Page 8 of Stuck Behind Her

Val

“Famous celebrity, Valentina, just announced a new upcoming event for our favorite holidays to come.” The TV channel states, then gives a rundown of the details of the event.

It’s finally November 4. It isn’t normally something to be this excited about, but I haven’t been to school in over two years. It’ll be a good reminder. Or a bad one. The best part is I won’t feel suffocated. People can love me, but at a distance. I’ll just be Violet Hart. Violet is my middle name, and no one knows my last name, so I’m hoping they won’t put two and two together. Lorenzo calls me Violet sometimes, anyway, so I won’t be lying.

I wear a long brown wig to cover my blonde hair, and hazel-colored contacts, which disguise my green eyes. I also made sure I got some different clothes over the weekend. Artsy isn’t exactly a cheap brand anymore. Going as a middle-class person will draw less attention and suspicion.

Now that I’ve made sure the announcement is correct and all is going to plan, it’s time for my first day of school. Ew. That’s nostalgic.

Since the school stoppage four years ago, everyone has had to redo a year, resulting in grade ages being mixed. So, they increased the ages of each grade by one year. Meaning, as aseventeen-year-old, I’m still a junior. Everyone was annoyed back then, but what were they going to do? I should actually be a senior considering I turn eighteen in February, but that’s a different story.

I choose to go on foot since the school isn’t too far and it would be suspicious to go in my own car, especially as I’m sure people have the make and model memorized.

After a five-minute walk, I arrive in front of a gigantic four-story brick building.Wow, that’s big.I know it’s the biggest high school in LA, but even I’m surprised at its size. I walk toward the main door, where a sign hanging above reads, “Los Angeles High School.” I enter the school, which isalreadypartly decorated for the holidays. I mean, I’m no one to talk, considering I just announced an event for the holidays two months early. Oh well, can’t change that now.

Registering and making sure everything is ready and organized takes about two hours. This school has a lot of students who are apparently very busy most of the time. After that, I look at my schedule, and realize it’s break time already. Great.

I look at my phone, forgetting that it’s a high-end make and model. I suddenly feel self-conscious, wondering if it will give me away. School kids can have expensive phones, can’t they? I slip it into one of my pockets, anyway. The less I use it, the better.

I’m then sent into a maze of hallways to figure out where things are. Given the size of this building, I don’t think I’ll find anything today. I start looking around until I see a sign that reads “Cafeteria” with an arrow next to it. Thank God. I follow the arrows until I find myself in a crowded room. Well, I guess this is the cafeteria. Tables are set sequentially throughout the room, and most of the chairs are full. There are students either standing at the front, buying food, or walking around. Theydidn’t think of making the café bigger? Or maybe creating a second one?

Suddenly, I feel a push by my side, which almost causes me to trip. I steady myself, turning to see a girl. She has tanned, freckled skin and crystal blue eyes, her straight brown hair stopping just at her shoulders. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” she says, apologetically.

“It’s okay, I’m fine,” I reply.

She stands there, scanning me. “I haven’t seen you here before,” she says with a puzzled look.

“I’m new. Today’s my first day,” I explain.

“Oh. I knew I hadn’t seen you here.” She looks around, analyzing the place. “Let’s get out of here. Follow me,” she says. She walks past me and out the door. Having nothing to do, I follow her. It’s not like I know anyone here to talk to.

We leave the café and walk through the halls. “I’m Aurora,” she says, introducing herself. “Sorry about that. The cafeteria is always like this, unfortunately. You’ll get used to it, though. Also, sorry about bumping into you. I was looking for my cousin, who I’m sure has run off with his stupid friend who’s visiting. So, I’ve been abandoned. How about you? What’s your name?”

“I’m Violet. I’m new here, but I guess I’ve already told you that. That’s about it,” I tell her. I never realized I have nothing to say about myself. I mean, who thought I’d need to introduce myself personally? Most people know who I am before I’m able to talk.

“Well, I have nothing to do now, so let me show you around the school, so you don’t get lost. Some of it, though. It’s too big to do a full tour,” she says.

“That’d be great, thank you.” I tell her, mainly because I don’t want to get lost again, but also because I need to make connections in the school, and the earlier the better. I mean, she seems nice.

I follow her as she shows me the main and first floor of the school. Apparently, each class has a number and two letters to label it. Two letters! The school also has many unnecessary and useless rooms. It’s a total of four floors, including the main floor, and has everything you can imagine: a state-of-the-art gym and sports facilities for their football, baseball, and basketball teams, a huge drama block with accompanying theater, and modern classrooms with tablets for each student to use. Each floor has lockers in different colors depending on which floor it’s on.

“So, that’s the school,” Aurora says, as we finish our tour. “It’s big, but you’ll get used to it. Like you will everything else.”

“Thanks. I was pretty lost before, and although it was only two floors, this was very helpful.” I smile.

“You’re welcome,” she says, smiling back. We continue to walk through the hallway, passing by some wooden doors.

I notice her eyes scan the area as we walk past classes and lockers, as if she’s looking for something or someone, and I remember she mentioned her cousin earlier. “So, you said you were looking for your cousin?” I ask.

I catch her sigh, rolling her eyes. “Yes. He’s annoying. His friend came a couple of days ago and decided to spend his stay in school, and he’s been spending a lot of time with him. I’m not jealous, he just forgets my existence every now and then,” she complains. Understandable.

We then stop in front of two people standing in front of the lockers. “Speaking of the devil,” Aurora says, increasing the tone of her voice to get their attention. One of the two turns around, noticing Aurora.

“Aurora, oh my God, we were looking for you,” the boy says, closing his locker and turning around. He has light brown hair, parted at the half with layered fronts long enough to wave slightly back to his ears, and chocolate brown eyes. He’s alsowearing rather formal clothes, considering this is a school. Gray pants and a beige knitted sweater.

“Were you?” she asks, narrowing her eyes. He looks familiar to me and I wonder if I know him.

“Yes, we were. Then we gave up because you were nowhere to be seen,” he replies. I try searching my brain for an answer.Who is he?

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