New Girl

Cherry Bomb

I stepped out of the gates of the juvenile detention center called Coldwall, a few hours outside of Hawkins. I smirked when I saw the familiar car of my mother's waiting and my mother standing there with my little brother. They hadn't seen me yet.

"Hey Dusty, shouldn't you be in school?" I asked happily, glad to finally see your brother after 4 years. His head whipped up and a smile split his face.

"Y/N!" My little brother shouted and bolted over towards me, embracing me. After a few seconds, I hold him out at arm's length.

"You grew! You're what, 15 now?" I ask. He nodded, our reunion was interrupted by our mother who cleared her throat.

"Y/N" She greeted softly. I stepped towards her and wrapped my arms around her, I felt her arms wrap around me in return. I was now taller than your mother by a few inches and my brother was still shorter than me.

"Hey mama," I whispered in her ear. I could hear her crying softly. I released each other and she wiped her eyes. I put my duffel bag in the trunk and we all got into the car with me in the passenger seat and Dustin in the back seat.

"So Dusty, how's school? And don't get me wrong, I'm glad you came, but why aren't you in school right now?" I asked and turned my head to look back at him, quirking an eyebrow.

"School's going okay, Mom let me come to get you today," He told me, I nodded and turned to face the front.

"Y/N what did you do to your hair?" Mom asked. It was then I remembered the haircut that I got in juvie. It was a pixie cut with shaved sides, my hair remained the white-blonde that you had gotten from my father.

"I cut it," I replied simply. Our mother simply rolled her eyes in amusement and focused on the road. I thought about school, I was picked up on Saturday, leaving Sunday as a free day then back to school on Monday. I wondered if Tommy and Carol were still the jerks that they had been before I was sent to juvie. Some people never change.

"Hey Dusty, what's new with you?" I asked my brother, bored with the silence.

"The car lot updated security thanks to you. We have a new friend, Max, she moved here just this year, her brother, Billy Hargrove, is the biggest jerk on the planet and a guy named Steve is our new babysitter," Dustin listed off. I turned to him and gave him a look.

"Who's Steve?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He moved here after you left. He's the same age as you. He used to be a jerk but now he's great!" I nod at this bit of information, turning back and closing my eyes and getting some sleep as Dustin went on about Steve. It was still a few hours before we got home.

I was startled awake by my brother shaking me. I glared up and him but sat up, yawning.

"We're home," He told me cheerfully and went running inside. I got up groggily, went around to the back of the car, popping the trunk open. I saw the duffel, my release papers on top reading Y/N Penhall.

Mom had divorced dad before Dustin was born and I kept my father's last name. He moved to a different country altogether and we never saw him again. I stopped my train of thought and picked up my duffel, then I went into the house.

I stood in the doorway, inhaling the familiar scent of my home.

"It's good to be back," I whispered to myself.

________

Monday came sooner than I would have liked. I woke up to the blaring of my alarm, I shut it off in a huff. I eventually got up and went to take a shower. I got dressed into jeans, a tucked in black shirt and a leather jacket, after getting dressed I styled my hair.

When I finally looked at the clock it was already 7:45, I grabbed my Walkman and backpack and walked out the door, calling out a goodbye to Mom and Dustin, and hopped on my bike. Once I got to the school I locked the bike up and slid on my sunglasses. I sighed as I walked through the doors, one by one heads turned towards me.

"Who is that?" I heard someone ask as I walked by.

"Look at the new kid," a girl told her friend.

After a long and uneventful day, I walked to my locker. I spun the combination into the lock and opened the door, placing my new books into my locker. I heard the sound of footsteps and felt hands hovering my hips.

"Touch me and I'll kick your ass into next week," I said, remaining faced towards my locker. The person owning the hands ignored my threat and placed his hands on my hips and spun me around. A blond boy with a mullet and a shirt halfway undone was suddenly in front of me.

"Someone's feisty, you new around here?" he asked, not letting go of my hips. My hands clench into tight fists.

"What part of 'touch me and I'll kick your ass into next week' do you not understand?" I asked, placing my hands on his chest and shoving him away from me, I was almost the same height as him, maybe a few centimeters shorter. A dark-haired boy saw the scuffle and was approaching.

"Billy, leave her alone," the boy growled at the blond. I hold my hand up to silence the boy who was trying to defend me.

"So... You're Billy Hargrove... I've heard a lot about you," I told him, he raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah? And what have you heard about me exactly?" The stupid kid thought I was flirting.

"Meet me in the lot in 5 minutes and you'll find out just what I've heard about you," I leaned over and whispered in his ear, reeling him in. The boy who had defended me a few seconds earlier was now looking confused. Billy walked out and you finished setting up your locker. I walked past the dark haired boy as I headed out.

"Come on, pretty-boy, you don't want to miss this," I told him, as I rolled up my sleeves and clenched my fist. I slipped my switchblade into my pocket just to be safe. This may send me back to juvie but it would be well worth it.