Illusion

Inceptive

Nerves bubbled around in my stomach, as I walked up the steps to my new school: Cedarwood High School. I would have thought I would have been used to moving schools by now, but the nerves were still there. I looked around at the people around me; they were a blur. I felt dizzy as I walked through the main front door. My Mom and Dad divorced when I was seven, so I had been moving back and forth between them ever since. My Dad had recently moved to a small town called Cedarwood, tucked away in North Dakota. Not many people lived here, and everybody knew each other. Maybe that's why I was so nervous: I would be the outsider, the new girl. The freak. I shifted my bag to a more comfortable position and walked to the front office, to retrieve a map. Not that I really needed one, as Cedarwood High School was small. I pushed open the doors to the office and walked in. It smelt nice in here; I could smell a faint scent of roses and lilies. It was warm, and homely in here, unlike the cold, brisk wind outside. The receptionist, a small lady with brown hair tied up in a bun, and glasses perched on her nose, looked up at me as I entered. She gave me a warm smile.
"Hello, may I help you?" She asked.
"Um, I'm new here. My name is Annalia Hayes," I told her.
"Oh, that's right. Let me go and find you a map," she smiled. She stood up and walked through a long corridor, and disappeared through a door at the end. I hoped everyone here would be as nice as the receptionist, although I knew that that wouldn't be the case. I sighed. The receptionist tottered down the corridor, a map in her hands.
"Here you are, dear," she smiled, handing me the map.
"Thanks," I said.
"I hope you have a good first day," she grinned, sitting down. I didn't know what to say to that, so I just gave her a smile. I walked out of the office. I pulled my timetable out of my bag and looked at it, groaning. My first class was Biology. Great. I followed the map to the Biology classroom, which thankfully wasn't too far away. I entered the classroom. There were only a few people in the classroom, and the teacher, Mr Saltz, was not yet in the classroom. There was a pretty girl, with short blonde hair chatting to another girl, with long black hair. They were both pale like me, which was a relief. At least my abnormally white skin wouldn't stand out here. A boy with glasses and spiky blonde hair was sitting at one of the desks, reading a book. They all looked up at me when I walked in. I kept my head down, as to hide my burning red cheeks, and walked to a desk at the front of the room. I looked up at the pretty girl with blonde hair, who was now standing in front of me. She was smiling.
"Hey, I'm Rylee. Rylee Evans," she grinned. I smiled back at her. She had a cheerful face. I liked her already.
"I'm Annalia Hayes, but you can call me Anna," I smiled.
"You're new here, right?" She asked, sitting down next to me.
"Yeah. I arrived in Cedarwood two days ago." She nodded.
"You're going to love it here," she winked. I laughed, and tried to make it convincing. I tried not to get my hopes up. One nice girl didn't mean the whole school would be welcoming toward me. She looked up with a disgusted expression on her face.
"Here comes Mr Saltz. Come, let me introduce you," she grinned. My first impression of my Biology teacher, was that he was a boring, middle-aged man. He surprised me when he seemed, well, cool. I didn't know why Rylee had looked disgusted when he walked in. Maybe she hated Biology as much as I do. The day passed in a hazy blur. I managed to meet a few decent people. Rylee walked me to my classes. We had the same classes, apart from Advanced Math, which she was in, and I was not. I waved goodbye to her as I walked to my car, a hand-me-down, black, Ford Fiesta. It was about eight years old now; my big sister's old car. My sister, Cassidy, who was twenty eight now, lived in London with her husband. I hardly saw her, as plane tickets were really expensive these days. I opened the door and climbed in. As the car started, a blast of warm air hit me, and I didn't realize how freezing it was outside. I drove out of the parking lot, and to my Dad's house, which was, luckily, only about ten minutes away from school. I pulled up in the driveway, pulled my key out of the ignition and reluctantly got out of my toasty car. I wrapped my jacket around me tighter as I walked up the steps to the porch. My Dad's car wasn't in the driveway, which meant he wasn't home from work yet. He owned the local diner, The Grill, down the road. I switched on the lights when I walked in the house, and then sat at the kitchen table. I peered around the kitchen. My Dad wasn't the richest guy in town. The paint on the walls were peeling, and some of the taps were broken in the bathroom upstairs. He still tried hard though. I pulled my homework out of my bag and started to work.

Two hours later, I heard the key in the front door. I checked my watch. It was 5:00pm. I packed my homework away. My Dad walked into the kitchen. He smiled when he saw me.
"Hey," he grinned. He walked to the fridge, pulled out a can of Coke, and sat across from me at the table.
"Hey, Dad."
"How was your first day?" He asked.
"It was okay. I met a few people."
"That's good." He cracked open the can and took a long gulp.
"What's for dinner, Dad?" I asked, standing up.
"What do you feel like?"
"I don't mind. Something small, though. I'm not that hungry, actually." He smiled and nodded.
"Do you want me to order pizza?" He asked me, as I turned to go up the stairs to my room.
"Yeah, okay," I said. I walked up the stairs to my room. I surprisingly liked my room. My Dad had put in a really big effort. He had even painted the walls a faint lilac, which was one of my favorite colors. The curtains were a deep purple, so when it was sunny outside, which was hardly ever, it cast a purple glow around my room. My laptop was lying on my bed, which was purple with white pillows. I had hung fairy lights above my bed. I sat on my bed, and stroked the soft covers. I didn't know what tomorrow would bring. Maybe it would be like today. Or maybe, it would be completely different.