Dusk

Dusk-Chapter Two

CHAPTER 2: SCHOOL

"Are you absolutely sure you did not forget anything?" Elle asks me when we get to my new school.

"Nope, I've got everything in here," I say, pointing to my backpack. "Bye, Elle."

I give her a quick kiss on the cheek and exit out of the SUV. Portland Secondary School is a large red brick building. It looks like it has two floors, and the windows are dark. To the right are stairs that lead to the main door. All of the students are rushing about greeting their friends and rushing up the stairs to the door. I'm starting to walk up to the door as well when I feel a tap on my shoulder.

When I whirl around, I see a boy probably a year older than me. He has straight dark hair and dark eyes.

"Hey. I was waiting for you to come to Oregon! I'm Carlos," he tells me.

"Uh, hi. I'm Ellice. You... know who I am?" I ask him.

"Sure I do. You don't remember me? Carlos Logan? Our parents are friends and they keep in touch. We heard that you were coming here to Portland. I only ever saw you once when I was six. You were five I think," he explains to me.

"I only have a parent..." I say softly.

"I heard about that. I'm really sorry Ellice. Trust me, it'll get better," he says with pure sympathy in his eyes.

"Look, I think we're already quite late. So I'm gonna go to class now, okay?" I tell him, wanting to get away from this boy. He seemed nice, but I didn't want to talk about my dad. He looked fairly surprised when I told him I was leaving.

"Maybe you're right. Anyways, your mom told me where your new place is. Maybe I can come over later and hang out and say hi to your mom?" he asks me.

"Uh, I'll think about it. I mean, we just got settled in, right? I might see you here after school," I reply looking at my shoes. Great. I thought I could actually avoid this Carlos. And worst, it seems as if he's one of those close family-friends. I turn my back and head inside the school and to the office to get my new schedule. When I get there, I see a woman who's probably in her forties or so. "I'm guessing you're Felicity Rose. Welcome to Portland Secondary School. My name is Mrs. Sanders and I'm the secretary of the school," she tells me with a smile.

"Uh, hi. I actually prefer Ellice. Is this where I get my schedule?" I ask her.

"Well, Ellice. You guessed right. This is where you get your new schedule!" she says handing me a square paper. "Homeroom is just down that corner. Turn right and it's the first door. Room 223. Have fun," she says with a little wave.

"Thanks," I reply with a tiny smile. By the time I'm turning right towards my homeroom, I've decided I like Mrs. Sanders. I've no doubt I'll meet the strict and stern teachers, but everything looks great for now.

As I enter my classroom, I catch some people looking at me. Maybe their staring at my cheap brand boot-cut jeans. Or the one tangle in my usually straight black hair. Whatever it is, I pay no attention and snag a seat in the back. A girl beside me takes notice of me and grins. She taps me on my shoulder and I turn to face her. I notice she has curly blonde hair and friendly light blue eyes.

"Hi," she whispers, "I'm Delilah Cray. Welcome to Portland. And did I mention I love your shoes? We don't get Converse here."

This Delilah seems nice. Back in Laguna Beach, I mainly just had one friend: Christy. Maybe now's the time to make new friends.

"Oh, hi, Delilah. I'm Ellice Rose. I really like your shoes as well," I tell her.

"Thanks! Hey, maybe we can hang out together at lunch? With my other friends: Kelly, Ellen, and Amy?" she asks.

"Sure, I guess," I say twirling a finger in my hair. I don't think I'm much of a people charmer. Maybe that's why I mainly had one friend in Laguna Beach.

She grins. "Great. Can't wait until lunch."

The rest of my classes were very cool, to be honest. In math, we got to add and subtract fractions with real chocolates we got to eat later. In language arts we studied Charlotte's Web, a story I haven't read in ages, so it was cool to study it.

By the time the lunch bell rings I head to the cafeteria. My stomach's in knots and I'm nervous about meeting Delilah there and her friends. What if they don't like me? What if they like me, but are mean people? The questions could go on forever but I don't have any more time to ponder anymore because I can see Carlos Logan smiling and waving at me from the other side of the cafeteria. I sigh and walk over to him.

"Hey Ellice! How's school?" He asks cheerfully.

"It was great. Yours?" I ask. I really believe I have to be nicer to him. I might actually enjoy being around him, after all, he never did anything to make me dislike him.

"Oh, you know, it was one of those normal days," he says.

Before I can answer, I hear a girl squeal and a familiar voice say, "Ellice?"

For the second time I sigh. It's Delilah calling me. Carlos just chuckles and says, "New friends, I'm assuming?"

"You won't believe it," I reply.

"Well, I don't wanna keep you, so go ahead and see your friends." Carlos tells me.

I give him one last smile and walk towards Delilah's table. Delilah smiles at me and says, "Hey Ellice. Glad you could make it to lunch with us. That's Amy," she says nodding towards a red haired girl. I realize she was the one who squealed when I was talking to Carlos.

"That's Ellen, and that's Kelly," Delilah finishes pointing to a brown haired girl, and another blonde girl like Delilah. "Everyone, this is Ellice Rose. She's new."

I give a small wave and take a seat in between Delilah and Amy. Amy glances at me and smiles. "I saw you talking to Carlos! Isn't he like the best?" She asks me.

"Totally. He is top of the line hotness," Ellen answers.

"Really? He's a close family-friend for me. He's good-looking, but I don't have a crush on him," I tell the girls.

"I agree with Ellice. I've seen hotter, for example, Alexander Hale," Kelly says.

"Who's Alexander Hale?" I ask.

"Alex is this cute guy. He's cute, but there's a catch: He's weird. He's always quiet and never spends any other time with anyone other than the rest of the Hales. See, there are two of them over there: Nicolai Hale and Serenity Hale. I've heard rumors that they are a couple," explains Delilah.

I look over at Nicolai and Serenity. Nicolai had curly blonde hair, and strange orange glowing eyes. Serenity has smooth, straight auburn hair and the same eyes. It sort of creeped me out.

"Where're the rest?" I ask.

"I don't know. Maybe their in class or something," Ellen answers. "Anyways, don't waste your time with them, they're not going to notice anyone except for themselves."

The bell rings and I realize I didn't eat anything. Oh well, I wasn't really hungry.

"Thanks for lunch everyone," I thank.

"No problem, eat lunch with us on Monday again!" Amy exclaims.

I smile and nod, and head towards my next assigned class; French. As I'm walking there, I crash into someone; causing our papers from our binders to fall out. The person I crashed into was a very beautiful girl about my age who looked quite furious at our little run-in.

"Watch where you're going. Now move and pick up your junk," she snarls at me.

I quickly pick up all of our stuff and hand the girl her stuff. She growls at me and leaves. But just before she left, I saw she had those weird orange glowing eyes. Huh. So she was one of the Hales. I blink, regain my composure, and head off for the rest of my classes