Rejected At First Sight (Spinoff Series)

4

Ashlyn Jesse

I shake those ocean blue eyes out of my head and continue into the office to start my new life.

The door closes behind me as I see a secretary behind a brown desk. Her brown hair is pulled up into a messy bun as she frantically fusses around her desk, carrying several orange folders and juggling a phone between her ear and shoulder. She spots me and gestures me forward without really looking up at me.

"What is it hun?"

"Hello, I'm-"

"Oh!" She says as her eyes snap up to my face. "You must be Miss Ashlyn Jesse." She sets her stack of folders down and juts out her hand to shake mine. I hesitantly take it. "Welcome to Lupus Harbor High School!" She chirps and goes back to her flustered state.

"Yes." I respond, my face flushing slightly. That's one way to tell how small this place is.

"Yes, yes, yes. Okay hun, I have your schedule right here..." She trails off and digs through her multiple disorganized stacks. "Here you go." She says and then proceeds to stick a post-it note to the back of my hand as I reach forward to grab it. "This is your locker number and combination. And this is your enrollment form, so we can fully process you as a new student. Make sure all of your teachers sign it and then you can come back here at the end of the day and turn it into me. There is a map of the school on the back of your schedule."

"Thanks." I say, finally managing to get a word in amongst the information babble I had just witnessed.

"I hope you enjoy it here." She says with a smile and then seems to realize that she is still on the phone. "Oh! Mr. Hemingway?"

I slowly backed away from her desk and left the office, walking around the corner and stopping. Glancing at my schedule, I read over my classes.

History, Advanced Mathematics, Advanced Literature, lunch followed by Advanced Chemistry, then lastly Gym. Not the absolute best schedule in the world, but I wasn't complaining.

At least in my accelerated classes I didn't have to be with the kids who didn't care about school. It took several standardized tests and remarkable standing in class rank to be considered for advanced placement. Something that I had obtained since freshman year.

Advanced History was for chums.

I am not a chum. Memorizing things was not my forte. Having a first-period History class was going to be draining. And of course, ending the day with gym would be exhausting. I was athletic, sure. But there was a difference between being apart of a team and being the new kid in gym class.

Turning my schedule over, I quickly managed to find my history class on the third floor. I quickly made my way up the stairs. There was no one else in the hallway as the bell had rung already.

I put all of my papers in my backpack and found my locker on the way, dropping off my lunchbox.

As I reached the door, I took a deep breath before twisting the handle and gently opening the door. Everyone immediately stared at me, including the teacher.

"Oh yes, the new student." The teacher said in a deep voice. I frowned slightly at the title. That's one way to make a first impression. I guess at this school, it was the only way.

"Yeah." I said in a very small voice, it came out much much quieter than I meant it too.

The teacher walked towards the front of the room and I met him at his desk. "Ashlyn Jesse, if I remember correctly. Do you have your enrollment slip?"