Chapter 2
Cecelia stared down at the girl’s hand before extending her own. “Cecelia Larson.”
“Cecelia! Oh that’s such a pretty name. I’m just stuck with Robin.” Robin laughed and smiled at Cecelia. “Ooh you know what would be such a cool nickname for you? Celia! Or Cee! Or Lia! The possibilities are endless!” Robin’s excitement just couldn’t be contained. She’d always loved meeting new people. Cecelia, on the other hand, wasn’t against it but also wasn’t super fond of it. Sure, she liked having friends, but meeting people grew to be a chore.
It didn’t feel like that with Robin, though. No boring icebreakers or awkward conversation. Robin had looked like she could listen to Cecelia talk about anything and not get bored. Maybe it was her energy making her appear interested; maybe she genuinely was.
“So!” Robin clasped her hands together, making Cecelia jump a little. “Where’d you come from, Celia? Wait wait, let me guess. Chicago?”
“Nope. New York.”
“Wow that’s pretty far. You moved all the way from the Big Apple just to come down to lil’ ole Hawkins?”
Cecelia paused, searching for her next words. She obviously doesn’t want to overshare anything. So she just responds with, “Yeah. I guess my dad just wanted a break from the city-environment. It’s pretty cool down here though.”
Robin smiled, the edges of her eyes creasing from the joy. Their teacher, Ms. Click, walked into the room and told the class to quiet down so she could begin. All the students settled into their seats, pulled out their notebooks, and began to decipher the messy writing on the board.
~*~
Cecelia Larson would like to go home.
She’s tired from P.E. She wishes she’d lied about having some kind of sickness to get out of running. Apparently it being your first day doesn’t excuse you from that. She was out of breath, tired, and hungry. Cecelia was not, under any circumstance, going to be eating whatever it was the cafeteria was serving. Just because it’s free doesn’t mean it’s good.
She’s in her last period of the day, but she so desperately wants to just go home right now. There is nothing more boring than a math technique she learned in the 8th grade. The bell rings, she grabs her bag, and practically bolts out of the classroom door to the front of the school to wait for her dad to pick her up. She rocks back and forth on her heels, impatiently drumming on the strap of her backpack.
Robin runs up behind her. “Boo!” she shouts at full volume, nearly knocking Cecelia over. Cecelia takes a second to catch her breath and get her heart rate down. “Nice to see you too,” Cecelia says, still regaining her balance. Robin laughs and mumbles out a “sorry” through her giggles. Cecelia eases up a little and smiles at the girl. Just then, her dad pulls through the parking lot, honking the horn at Cecelia.
“Hey I’ll see you tomorrow, right Celia? You’re not gonna ditch me after your first day, are you?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
~*~
Cecelia and her dad drive down to her brother's school to go pick him up as well.
“Why can’t I just take the bus like all the other kids in my class? Think of how much you’ll save on gas! And then you get a longer break from me! All of these perks!”
“James, you don’t ride the bus because I don’t want you to,” her father counters. “I used to ride the bus, and look at me now! All these grey hairs. And gas isn’t that big of a problem. I’ll keep picking you up if it means I know you’re getting home safe.” And with that it was the end of the conversation. James and Cecelia both knew that was the end. If James tried to bring it up again, their dad just wouldn’t respond. Their dad loves them, but even Cecelia and James admit they can be annoying sometimes.
Cecelia’s dad swiftly moved past the previous topic, looking at Cecelia in the passenger seat and asking her how her day was.
“It was fine, I guess. The lunch was gross, and I hated P.E., but when have I not?”
“Did you make any new friends?”
“I did!” James pipes up from the backseat. “I am now friends with Mark, Stacey, Logan, John…” he continued to list off names from the backseat while Cecelia turned back to her dad.
“A girl named Robin talked to me today. She was pretty nice.”
“Was that the girl waiting with you out front? She seems like a good kid.”
“Yeah, that was her. You guys would be best friends. James would have a field day.” Speaking of James. Cecelia shifted herself to face James. He was still going.
“...Paul, and Morgan! Guess I’m just more popular than you, Cee. Sucks to suck.” The comment doesn’t hurt Cecelia at all. If anything, she’s just happy that her brother has friends. It’s not something he’s struggled with before, but still. She’s glad he’s thriving in a new environment in such a short period of time.
“Yep. Sucks to suck for me. But I have a best friend and you just have regular friends. Oh well.” Cecelia wasn’t sure if her and Robin were even regular friends, but God she hoped they could be. She really, really hoped.
James gasped, the shock on his face making Cecelia snort. “How dare you!”
“What? What did I do? It’s just the truth,” Cecelia said through laughs. She couldn’t contain herself. She had to take deep breaths to calm herself down. Right when she’d settled herself, they’d pulled into the driveway. Cecelia reached down to grab her backpack, flung open the car door, and walked into the Larson house.
She walked into the kitchen, grabbed a bag of chips, and headed up to her room. She pulled her homework out of her bag and got to work. Who the hell assigns this many assignments on a new kid’s first day? she thought. Oh well. Complaining does nothing. Cecelia put her pencil to the paper and got to work.