Westwood & Lawley
After three months of being in juvie, therapy, and being on tons of new medications, I can finally start over. Start fresh at a new school where no one knows me and I can be a completely new person.
Looking in the mirror, I fix my hair and clothes so that it’s somewhat perfect. I grab my bag, sling it over my shoulder and stare at my reflection. I’ve got this. No more Emily Harding. I can do this without ruining anything… again. It’s going to be fine, I hope. I take another deep breath, “Let’s do this.”
I walk out of my room and head downstairs where my parents and siblings sit at the dining room table, eating breakfast. Their heads turn towards me, “Hey Em. Sit, sit. Get some food before heading to school.” My mom has a big, fake smile plastered on her face. Revealing the bit of her red lipstick on her teeth.
“It’s Ma- Thanks.” I reply and sit beside my twin brother, Axel. They all look at me awkwardly. “What time does school start?”
“It starts at 7:30, we’ll leave around 7:15.” My mom replies looking at her phone, “And it’s 7:15. So we better get going.” She turns to my dad, “You’ll take Louise to school?”
My dad nods, taking our plates. “Of course, honey. Love you.” He smiles, kissing her goodbye as she slings her black, knock-off Chanel purse on her arm.
After fifteen minutes of driving and listening to my music, we arrive at the school. A three story brick building with way too many windows, showing kids roaming the halls. And then my mom’s elbowing me, “What?” I ask, taking my headphones out.
She laughs, revealing the lipstick from her teeth is gone. “Have a good first day. If you need anything, call me.”
Pushing out an awkward grin, “Okay. Bye.” And before I know it, I’m opening the doors. As I walk down the narrow halls lined with blue lockers, trying to find the main office, everyone stares at me weirdly… Like every high school movie, I’m the weird new girl.
And then from behind me, someone’s tapping my shoulder and it makes my jump a bit. When I turn around, two people stand there. One guy and one girl. “New girl?” The girl questions with her perfectly glossed lips. Her curly blonde hair is pulled back into a ponytail, showing a small tattoo behind her ear. She has a black sweater on that seems too hot for this weather with a pink skirt.
With a strange look, “Yeah. That obvious?”
The girl puts her hand out, now showing her perfectly manicured nails. “I’m Emily and this is Will.”
Meeting her hand in the middle, “Malia, nice to meet you. And is there any chance that you can direct me to the office?”
Will nods, “Follow me.” He has long black hair that’s pulled back into a man bun, wearing khakis and a blue polo shirt that shows his muscles. The shirt sleeve shirt reveals his few tattoos on his arm. One of them, on his forearm, matches Emily’s.
Will walks ahead, Emily staying at my side. I look ahead at Will and I speak up. “How do you two know each other?”
Emily smiles, “We grew up together. Our parents were best friends and now we are, basically twins.” Pausing, her intensely blue eyes meet mine. “I heard you were a transfer. Where from?”
“Willow Creek.”
Her eyes widen, “Oh. That’s the really fancy private school! Why’d you transfer?”
“I just… needed a new scene.” I reply, adjusting my bag so that it sits differently on my shoulder.
“Why?”
As I’m about to answer with another lie, my phone buzzes in my back pocket. I take it out and read the message from Axel, ‘I have news 4 u. Talk 2 u @ home.’
“I don’t really want to talk about if you don’t mind.” The curls of Emily’s hair bounce with her nod.
“Here we are.” Will stops in front of a door, gesturing with one hand as if revealing something magical. “I guess that we’ll see you around, Malia.”
With a smile, “Definitely. Thanks.” I quickly text Axel back, ‘OK. C u then.’ I approach a short, brown-haired woman at the front desk, “Hi. I’m here to pick up my schedule.”
The woman has a big smile on her face, “Name?”
“Malia Harding.”
“Alright. Let me find it.” She pulls the glasses off the top of her head and puts them on the bridge of her nose, then opening a drawer beside her. After scanning the folders, she pulls out a thin manilla folder that has my name on the tab. She takes out a piece of paper, “Here you go, Malia.”
