Foolin'

Part 2

Kat made her way to Principal Higgins' office and everyone she passed by seemed to turn and look at her, whispering to their little group of friends. When she arrived, there was a very preppy and happy looking cheerleader also in his office. Principal Higgins' eyes widened when Kat entered the room, a look of shock and maybe even terror crossed his face, but he quickly recovered to say "You must be Katrina Ramsay! Welcome to Hawkins High!" His smile was hesitant; his recovery from his first impression of her was a valiant effort. The doe-eyed cheerleader smiling politely. She didn't appear to be frightened of Kat, but she still wasn't about to trust a cheerleader to be completely nice and friendly at all.

"It's Kat."

"Ah, yes, well Kat, this is Chrissy Cunningham. She was nice enough to volunteer to show you around during homeroom." The principal handed Kat a paper with her class schedule and locker number and combination on it. "Alright, off you two go! Lots to see! Good luck." The last part he seemed to say directly to Chrissy. It gave Kat the slightest reassurance her look just might be enough to keep the Tigers at bay.

The school was small so the tour wasn't necessarily grand, but at least Kat was familiar with where her classes were. She let Chrissy do most of the talking. Still skeptical of her, she did seem to be really nice. Maybe she was one of the rare cheerleaders that was sweet to everyone. She definitely had to be the "queen" of Hawkins High.

"And so, that's pretty much it! I think we have a couple classes together. Looks like chemistry and... oh, history." Chrissy gave Kat a warm smile she only half-heartedly returned. "At least you'll know one person in those!"

"Yeah, I'm not really looking to make friends this year. Just going through the motions. I appreciate you taking the time to show me around... and being nice about it."

"Of course! But I feel like it would be a really long year if you stayed completely by yourself, wouldn't it? Um, I don't know if some of my other friends would be as... welcoming to you, but I mean... Well I guess you can still feel alone surrounded by a bunch of people. Take it from me. Oh my god. I'm not usually like that. I don't usually say things like that to new people. I-"

"It's okay. People do that to me all the time. Probably because I'm a Scorpio... Anyway, you seem super nice, but I just want to finish school and go back home. The less connection to this place I have, the better. Nothing against you at all."

"What's it like? Where you're from I mean. It's Los Angeles, isn't it?" Chrissy wondered.

"It's great. It's warm. There's tons of stuff to do, places to hang out at. In case you couldn't tell," Kat gestured at her shirt, "I would go to concerts all the time. That was my thing I did. Also became my downfall, but... ya know..."

"It seems like a fun place. Especially compared to here." The bell rang signaling that first period was over. "It was nice to meet you, Kat. I'll see you in chem!"

"Yeah, you too." As Kat made her way to her first class – math with Mrs. O'Donnell – she pushed down the feeling of being torn between wanting to have possibly even one friend to help pass the time here. Maybe Chrissy was right about that. It didn't matter. Kat would be out of here the day after graduation. There was no point in having to abandon whatever connections she made here. She didn't want to deal with that kind of hurt. Not again.

She luckily got to math early and established her seat in the back corner of the classroom. As everyone filed in, she made direct eye contact with anyone who looked her way. Some looked scared, some raised their eyebrows, but not many dared to sit by her. And then the gawker with the fluffy hair sauntered in. Great. She rolled her eyes and looked out the window, then heard the chair next to her creek. Just keeps getting better!