new surroundings
Your apartment (Earth-1610)
The morning sun had just barely risen, casting sunlight through your windows ever so slightly. You blink yourself awake at the slight chill in your room, though you don’t feel like you’d fallen asleep at all; just laid in bed with your eyes closed the whole night. The day you’ve been anticipating since first moving has finally arrived.
It didn’t take long for you to fully wake yourself up, brushing your teeth, and applying your skincare. You stare at yourself in the mirror after putting on the uniform you picked up at orientation.
It was a black button up cardigan over a white collared shirt and dark red necktie, matching the dark red plaid pleated skirt that fell just below your mid-thigh. You had on white knee-high socks and planned to wear the new mary-janes your dad had bought you.
You pull at the hem of your cardigan, trying to flatten out any imperfections, observing the school’s crest that was pressed onto the left side of your chest. It spelt out B.A.F.A., and had the classic theatrical symbol just below it. You smiled at yourself, pleased with how the uniform looked and fit on you- like it was meant to be.
You finished your makeup relatively fast, checking the time.
07:51
“Y/n! You have to leave in ten minutes if you don’t want to be late!” your mom called from the kitchen.
“I’m leaving now!” You call back, opening your door and walking over to her. She’s sipping her coffee when she notices you out of the corner of her eye. “Wowww my dear!” she spoke, a wide smile on her face. Upon her reaction, you do a little spin, giving her a full 360° of your outfit. “You look amazing.” she says, cupping your face and kissing your forehead.
It’s not so common for you to bond with your mother or catch her attention, so when she compliments you, you feel like it’s more genuine than what anyone else has to say. You smile at her words once more. “Thank you, mommy.”
“You’ll be okay walking to school by yourself?” she asks, a wave of slight concern washing over her face.
“Yes, of course.” you reassure her.
“You have your-”
“Bag, laptop, and art set, yes.”
She smiles at you, “You better get going then.”
You yawn, listening to your desk partner answer an icebreaker prompted by your teacher. You were about three periods into the school day, currently in your studio art class counting down the minutes until lunch. After a couple rounds of icebreakers, Ms. Perez let the students move around to mingle with each other, to which you are left alone.
You’re not surprised at the fact. It was a small private school averaging about 200 kids per grade, so of course everyone here already knew each other for years prior.
Not expecting anyone to talk to you, you scrummage through your messenger bag trying to find your headphones.
“Hey!”
You turn around in your chair to see a girl occupying the one next to you. She had long, straight black hair, fair skin, and the brightest smile. Her eyes were bright and sincere, reminding you of Rio’s; which made you want to like her. “You’re new here, aren’t you? I don’t think I recognize you.”
You nod at her question. “I just got accepted, ‘s my first year.”
She gasps, “Ohmygosh- congrats!”
You smile at her response, “Thank you.”
“You should totally come eat with me and my friends at lunch!” she gleams. “Unless you’ve already found another group to eat with?”
You shake your head, “You’re the first person to talk to me.”
The girl rolls her eyes, “That’s cuz everyone here keeps to their little groups. They’re boring.”
“Do you know what time this class gets out?” you ask.
“I think in about ten minutes.” she replies, checking her phone. “Oh! I almost forgot- I’m Joy.” she states.
“I’m y/n.” you smile.
It doesn’t take long for the bell to ring, Joy having talked to you through all of it. She was a good conversationalist, and genuinely sweet to be around. You were glad she found you.
You walked beside her as she led you to her lunch table. “Hey guys!” She greets them cheerfully.
The group of teens turned their attention to her, reciprocating a smile back as they greeted her. Your eyes flit over them, and you quickly recognize Michael amongst the group, realizing he was friends with Joy. “This is y/n, she’s new here so I invited her to sit with us.” Joy gleams.
“Oh finally- another girl.” One of them exclaims with relief.
“This is Kimberly.” Joy says, gesturing to the only other girl. “And this is Seth, Michael, Wesley, and Steven.”
“I know you.” Kimberly says blankly, straightening up.
