In The Middle

Chapter 1: The First Day

Sophie’s P.O.V.

            “You better hurry up, or you’re going to be late!” shouted my mom up the stairs. I sighed and tried to finish up getting ready. It was my first day at a new school, and I wanted to make a good impression. I put my shoulder-length brown hair into loose curls and lined my chestnut eyes with a black eye pencil. I didn’t normally wear makeup, but this was my senior year, and I figured I should try a more mature look. Then I put on my dark-wash skinny jeans and a new floral blouse. “I mean it, Sophie,” called my mom again. “Coming!” I yelled, then hurried down the stairs. I grabbed my backpack and schedule on the way out and got into my car, an old Saturn.

            The high school was only five minutes away from my house. When I arrived, it was teeming with students, all hanging out it clumps and chatting excitedly. No doubt, that by senior year, all the friend groups had already been established. If only Dad had decided to transfer before my freshman year. I looked up my locker assignment in the office and headed in the direction the office lady had pointed towards.

            I started looking in my backpack for the lock I had brought when I bumped into a girl. She was gorgeous, with long light brown hair and doe eyes. She had to be popular, which made me feel even more embarrassed. “Sorry!” I muttered. “No, you’re fine, I wasn’t watching where I was going,” she replied sweetly. “Are you new here?” she asked. “Yes, actually. I just moved here a few weeks ago,” I replied. “Are you a senior too?” I nodded and told her, “I’m Sophie.” “Nice to meet you, I’m Eleanor. Oh, well let me look at your schedule and see if we have any classes together,” she said. I handed her the paper and she glanced over it. “Hey, we have first hour together! I’ll be sure to show you around,” she said. “Thanks, that’s really nice of you. I am feeling a bit lost here,” I told her. “I’m sure you’ll get used to it really soon. Anyway, let’s go to English now, that’s the minute bell.”

            I was about to take a seat next to Eleanor when I noticed there was a seating chart on the board. I was at the front of the room, and Eleanor was at the back. When I took my seat, I saw she was giggling and talking with another girl in the seat next to her. She had big, curly hair that she pulled off really well. I probably couldn’t make that hair look very good, I thought to myself.

            After class, Eleanor introduced me to the girl. Her name was Danielle, and she was a senior too. She was nice like Eleanor, but definitely more outgoing and sassy. Then two boys made their way over to us. I couldn’t help but notice they were cute. One boy, with tan skin, brown hair, and blue eyes, wrapped his arm around Eleanor. The other, a muscular boy with brown hair and big brown eyes, kissed Danielle on the cheek and then took her hand. “Sophie, this is Louis,” gesturing to the boy next to her. “And this is Liam,” she said, pointing to Danielle’s boy. “Hey, Sophie, nice to meet you,” said Liam. “How’s the new school treating you?” asked Louis. “It’s good, everyone’s been pretty friendly so far,” I replied. “You should find us at lunch and sit with us,” said Danielle. “Yeah, for sure,” I responded. Then a bell went off. “See you later,” said Eleanor.

            The cafeteria was pretty big, and it took me a minute to scout out their table. I finally heard one of them call my name and then took a seat next to Eleanor. This might have been a bad idea since she and Louis, who was on her other side, were pretty focused on each other. Liam and Danielle were being pretty affectionate, too. I felt a bit relieved when two boys came and sat down across the table. One was blonde with blue eyes and quite adorable, while the boy next to him had darker skin and hair with deep brown eyes.

             “Hey, guys, this is Sophie,” said Eleanor. “Sophie, this blondie is Niall and this is Zayn.” We exchanged greetings and then a blonde girl came to the table. She sat next to Zayn and they shared a brief kiss. My heart sunk a bit; Zayn was really cute. I found out later that the girl’s name was Perrie. “So where’s Harry?” asked Niall. “I don’t know, I saw him earlier,” said Louis. “Oh, there he is!” A tall, skinny boy with green eyes and a head full of brown curls approached the table. “Well hello everyone,” he said. Then he noticed me and smiled. “Hey, I’m Harry. What’s your name?” I told him as he took a seat next to me. “So you’re new?” he asked. “Yeah, just moved here from Michigan a few weeks ago,” I replied. He grinned widely and said, “Well I hope you like it here.”