Echoes From the Past

Celeste POV

Switching high schools your senior year is not something anyone is prepared to do. It's the situation I find myself in after the death of my parents. The car accident was three months ago, but it still feels like it was yesterday. Their deaths were so sudden that I still find myself in shock.

After the dust settled, it was decided that my sister and I would live with our Aunt Audrey in some small town in Oregon. Beaverton, I think it is called. I haven't seen much of the town because I've been holed up in my room since we arrived. I don't eat much, though my aunt brings me meals. My appetite just isn't there.

There's a bathroom connected to my room, which leads into my sister's room so I can take care of my business. I have everything I need right here. Why would I ever need to leave?

I was lying on my bed thinking about death. What happens after? Does it hurt? Am I going to soon? And everything else I can think of when I hear a noise in the hallway.

My sister comes barging in. "School starts tomorrow, Celeste, and you're going to attend," Cherie says.

"I don't care about school. Get out of my room," I say.

"Are you kidding me? Celeste, you haven't even unpacked your clothes. What are you going to wear tomorrow?" She asks.

"Nothing. I'm not going. Just leave me alone," I say.

I roll over and resume my thoughts on death. Did it hurt when they died? I bet it did. It was probably slow and painful. I pick their picture off of my nightstand and run my fingers over their beloved faces. Life is cruel.

"I know you're still hurting. I am, too, but we have to carry on with our lives. Our parents would want us to," she says.

"How do you know what they would have wanted?" I ask angrily. "For all you know, they could have wanted us to join them!"

"Celeste, you can't mean that. Are you going to hurt yourself? I can't deal with losing you too," she says.

"I'm not planning on hurting myself, Cherie. My point was you don't know what they would want," I say. "Please just leave. I want to be alone right now."

"I can't do that," she says. "I can't watch you waste away. What can I do to help?" She asks.

She grabbed my luggage and began putting my clothes away. She put some in the dresser, then hung some in the closet. I didn't want her making the decision about where things go, so I got up and started helping her. Or was she helping me? Eventually, we got all of my clothes put away, and I climbed back into bed.

"Now, how about your walls? Do you want to put your paintings up?" She asks, looking through the stack by the closet. "Do you want to get your record player setup? Let's make this room home."

"I appreciate your help, but —" I start.

She dragged my record player over to the outlet and pulled out a random vinyl. Turns out it was The Beatles 1. She started dancing and singing to Love Me Do. She comes over and grabs my hand.

My Aunt Audrey enters the room and grabs her other hand, joining her. I could never resist the Beatles, which she knew well. By the time it got to From Me to You, I was out of bed singing and dancing with them.

Cherie starts picking up paintings and pointing to walls. Aunt Audrey went to get nails and a hammer, which she returns with. By the time she flipped the record, my room was all set up. Everything is in its place and put away.

We danced to my favorite song, We Can Work It Out, then Aunt Audrey left, and we collapsed on my bed. I look at my beautiful sister and sigh. Sometimes, I wished I could be more like her.

"What's wrong, CeCe?" She asked. "Besides the obvious."

"I just wish I was more like you. Then I could bounce back and not have to feel sad all the time," I say as tears roll down my face.

She wipes my tears away. "That's funny because I always wished to be as passionate as you are. You feel so deeply while I am kinda shallow."

She hugged me and we cried together. She climbed over me and grabbed my hair. "We need to get this ready for tomorrow."

"I told you. I'm not going," I say.

"Sit down on the floor and hand me your hydrating butter," she says. "Go for one day, and if it's that bad, I won't bother you again."

"You promise?" I ask.

"I promise," she says.

"Fine, but I really have to wash my hair before you do anything to it. It's been a while," I say.

"Go, girl. There's no time like today," she says. "Then again, you should shower in the morning and change your sheets. You stink."

"Why in the morning?" I ask.

"So you can wear your hair down with little work," she says. "Should we select an outfit for tomorrow?"

"No. Get out," I say, pulling her to the door.

Once she was in the hallway, I said, "Cherie?"

"Yes?" she asks, turning around.

"Thank you," I say.

"No problem, little sis," she says with a grin. "Don't forget to take your medicine."

"I won't," I say.

We say our "I love yous" and then get in our own rooms. I went into my closet to find my medicine trunk. I mixed it up and then swallowed it. Since it was around 10 p.m., I decided to go to bed. If I have to endure one day of school, I better get to bed. I set my alarm for 6am and climbed in bed.

*****

The next morning, I got up and showered. I changed my sheets and then headed to the closet to get dressed. It was important to pick out a stylish outfit for the first day. I picked out a beige poncho with skinny jeans with beige boots.

Cherie came in wearing a halter top and a form-fitting skirt. She did my hair. She just brushed the front into a bun, leaving the back natural. I accessorized with medium hoop earrings and my locket containing my parents and my sister.

Her hair was out looking big and beautiful. She usually wore her hair out and proud. I loved that about her. I tend to style my hair, but occasionally, I wear it all out. My hair is not as long as hers, and it's thicker.

Aunt Audrey drove us to school on her way to work. We were on our own getting home. Cherie and I were taking the license test next month. With any luck we could then buy a car. She failed every time she tried, so I wasn't holding my breath.

We went into the administration office to get our schedules. Cherie was held back a year, so we were in the same class, too much fun in ninth grade for her. We took a seat while we waited.

A guy walked in looking like he walked out of a catalog wearing ripped jeans, a gray t-shirt, and a black blazer with a pair of black oxfords. His long, blonde hair is combed to the left with shaved sides.

He stood at the reception desk looking at us. The receptionist came over and asked which one of us was Celeste. I raised my hand, and she leaned in. I thought it was weird, but let it pass.

