Discovering Everest

Chapter One: Starting Senior Year

The first day of senior year. What a cliché thought. We walked through the halls of school and made it to our lockers. "Where are we going to meet up for lunch?" Finn asked, as he stopped at Florence's and my locker. "Same spot as the last three years! Duh, you big buffoon." Florence replied before shutting her locker. I laughed at Finn and smiled.

"What are you so cheery about?" They both looked at me. "Just glad that were friends, that's all." I laughed nervously and they gave each other a side glance. The bell rang and we all parted our separate ways.

My first class is psychology 101. I literally chose the class because it was the only elective that sounded remotely interesting. Big mistake. After finally escaping that class, I continued on through the rest of the day.

Fourth period was chemistry and the teacher was assigning lab partners for the year. I glanced around the room, sadly there was no one I knew. Weirdly enough, I was the last to be called out and it looked as if I wouldn't have a lab partner, which was perfectly fine by me. I sat down at the desk and opened the textbook in front of me.

About 20 mins into the class, the door opened and this guy walked in with a note for the teacher. The teacher, Mr. Zbin, looked at him and pointed at my desk. Great! I thought. By the looks of him, I'd be doing most of the work for our assignments.

"Hi" I said as he sat down beside me. "Hey" he replied without looking up.

Okay, then. How am I supposed to answer that?

I crossed my legs and didn't say anything. "So.. What's your name?" He looked at me, expecting me to answer. "I'm Everest. What's yours?" I inquired. "Sebastian" was his curt reply. "Well, we might as well make the best of this and lay down some ground rules..." I began; but he cut me off. "Stop" he commanded, placing a finger on my lips. What the heck was wrong with him? Why is he touching my lips? I looked at him in surprise. "Excuse me?" I said, his finger still on my lips. He was staring at my face in thought. "Oh sorry!" He replied, moving his finger away but not before caressing my chin.

Okay, this is just getting awkward. Why is this guy so weird? Have I seen him at school before? I'm definitely telling the others about this. My thoughts whirled in my head. He turned back to the front of the classroom while my eyes remained on him with a bewildered expression.

He glanced in his peripherals and noticed me staring. "What?" He asks as if he doesn't have a clue why I'm acting like this. "Do I know you?" I asked back, not responding to his question. "I'm pretty sure I would remember meeting someone as beautiful as you." He replied with a smirk. I turned towards the front of the classroom at that. His stare glued to my face. "This year is going to be interesting" I thought.

At lunch, I met up with the others at our usual spot; behind the library under a shady tree. We all started talking about how our first days were going so far. I explained to them about the guy, Sebastian, and how he thoroughly creeped me out. "Sounds like someone's set their sight on you!" Florence said, winking at me. "Oh, please! Shut up, Nemo! I don't even know him" I protested. "Woah! Do I know this guy?" Finn asked uneasily. "I don't know!" I stated, "he looked sort of familiar, but I can't say!" The conversation ended there and we began to talk about our futures outside of high school.

The anxiety of having to decide on a college and moving out dawned on me. At least I still had this year to figure some stuff out. I mean, we live in a pretty small town and most of us will just go to community college. I was lost in my thoughts as the others continued talking.

"Guys" I interrupted their conversation about something. They both shifted their gazes to me. "It's our senior year!" I said with all seriousness. "Yes? And?" They questioned me. "Do we really know who we want to be? Where we want to go in life?" I looked at them, waiting for an answer. "We're dorks according to most people." Florence chimed in. "I'm hot according to the girl population of our school." Finn suggested. I glared at him and Florence shoved him over while saying something along the lines of 'get over yourself' "I'm serious! Those things you just said are just words, but we define ourselves by what everybody else perceives us to be. Is that how you see yourselves? As a dork and a hottie?" I stated, rolling my eyes at the hottie part. They both looked at me. "Where are you going with this? I think that I'm hot because no one, including myself, has said otherwise." Finn stated, raising an eyebrow and then winking at a girl who passed by. The girl stared at him like she'd just been starstruck. I ignored her and Florence rolled her eyes; again shoving him over. "What happens when we leave high school? And enter the world of adults?" I questioned them, "I want to know who I am and be confident in myself. we need to be able to do that ourselves! What am I other than smart, nice, and pretty?" I asked them. They pondered what I had said. "Your Everest" they said in unison and then started their old conversation. I sat down and started to eat my sandwich. Yeah, but who is Everest? I thought to my self.