The student center is really close, so we just take off walking.
“Calif... Um...” Crap. I can’t cover that up. I’m supposed to be from New York. “Originally, California. My uncle moved us to Manhattan a few months ago. It still doesn’t feel like home.”
“You look like a Cali girl,” she says. “I’m going to say you were from LA...”
“Malibu,” I answer.
“I knew it,” she says, grinning.
“Where are you from?”
“Dallas,” she answers.
“You like going to school on the East Cost?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she answers. “I love shopping, and New York has good shopping. I spring out of here as often as I can and shop. New York City is really close.”
I don’t argue, because NYC does have good shopping. But it’s not worth actually living there. I hate living in the city. I just feel so... trapped. In Malibu, we live on the beach. Sure, we have neighbors, but there is a lot of space between us and the people next door. Plus, the ocean is, literally, out my back door. What’s not to love?
“Are a lot of students from New York?” I ask.
“I suppose,” she answers. “Mostly, everybody is from the East Coast, but there’s one girl from Northern California. Last year we had a transfer student from China, which was pretty awesome. Everybody was bummed when the semester was over and he had to go back home. And Dawson Roland is from London. His accent is so sexy.”
I laugh, thinking that Teagan reminds me of Charlie’s ex-girlfriend.
Charlie dated this girl for a few months who was kind of my friend—well, at least while she dated him. We would hang out and go to the mall, or to the movies, a couple of times a week, and she loved to talk about other guys. There was hardly ever a guy we saw that she didn’t comment on—good or bad. I liked her, but that kind of got on my nerves. I was glad when Charlie finally dumped her, because she was not good enough for him, but I did miss her friendship afterwards.
“Do you have a boyfriend back home?” Tegan asks, as we enter the student center.
“No,” I answer.
“Not even a boy you were interested in?”
“Not really,” I answer, shrugging my shoulder.
Because there’s not.
I mean, there were plenty of attractive guys, just none I would consider dating. I find high school boys to be a bit immature.
“What about you?” I ask.
“No boyfriend, but I am talking to a few guys. Nothing serious,” she says. “There is this one boy who goes here that I’ve crushed on since freshman year, but we’re just friends.”
“It sucks to be in the friend zone, but once you guys finally start dating, you’ll be glad for the time you spend just getting to know one another.”
“You’re right,” Teagan says, grinning at me. “I like your optimism.”
I have to admit, it’s rather hard to be optimistic when you’re whole life has been torn away from you. Right now, I am living a lie, and it’s hard not to be a little depressed about it.
We walk into the auditorium. There are probably about one hundred people sitting, already. All juniors and seniors.
East Raven Academy is a pretty small school of about three hundred and fifty people.
As I follow Teagan up the bleachers, I can’t help but wonder if I will make friends with any of these people. I certainly hope so. I don’t have a lot of friends back home. Except Charlie. People tend to not like me. They think I’m a snob, but really, I’m just not good at talking. I’m shy. And, okay, maybe a little sarcastic. But I make a good friend. Maybe I will make a friend here.
We take a seat by some boys. They both smile at Teagan when she sits down, and seem genuinely happy to see her.
“Hey, guys,” she says.
She sounds so cheerful when she says it.
“This is my roommate, Phoenix Underwood,” she tells them, motioning towards me.
It shocks me for a second to hear Underwood. I’m so used to hearing Phoenix Black.
“Sup,” one boy says, nodding his head at me. “I’m Jason Thorton, but everybody calls me Thor.”
“Not everybody,” Teagan says.
Jason, or Thor, whatever his name is, ironically, has blond hair and blue eyes. Though, he looks nothing like the fictional comic book character. He’s super skinny and really tall. He has a little bit of muscle, but I’m pretty sure I could take him in a fight. He’s cute in a nerdy kind of way.
“I’m Ian Starling,” the black haired boy next to him says, extending his hand.
Ian is cute. His dark brown eyes are so big, and he has long lashes... the kind most girls would kill for. He’s got a great smile and, of course, really white teeth.
I shake his hand, thinking it feels weird to shake the hand of somebody my age.
“Estaine Rinaldi,” the last boy says.
Estaine?
What kind of name is Estaine?
But then again, what kind of name is Phoenix. Rich people name their kids weird things.
Estaine gets up and moves to the spot on the other side of me.
Uh. Why?