My Name Is Carrie

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Drive faster!" I urge.

"Hang on, Care-Bear" Mom says, calmly.

"It's Carrie" I correct. "And no, I cannot calm down. We're almost thirty minutes late. Gosh. Gosh. Now everyone's going to stare at me, as I walk in. I'll be labelled 'The Tardy New Girl', then I'll have no friends, and I'll die all alooone" At that, Riley bursts out laughing, and tells me to calm down.

"Ugh. Why is everyone being so calm about this!"

"Carrie" he says. He struggles with his seatbelt and finally wriggles his body and turns to face me. He holds my shoulders and says, "You need to breathe. In" I inhale. "Now, out" I exhale.

"Whoa. I know we were rushing out and all, but you could've at least brushed your teeth" he says, wrinkling his perfectly structured nose.

I stare at Riley. Oh my-

"I'm kidding, Carrie" he laughs "Loosen up"

I relax. "Not cool, man. Not cool"

Riley starts talking to Mom, and I start staring at his pearly white teeth, as he smiles at something Mom said. I notice how his lips quirk up at the edges when he's trying not to laugh, and how the skin around his eyes crinkles up when he is laughing. And how he's probably got the smallest dimples I've ever seen. And how he's facing me and his lips are moving rapidly. Oh wait, he's talking to me.

"Sorry, what?"

"We're here, Carrie" he says, exhausted.

"Sorry" I mutter. Out the window, there's a big cream colored building. 'Pine Grove High School' is on the top half of it.

"Have a great day, Carrie" Mum smiles, wiping her cheek.

I roll my eyes, "Are you crying, Mom?"

"What? Of course not. Why would I be?"

"Okay, then-"

"Fine. Fine. My Care-Bear's all grown up. Going to school and all" She admits, sniffing."Have a great day, you two. Riley watch out for Carrie, okay?"

"Sure, I'll do that" He winks at me.

I roll my eyes, sling my bag over my shoulder, and open the car door. Riley comes out after me and then Mom stops the engine and comes out of the car too. She suddenly engulfs Riley and I in a humongous hug. "Okay, now. Be good"

"We will" Riley and I answer, simultaneously. We're starting to act like siblings. Super gross.

She gets back into the car, wipes her cheek dramatically, then drives off down the road, the dark blue Toyota slowly disappearing to form a dark blotch, then nothing at all.

"Well, that was embarrassing" I say, trying my best to act casual about my first-day jitters.

"She cares" Riley states, simply.

"I know, I know"

"I've done this new kid thing enough times" He starts, as we make our way to the door of the school. "We go to the front office, get our timetables, then go to class." He checks his watch. "First period may almost be over"

"Great" I deadpan, picking up my pace. I look behind to check on Riley. "Why are you strolling?"

"I don't want to get all sweaty" he states, looking at me as if I should probably already know the answer to that question.

I groan, pushing the doors open. "Now, where would the front office be?" I ask myself, looking around.

"Just a wild guess here, but it's probably where the sign that says 'front office' is" he says, pointing to the left. Why is this boy being so casual about all this?

"Thanks" I grumble. "Now, let's go"

"Okay, okay" he says, finally matching my pace. Well, almost. I could probably compete and win a fast-walking competition in the Olympics. I'm that fast. If only they existed.

We walk to the front office, and I'm not sure if I should knock or just walk right in.

"Knock once, then enter" I contemplate, "Or should I-"

Riley pushes the door open and a medium sized desk sits at the centre of the room. A woman with dark brown hair is seated behind it, tapping away at her keyboard.

"Just walk right in" Riley whispers. We sort of stand there awkwardly before Riley coughs loudly.

The woman looks up sharply from the computer. "Oh, you must be the new students."

She hands us our timetables and locker combinations, then a soft-cover book. "This is the school handbook. It contains all the rules and regulations. Stick to them, and you'll have a great time here at Pine Grove." She explains the directions to the classroom. "I would take you but there's just so much work to be done. You'll be okay?"

"Yes, we'll be fine" I answer, exiting the front office. I'm much calmer now as I've realised I've never been this late to anywhere, in my entire life. I tell Riley this as I no longer speed-walk but stroll to English class.

"So you've never been late?" he asks, incredulous. "Ever?"

"Nope, Mom's always punctual to everything. Up until, today, at least."

"We all woke up late. It's everyone's fault" Riley says, defending her.

"Fine, whatever" I smile. I don't think I can ever get over how nice Riley is. Seriously. How didn't he have many friends back in Mullbing?

The class door suddenly comes into my viewing plane, and Riley starts to pull the door handle down, to push the door open.

"Wait!" I whisper-yell, shoving his hand off the door handle.

"What?" he asks, amused.

"I can't do this" I say, inhaling, then exhaling, over and over.

"Calm down" he says, his voice suddenly soft and concerned. "It's okay"

He starts rubbing my back. Oh gosh, this isn't helping, it's making it worse Riley! Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. I arch my back, and look down trying to steady my breathing. Worse. Now, I feel like puking.

"You can do this" he says, lifting my chin. "Now, get yourself together and let's learn stuff!" He laughs.

After some time and some lousy pep talking from Riley, my inhale-exhale panic attack subsides and I smile at Riley.

"Ready?" he asks, grinning widely.

"As ready as I'll ever be"

He pushes the door open and we walk into First period English with Mr Hughes.