Explosive

05 || First Day

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you. I can park the car and-" Laughing, I shake my head at my nervous aunt. When I put both straps of the bag over my shoulders, a scene from 21 Jump Street flashes through my mind, my grin widening.

"I'll be okay, Aunt Jane. It's just high school," I say with an eye roll. Josh snorts beside me and makes his way up the stairs.

She gives me a pointed look before turning to her son. "Josh, go with Audrey to the office." My cousin clears his throat and waves his hand impatiently, telling me to hurry up. I scramble up the short set of stairs.

The stitches had come off but the nurse wasn't lying when she said that I would be feeling numb in my leg for a while. Ironically, it's this lack of feeling that will serve as a painful reminder of that day and all that I had lost.

"You know the movie 21 Jump Street, right?" I have to look up to meet his gaze. He squints at me but then looks away, grinning at something in the distance. "What?" I drag my eyes to see what he is looking at. It's a pudgy man in a tracksuit. "Do you know him?"

Groaning internally, I mentally slap myself for the word diarrhea. Despite my attempt at a nonchalant attitude, I'm freaking out. In Oakville, I went to high school with the same people I went to elementary school with. Here, the only person I know is my cousin.

"Yeah. That's my coach. I'll be right back." Giving me a look of sympathy, he scurries away.

"It's okay, I'll be fine," I say and scan the wide hallway for the office. Finding it, I make my way through the sea of students and hurry inside.

The lady at the front desk doesn't return the smile I give her, which makes me slouch in disappointment. She's shorter than me, and with her dark hair and eyes in slits, she almost looks like a dragon. Almost. Shaking my head, I read her nametag. Mrs. Nitto. "Hi, I'm Audrey Moore."

She hands me my schedule and goes back to typing furiously on her computer. Maybe she is just sad, I wonder. A voice at the back of my head tells me to ask her if she needs a hug.

Ugh, my nerves are getting to me. "I believe your homeroom teacher will have an agenda for you." Nodding, I offer her another smile and turn towards the door. I take that moment to look at my schedule: English, Art, Lunch, Gym, and Bio. Not bad.

I spend the next 15 minutes or so looking for my locker but fail miserably. My stomach tightens when the warning bell rings and people begin scrambling to their classes. When the music starts to play over the speakers, I finally decide to ask someone for help.

A boy coming towards me stops. "Hey, you look like you could use some help." He doesn't look so good himself, his face pale and unshaven. Floppy brown hair covers his forehead and his eyes are darting about, not settling on anything. "Not a talker, eh?" Shrugging, I hand him my schedule and he grins. "Cool, your locker is right next to mine."

"Thanks," I mumble as we walk in the direction opposite to where I was going. When the final warning bell rings I stop and gently tap the boy's shoulder. "It's fine. I don't want you to be late for class-"

"Todd. And it's all good. I don't want to go to Math, anyways." He rolls his eyes like this is something that should have been obvious. "Besides, I'm all about helping out a Damsel in Distress."

Smiling at his sarcastic comment, I start putting my stuff into the locker. "Mrs. Mackenzie's English class is right there," he says, pointing to the classroom behind me. He jogs away before I have a chance to say thanks. This is good. I'm actually talking to people I don't know.

Sort of.

"Audrey Moore?" the teacher standing at the front asks, a red folder in her hands. She is young and has bright orange hair. A wide smile is etched across her pretty face. I nod my head and scan the classroom, my eyes landing on someone familiar.