I STEP UP THE BLEACHERS landing at the row before dark-brunette with the navy sweatshirt. i sit with my backpack beside me, just admiring the simplistic yet busy setting. i reach into my front pocket of my backpack to pull out my wired earbuds to play music.
i pop them in and press start on my playlist, seeing cinnamon girl by lana del rey pop up at the bottom, but i'm quickly interrupted by a:
"are you new here?" from behind me.
i turn to face the brunette girl, seeing her staring right at me.
"uh yeah, i am." i say, not knowing what her intentions are.
"oh. so why are you on the bleachers?" she questions.
"i had a mint, and i'm allergic." i respond, trying to end the conversation so i can play my music.
"did you know you were allergic?" she says slightly laughing.
"well it was a peppermint, but i'm allergic to spear. so it technically was an accident." i answer, catching myself laugh along as well.
"are you eating mints on the regular or is it a rare occurrence?" she asks.
"i promise i don't eat them, the last time i had one was...well actually barely even a month ago but that's besides the point. and that was an accident too." i answer back.
"so why are you up here?" i ask back to the girl.
"i broke my wrist literally on the first day." she answers, lifting her sweater up to reveal a wrap around her wrist.
"but it's healing quickly." she laughs.
"val!!!" i hear being yelled from the track, then seeing kris approaching the bleachers, stepping up to where i'm sitting.
"sofia wants you to put your number into my phone so i can send it to her." he says as he sits besides me, handing me his phone.
"but hurry up, we're only on a water break."
i type my number into kris's phone, then he whispers to me:
"were you just talking to claire?" in a judgmental tone.
"wait that's claire blooms?" i ask realizing who she was.
"you know i can hear you two right?" claire says from behind us.
"we weren't talking to you." kris bitches back to her.
"yeah but you were talking about me." she says back, matching kris's tone.
"what a rare occurence for you." says kris sarcastically.
"kris wrap it up!" yells the coach from the track.
"thanks, bye!" kris says to me.
he begins to walk away, mouthing she's crazy as he turns around to me. i laugh at the expression, and although it seemed overdramatic, i didn't want to ruin my first chance at a friend group here.
"so are you just gonna take whatever he says as gospel truth?" i hear claire say, interrupting my thoughts.
"i mean i guess." i respond back, turning my shoulder away from her.
"whatever." she says getting up from her seat and heading down the bleachers.
i feel a little bad about that interaction, but i don't know the full story between sofia and claire. so i'd rather take sofia's since it seems like claire was the one to randomly drop her.
"HEADS UP!" i hear being yelled, followed by a frisbee flying at my head.
i quickly duck to the side, making the disk miss by about 10 inches.
"sorry, didn't mean to—almost break your skull." says a brown-haired boy walking up the bleacher's stairs.
"yeah, i almost died but it's whatever." i sarcastically say, hoping the boy would catch my joke.
"i'm so sorry, like actually." he says with a smirk, so the joke must have been felt.
"here." i say handing the frisbee to him.
"thanks, i'm kyle."
"oh i'm—val." i say, realizing he was introducing himself.
"kyle you got it?" calls a boy from the track.
"yeah one sec!" yells kyle.
"nice meeting you." says kyle, walking away.
other than the fact that i almost got taken out by a frisbee, i'm getting more familiar with this new setting despite it being my first 3 hours here.
i see the class heading inside so i quickly follow them, and realize i have a free last period so i head back to my dorm. unfortunately, i have to wait till monday to have a full day of classes, so it'll take a little longer for myself to familiarize the school. i unpack my suitcases into the dressers and try to make a home out of this place. boarding schools aren't completely new to me, but their pretty uncommon as i haven't been to one since middle school.
i slip out a framed photo revealing an old picture from when i lived in paris, and was close with a girl named jules.
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(jules on the left and val on the right)
i smile at the memory, but decide to keep the picture in a drawer, not on the top of the dresser.
knock knock calls the bathroom door, followed by sofia popping her head in.
"hey, last period got out early do you wanna hang?"
i turn to sofia, already less energetic from the quick-past day.
"i would so love too but i'm really tired." i say, seeing sofia's face look disappointed.
"you know what—give me like an hour, i'm gonna read for a bit but then i'm down for anything." i add, changing my mind.
"wait i could get a bunch of people to get their dinner to go and we could eat it outside? there's like a pond and you can meet more people!" sofia proposes.
"wow yeah that's perfect! what time is dinner?" i ask.
"5:30, i'll grab get you when it's time then we can head to the cafe and then out." sofia says as she closes the bathroom door.
"cant wait!" i say while seeing sofia's face disappear.
