Simply Ordinary

Chapter 4

A loud and sharp and seriously annoying beeping wakes me up. Ugh! I cover my ears and sit up. I turn to look at my alarm.

"Why the hell is this going off?" I mumble.

I see that the time on the clock reads 6 AM. Then it all hits me. Its my first day of high school!! I jump out of bed and run over to my dad's room. I jump on him until he grumbles and gets out of bed. I follow him to the kitchen, rushing his shuffling feet along the way. He starts cooking breakfast as I check my backpack and outfit that I had prepared the night before. I go to the bathroom and as I'm washing my hands, my dad calls me to the kitchen for breakfast.

I run down the hall, nearly slipping on the tile. I sit down at the dining room table and eat all of my omelet, along with the toast and orange juice, in the matter of 5 minutes.

"You shouldn't eat that fast. You're gonna give yourself a stomach ache."

I ignore my father, too caught up in the rush of the morning. I give my father the empty glass and plate and rush to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I throw on my outfit, apply some mascara and light lip gloss, throw my bag over my shoulder, and run out of my room to find my dad. When he sees me, he gives me a curious look.

"You do realize its 6:30 and school doesn't start until 7:20, right?" He asks me.

"Well... its always better sooner than later, right?"

"Do you want to talk a little bit? Any doubts or worries that you have about anything?"

"Nope. But it would be a good idea to look over my map and my schedule, so I don't look like an absolute dork." I take out my copy of the campus map, that my dad had gotten when we visited the main office yesterday and when I saw the blue-eyed boy, and my schedule. I map out the route that I need to take with multi-colored highlighters and I label all my classes. I guess I got carried away because I am snapped out of it when my dad shakes my shoulder.

"Its 6:45 now. We should get going. The school is like 20 minutes away with all the morning traffic."

I jump out of my seat and I practically skip out of the door with my bag slung around my shoulder. My dad follows behind me and we both get into the car. The sun hasn't even risen yet, but I can sense how bright this day is going to be. As we pull out of the driveway, one of my favorite songs play and I raise the volume. There are no words to describe how pumped I am for this. I hope I see the blue-eyed boy. It would be nice to meet him... There was just something about him. My thoughts of the mysterious guy invade my thoughts for the whole ride. When I see the school come into view through the windshield, I feel like opening the car door before the car is even stopped. My dad pulls through the drive through and unlocks the doors for me to get out. I look at him and take a deep breath. I see what looks to be tears forming in his eyes.

"This is it, Caroline. What you've been waiting for."

"Awww Dad. I will be fine. Love you!" I give him a kiss on the cheek as I leave the car. I turn around and look at the intimidating campus. I take my first step towards my new beginning. As I walk towards the front doors that lead into the main courtyard, I analyze everyone hanging around in the front of the school. Everyone is hugging and giggling and talking about their summer lives. I take a look at my watch and see that its already 7 and I still need to find my locker and my first class on this giant campus. I look back at my schedule that the office gave me and read the locker number that they had assigned me. Locker #2025. I silently thank the office lady that circled the general area that my locker is located. I rush over to where I think it is.

I feel incredibly confident when I find my locker. I open it carefully and place my lunch bag inside. I close and lock it and when I turn around, someone runs into me head on. All of their stuff goes flying and I rush to help her pick everything up while mumbling my apologies.

"I am so sorry! Really, really sorry!" The girl says in a very peppy and excited voice. She has long, wavy, strawberry blonde hair and one of the most beautiful facial features that I could only dream of having.

"Its alright. I shouldn't have abruptly turned into the hallway like that." I say, my voice almost a whisper.

"Oh! Lemme guess... You're a 9th grader, huh?" She questions.

"Yes."

"Well, congratulations, Freshman*! You just made yourself a sophomore* friend! I'm Grace Gallivan, and you are?" She remarks.

"I'm Caroline, Caroline Josephs."

"Well no need to mumble! Trust me, you need to be able to speak up in high school, Caroline. Can I call you Care?" Grace asks.

"Well, sure." I say a little louder, enjoying the fact that I'm making a new friend.

As Grace begins to form another question with her mouth, a guy comes up behind her. He grabs her by the waist, turns her around, and gives her a passionate kiss right on the mouth. I was kind of taken aback by the grand PDA** but I guess it was what I pictured high school being like, couples making out in the middle of the hallway. After a couple back and forth of "How was your summer?" the boy gives a wave and continues down the hall, disappearing into the crowd.

"That's Jeremy Cruz. He's a Junior* and he's my boyfriend, if you hadn't noticed." She says with a flirty smile. "Well who do you have for first period***?"

I checked my schedule and responded,"I have Mr. Gonzalez for Geometry."

"Oh wow! Guess what? I have that, too! Lets go together and we should hurry. I heard Gonzalez is strict on tardy detentions." She gives me a serious look. I take a look at my watch and realize that we only have one minute until the bell rings. Well, this year is going to be fun.

*In American high schools, 9th graders are called Freshmen, 10th graders are called Sophomores, 11th graders are called Juniors, and 12th graders are called Seniors.

**PDA is an acronym for Public Display of Affection

***In some American high schools, the school day is split into periods, periods 1-6 and each period is a different subject. (Ex. math, English, history, science, Spanish, and French) Each period is usually about an hour long.

Wow, it has been a very long time since I have updated and I am truly sorry for that. It's my first year of high school and it has been really crazy. I really appreciate the reads and I love to see people comment and give me feedback :) 

I dedicated this chapter to my life-long best friend Eva Forte (ashstralia) who has always been there for me. This book wouldn't exist if it weren't for you and your motivation. You guys should really check out her stories. She's an amazing writer! Love you <3

Happy 2016 everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, there are more coming :) 

~Amanda