Diary of a Dragon Rider

Ch 3

CHAPTER THREE

I woke up with a smile on my face when I remembered every thing that happened yesterday. The smile slowly turned into a grimace when I remembered that today was my first day of school.

The learning aspect of school wasn't that bad; it was the people who would be my peers for the next year and a half that worried me. The hurricane of anxiety in my stomach was warning me that today would be a special day. The day when I would change my life or become the same shy, nervous wreck of a girl that I was last week.

I got out of bed with vigor before making my way into my personal bathroom that was connected to the bedroom.

After showering, I quickly changed into some clothes that I had picked out the night before. I chose a short sundress with a denim jacket. Still casual, but cute at the same time.

Before I knew it, Mason was driving us to school. I was tapping my fingers on everything to try and get my mind off of what could happen today.

Thankfully, my tapping theory worked. Soon enough we were in the parking lot of Sherwood High School, and my heart was pounding whilst my fingers tingled with anxiety.

Mason knew as soon as he put the car in park that I was nervous, because his hand was on my shoulder and told me that I had no reason to be nervous.

"You're going to be fine, Tally. I'll be there with you the entire time. And when I'm not, you can text me, okay?"

I calmed down after a minute, and looked at Mason. "Okay. I guess I should be used to the nerves by now, but oh well." I laughed. Reaching over, I put my arm around him in a hug.

"Thank you, Mase."

"Any time, Tally."

With that, we opened the doors and left out car before walking into Sherwood High.

I expected the stares. What I didn't expect was for everyone to change their conversations to us. I guess we didn't deserve the cliche 'new kid silence' that I always read about, but that was okay. Because instead of worrying about their opinion of me, I just had to listen. And luckily, I had exceptional hearing.

I heard hushed voices of all kinds as Mason led me to the office, after he had to stop and ask for directions from a tall guy in a t-shirt and basketball shorts.

Most of what I heard was about Mason, but I heard them talking about the 'new girl' here and there in the hall as well. Thankfully, it was all just curiosity. That was understandable considering the size of this school.

After what seemed like an eternity, we reached the school office. They were expecting us, and had our schedules and lockers ready to go.

Mason handed his schedule to me as he asked the Secretary about sports try-out and clubs. I quickly zoned him out as I compared our schedules.

Thankfully, we had all of our academic classes together. For electives, however, I had chosen creative writing, environmental studies, as well as a free period. This was very different from Mason's choice of gym, computer tech, and physics, but I guess that was okay. I wouldn't be able to stick by Mason's side forever.

I gave him back his schedule, because he was still talking about sports and I didn't want to be late on my first day. After waving goodbye to Mason, I opened the door to the much less crowded hallway and began my search for the creative writing classroom.

"Are you lost?" Someone behind me asked.

I jumped, startled, before turning to face the girl that had spoken. She was small and petite, five feet tall at most, and had dark brown colored hair that complimented her ocean colored eyes.

"Yea, I guess I am," I responded with a nervous laugh. "Can you show me to the creative writing room by chance?"

"Sure!" she said enthusiastically. "That's actually where I was heading. It's right at the end of this hallway, on the left," she explained while leading me to the door.

"Thanks," I said before she could open the door. "I'm Thalia Worth, but you can call me Tally if you like."

When she heard my last name, her eyes widened and she smiled. "And my name is Loranda Fae, but you can call me Randi."

After the introduction, she opened the door and led me inside. And not a moment too soon, because the bell rang not even a minute after we found our seats.

Creative writing was better than I thought it would be. There were only seven other students taking the class besides Loranda and me, and they were all girls. We had most of the hour to brainstorm an idea for our final projects, and the only in class work we had to do was write in a journal about what we did the day before. Randi told me that the trick to the assignment was to make it different and interesting for each day, or 'spice it up' as she liked to say.

I found that in each class, I had at least one person from my creative writing class who helped me and made me really feel welcomed into the school. Even in classes that I had with Mason, I preferred chatting with my new group of friends about where I lived and what I did before moving.

I could tell that Mason was curious about how I was doing, so in math class I gave him a thumbs up after getting his attention. He smiled, then seemed to focus more on his classwork.

During lunch, I sat with a few of my newly made friends. Randi, of course, sat with me, as well as two other girls named Rachel and Melissa. Rachel had short, ash blond hair and large green eyes that got distracted by even the slightest movement in the room. Melissa, or Mel, was definitely more relaxed than Rachel. Mel had lighter blond hair that seemed to curl naturally, as well as light brown eyes and freckles across her nose.

"So Tally...Who is that boy you were looking at in math?" Mel asked me "A boyfriend?"

I started laughing and had to compose myself before responding. "No, that's my brother. His name is Mason."

Rachel added in "That makes sense. I mean, it's hard enough to imagine having one new kid here, but two is unrealistic if they aren't related."

"Yea, I guess so," Melissa laughed. I noticed her staring at the table where Mase sat with some of his new friends, but didn't mention anything.

The rest of the day passed by in such a blur, that I was surprised when the final bell rang. I picked up my things and left the classroom before heading out into the parking lot to meet Mason at the car. He was with one of his friends, but I approached them anyways.

"Hey Mason, are you ready to leave?" I asked once I stood by his side.

"And who might you be?" Asked his friend. Mason could tell that I was uncomfortable because he answered for me.

"She's my sister, and she off limits, bro. Sorry. See you later."

With that, the two of us got into the car and drove off towards our new home.