Learn Again

One

A/N: The side photo is what Grace looks like in my mind, but with blue eyes. Pretty, but plain.

Red-orange leaves swirled to the ground as Grace tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. Autumn. It was her favorite season by far. Autumn was always beautiful, with the red, orange, and yellow leaves, and the multicolored trees. Besides that, it seemed to symbolize something deeper—with the leaves changing colors, it seemed like she could start over, too.

But this year, autumn wasn't as happy for her as it usually was. Grace sighed as it crossed her mind again, like it had so many times in the past hour. It was "moving day," as she had dubbed it.

Her dad had gotten a new job in America, so instead of returning to her cozy house in London, her best friend, Rebecca, and their favorite haunt, Starbucks, around the corner, she would be leaving for the palm trees in California.

Not that she had anything against palm trees—the sun was lovely in her opinion, and the beaches were gorgeous—but she couldn't help but long for the London winters. Soon, her friends would be gathering around the fireplace, laughing at the recent snowball fight while drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows, while the weather in Cali would probably rarely range below sixty degrees. Cold weather, indeed.

That would definitely be the thing she missed most—the snow. She had always loved playing in it, letting the fluffy snowflakes land on her tongue and making snow angels in the snow with her dad. Making snowmen had been one of the highlights of her childhood, right next to tramping indoors and eating some fresh out of the oven cookies.

"Bella, where are you?" her dad asked gruffly, interrupting her from her thoughts. She rolled her eyes. Her parents were the only ones who called her Bella, no matter how many times she told them she wanted to be called Grace.

"Here," she answered. "Are we leaving?"

"Yeah," her dad replied. "Come on, we're waiting for you."

She trudged back slowly to her car, saying goodbye to London, her friends, and the snow. "I'll see you soon," she whispered. "I promise."

At seventeen, moving was not the most appealing thing in the world. She was halfway through her junior year, and she was reluctant to leave her friends behind. In her mind, she reasoned that she was almost done with school—couldn't her parents wait a year and a half? But apparently, the answer was no. They couldn't wait.

"Bella, come on!" her mom snapped, her voice edged with frustration.

"Coming," Grace groaned. She walked to the car and slammed the door, bidding adieu to her hometown.

~

Riiing!

"Ehh..." she moaned. Grace felt around on her desk before her hand slammed down on the snooze button. Just a couple more minutes, she thought sleepily.

Her mom stomped into the room. "Grace, get up! It's your first day of school!" she said rather brightly for six in the morning.

Grace groaned again. Morning people, she thought bitterly. She was definitely not one of them.

Stretching, her mouth parted in a huge yawn. "All right, I'm up. No need to shout."

She went through her morning rituals in zombie mode, brushing her teeth, washing her face, combing her hair, and applying some mascara. She was tired, but looking like the Grudge on the first day at a new school was not high on her priorities list.

The smell of bacon eventually drew her out of her bathroom. "Food?" she asked drowsily.

Her mom, smiling, handed her a heaping plate of eggs, bacon, and sausages. Grace poured herself a cup of orange juice before quickly scarfing it all down.

"First day of school," her mom commented. "Excited?"

Grace shrugged. "Real excited," she replied sarcastically.

"I heard the kids are really nice," her mom tried.

"I heard they're low on loners, so I'm sure they'll welcome the addition," Grace answered.

Her mom rolled her eyes in a very teenager move. "Don't be negative. I'm sure you'll do fine."

Her dad looked up from his newspaper. "Do you need a ride to school, Bella?"

Grace raised her shoulder. "No thanks. I'll walk."

The school was close, only a few blocks away. The morning air refreshed her, and she walked slowly, wanting to put off her arrival as late as possible. Who wants to be the new girl? She thought gloomily. Not me.

As she arrived, her day was already off to a bad start. Someone was drawing on her locker. "What the hell?" Grace muttered.

She tapped the shoulder of the guy who was doodling some rather pornographic, albeit skilled, pictures. "What do you think you're doing?"

She looked up into the most gorgeous green eyes she had ever seen. In it, she could see her own sky blue eyes reflected. Rather belatedly, she noticed the rest of his face: typical blond hair and pretty boy face.

"If you wanted to touch me, you only had to ask, sweetheart," he smirked at her. His eyes roamed over her body in an approving way.

"You're defacing my locker," she snapped hotly. Great, she thought. The first person I meet is a douchebag.

"New girl?" he flashed a perfect crooked smile. He trailed a hand down her shoulder as he smirked. It was all she could do not to melt in his arms. Wherever he touched her, electricity danced on her skin

"Yes, what's it to you?" she retorted, and then shoved him away from her locker. Glancing down at her schedule, she began to fiddle with the lock, entering her combination into it.

His eyes traced the sway of her hips as she walked away after shoving her stuff in the locker. "Damn," he muttered. He'd have to learn more about that one.

A/N: What do you think? I myself am a fan of the totally cliche player stories, but all of the ones I read have terrible grammar so I decided to just write one by myself, haha. Any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. :)

I didn't proofread, so my apologies for any spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors.