Heroes

"New" *read summary beforehand*

Packing my things isn't hard because I never really unpacked. The car ride to the airport is silent and the only word I get out of my aunt when we get there is, "Bye." I've never been in an airport but I manage to find my way to the plane on time. I listen to music the whole way, I try to sleep but I'm too anxious. I try to imagine what my new life will be like but I can't. I try to fight off the nausea in my stomach by focusing on the music in my ears. I don't know if it's from the plane or the thought of a whole new life, probably both. Upon arriving I get a heavy feeling in my chest. I've suffered from severe panic attacks all of my life and I can't have one now. I need to stay calm and just breathe. Breathe, I repeat in my head over and over. The feeling doesn't subside so I try to think of something else but I have nothing else to think of other than what's ahead which is terrifying or what's behind which is equally frightening because I'll never have it back.

A young woman, about late twenties, greets me after I collect my luggage. "Hi, you must be Natalie," she says with a fake, pitiful smile on her face, "I'm Jackie, I work in the main office of the school. How was your flight?"

"Okay," I force out. I can see it in her eyes she's pitying me. I've had to deal with it the past few weeks and I'm tired of it. I tired of people looking at me like I've just been wounded in battle. I mean, I am wounded, but I'm trying my best not to act like it. The first day I was a complete mess but I realized that there was nothing I could do about what's happened. My whole personality has changed within a matter of two weeks. I used to be so happy all of the time and full of life and joy, now I keep all of my emotions inside. I refuse to show the world the wounded little girl they expect to see from a teenager who's lost both of her parents. Jackie offers to take my bags and I follow her to her car. The car ride consists of Jackie trying to make conversation and me answering with one word responses. Eventually she gives up and within minutes we arrive at the school.

She shows me to my room and gives me the key. I haven't been assigned a roommate, thank God! I bring my things inside and we go to the office where I'm given my class schedule, then she takes me on an overly extensive tour of the buildings and shows me to where my classes with be. There aren't many students on campus because it's Saturday and it makes to school seem a lot bigger than it actually is. After the tour is over Jackie leaves me to settle in. The room is bigger than I thought it'd be, the walls are royal blue with green and blue chevron curtains. There is a small bedroom and in the lounge area there is a desk along with a small refrigerator. The bathroom is opposite the bedroom. I open the curtains to let some light into the room and see have a view of the huge fountain in front of the building. After unpacking a little I decide to have a look around the rest of the building on my own. I find a lounge with colourful furniture and a few vending machines. After exploring and ignoring people's stares I head back to my room and lie down. A students started to walk up to me but I quickly dodged them. I really don't feel like speaking to anyone at the moment.

I wake the next morning with a headache. I spend the whole day sorting some more of my things out. It's now half eight at night and I'm starving. I head to the lounge and grab a few things from the vending machine, trying to move quickly and get out unnoticed. "Natalie, hi!"

No. I turn to see Jackie with an overly exaggerated smile on her face. I put on a fake smile and wave. She asks if I'm excited about officially starting tomorrow and I reply with, "Very!" After she leaves I return to my room and look over my schedule and try to remember where my courses are located. My thoughts are scattered for the rest of the night. I dream of my parents and my old friends. I've never felt alone, I've always had someone there and I'm grateful because I know a lot of people don't know what that's like. But who do I go to now?

My alarm wakes me at six the next morning. After a quick shower and a small breakfast of a granola bar I throw some supplies into my bag and head out. I'm the first to arrive to my first class, which is honours trigonometry. The teacher, Mr. Addams, looks up from his laptop, gives me a smile, "You must be my new student!" I nod shyly. "Well, I'm Mr. Addams but I'm sure you already knew that. I know you're Natalie, so are you excited to do some math today?" He pauses for a moment then laughs, "Of course you're not, it's seven in the freaking morning, we should all be asleep right now! I'm not a difficult teacher so as long as you don't give me any problems we should be fine and I have a feeling that won't be a problem with you. You'll just need a notebook, okay?"

"Okay," I answer. "Where should I sit?" He gives me a seat towards the back where no one usually sits. The next hour and a half feels like an eternity. Math has always been easy for me so I tend to have a short fuse for people who don't pay attention and ask stupid questions with obvious answers, and unfortunately this class is full of people like that. I sat next to a girl named Julia, she didn't talk much which is good because I was not in the mood for conversation. I attend my other three classes for that day which were English four honours, physics honours and French four. I will have another four classes tomorrow because they do something called "block schedule" here where they alternate classes every day. A few people tried to talk to me but I made little effort to talk back and eventually they left me alone.

I finally decide to stop by the cafeteria and grab dinner. I sit at a corner table, watching people walk by outside. The room is full of the laughter and conversation, it reminds me of my school back home. I feel so out of place, because I am. Back in my room I think back to what my life was like a few weeks ago. I had a happy family, I loved my school and classmates, I made good grades, I had gymnastics practice every night, and amazing friends. That's gone now, but maybe one day it'll be good again. I know I'll never have my parents back but I can make new friends and maybe find a new gym to go to. But I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet. I fall asleep with the hope that I can get out of this state I'm in now.

Waking is a struggle, my eyes are puffy and bloodshot. This school doesn't have uniforms unlike the one back home. I wear jeans, a t-shirt and converse to class. Again, I sit in the back and avoid making eye contact with anyone. Of course a few people try to talk to me but they don't get any conversation back. At lunch I notice a table of a few guys looking over at me and then talking amongst themselves.

"Ignore them," a girl says as she sits next to me, "The guys always do that when a new girl comes. My name is Cassidy, I'm in your trig class." I give her a slight smile and nod. "You don't say much do you?" I shake my head and look across the room. "Oh, crap," I follow her eyes to the front door. A boy walks in and stares at her, I can feel the tension in the air. "That's my ex-boyfriend, Malcolm." He's dressed in khaki cargo shorts and a plain white t-shirt. His flowy light brown hair falls over his forehead and almost covers his dark brown eyes. He's pretty attractive but also looks like a douche.

We sit in silence for the next thirty minutes and then head to class. Cassidy and I both have human development now so we walk together. On the way there I see people start forming a crowd, some chanting, "Fight!" Cassidy takes ahold of my arm and pulls me towards the action. She pushes her way through the people so we're in the front.

"Oh shit!" she laughs when she sees who the fight is between. There is a boy dressed in light coloured jeans and a black shirt facing away from me and opposite him is another boy around the same age in cargo shorts and a gray shirt. I hear someone yell from the back, "Kick his ass Steven!" Gray Shirt takes a swing but misses and as soon as he does Black Shirt hits him full force in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. Gray Shirt tries to fight back but I can tell he's had the wind knocked out of him. Black Shirt takes one more punch under the chin and takes him out. People rush to his side and everyone starts backing away. A man dressed in a little fancier clothing, who I'm assuming is a dean, pushes himself through the crowd and takes Black Shirt by the arm. He turns him around to escort him off. We make eye contact and my heart skips a beat.

His dark brown, almost black, hair which is drenched in sweat falls over his forehead, his fists are still balled up and his jaw clenched tight. His dark green eyes are full of rage and his chest rises and falls rapidly. His doesn't look away and neither do I until the dean forces him away. The smell of his cologne lingers in the air even after he's several meters away. "That's Steven, if there's anyone to be afraid of here it's him. Do not, I repeat, do not get near him," Cassidy warns. I can tell by the look on her face and the intensity of her voice she's not kidding. I am afraid, but I can't help but be attracted to him.