Chickadee ( A Ghost Bird series Fanfic) DISCONTINUED

Being brave

As the bells rings, signaling the start of lunch, I start to get nervous. I have no idea where I'm going to sit, and, based on the people who I've already met, most people at this school aren't very nice. I would love to sit with Trixie and Jill, but I'm not sure if they want me to. I can just imagine myself sitting in one of the bathroom stalls and I eating my lunch alone.

I start to move away from the cafeteria towards the bathrooms, but Jill stops me. "Hey, where are you going?"she asks, clearly confused.

"Um... I'm not really sure. I guess to go find somewhere to eat lunch," I say, thinking of the lonely bathroom stall.

"Oh, well, you can sit with us if you want."

"Really?" I say, my heart swelling at this simple act of kindness. She nods. "Thank you so much!"

"Of course! We're friends now, after all," she says, winking at me.

I smile at her, an excited squeal threatening to spill out of my mouth. Three amazing friends in two days. This is definitely a record for me. At my old school, I didn't really let myself have friends. I didn't want anyone finding out about my daddy issues, so I never let people get close to me. It feels so good to have friends, even though I barely know them.

Jill leads me into the cafeteria and my mouth drops open just a little bit. The lunchroom is huge! And it's packed full of students. Most of which were staring at me, the new girl. I ignore their looks and whispers as best as I can, but I'm definitely uncomfortable. Jill makes her way over to a table with Trixie and a guy I don't know.

"Hey, Spence!" Trixie says.

"Hey Trix," I say, mimicking her.

The boy snorts and Trixie glares at him. "Trix, I like it. Suits her," he says smirking at her. He turns to me and his smirk becomes a smile. "Hi, I'm Ethan, Trixie's boyfriend."

"Hi, I'm Spencer," I say, returning his grin. Ethan has short, dark brown hair, which he wears spiked up. He has light blue eyes and he's pretty cute, though he's not my type.

"Nice to meet you, Spencer."

"You too, Ethan," I reply, sitting down across from Trixie. Jill sits down next to me, across from Ethan, and he greets her. They then launch into detailed stories of how their days have been so far and I zone out. A couple of minutes later another guy comes over and sits down next to Jill. He has shaggy, white blond hair and green eyes, and introduces himself as Wes, Jill's boyfriend. "Great, I'm the fifth wheel," I think to myself.

I munch on my cheddar and apple sandwich and look around the room at all of the other people. I notice some guys are staring at me, particularly a group of seven boys who are sitting near one of the jock tables. I notice one of them is Alex and frown. Why are they staring at me? Did Alex say something to them about what happened yesterday?

There seems to be a break in the conversation at our table, so I decide to jump at the chance. "Hey, do you guys know who those guys over there are?" I ask, pointing in the direction of Alex and his friends.

"You mean the ones staring at you?" Jill asks. I nod. "Well, one of them is my idiot twin brother, and the rest are his friends."

"Which one is your brother?" I ask, curious to know.

"Alex. He's the one with the blond hair and goofy grin."

"What?" I say, shocked that Jill is Alex's twin. That's why she looked familiar. I could actually see the resemblance. Same hair, same nose, though their eyes were different.

"I said-"

"No, I heard what you said. I was just suprised that you were siblings."

"Oh, no! Please don't tell me you met him first," she wails, panic flashing across her face.

"Um...," I say, not wanting to lie or disappoint her.

"I can assure you not all of us Woodcombs are as weird as him."

"That's not exactly true," Wes mutters and Jill gives him the stinkeye.

"So, how'd you meet Alex?" Trixie says, trying to change the subject.

"I kind of ran into him on a run." Everyone looks at me, slightly confused, so I elaborate. "Um... you and I are next door neighbors," I say, turning to Jill. She looks at me with her mouth agape.

"That's so cool!" she squeals, hugging me. I stiffen at first from the touch, but force myself to relax.

"So, any idea as to why they're staring at me?" I ask once she releases me from her embrace.

"No idea," Ethan says. "They're new here, so no one really knows anything about them except for Jill."

"They're new?" I ask, suprised. I just assumed that they've been going to the same school for a long time.

"They all went to a private school until this year. They rarely talk to me, so I don't know that much about them," Jill says. "Except for, of course, my brother," she adds.

"You could always ask them," Wes says. A plan forms in my head, and I start to grin.

"Oh no, I know that look," Trixie exclaims! "What are you planning?"

"Watch this," I say, standing up before I can change my mind.

I make my way out of the lunch room, feeling both my friends' eyes and Alex's friends' eyes on me. I wait outside the door until the perfect person walks by. The guy is one of the football players and is big and broad shouldered, the perfect person to hide behind. My friends can see me, and shoot me questioning looks, but anyone seated at Alex's table would have a very difficult time trying to spot me behind the guy. Thankfully, I am lucky, and the guy makes his way over to the jock table next to Alex's. As he passes Alex's table, I take a deep breath for courage, and slide into one of the several empty seats. All conversation stops as everyone turns to look at me.

"So," I say, a wry grin plastered to my face. "You guys want to tell me why you were staring at me?"

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Sorry, I know the end of this chapter is kind of cliffy, but it had to be done. Don't worry, though, I'll get right to work on the next one.

I have to say that I've been waiting to write this chapter since I started this story, and I really hope you guys enjoyed it. What do you think of Wes and Ethan? I hadn't planned on having them in here, but they weaseled their way in. How do you think the guys will react to Spencer's abrupt question? Let me know in the comments, and if you like this chapter as much as I do, then don't forget to vote!

Well, I'm off to write the next chapter!