When I go back to the hallway, I look down at my schedule and see that my first block is with Mrs. Moore. Before going to class, I go to the bathroom. And as I’m washing my hands, the bell rings.
“Shit.” I quickly dry my hands and rush upstairs, trying to find room 208. “Where is it?” I mutter to myself as I pick up my pace, and then I come up to a door with the numbers ‘208’ painted above it. Before opening it, I take a deep breath. Then my hand is on the weirdly cold door handle and I’m opening it to a classroom full of random faces. The teacher stops talking and everyone’s heads turn to me.
“Can I help you with something?” Mrs. Moore asks, putting her marker down after finishing the sentence she’s writing. Her bangs end just above her eyes, right below the top rim of her glasses.
I look around at everyone, making awkward eye contact with each person. “I’m Malia Harding. I’m new.”
She smiles, “Right. Malia. Welcome to the class. Here’s what you’ll need.” I take the books and many papers from her and hold them in one arm. “You can take that seat next to Nolan.” Mrs. Moore says pointing to a seat in the back corner of the room. When I turn my head, I look at the kid who sits beside me… Nolan Lawley. The guy I went to Summer camp with a few summers ago. “Is something wrong?”
I pull my eyes off of Nolan and back to her, “No. Everything’s great.” Going to the seat, I catch Nolan staring at me, but I avoid eye contact.
The bell rings and I begin walking down the hall to find my class when someone’s hand is on my shoulder. It sends a weird chill down my spine. When I turn around, Nolan stands there, his green eyes looking into mine. “Emily.”
I don’t say anything for a second, “It’s Malia now. And I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t call me Emily.”
Nolan doesn’t move for a second, “Alright.”
“I’m a new person now. Everything is in the past and I’m starting fresh, got it?” When I realize how close I am to him, I step back and his strong cologne fades a bit.
Nodding awkwardly as everyone looks at us, “You can’t leave something like that in the past. What you did was fucking insane.”
His cologne hits me again, “It’s in the past. Do I make myself clear?!”
Without saying a word, he smirks and walks away. And then when I look up, Emily and Will are approaching me with curious faces. “Lawley… the jock of the school. What were you two talking about?”
I cross my arms and let out a sigh, “We went to camp together last Summer. We were good friends, and then I… left.”
“What happened to you guys? That talk looked pretty heated.” Now Emily raises her perfectly shaped eyebrow, knowing that there’s something I’m leaving out. “What are you not telling us?”
Shaking my head, I push a few lone pieces of hair behind my ear. “We just… had a falling out. It’s really not something I want to get into right now. Can you show me where my next class is though?”
They both nod with big smiles, like usual, “No problem. Where is it?”
Looking down at the crumpled schedule, I read the next class. “English with Mrs. Collins.”
Trailing behind them, we get to a classroom that has posters and stickers all over the door. And as you enter the room, a strong vanilla scent hits you. The walls have a ton of different posters covering every inch, leaving it hard for you to think of a space to put a new one. A few other students sit in desks that are pushed together. Behind a desk in the corner, a woman with dyed red hair types on a computer.
She looks up as she hears our footsteps, which is the only sound in the room. “Will, Emily. Who’s this?” She comes around to the front of her desk, showing her lace cardigan covering a plain white shirt. She has slightly wrinkled tan pants go down to her ankles and black flats with flowers that match her cardigan.
Emily steps forward, “Mrs. Collins, this is Malia Harding. Malia, this is Mrs. Collins, a.k.a your new favorite teacher.” She giggles a bit, showing her teacher’s pet side.
Another smile comes to her face, “Emily, you’re too sweet.” She chuckles, “Well nice to meet you Malia, and welcome to the class. We just started the short story unit, so we’ll put you into one of the groups and you’ll be caught up in no time.” Will and Emily sit down at a group in the corner as she hands me a thick packet. “Come with me and we’ll find you a group.” We walk to her desk as she picks up a piece of paper with names on it, holding it close to her eyes. “You are going to be in that group over there.” She points to desks by the door where one girl already sits. “That’s Ashley. Your other partners will be Nolan and Zach.” My thoughts freeze… Nolan. “Does that sound alright?”
