High School Daze
By HSintheDH
Chapter One:
"I don't like this, Arthur," Paula Carlin huffed, a tone of worry evident in her voice. The tall blonde set down a box on the kitchen counter and, putting her hands on her hips in a way she knew demanded attention, she frowned in the general direction of her husband.
"What exactly don't you like about it, Paula?" Arthur asked, glancing at his worrisome wife over the stack of boxes present on the kitchen's center island.
The Carlin house was a mess; boxes were scattered throughout and the kitchen walls, which had been covered in religious memorabilia and family portraits in the old house, stood naked and bare. Only four days ago, the family of five had braved the huge move from Ohio to California.
"Spencer isn't ready for a public school; I think we need to find another Catholic one for her."
Arthur heaved a sigh and granted his attention back to the stack of boxes, "Paula, we've already been over this. You can't protect Spencer forever, we both know it isn't fair to let her brothers go to a public school and make her go to a private one…"
"Arthur, fairness is not important here," Paula argued, following her husband's example and continuing the unpacking process, "It's the big picture I'm worried about. Are you sure this is in her best interests?"
He smiled supportively, glancing again over the boxes, "We've got to give her a chance to decide what's best for her. Look, if it doesn't work out, we can transfer her to a private school. I promise. Now stop worrying, hun."
His wife agreed hesitantly, "Alright, but if it's all the same to you, I'd rather continue to worry. She's the only little girl I've got."
In the meantime, the subject of that particular conversation stared at her own reflection in the bathroom mirror, eyes fixed on her hair. She groaned audibly, noting the way it curled a little wilder than usual.
"Of course," she mumbled to herself, "my first day of public school comes around, and it's a bad hair day."
She examined the clothes she was wearing. Just a pair of denim capri's, a striped shirt and a pair of converse. This was how teenagers dressed in Ohio and she prayed to God this was how they dressed here. She wanted to maintain as much of a sense of normalcy as she could manage, even if that meant lying about who she was attracted to.
Smiling slightly, Spencer thought back to a time when her mother's words were law, and daring to break those laws had serious consequences. It was still true to some extent. She knew her mother would hate her for her secret, but that didn't mean she would change. So, as of late, she'd kept to herself to avoid this 'coming out' thing. Even avoided her brothers.
"Spence! Ready to go?" called the voice of her brother Glen from downstairs.
Dropping the topic at mind and giving herself one last look-over, she called back, "I'm coming!" and exited the bathroom.
Spencer had never seen so many teenagers in her life. Thousands swarmed the campus of King High, seemingly unaware of and completely at ease with the mass of students that roamed the halls. At her last school, there were perhaps 200 students, all female, all in classic Catholic school girl garb.
King High, however, was a co-ed school of 4000 students, and idly eyeing a female passerby whom was dressed in a skirt so short that Spencer was convinced not even the smallest pair of underwear could fit underneath, she wondered whether or not this school had a dress code at all.
Suppressing the butterflies in her stomach, she gave off a muted cheer as she spotted a campus map.
She traced the route from the "you are here" red dot to room 103, finger halting over a penis drawing which consumed the small room's frame.
"Just my luck," she mumbled.
Avoiding the wall of students that seemed to be purposely flowing in the opposite direction, Spencer set off in the direction of her first class.
Spencer took a second to examine her first period teacher, while she double checked Spencer's schedule to confirm if she was in the right place or not. She was a tall, thin woman with oval-shaped spectacles, but seemed very nice when Spencer introduced herself. With a smile, the teacher (who'd introduced herself as Madame Slater), assigned Spencer to a seat in the second row next to an empty seat that she referred to as 'Aiden's'.
Someone in the third row, just behind Spencer's seat, took an immediate interest in the new student. Her auburn eyes had followed Spencer from the moment she entered the door. Spencer noticed the girls gaze lock onto her, and honestly it made her a bit nervous.
She took her seat as soon as she got to it, eager to turn her back to the girl.
Madame Slater cleared her throat loudly, signaling to the students that class had begun.
This was going to be a long day.
Lunchtime. Spencer grumbled in disgust at the pile of sludge that the cafeteria woman had piled onto her plate, calling it 'food'. She poked the meat with her fork to make sure it was dead, and poised herself to try this thing.
"You probably don't want to try that," said a feminine voice from behind her.
Spencer turned to look at the speaker, eyes settling on the auburn eyes from earlier. She took a moment to inspect the small brunette. Short, curly hair framed the girl's face, enhancing her already large cheekbones and smile. She was dressed rebelliously, but not unattractively, in a very short skirt and shirt which showed her toned body and mocha colored skin to the best of her advantage.
Absently, Spencer wondered if her whole body was that mocha color…
"Why is that?" She questioned, mentally bashing herself for staring at the petite girl for so long.
"Well," said the girl, taking a seat next to Spencer, "there have been a lot of students disappearing lately… And I'm not saying that those lunch ladies are kidnappers or murderers but they're awfully devoted to their jobs. What do you think they do when there isn't enough meat?"
Spencer smiled crookedly at the strange girl, "Please tell me you're kidding."
"Actually, I'm Ashley Davies," grinned the girl as she offered her hand to Spencer, "and I don't kid."
"Spencer Carlin," said Spencer, accepting the girl's hand and shaking it softly, "I just moved here."
"Well, new girl, you've got a lot to learn. You're lucky you've got someone as experienced as me around," said Ashley, putting her chin up in a false display of haughtiness.
Spencer laughed. "Sure am. So what's my first lesson, Ms. Davies?"
"I'm home, everyone," said Spencer, setting her backpack by the door. She wandered into the dining room.
"Spencer, so nice of you to join us," drew out Paula as she began setting the table. "We got a call from your school, why didn't you attend 5th or 6th period?"
Spencer hurriedly began helping her mother, and hid her smile behind the dinner plates she carried, "What do you mean? I was there. The teacher must've made an attendance mistake."
Her mother nodded slowly, "Oh, I see. I suppose it would be hard to keep track of all of one's students," and when the table was set, she took a step back from it, "dinner will be ready in half-an-hour, go do some homework."
Spencer smiled and gave her mother a kiss on the forehead, making sure to thoroughly dismiss all ideas of ditching. "Okay, mom."
Spencer hadn't really gone to 5th or 6th period, but sometimes you've got to lie to live. Or that's what Ashley said, anyway. Spencer still preferred the truth.
But that Ashley girl had definitely turned out to be more than a pretty face. When she'd found out that Spencer had never been to In-N-Out before, she carried her off campus to get here there, despite the fact that Spencer had literally kicked and screamed the whole time.
'Probably looked like a kidnapping,' thought Spencer with a smile.
After lunch, the brunette had taken it upon herself to show Spencer around town. From Venice to Santa Monica, Ashley showed her why people loved L.A. so much. The city was so diverse and the ocean was so beautiful… and they were so close together that it was almost overkill.
Ashley had been an amazing tour guide, taking her to spots only the locals knew about, and giving her the real down-and-dirty facts of the city. She was silly and lovable, and, Spencer's cheeks reddened at her next thought, gorgeous.
Spencer plopped down on the oversized sofa in her box-infested living room, thoughts still on Ashley.
She definitely wanted to get to know that girl better… and she had a feeling she'd have some fun along the way.
End.
Author's Note:
This is my first fanfiction, so really, all feedback would be greatly appreciated! Next chapter will be up later this week.