Find a Penny, Pick Her Up

Chapter 1

The heads of every – and I mean every, girl turned towards the stranger stepping through the glass door held open by Mrs. Prickett, who grinned her perfect Principle smile. She held out a beckoning arm, her tightly pressed maroon business jacket protesting from the movement. Perfection was the theme of everything she preached, though our small-town high school of four hundred and two would protest. Royal High was far from perfection, and while a family who chose to summer in the cookie-cutter town of Port Royal would think the opposite, I can assure you that the people who lived here for seventeen years would agree with my assessment. Or maybe I'm just bitter.

Blessed with the ability to give every attention-seeking girl their life story, favorite color, and alcoholic drink of choice, I actually wished I wasn't given such a talent. In fact, I would have no problem ducking my head for the rest of my high school career and moving every related detail to the trash bin. If it weren't for Jess, I would've done it already. The hallway had fallen almost silent, interrupted only by giggles and tiny comments.

The silence and accompanied stares of the gaping girls made me squirm, and I shook my head. "This is embarrassing," I said, glancing again down the line of girls, who in all their glory, reeked of desperation. The bright yellow lockers decorated the scene to make it picture-perfect, all ready for a Sears Back-To-School catalog. "What if he turns and sees?"

As if on cue, I would be proven wrong. His broad shoulders turned slightly away from his audience of mesmerized girls. The only thing to judge would be his dark wash jeans, white long sleeve pullover, and slow walk. He took off his sunglasses, his naked eyes revealed to the lucky girls closest to him. I watched the trainwreck; my classmates kept their shit together until he entered the main office. An eruption of giggles sounded in the hallway.

"Shh," Jess said, adding herself to the mass of girls who had just forgotten their names. Which, okay, I understood their curiosity. What kind of kid comes two weeks late after the start of a new school year? He would soon realize that every girl was now officially deprived of new boys, new conversation, and perhaps had a chance to remake themselves for someone that didn't witness their first bike ride in the neighborhood.

The bell sounded, signaling a countdown of five minutes to period one. I turned to my locker, expecting a similar reaction from the crowd. But the clanging of metal lockers and babble of gossip didn't erupt like it usually did. Why was everyone so invested? We all knew he'd go for Annie Prickett, as in, yes, the Principal's daughter. People were too predictable these days. I eyed myself in my locker mirror, my mascara-coated brown eyes reminding me, Like what you used to be? Don't be a hypocrite, Penelope. I tugged at a piece of my blonde hair, an anxious habit I had developed.

Jess's sigh was in sync with everyone else. She turned to me with her wide, blue eyes. She played with the end of her dark side-braid. "I bet his name is Will. William, if we're being technical."

I couldn't help but smile, slipping books into my bag and shutting the locker. "You got that by looking at him?"

She nodded her head, her raven-colored hair swaying in its ponytail. "I have a gift. Remember that time in eighth grade? When I guessed the kid's name, who visited for the day?"

I started to walk down the hallway, the sea of students veering around me like second nature. Classic. "That was pure luck. And such a coincidence."

Jess rolled her eyes just as we passed the office, where our mystery visitor had disappeared into. "What's your guess?"

I shrugged, turning a corner and spotting our classroom up ahead. She was quiet, which was out of character.

She glanced at me in my peripheral. "It's not about-"