Something Beautiful

Ten: Privileges |Caleb|

"Beauty has a lot to do with character." - Kevyn Aucoin

Okay so back up. What? That girl from the diner... what was her name? Ashley? El-Ellen? Elena? Elena! Yeah that's what she said when I walked out... So she goes to my school? As of right now, as I walk down the crowded hallway of my new high school, I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I've only been going here for two weeks now and I still feel like "the new kid" with the way everyone is staring. I mean I'm not some alien, jeesh people keep your eyes to yourselves. This whole small town high school scene is just not my thing. They're all so clique-y and tight. They think of me as the "cool city kid" when in reality I'm just an average city kid.

Everyone stares at me like I'm from another planet-which I'm half convinced I am- and it just makes everything so awkward when it really doesn't have to be. Back in the city, I moved here from New York, the school was so big that no one even noticed when someone new came to school. Everyone was a stranger if you weren't friends, so a lot of times you would run into people who'd actually gone to school with you forever but you just never knew them. Not here though. Here everyone knows each other. All their grandparents are cousins or something, their parents all throw parties for the holidays, stuff like that. Stuff that makes my city skin crawl.

Even the girls here are different! They all look the same. They all wear skinny jeans with brown boots of different sorts. They all wear boyfriend tee shirts or flannels. I mean I think they look cute or something, but it's honestly not my type. I like girls with personality. That can work anything they wear even if it's candy-striper uniform... Yeah I'm talking about El-Elena? I mean she was rocking that diner uniform and when I bumped into her today her style was so different from the other girls. She didn't have the furry boots or loose tops. Her hair wasn't even straightened. She looked so real it was almost refreshing...it was refreshing.

See back in New York, there were girls of all different varieties. Emo chicks, who I didn't mind in some cases. Preppy girls, the real kind who didn't get made fun of because they weren't fake, they were just preppy. There were the good girls who every one of the guys liked but would never admit or mess with. Then there were the skanks who we all knew and tried to avoid, well us guys with self respect that is. Of course there were all those in betweens. Artistic girls, fashionistas, sporty girls, musical babes, all of them. Here though... they're all the same.

They all laugh too loud, dress the same, act the same. They all go after the same guys... Meaning me and then jocks and bad boys and players. Seriously, I swear the minute I show up here I'm the center of all their worlds. They all think they have a shot with me or something. It's beyond annoying, almost impossible to be nice to all of them. Especially the younger girls. Seriously? You think with all these senior girls taking shots with me, I'm gonna go for you? Seriously it's all so weird around here.

Okay I sound like one big, fat ass pessimist right now. Back up. There are, of course, some positives to this whole move thing. For my mom's got a job. That's always a good thing, right? The town's, well in her opinion, "a good place to raise a family", which is good considering I've got a new baby brother/sister on the way.

Matt just can't believe I ended up in some boondock town like this place, actually I am too, but it's only five more months! Then I'm out. February, March, April. May, June... FREEDOM! It's hard to believe I'm almost done with this whole school thing. Once it's done it's party school here I come.

Wanna know one other plus of this whole small town gig? Open campus lunch. Oh yeah, that's gotta be the best. For the non-senior's, it's the envy of the school. Basically, as long as you keep a decent GPA (which for some reason means, at least according to the stupid school board, that you're an overall good person), you can eat lunch off campus wherever you want to...in town. That's the downside in my opinion, but none of the other seniors seem to mind. Most kids hit up that diner, the one where I met Elena. I don't though, usually I end up just driving around town enjoying the freedom.