Chapter One
“Come on, Isaiah!” calls my sister, Kate. “If you make me late for my senior year, I swear I’ll never forgive you!”
“I was going to walk to school with Jonathon,” I reply. “You go.”
“Oh, no you don’t.” She snatches my phone from my hands and shoves it in my backpack. “You walk to school with him every single day. Come with me just this once. It’s our brother-sister outing!”
“Hardly an outing,” I mumble, but I let her drag me out the door.
“Okay,” she tells me. “Here’s everything you need to know for high school. You want Mrs. Zelk for Science and Homeroom, but if you get Mr. Star, be prepared for a whole lot of tests.” I let my sister’s words wash over me, not really paying attention, but enjoying the sound of her voice. Usually Kate shuts herself in her room all day talking to her friends. Anyways, I am completely ready for high school. Me and Jonathon (who is my best friend) spent the entire last two weeks making detailed plans about which electives to take (coding for him, art for me), what sports we should join (soccer all the way!) and what kids we have to hang out with. He has also helped me make a list of plans to get to Kaya Hari, the most amazing girl in the universe. As we get closer to the school, I start seeing more familiar faces, including Kaya, who is walking with her friends Rudi and Naomi. Kate spots her friend Janet, and they start talking immediately. This gives me time to search for my friends. I see a lot of people from my grade, but also some new faces. I guess they went to different middle schools. Finally, I spot Jonathon and call his name. He spins around and runs towards me.
“Dude!” he says, giving me a high five. “I thought I would be my own there!”
“‘Course not!” I assure him. “You excited?”
“I was born for this!” he exclaims. There is a pause and then: “Okay, I’ll admit it-I’ve never been more nervous!” I nod in agreement.
“Guys, high school isn’t that bad!” Kate says, and I jump. I hadn’t realised she was listening.
“There it is!” Janet says as we turn a corner, and points towards the high school, a huge white building that looks more like a modern mansion.
“Whoh,” Jonathon breathes. “We’re really going here?”
“Yep,” I say. I’ve been to the high school before to watch Kate’s concerts and things, but Jonathon only has two younger brothers, so he’s never come.
“Come on,” Kate says, and we follow her and Janet inside. Kids are hustling and bustling inside, and I stay close to Kate and Jonathon, making sure I don’t lose them. We reach the separate stair cases that lead to the different grades, and Kate hugs me and Jonathon, who is like a little brother to her. “Good luck, guys!” she whispers excitedly, and we go our separate ways. Jonathon and I already know where to go, because of open house, and as we walk up we see lots of our old friends, who we say hi to. When we get up to the ninth grade pod, there is a buzzing of voices. There is a bulletin board telling us which homeroom we are in, so I head over to it with Jonathon. Neither of us are with Mr. Star (thank goodness), or Ms. Van Hugh, or Mr. McGreen. We read Mrs. Brown next, which Jonathon is in without me (“Seriously? I thought they would put friends together!”), which is a big bummer. Kaya is in Mrs. Steege’s homeroom, and I read down the list, crossing my fingers. Yes! There I am, Isaiah Harel! Rudi and Naomi aren’t in it, either. Neither of us have any friends! That means she can’t ignore me copmpletly, right? I say goodbye to Jonathon (“I’ll see you at lunch, okay?”) and follow the signs to Mrs. Steege’s homeroom with a few other kids. A couple I know from middle school (including Kaya!), but most I have never seen before. There’s a girl that I’ve never seen before walking behind everyone with a canvas bag on her shoulder and a aqua notebook and matching gel pen in her hands. Her wavy, waist length hair is a shocking, fiery red. I mean like really fiery. Every time she moves her head, the colour flickers and changes to different shades of orange. No, I prefer Kaya’s gentler, softer dark brown that falls down her back like a midnight waterfall. Her skin is very tan from the summer sun, and her eyes are so deep, holding so much emotion. When she’s alone, she is shy and quiet, and her expression never changes from a slight frown. But when she’s with her friends, I’ve seen her laugh and smile. My fingers itch to sketch her, like I’ve tried probably a hundred times.
The fiery haired girl is staring around at everyone, watching us closely. Then she grins and starts scribbling in her aqua notebook.
A/N: Hi!! Thanks so much for reading this!!!! I’m not finished with the first chapter yet, but if you want you can review it so far! Please no hate, but constructive criticism is very much appreciated!!!
