↳ LIKE REAL PEOPLE DO

🗒 ❛ chapter two ༉‧₊˚✧

"you're gonna be fine, vi," charlie tried to reassure me, "just be yourself."

"thanks, dad."

i didn't have the heart to let him know that his attempts to make me feel better were futile, as i plastered on a forced smile to flash him. we were sitting in his cruiser in the school parking lot on my first day as a forks spartan. students didn't even try to hide their curious gawking, making my heart beat rapidly in my chest.

"have a good day, kiddo."

i gave my father a quick hug and clutched tightly onto the strap of my bag that i had thrown over my shoulder, breathing deeply through my nose to try relaxing myself. i swung open the door and stepped out, waving a small goodbye. it was a little windy today, so i used that to my advantage and flicked my eyes across the parking lot, making the lid of a trash can fly off. it tumbled and rolled against the pavement in the direction of the wind, and took a majority of the attention off of me.

i was able to make it to the administrative office without anybody coming up to me, which was nice. i wouldn't mind making friends, but i was worried about people treating me like a spectacle or something. i didn't seem to dress like anybody in forks, which i suppose was partially a part of why i dressed the way i do— but i was worried that because of it, i would be subject to ridicule like i was in my last school. i just wanted to be able to wear what i wanted and be left alone about it. i twiddled my locket with bella's ashes between my forefinger and my thumb in a nervous habit.

the women behind the front desk was nice enough on the surface, bubbly and pleasant in demeanor— but when i poked into her head to get a first impression, her crushes on multiple senior boys made me feel nauseas. i tried not to listen to strangers thoughts out of respect, but i also liked to use my freakish ability to know the intentions of people before accepting them into my life. she seemed surprised that all of the classes i had been assigned were AP's and junior/senior levels despite only being in tenth grade.

in practice, i was actually terrible at academics. taking tests made me anxious and i was prone to skipping classes to cry in the bathroom; or skipping school to lay in bed and think about killing myself all day. but thanks to being able to read minds, i'm able to catch up quickly. the advantage landed me labeled as gifted in academics, which i appreciated the irony of.

the first person to approach me did so in the hallway as i tried to figure out the combination on my locker. he was rushing to grab things from his own that was placed right next to mine; grabbing random handfuls of papers and carelessly stuffing them into his backpack.

"you must be violet swan," he said, his voice sounded nervous despite its pep, "i'm eric— the eyes and ears of this place."

"it's nice to meet you, eric," i smiled uncomfortably, finally getting my locker to pop open. there was a piece of old chewing gum stuck to the back of the door— i scrunched my nose up at it and shut it, again.

"yeah, so, i can be anything you need, you know? tour guide, lunch date, shoulder to cry on," eric continued, hopefully.

despite the rudeness of it, i couldn't help but laugh at him and his attempts to woo me. i had been here all of twelve minutes and this guy was suddenly hitting on me?

"my tears would weigh your shoulders down, i cry a lot," i assured him with a pat on the back.

i left eric in a state of shock with my response as i navigated my way through the halls and to my first class of the day. despite how small the school was, it was challenging to locate. when i finally found it, i was officially five minutes late. on my first day.

i stood in the threshold of the trigonometry classroom nervously; uncomfortable by the stares i was receiving. i poked into the minds of a couple of my classmates quickly; easily becoming annoyed and disgusted by their thoughts.