Fall Encounters

Chapter two: Xenophobia; the fear of the unknown

The screeching of the alarm clock jolted me awake. I'd hardly gotten any sleep last night, for the past couple weeks actually thanks to my new friend. I kept seeing him around the corner of stores and when I would try to find out who he was, he would magically disappear. It was really frustrating. Not only that, it was so...creepy. It was like something I saw out of a scary movie. Stalker guy sends chick pictures of shit she's doing, and in the end she's either killed or badly injured. I don't have a very high pain tolerance, and I quite enjoy living, so I'm going to have to pass on both of those.

I glanced at the digital clock on my bedside table. 6:10 A.M. I groaned out loud. Today I get the privilege of going to school where snobby rich girls and future frat guys mate. I breathed out a sigh and after I managed to get out of bed and shower, I grabbed an outfit I had laid out the night before. I grabbed my black bag and headed toward the bus stop. When I reached the bus stop, there were a couple kids there waiting already. I really took no notice of them due to the fact I hadn't had my coffee and I had my headphones in to a near deafening level. The bus pulled to a stop in front of us and we piled on one by one. Once I was on the bus, I noticed there was no free seat. Great.

"Hi! You can sit with me if you want!" I turned to find a girl that looked a couple years younger than me. Blonde hair with a huge black bow crowned on top of her head. I smiled a little at her enthusiasm. Normally people with that much energy are exhausting, but hers was somewhat refreshing.

"Thanks, I'm Anabelle." I looked at her, taking out one head bud so I could hear her. She was absolutely adorable. I could now see that she had a layer of dark brown under the blonde. She had bright, sparkly blue eyes. Her face seemed to brighten.

"Wow, like Anabelle Lee. Poe was a genius. That name is so pretty! I wish I had a cool name like that." She squealed.

I looked at her expecting her to continue. When she didn't make any move to, I said, "Well, what's your name?" Her face lit up again.

"Oh! My name is Elizabeth, but people call me Lizzie, kind of like Lizzie McGuire. But cooler." She said matter of factually. She seemed to have a ditzy air around her, but she used a Poe reference, so I guess she's not too bad. Her energy had a contagious quality to it. "So you're new here?" She didn't even wait for me to answer. "Duh! Of course you are! Well, you're going to love it! Our school is a really good one. It takes a lot to get a good scholarship. My daddy donates lot of money to the school, so I go free." She beamed like she was proud she came from money "And," She continued, "The guys at this school are really hot!" She turned and winked at one of the boys sitting in the back row. He had dark brown hair and grey blue eyes. He smiled back and waved.

"Is that your boyfriend?" She whipped her head around.

"Ash?" She laughed a little awkwardly. "No, he's just like, my best friend." I caught a small blush start to form on her cheeks. I smiled at her, she really was adorable.

As an attempt to change the subject she asked, "So, what grade are you in?"

"I'm a senior this year." Thank god!

"Cool, I'm a junior, but you know, its whatever." She giggled at me. She was way too cheerful to be up this early. The bus made a sudden stop. All of the kids on the bus filed out of it and walked slowly toward the school. Lizzie and I were the last two to get off. When I saw the building that stood before us I stopped. It was massive. The building looked like it was ancient, but its age didn't halter its beauty. It looked as if it had been carved out of white marble, with silver veining up and down the sides of it. The door was giant copse with only one brash knocker. I took a step back to take a better look at the massive school.

"Beautiful, right?" I looked to my side where Lizzie was staring at the school with a look that resembled admiration. I guess I'd be proud of a school that my dad donated money to.