ᴛʜᴇʏ Sᴀʏ Sʜᴇ'ꜱ Fʀᴏᴍ ᴄᴏʀᴏɴᴀ ! 【Ryan Atwood】

ʙᴇFᴏʀᴇ

RICH, WHITE, AND PREPPY were three things Hazel Michaels could never be and she was reminded of it every day. From the aggressive looks thrown her way to the snarky comments she'd catch the moment her back was turned, the girl had heard it all. But that's just how it was for kids like her in places like Harbor High.

Each morning, it took everything within the girl to remain on the bus that took her from Corona to Newport Beach. She'd imagined herself pulling the string and getting off at a random stop instead. She didn't care which one. As long as she could hide from those Orange County bitches. Though, she had to admit; not everything in Newport sucked. Thank god the girl had found herself a Summer Roberts.

The two had been friends since the first day of high school when they were sat at the same table in homeroom. Hazel had on a black, studded belt that captivated the Roberts girl. When asked where she'd bought it from, the girl from out of town did not have the heart to admit that it was thrifted, so she lied and listed Prada as the source.

As the months went by and the girls grew closer--despite the unwarranted disdain from Summer's best friend, Marissa, had towards Hazel-- the Roberts girl became fed up with her search for the belt and confronted her friend.

"I even looked in the clearance section! I never do that!" Summer exclaimed.

Hazel decided to come clean, not just about the belt, but about where she lived as well.

"Wait, wait..." The petite brunette was shocked, to say the least. "So, like, your belt's not Prada. It's from the thrift store? And you bus here from Corona? That's like, right next to Chino, EW!"

"Look, Summer. I'm sorry I lied, but I was embarrassed and, well, when I said those things, I didn't know that we were gonna be friends. And I really enjoy having you as a friend, so I kept up the lies because I didn't want you to ditch me."

"Hazel! You thought I was going to ditch you over a belt?"

"Yes," the curly-haired girl stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Summer looked down at her hands as she began to fidget, letting the taller girl know that she was right.

"Well, that was me then. I'm different now. Still shallow, but you changed me, Haze. And that's really hard to do!"

The Michaels girl chuckled, feeling her heart rate calm down at her friend's words. She felt like she could breathe again. "Really?"

"Of course!" Summer stated, reaching out to grab the girl's hand in hers. "And who else is going to grab things from the top shelf for me when Coop's not around?"

Hazel rolled her eyes. "What are friends for?" The girls embraced each other in a tight hug. "But I'm definitely getting you a step ladder for Christmas."

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A/N: Hey, I don't know if anyone is reading this, but here's an O.C. fanfic nobody asked for. I'm really psyched cause there aren't enough and it's one of my favorite shows ever. I really want to get back into writing again, so I'm back to my roots, despite what my bio says.