The guy gave her a head nod and then walked out of the office. What was he there for if he didn't even say a word? It's just weird. The guidance counselor returned with our class schedules, locker numbers, and combinations as well as a little map of the school.

"These should help you get around the school. First period is halfway over, so you might as well get familiar with your locker locations, then make your way to our second period class," she says.

We split up outside of the office. I missed my AP French Language and Culture class. I saw I had AP Chemistry next. I was looking at my map, trying to find my locker when I walked into someone. I looked up and saw a handsome, chocolate guy looking at me. I flushed all the way to my hairline.

"Excuse me. I wasn't paying attention," I say.

He got tangled up in my locket, which had opened. He very carefully removed it and closed it for me. I tucked it down my top.

"Don't worry about it," he says, with a stunning smile. "Are you new? I haven't seen you around before, and I know all the pretty faces."

"I am. I was searching for my locker," I say, ignoring the flattery.

"Let me help," he says, grabbing my schedule and locker information. "You almost made it. It's right down this hallway."

He walked me to my locker and then opened it with the combination. I placed all the books I would need after lunch into it then closed the door. He was still standing there.

"I'm Dante, by the way," he says.

"Celeste," I say, shaking his hand.

"While we have time, let me walk you to your next class," he says.

The bell rang, and students rushed the hallway. I grabbed his arm so I didn't lose him. I felt him grab my hand, and I got goosebumps. He leads me up some stairs and then down another hallway.

"So here's the classroom. Your next one is further down the hallway," he says. "Looks like I'll be seeing you at lunch. Do you wanna sit together?"

"So long as you don't mind if my sister joins us," I say.

"Not at all. See you then," he says, then takes off at a run.

Unsurprisingly, I am the first one in the classroom. I take a seat near the middle of the room at one of the lab tables. As the class begins to fill, I am still sitting alone. This girl walks in with her hair in an assortment of colors, the prominent one being blue. She's beautiful. She sits down across from me and gives me a smile.

"Hello. I'm new here. Celeste," I say, holding out my hand.

She grabbed my hand and then kissed it before she said, "Amelie, but you can call me Am."

She patted my hand before letting it go. "People call me CeCe since my name is Celeste Ceeley."

"CeCe," she says, rolling it around on her tongue. "I like that."

This girl is strange in the most wonderful way. I so want to be her friend. As I'm contemplating how to accomplish this, the guy from the admissions office walks in. He takes a seat next to Amelie.

"Over there," she says. "I am saving that seat."

"No one else is coming, Am," he says.

She just turns her head while he gets up and sits next to me. Amelie looks at him and gives him a wide smile. He rolls his eyes and gets his stuff out of his bag.

"Emile, Celeste. Celeste, Emile. I'm sure we'll be fast friends," she says.

"Nice to meet you," he says, tucking his blond hair behind his ear.

"Likewise," I respond.

The teacher gets up from his desk, takes attendance, and then begins to tell us what to expect from this class.

"Hello, class. My name is Mr. Burns. We're going to begin today's lesson with a pop quiz," he says. "Don't panic. There's only three questions to assess where you are in this field of study."

He handed out the sheets, and once I got mine, I realized these were easy examples. When I saw Emile smile, I knew I wasn't the only one.

"You have five minutes," Mr. Burns says.

When I am finished, I look up to see everyone slowly lift their heads. They all begin, looking around too. Everyone looked like they were feeling good.

"Feeling cocky, are we? Flip the page and take ten minutes to do those questions. When you're done, bring them up front and place them here," he says, pointing to a bin on his desk.

I flip the page and see I can do two of the three questions. The third one is beyond me. Two out of three ain't bad, so I quickly finished and then went to turn in my paper. Emile finished before me.

Once everyone turned in their papers, he began to grade the papers. Everyone looked nervous now as he made a big show of crossing things out. I looked at Emile and he smiled. He was already watching me.

"One correct Miss Hanigan. Nice job," he says.

I looked to see a dark-haired girl looking smug. Everyone around her was patting her back. She looked over to our table, checking out Emile. He was facing forward and hadn't seen her.

"Miss Ceeley, great job. Two out of three. You are in the right place," he says.

I blush as my table mates congratulate me. Amelie gives me a high five while Emile just smiles at me.

"Mr. Bailey, where are you?" He asks while Emile raises his hand. "Three out of three. Fantastic job. Perhaps you should be up here teaching."

"I could, sir, but I don't want to put you out of a job," Emile says as everyone laughs.

The rest of the lesson seems to pass by quickly. I'm packing up my books when the dark-haired girl walks by and bumps me.

"Watch yourself," she says as she saunters out of the room.

"Don't worry about her," Emile says.

"Yeah, her bark is worse than her bite," Am adds.

"Ladies, it was a pleasure. See you around," Emile says before leaving.

"What do you have next?" Am asks.

"AP Art History," I say, looking at my schedule.

"Me too. We can walk together," she says.

I was grateful to have Am to guide me. Even though Dante told me where it was, I didn't immediately find it. The class went by quickly, then Am offered to walk me to my Home Economics class, but Dante was outside waiting for me.

"I got this, Amelie. We're in the same class," he said.

"Okay. See you at lunch, CeCe," she says, as she walks down the hall.

"CeCe? Is that your nickname?" He asks.

"Yes. My sister started it. I can't wait for you to meet her," I say.

"I'm sure we'll get along just fine if she's anything like you," he says. "Let's go before we're late."

We got to the class and sat together. There was another girl at our table who ignored both of us. Then we were joined by a red-headed guy named Matt. It seems everyone at this school was good-looking.