I sigh, “Sounds great. Thanks.”
I make my way to the desks and take my seat across from Ashley. She smiles through her black lipstick, “Hey.”
With a slight smirk, “Hey, I’m Malia.”
She nods, her purple side bangs covering one eye. “Ashley. Where’d you come from?”
I throw my bag on the ground and the packet on the desk, “Willow Creek.”
Her eyes lined with thick, black eyeliner and purple eyeshadow, matching her hair, widen a bit. “Wow. Must have been a good reason you transferred from a school like that to this place.” She laughs again.
A boy who looks older than anyone in the room walks through the door and sits beside Ashley. “Hey Zach, this is Malia. Malia, this is Zach.”
“Hi.” Zach says, immediately bringing his eyes, which you can barely see from his long black hair, back to his phone and putting headphones in. He leans back in the chair, revealing an AC/DC shirt underneath his worn-out leather jacket.
Ashley whispers to me, “Not really a people person.”
I nod along as the bell rings. More and more people file into the classroom as I go through the packet she gave me. It goes through the basics of writing stories, the do’s and don’ts.
When I flip it back to the front page and look up, Nolan is walking in the door. I let out a long sigh and slump down in my seat as he approaches the group. He rolls his eyes as he sees me and sits in the desk next to me. “Hey Nolan, this is Malia. Malia, thi-”
He cuts her off, putting his hand up. “We know each other.” Nolan glances at me with a weird look.
Ashley has another odd smile on her face as she sighs, letting us smell her coffee breath. “Wow. What a coincidence. How do you guys know each other?”
Nolan smirks at me again, “Summer Camp a few years ago.” I respond, not letting him say anything.
Now snickering, he runs his fingers through his blonde hair that’s the same color as all those years ago. “Yeah. Cause you weren’t able to go last Summer.”
Smacking his arm, “Don’t go there. I have many secrets of your I can share too.”
“None as good as yours.” He hisses back as Zach picks his head up from his phone and Ashley raises an eyebrow.. “Did you guys do the homework?”
After a few more minutes of silence, Mrs. Collins walks to the front of the room and sits on top of an empty desk. “To start out today, we’ll be sharing the homework responses. Let’s start with…” She looks around the room. “Will.”
“What was the assignment?” I whisper to Ashley.
“We have to say a secret of someone else’s that no one in the rooms knows. No revealing the name or any other details.” She hesitates, “To me it seems like something that shouldn’t be allowed, but apparently no one cares anymore…”
Will sits back down by the time Ashley’s finished and a few more people need to go. “Nolan. Your turn.” Mrs. Collins says, waving her hand toward the front of the room from her desk.
He stands in the front of the room, his shirt tucked into his jeans a bit. He glances around at everyone before looking at me. “This person I know nearly killed someone. Beat them so hard that they were in the hospital.” Everyone stops and looks around the room as he takes his seat again, my eyes don’t move from my desk and they fill with tears.
Mrs. Collins goes to the front of the room. “We said to come up with real secrets, Nolan. That was unacceptable.” She hisses. “You’re getting a zero for the assignment. Emily, you can go next.”
I could barely make out the words Emily was saying as more thoughts filled my mind. My eyes didn’t move from the desk and tears dripped onto the top of it.
“Malia, are you alright?” Ashley says, touching my arm with her cold hands.
Lifting my head up, I rush out of the room and I can barely make it down the hall before my legs give out. My back slides down the lockers and my face is buried in my arms. I hear footsteps next to me, and when I pick my head up Emily is joining me on the ground.
I pick up my head before she can say anything, “I don’t want to talk about it. Tell Mrs. Collins that I went to the bathroom.”
She nods and walks back to the classroom. Slowly, I stand up and find the nearest bathroom. When I walk through the door, a blast of mixed perfumes hits me. I check under the stalls to make sure no one is in here. I then take my phone from my pocket and call Axel. It rings, rings, and rings. “Come on Axel…” I mutter.
And then he picks up, “Hey. What’s up?”
