Between Love and Admiration

Chapter 1

January 12th.

First day of second semester.

Freshman year.

Shit, I'm going to be late! Sprinting my way back to the main building where I had just left. Confused in the large building, I mixed up my classes and ended up in the Science wing of Central High. The school has just finished being remodeled and expanded. As a freshman, I didn't get to experience the old Central but I've heard stories. The school was dulled by the fluorescent lights and the halls were chipping, not even the school mascot painting was untouched. But now, Central was new and bright. The halls were filled with motivational quotes and there were high windows everywhere, brightening the halls and attitudes the minute you entered them. I don't know if that was intended but the school made me feel very hopeful. Back in my first semester. But right now, I feel nothing but fear! Checking my phone for Dani's text that had the correct room number. Dani: 267 her name is Ms. Riley, it's on the right side of the hall. Hurry up! She seems like a bitch. "Great." Picking up the pace, focusing all my attention onto the room numbers 260, 263, 265... "Ow!" Stumbling backwards as I looked into the girl I'd ran into, we made eye contact, just as the bell rang. "'I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying..." stopping mid-sentence, once I saw her puffy face and red eyes. "..are you okay?" We were around the same height, both being on the shorter side. She had sandy brown hair that was hanging loosely and it stopped right beyond her shoulders. Skin was the color of honey, with a soft baby face. She had beautiful doe eyes, the kind that were big but not protruding and yet they were still sharp. I'd never seen eyes like that, I could see the exact shade of almond brown of her eyes even though her lashes tried to hide them. I could also see the redness. She was a really pretty girl but she had been crying for a while, her eyes were completely bloodshot. "Yeah." was all she said before opening the door to room 267, I started walking in behind her before stopping in my tracks, seeing she was being ushered back out. Ms. Riley followed her into the hall before closing the door behind her. "The first day back and you ladies are tardy. Explain." As I prepared to plead my case, that being lost as a freshman was expected and this was a valuable learning experience. She spoke up, "Ms. Riley, I was walking with my head down and ran into her. It made us both late" Confused because I definitely ran into her, I just looked at Ms. Riley, with the best blank face I could. She eyed us both before focusing back on her "Alana, why were you walking with your head down?" she asked in a much softer voice. Alana. I looked over at her and decided to let her handle this for us because I didn't know what to say. Not that I was being asked. Ms. Riley seemed to be familiar with her. "Because.... He dumped me." She said in the softest voice, if I wasn't beside her, I wouldn't have heard it. I turned to look at her, feeling bad. "Go inside, Ms...." Ms. Riley was looking at me again.

"Kaia"

"Okay, go ahead inside. No more passes." she said with a stern nod as she moved aside to let me enter. I looked around the large classroom, with bright paintings covering most of the walls. The high windows were open, allowing the natural light to really make the art shine. The room was large but there were only six tables throughout, all able to sit up to five. Spotting Danielle sitting towards the back with our other friends, the twins, Summer and Stormi. Taking the seat across from Danielle who started in as soon as I took my seat, "I told you to hurry! Did you have to sign the log?" referring to the trudence log, after your third offense, you were given detention. "No, there was this girl who ended up crying so she..." Gia cut in excitedly "Why and who was it?". The twins were always ready for some drama. I guess we all were, but I like to think me and Danielle had morals. Yes, we told each other everything and we gossiped with G&G but there were certain things that were personal and the look on Alana's face made it clear this was one. "I don't know her name but Ms. Riley rushed me in before she could say why!" Dani shook her head "This is an emotional day for the female student body because there was a senior in my last class who looked depressed too. Something about her boyfriend, I think." Danielle, has been my best friend since 5th grade, we bonded over solving the disappearance of Mr. Buns. Our class's pet bunny. We were unsuccessful but ever since then we've been honing our craft of investigation. This was what made us super close. Since getting to Central, we were the underdogs or more exact underclassmen. Upperclassmen were about to enter the real world and be given a chance that feels like a lifetime away for us. The freedom that they had, we simply didn't. No car, no boyfriends but we were getting close! We knew there were so many new things to come so in the meantime, we needed to study the seniors now so that when we were the ones doing it we would know what to do. The things to do and how to do them. In a way, we live vicariously through them. "I wonder if it's the same girl?" I asked. Dani and I were always in sync "Did she have a bob?" "Nope, hair was a little past her shoulders." she shook her head, I was unable to read her expression "No, different girl." The door closed, grabbing our attention, as Ms. Riley stood in front of the class. "Good Morning class! All sidebar conversations should stop, now."