“You’ll have to excuse her,” Joy whispers. “She’s very blunt.”
“You do?” You ask, a bit surprised.
“California.” She says, more of a statement than a question.
You stare at her puzzled until she speaks up again. “Second period, AP human anatomy and child development. You said you moved here from California.” she explained.
Joy gasps, an animated look of surprise on her face. “You’re from California?!”
“Yeah, I’m not from LA though if that’s what you’re thinking.” You lightly chuckle.
“I think we have class together too!” Seth cuts in.
“We do?” you question, smiling. You were happy to have found a group of people so fast, you were worried about your social anxiety affecting your school life now that you were apart from Eliza, Juliette, and Alani.
“Honors Spanish 2?” He asks to confirm.
Stevens eyebrows knit together, “We have class with her?” realizing you had class with him, you quickly recognize him as the guy who was teasing your teacher.
“It’s you!” you can’t help but blurt out.
Kimberly looks between the two of you, confused. “Woahwoahwoah, what does that mean?” she asks in a stern tone.
“Steven was tormenting our teacher earlier.” you say plainly, taking a seat with Joy.
Kimberly scoffs and turns to Steven, smacking his arm lightly. “Steven! We talked about this.”
“He wasn’t too annoying, Kim.” Michael half defends, grinning at the sight of Steven getting told off.
“Wait- we had a class together and you didn’t say anything?” you question, furrowing your eyebrows.
Michael shrugged as everyone's attention landed on him. “I didn’t realize you wanted me to talk to you.”
“..Do you two know each other?” Wesley asks on behalf of the group.
“She does ballet with my sister.” Is all Michael says.
“He also gives me a ride home after practice.” you add, giving him a knowing look.
He throws his hands up in the air as if surrendering, “I also give her rides home.”
“What’s your schedule, Cali?” Kimberly interrupts.
“Cali?”
“You’re from California, aren’t you?”
“That, I am.” you nod, now understanding the nickname as you hand her your schedule.
You watch as the group gathers around her, all reading it together.
School schedule: BAFA semester 1
- Honors Spanish 2
- Ap Human anatomy and child development
- Studio art
- Lunch
- economics/ap gov
- Ap English language
- Honors painting
Wesley winces, as if in pain. “AP Gov with Mr. Duval.. He’s harsh, goodluck.”
You feel your stomach turn at the warning, “Oh crap, actually?”
“You’ll be fine,” Kimberly says, looking over your schedule. “Steven has class with you for that. We all have a class with you for something.” she states, handing the piece of paper back to you. You feel a little bit of relief, knowing you wouldn’t be alone this year.
“Now what was this about you berating your teacher?” Kimberly quips, causing Stevens face to panic as the group started laughing at him.
The day goes by quick, and Kimberly was right; you had a class with at least one person from the table for each period. Out of all of them, you shared the most classes with Michael- including Spanish, AP Lang, and painting. Having painting been your last class of the day, Michael offered to drive you home, which you gladly accepted.
“Eugh- gross, you are such a perv.” You laugh, walking down the steps of the main entrance with him.
“Oh whatever, you know you agree.” he scoffs.
You’re about to say something back, when you notice a familiar figure, turned away from you at the end of the stairs.
“Miles?” you question, stopping on one of the steps.
The awkward, lanky boy turned around upon hearing his name. “Hey!” he quipped, unprepared.
You feel a grin start to form on your lips. “What are you doing here?”
“Well I uh.. figured since it was your first day I’d walk you home?” he asked, unsure.
You smile at his awkward demeanor, happy to see him.
“I’m guessing you don’t need that ride?” Michael cuts in, pulling your attention back to him.
You flick your eyes between the two before focusing on Michael again. “Yeah, no- it’s okay. Thank you though.” you smile at him.
He nods, and begins down the steps again, “See you tomorrow!” he calls out.
You turn back to Miles, grinning as you hurriedly make your way down the steps to walk alongside him. “You miss me that bad?” you tease.
He rolls his eyes playfully at your question. “Don’t make me regret walking you home.”