

"Ever need a travel partner, let me know," Kyla said, "who knows, maybe I could enjoy getting hypothermia too." She joked, already seeming to be warming up to Kenna.

*****

Before we knew it, homeroom was half over. The teacher had understood that we were teenagers, and let us chat for the last twenty minutes. But now we had some actual stuff to get through before moving on with the day.

"I don't assign seats, because this is homeroom and I think that's ridiculous that they want me to do that. However, I am supposed to inform you that you are expected to be here on time every morning and if you aren't in homeroom you're absent until you sign in apparently." He said, "if you have any questions I'm sure Mrs. Gild would be more than happy to clear them up." He continued and the whole class burst into laughter except the few new kids.

"Oldest teacher I think I've ever known, never be on your phone when you walk past her or she'll give you hell." Kyla informed me with a quiet laugh, although I could tell she was serious.

"I'll have to keep that in mind," I whispered back to her.

Turning my attention back to the teacher, or Mr. Riley as he'd written on the board, homeroom carried on.

*****

A/N: another short chapter sorry! I'm going to try to write another two and publish them all at once. What do you think of their first day of school so far? I'd love to hear any suggestions you have in the comments! Let me know whether you like the character descriptions i.e. If you want more/less description.

:) keep reading!