Withered

//Addison//

"Addison Hargitay?" It was the first day of my third high school.

"Here." I kept my head down because everyone was staring.

"Hargitay..." Mrs. Bell pondered, "as in Mariska Hargitay." Now I had two choices: a) lie and say that no, she is not my mother b) tell the truth and deal every single person who tries to use me to get to my mother. Neither option appealed to me, but this was a new school, I could be whoever I wanted to be.

"Nope, no relations." The prying eyes of my peers quickly turned away. Any student who wanted the true answer could just search on google. But for just one day I just wanted to be my own person and not Mariska's daughter.

Mrs. Bell continued to drone on and on about literature in the early 19 century, my phone buzzed.

"How's your first day going?" From my mother. I put my phone in my bag without replying.

As the bell rang Mrs. Bell called me to her desk. "Addison, I know that it's probably hard starting a new school in the middle of the year, and I'm sorry about this, but there are some things you'll need to do so that you'll succeed." She pulled open her desk and handed me three books and a notebook. "These are the books we will be studying and we write 5 pages a week in the notebook. Whatever you write is your personal choice and I won't read it if you don't want me to." She smiled.

"Oh thanks.." I put them in my bag and headed towards the door.

"Oh and Addison. You don't have to lie about your mother." I quickly raced out of the room with my head down.

I must've looked lost because soon an older boy came up to me and asked if I needed directions.

"Yeah actually. It's my first day. Do you know where Mr. Davies room is?"

"Mr. Davies room is actually pretty close to my next class. My name is Leo by the way. What's yours?" We started walking.

"Addison."

"Well Addison, welcome to Crestview Academy." He smiled at me, his green eyes met with mine and I couldn't help but blush. "Oh and Mr. Davies is a pretty good trig teacher. So your a junior?"

"Sophomore, I got bumped up into some junior classes."

"Ahhhhhh. Smart one. Well here it is." He pointed to the class, "If you want you can sit with me and my friends at lunch, I can get you after your fourth period. Which is?"

"Spanish II." I answered, giving a half smile.

"Alright, Addison. I'll see you." He smiled and backed away facing me, occasionally bumping into people and laughing. I walked into the classroom grinning ear to ear.

The bell rang right when I got into my seat. Next to me sat a blue haired girl who was slouching in her chair and popping her gum loudly.

"Hi." I said.

"Hey. New here?" She looked at me intently, she had grey eyes that seemed almost as mysterious as the rest of her.

"Yeah, my name's Addison."

"Quinn. Enjoy trig, partner." The sarcasm in her voice made me laugh.

Mr. Davies started taking roll, once he he reached my name the familiar question rolled off his tongue.

"Addison Hargitay?"

"Here."

"If you don't mind me asking, would you be related to Mariska Hargitay?" He looked up from his glasses, with his clipboard in hand.

"Nope, not at all." Lie.

"You sure caught Mr. Davies attention." Quinn retorted.

"Quinn Nicholson?"

"Here."

The class was a bit behind what I had been learning at my last school, so I was able to impress the teacher with my knowledge. I spent the next 90 minutes waiting to see Leo again.

When fourth period finally ended, Leo was there waiting outside the door. He led me to the cafeteria and pointed out his friends.

"You hungry?"

"No, I'm fine. Do you want to introduce me?" I didn't want to seem like a pig in front of him. 

"Oh, of course." He walked me over. "This is Sam." She was a petite girl with dark curly hair and light skin. "Parker." He was tall, red haired, and freckles all over. "Jamyson." She was athletically built with long blond hair that went down to her hips. "And finally Ian." He had dark rimmed glasses and soft black curls. "Everybody, this is Addison. It's her first day here."

"You wanna go to a party tonight?" Ian winked and Jamyson laughed, pressing her body closer to his.

"Oh yeah, I heard about Ellie's party tonight! You've gotta go Addison, that way you can get over being the new girl." Sam said.

"Sure, I'll be there." Check one for friends.