The Life of Tilly Leaf

First Day Of Hell-- I Mean High School (2) PART TWO

This story takes place in a fictional universe, on a fictional planet, in a fictional town. All characters are not real. The story is told by the character Tylia W. Lewis-Murdock, who is referred to as Tilly.

The girl seemed to be around my age, 17-ish. She was a blonde with a killer smile, and cute dimples. Her hair was a bit sloppy, but still stylish (unlike my unruly black hair). She was wearing white collar shirt hidden underneath a dark burgundy sweater, and she had a dark blue skirt that went down to her knees. Followed by high knee- high socks, and black shiny shoes. She reached out her hands to help me, and I swear my heart stopped.

After pulling me up off the ground, and dusting me off, she introduces herself.

She reached out her hand to shake mine. "I'm, eh, um..." I stutter, gawking at her.  The words that were on the tip of my tongue, but were too scrambled to come out. My dumb*** couldn't talk in that pure moment of embarrassment. All the butterflies in my stomach turned me into a state where I could only think, "I want to hug her!" ...

And so, I did.

I actually hugged this chick. I had just met her and already I was giving her a bunch red flags. I was giving her signs not to be my friend, let alone, date me. We awkwardly stood there, two total strangers, hugging as if we had known each other for years. This was awkward as hell. I made this awkward! I need to fix this, and quickly.

"S-Sorry about th-that..." I continue, hastily pulling away and fidgeting with my fingers. I felt my face flush dark red. (hopefully she couldn't see me blushing from my stupidity because of my dark skin color).

"That's alright," She shrugged, chuckling a bit. "You new 'round here?" She inquires. When she asked me this, she was looking at me. I tried to do the same, but I couldn't. Her piercing blue eyes were the only thing I couldn't stare at for long. I could only hold eye contact for three seconds before my eyes fell to the ground. I didn't understand why it was so hard to keep eye contact. I'm not an introvert, so this should've been easy.

"I totally new around h-here. I just got here actually..." I scratch the back of my head nervously. I glance over to my side and see that there as a tree. I tried to look cool and sort of put my hand on the tree while leaning on it and crossing my legs. It was an ultimate fail because the next thing she said was, "I don't think you should be touching that."

I look over at the tree, and then back to her with a raised eyebrow. "Why do you say that?" I reply.

"That's a poison oak tree."

I yanked my hand off the tree with a loud yelp. A few people stared at me and started whispering, which only added more insult to injury.

"Why is there a poisonous oak tree in the middle of the court yard?" I ask, already scratching the palm of my right hand. It was already itching.

"It was planted by students in order to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Supreme Leader and the founder of this school, Naa." She explained. "Why an oak tree though, out of all things?" I mutter to myself, sounding a bit distressed.

The school bell rings, and everyone around me starts to file in. "Oh, I have to go!" The blonde yells, already taking off. I grab her arm before she could leave, and she peers over her shoulder. I could feel my hands sweating and only heard my heartbeat during that time. The whole world seem to slow down for a second. I wanted her to stay. Even in that short, awkward time, it felt as if it was the best time I had with someone else. I had a real conversation with someone who wasn't so stuck up and judgemental. She was different from all the other girls, and I intend on keeping her as a friend.

"You forgot to tell me your name!" I shout, over the sound of busy footsteps and yelling students all around us. My grip on her arm became loose as other student pushed me away. We were drifting apart, and the noise was silencing our voices.

"I'm Starla Johnson. And you are?" Starla calls back.

"Tylia!" I call back, as I was pushed further away.

"What?" I could hear Starla's faint voice in the crowd. It was getting lower and harder to hear.

"My name is Tyl—" Before I could finish my sentence, I was shoved to the ground by another girl. She walked off, not minding to help the very person she knocked down. I guess Starla must've heard me wrong. Instead of hearing, "Tylia," which is pronounced, "Ti-lee-a" she heard, "Ti-lee." Not a moment later, she yells back.

"Bye Tilly!"

That's how I got my nickname...

Word Count 846

**(Another chapter will be published later tonight since this chapter is so short compared to the other chapters)