I wipe the few tears from my cheeks, “Do you remember Nolan Lawley from Summer Camp a few years back?”
There’s a pause from his side,“Yeah, why?”
Sighing, I stare at my reflection and see the smudged mascara on my cheeks and around my eyes. “He goes to this school. He just stood in front of my class and told them my… secret.”
“He told them!? Why would he do that?” Axel hisses from the other side, making me pull the phone away from my ear.
I shake my head as I lean against the wall, “Cause he’s a dick. He didn’t say it was me, but I still don’t get why he would do that.” I let out another sigh, “Forget it. I’ll deal with him myself. Bye.”
Looking in the mirror, I wipe the tears mascara streaks from my face. After standing there, doing nothing but staring at my reflection for a minute, I head back to class.
When I walk through the door, everyone’s heads turn to me again as a new person now stands in front of the room. Throughout the whole 80 minutes, I don’t do anything besides sit and stare at my desk.
As the bell rings, I shoot up from my seat and rush down the hallway with my backpack hanging on one shoulder. From behind me, another hand is on my shoulder and turning me around. Nolan then stands in front of me. “Come on Emily, it was a joke.” He snickers.
I feel the major pain as my nails dig into my palm, “I told you, it’s Malia! And you didn’t mean it as a joke, so you can go to hell.”
Going to walk away, he grabs my arm and pulls me back towards him and his cologne fades in again. “Come on, let’s be friends Em.”
But the next thing I know, my fist connects with his jaw and Nolan’s on the ground with a bloody nose. “It’s Malia.” I hiss as the people in the hallway stare at us.
Nolan snickers again as he gets up, ignoring the blood that runs down his face. “Careful. Don’t want a repeat of your last argument.” And then, before I know it, I’m punching him again. He ends up on the floor again, now with a bloody lip.
When I’m walking away, a group of guys comes up to me and the leader speaks up. “Damn, new girls got a punch. What’s your name, girl?” Before he can say anything else, he has a bloody nose and his friends are catching him.
“Mrs. Harding, seeing as Malia is a new student, we are not going to suspend her. But, she will have detention for the rest of the week. We do not tolerate this behavior in my school.” Principal Mendler hisses. She narrows her eyes on me. “Would you like to tell us what caused you to act like this?”
I lift my eyes up to my mom and then quickly look back to my shoes. I slouch more and cross my arms, “They said things about my past.”
“Anything specific?” Mendler asks with a evil-looking smirk on her face.
“Nothing I want to tell you.”
After we leave Mendler’s office and get in the car, my mom’s silent for a second. And then she speaks up with a certain tone in her voice that I hear everyday. “I’m sorry about Nolan, honey.”
Shrugging, I pick at my chipping nail polish. “It’s whatever.”
When we get home, Axel, Louise, and my dad sit in the living room, watching tv. “Hey. How was your first day?” My dad smiles, looking up at us.
Trading looks with mom, I shut the front door. “I may or may not have gotten detention for the rest of the week.”
My mom puts her hand on my shoulder. “You remember Nolan Lawley from Summer camp a few years ago?” He nods. “Well, he goes to the school and he decided to bring up some stuff about my past. So I punched him to set him in his place. And then I punched another guy for hitting on me.”
Pulling me in for a hug, my dad smiles. “That’s my girl.”
“Sam!” My mom smacks his arm with the back of her hand. “She got detention! We should not be congratulating her.”
He shrugs, “As long as it was for a good reason, right?”
I laugh and sit beside Axel, Louise on the other couch, as they walk to the kitchen. “So what was your news for me?”
Axel turns so he faces me, his blue eyes that look exactly like mine stare into my eyes. “I’m leaving Willow Creek and transferring to Oak Ridge. I’m going to school with you now. Starting tomorrow.”
With a smile, “That’s sweet of you, but you don’t have to. All your friends are there, that’s where your life is.”
Axel takes my hand, his really cold. “Who cares. I’ll still see all of them at Nick’s parties on the weekends. Besides, it’s too late.” Before getting up, he pulls me in for a hug, “I love you.”
“Love you too.”
