You're my Everything

Chapter 1

I looked out of the bus window as it took me to the next level of what I assumed as hell on earth. It's not easy transferring schools, especially when your new school is in a completely different country. I sighed as I checked my phone until it reached my stop.

I stepped off of the bus in front of my new private school. I groaned, pulling at my plaid skirt, and trying to hike up my white knee highs as high as my thighs could bring them. 

"Come on, Tara," I said to myself. "It's just school. How bad could it be?"

I adjusted the wristbands on my left wrist to make sure none of the scars were showing. I took a deep breath as I walked towards the large double doors to my new personal hell.

I walked through the halls as if I was a normal student, who had gone here for years. I kept walking up until the main office, and avoided eye contact until I reached my destination. 

"Excuse me?" I asked in a very quiet voice. 

The admissions lady looked at me. "Oh, goodness! You're from America!"

I nodded, slightly embarrassed. "I'm just... I was supposed to..."

"New student?" I nodded. "Let me look here for a moment... Tara Garfield? I have your schedule here. Your homeroom is in B3." She handed me a color coded sheet of paper. I smiled and thanked her very quickly, and attempted to find the right room.

I was studying my list when I bumped right into a couple of boys. My eyes got wide and I jumped back a bit. 

"Hey, watch it!" The boy closest to me said. 

"I'm really sorry," I squeaked, but was cut off by the other boy saying, "Hey, be nice, Dan!" He smiled at me.

I smiled back at him. "Would you know where... B3 is?" I asked, looking back to the list. 

"We're headed there now, actually. Hey, you have a really good American accent. How'd you get so good at it?" The one who smiled said.

I gave him a funny look. "I'm not pretending," I said. 

"Come on, Phil," the boy apparently named Dan said, completely ignoring my existence. "We're gonna be late."

"You can follow us if you'd like," Phil said, and walked off with his companion. 

I half smiled in his direction. "I'm almost positive that is the only person who will be polite to me in this whole school," I said to myself, and followed them.

The bell rang just as I came through the door. "Ah, Tara," said a male teacher I had never ever seen before in my entire life. "Attention, class?"

They all looked up at the teacher. A few of them murmured about me, since I was a totally new face. He handed me a copy of The Catcher in the Rye. "This is our new student, Tara Garfield. Take any seat you like."

I smiled at him, and noticed that the only empty seat was next to Dan. I sighed as I walked and slumped into the desk next to him. I rested my elbow on the desk and put my cheek against my hand. 

I tried my hardest to pay attention to the lesson, but all I could manage doing was doodling in my notebook instead of taking notes. And then I heard the teacher call, "Tara?"

I looked up. "Hmm?" I asked. The class giggled a bit. 

"I was asking, what is the reason that Holden envies Stradlater the most?" the teacher asks.

I remembered reading The Catcher in the Rye when I was fifteen. I thought for a moment. "Isn't it because he still admires Jane, Stradlater's girlfriend?"

The teacher smiled. "Yes," he said, and continued his lesson. I smiled a little at my fortune. "Don't look so smug," Dan murmers under his breath. "Anyone could've gotten that question."

I looked at him. "That doesn't mean I didn't get it right," I said, scowling at him. I turned back to the board and continued taking notes, until the bell rang.

I brought back out my schedule, and realized I had absolutely no idea where I was going. I got my things together and wandered aimlessly around until I found the next class number. 

It wasn't until fifth period that I saw anyone familiar. I did the usual introduction and the "Where should I sit?" like I do with every teacher, until she at last told me to sit next to Phil, at which point I gladly sat down.

"Hi," I said to him.

"Hello," he said. "How's your first day been?"

"Not the best," I admitted. "But it's live-able."

 He chuckled a bit. "Well, I don't know if you've heard so far today, but Dan's having a party while his parents are out. Would you be interested in coming?"

I gave a half smile. "I would but, I mean, I don't exactly do parties..."

"It's just something to start you off in school. Socially, I mean. It'd be fun!"

"I'll think about it. When is it?"

"Tomorrow night, come whenever you can. I'll text you the info. What's your number?"

I scrawled it quickly on a piece of paper and passed it to him. It was so strange to me that such a nice guy would hang out with such an asshole. 

As if reading my thoughts, he said, "Dan gets nicer once you get to know him. Trust me."

I fake smiled, and faced to board to listen to the lesson. Math was never my strong point, and having to completely change over to the metric system was... pretty hard. Let's just say I absolutely hate math, alright?

The bell rang for signaling the next period. I navigated my way until I reached the classroom. When I went in, I immediately groaned. I had this class with Dan.

I carefully chose my seat so that I sat as far away from him as I could. He was awfully rude to me, and clearly was not interested in being my friend. I just plain didn't quite care to be his, either. 

History was finally something I was pretty okay at. Though I had no idea how AP U.S. history in highschool compared to tenth year history in Britain. 

"So, we have a project coming up, and you all are going to have to pair up," the teacher said. "But based on what happened last project time, I'm picking your partners this time."

The class groaned. The teacher shushed us. "I have the list right here... let's see... Amanda and Liam.... Margaret and George... Tara and Dan...."

I sighed. Why did I have to be with Dan? I looked over at him, and saw him groan. He looked back at him, a glare on his face. 

For the rest of the period, I basically jotted down notes, until the last ten minutes we had to work with our partners.

"Listen," Dan said, very quietly. "I can't work out on this project at all this week. I'm pretty--" He paused and looked at my wrist. There was a gap between two of the bracelets. "What's-"

"It's probably just from how tight the bracelet was," I said. "Don't worry about it."

He shrugged. "Anyway, I'm pretty busy all this week. I have... other things to plan."

"That's fine," I said. "I'm sorry if this is going to be an unbearable experience for you."

"I've had worse," he said. "Just don't go pouring any of my tea in the harbor if you get mad at me."

I laughed. "You don't have to worry about that."

The bell rang. I packed up my things, and went back to my locker. Luckily, it was the end of the day. I got my backpack, and quickly exited the school as fast as I could, hopefully avoiding everyone.

I boarded the bus, which took me home. I got a text from Phil about all the details, but I still wasn't 100% sure that I should go. 

We'll see.