Superficial Introductions

Chapter 3

"Good morning mustangs and welcome back to another great year at Bowlder G. Hartig High School! After you take attendance we will all meet down in the auditorium for a mandatory assembly. But first it is time for the pledge and then your student council president, Olivia Hilton, will take over from there." The principal said over the loudspeaker after the late bell had rung.

"Shit, I totally forgot I was in charge of announcements!" Liv squeaked as she hurried out of the classroom and sprinted down the hall. In her mind she was mentally thanking herself for being in the best shape of her life, because she knew that there was no way that she would've made it to the office in time any other way- even if BGHHS was a small school.

But as soon as she got to the office she was visibly winded and made a signal to the principal to keep talking to save her some time, but he didn't seem to recognize who she was. She silently cursed herself for not going and meeting him before school, she forgot that not everyone was used to seeing the new her. But she quickly remembered she had her school ID clipped to her waist and she showed it to him- attempting to tell him who she was.

After a few moments of confusion the reality of who Liv was dawned on the principal and he began spouting inspirational bullshit into the microphone. He kept talking until he could see the bright red color disappearing off of Liv's face, then handed over the announcement mic to her to allow her to elaborate on the activities that would be happening for the first day of school.

As she rambled on and on, reading the long list of activities that were going on she thought about the election that had taken place at the end of the prior year to decide who would be student council president. She remembered that she didn't even want the position, not that any real campaigning was ever done to get the job, but she didn't put any effort into the speech she gave either.

The entire process was based on the amount of work that the student had done for the school previously with the club and then the student had to write a letter to the teacher in charge of Stu-Co. The students then had to give a speech in front of the whole school to talk about what they had as ideas or why they should be elected, Liv had however kept hers very short and sweet, not even telling anyone to vote for her.

After they had announced it she had figured that the teacher consideration had held more gravity on the decision than the popularity contest that she knew was impossible for her to win. She brought herself back to reality though, because she knew if she got too distracted then she wouldn't be saying the words on the paper, but the thoughts that were floating in and out of her mind.

"Thank you BGHHS for your attention, now let's have our best year yet!" She finished into the microphone as she clicked the sound off so the homerooms could turn back to their daily routine.

Liv only had a second to breathe before the principal, Mr. Danvers, began to speak to her. "Well Miss Hilton, you're looking... different today. Thank you again for doing the announcements."

She smiled back, fighting off the urge to give a snarky retort, "Actually I think I should be thanking you."

Mr. Danvers then continued talking to her animatedly about all the changes that were happening at the school during the year and how he was proud to have a student so dedicated to the school. Liv stood there and smiled and nodded, like the good President was supposed to, and she tried to pretend that this new happy attitude wasn't due to the change in her appearance, but she knew it was. Apparently even adults were still stuck on such superficial ideas.

Liv soon realized that the students were filing into the auditorium across the hall from the office and that she'd get stuck sitting in the freshmen section if she didn't catch up to a senior homeroom soon.

"Sorry to end this simply ravishing conversation so soon... but I don't want to be late to the assembly! Leaders have to set good examples!" She said as she backed towards the door and quickly rushed out into the throng of students that were pushing their way into the theatre.

Liv studied the middle section of the auditorium where the seniors always sat, looking to see if she could find JJ. However, before she could find him she felt someone put their arm around her and steer her in the direction of a seat in the middle. But before she could look up and see who it was she saw JJ waving at her from a seat closer towards the back, so she did what any sane person would do. She ducked under the arm of her captor and quickly made her way towards JJ.

As soon as they sat he put his arm around her like they were used to and she shielded her face, attempting to keep prying eyes away from the new her. She hadn't realized how good she had gotten at fending off attention until the attention was positively being directed towards her. She couldn't have been more miserable.

"I think I actually preferred when they treated me like dirt." She whispered to JJ as she leaned close to his ear.

She could see a smirk playing on his face, and that he was struggling to keep it from showing its face. "Hmm is Little Livvy regretting her decision to change her already perfect self?"

She was surprised by the accusatory tone that was lacing his words, but she brushed it off as first day jitters... or maybe that he was trying to whisper so they didn't get in trouble. So instead of responding she nudged him with her elbow then turned her attention back to the front of the stage just in time to see her angel walking up there to stand with the principal.

She could feel JJ's arm tense around her as he stood at the mic, but he didn't say anything until he started talking.

"Hello my name is Eric and I am vehemently excited to be a part of the foreign exchange program this year and am simply thrilled to see what comes of it." But after he finished speaking he searched the crowd until his eyes met Liv's, then he winked, sending chills down her spine.

"What the hell was that?" JJ whispered into Liv's ear, his breath also causing her to sit up a little straighter.

She smiled a little and then finally answered, "I have no idea, but I do know that I could listen to him talk all day."

She didn't look back over at JJ to see his eye roll, but she knew him well enough to know that it was there. But Liv didn't care, in fact she didn't seem to have eyes for anything except for the boy swaggering off the stage and back into the crowd. Watching him walk to his seat, the same place Liv had scurried away from earlier when her captor had moved her in that direction.

"Damn." She thought, "I guess I should've stayed there."