Taylor looked at the sea of faces as the car pulled up infront of the school. He looked across the seat at Zac. His face showed the nervousness that Taylor felt.
"Ok boys... this is it. Claudia can take you to the front office to sign in and all that..." Angela said. Claudia was in the front seat, her head was down, and she looked as though she was trying to hide, so she couldn't be seen though the window. It must be hard for her... Taylor thought. He had seen pictures of Claudia before the scars... she had been beautiful. She still was.. but Taylor guessed not a lot of people saw or thought that. The three of them got out of the car and Claudia mumbled
"This way.." and walked towards the large building infront of them. Taylor felt uneasy at the lingering stares he was reciving from almost the whole population of girls in the front of the school. Then again... Taylor thought I could use this to my advantage. He smiled at a group of girls on the stairs. They entered the building and followed Claudia up what seemed like a hundred flights of stairs before walking into a office.
"Claudia... how can I help you?" The lady behind the desk asked. Claudia smiled at her.
"Hi Julie... um, these are the new students.. Taylor and Zac Hanson." She said, motioning to them as she said his name. Julie smiled at the boys.
"Well, we certainly have a hansome pair don't we... welcome boys." . Taylor and Zac smiled at her. "Ok, home room is about to start, so why don't you two come back here after school and I'll have you fill out some forms. Now, you've already chosen subjects haven't you?". They nodded and Julie printed out a time table for each Taylor and Zac. "Claudia, I'll have someone from the boys home rooms to come up and show them around, you can go to class now."
"Ok, thanks." She truned to Taylor and Zac."If you want, we can meet at lunchtime...in the cafeteria..I mean, you don't have to if you've already made some friends by then, I just thougt-" Claudia was cut off by Taylor.
"That would be great...I'm sure we'll be happy to see a familiar face by then." He smiled.
"Speak for yourself" Zac mumbled.
"Fine..I will..Claudia, I would be happy to have lunch with you. Zac, you do what you want...I really don't care." Taylor said, very disappointed in his brother. Claudia smiled at Taylor, chosing to ignore Zac.
"Great.. I'll meet you at the cafeteria. Bye." She said and walked out of the office.
"What is your problem?" Taylor hissed at Zac. Zac shrugged and didn't answer. Juile was talking on the phone and when she finished, she turned and spoke to them.
"There is someone coming from each of your homerooms, they will also show you around the school. You van take a seat over there to wait if you like." She said, pointing towards some chairs. The boys sat down and waited in silence. A pretty blonde walked into the office and up to the front desk. She spoke to Julie and then faced the boys.
"Which one of you is Zac?" She asked, flashing a bright smile at the both of them. Zac smiled back and stood up.
"That would be me. You are?" He asked.
"I'm Jodie" She smiled. Both of them looked happy to be in eachothers company. Zac looked down at Taylor.
"I'll see you later." And the two of them walked out of the office. After a further five minutes, a dark haired girl walked in and up to Taylor.
"I'm guessing you're the new guy" She said, unsmiling. She would be pretty, if she had a smile like Jodie, Taylor thought.
"That I am... Hi.. I'm Taylor." He said, standing up and held out his hand for her to shake. She looked at it and then rolled her eyes.
"I'm Belinda. Follow me." She said, turned around and was half way down the hall before Taylor even got himself together. He picked up his school bag and ran to catch up to her.
"Have you been here since the start?" He asked her, trying to stike up a conversation. She nodded.
"Yes, and I can't wait to get the hell out of here. Why you chose to come to this hell hole is beyond me." Belinda told him, they were walking up a stair case. Taylor said nothing more and tried to prepare himself for what he knew was going to happen next. They entered a class room and the noise level dropped about 10 decibels. All eyes were on Taylor and all the different conversations that were happening converted to one subject. Taylor. The teacher noticed the change and looked up from her desk.
"Ah.. Belinda, who do we have here?" She smiled. She was a young one. Late 20's early 30's Taylor thought.
"This is Taylor. Taylor.. this is everyone." She said, sitting down at a near by desk, leaving Taylor standing in the doorway looking like an idiot. Some people started to lose intrest in him and returned to their previous conversations.
"Hi Taylor.. .I'm Ms. Hudson. Take a seat, theres one up the back there, next to Alison. Ali, just stand up so Taylor knows who you are." Ms. Hudson said. Alison stood up, she was fairly tall, with a silm figure, she wasn't strikingly beautiful, or very pretty for that matter, but there was just something about her that Taylor liked. He had yet to discover exactly what that was. He made his way down the isle, and sat down next to Alison.
"Hi"
"Hi.. it's tough being the new kid.. believe me .. I know.. I've only been here a couple of months myself.." Alison said. Great... she was up for a conversation. Taylor smiled.
"Yeah.. I can't believe how big this school is... I used to be homeschooled, so this is my first time at a normal school.." He rambled. Once he realised what he was doing, he stoped.
"Really? wow... whats it like to be home schooled?" Alison asked.
"It's different... that I can tell you... but I guess I really can't compare the two yet... I'll give it sometime and get back to you on that one." He said, smiling.
"Oh.. ok.. hey, what classes are you taking?"
"Um... to tell you the truth, I really don't know.."
"Well, did they give you a sheet with them on it when you chose them?" Alison asked him. Taylor thought for a moment, and then reached into his bag. He pulled out a white sheet of paper and handed it to her. She glanced over it and smiled.
"You're in most of my classes... Physics, Photography, Music and Math" She told him. "The only two we don't have together is P.E and Computing."
"Great... you can show me where everything is then." Taylor said. Alison nodded as the sound of the bell blasted though their ears. The class stood up and Taylor followed Alison to the first class of the day, which was Photography. They figured out where Taylors locker was and even bumped into Zac, who was looking pretty happy for 9am on a Monday morning. "What are you so chirpy about?" Taylor asked his younger brother.
"Man, this is great! Why didn't we ever come to a public school before? there's so many to chose from!" He exclaimed. He was talking about the female population of the school and Taylor rolled his eyes.
"Well, slow down.. you'll give yourself a heart attack!"
"Yeah?? .. well, I'll die happy won't I?" Zac said, a grin from ear to ear. Alison cleared her throat as a signal for Taylor.
"Oh.. Alison, this is my little brother, Zac... he's over whelmed at the moment. He's never seen so many girls in one place at one time.." Taylor explained. Alison laughed.
"Oh.. well, nice to meet you Zac.. I'm Alison."
"Like wise..." Zac said, smiling. Taylor became slightly annoyed with his brother. He was all smiles with girls who looked "normal" but when it came to Claudia, he didn't have the time of day for her. I'm gonna have to have a little chat with him...Taylor thought. The three of them separated, Zac going to where ever Jodie was leading him, and Taylor and Alison proceeded to Taylors locker. Once they nutted out the combination for the lock, Taylor stuffed his school bag inside and took out a folder and pencil case.
"Ok.. ready?" Alison asked. Taylor nodded.
"I guess... is it going to be another episode like home room?" He asked, a weary expression on his face.
"Probably.. but I wouldn't worry to much about it." She assured him. Lunch came before Taylor knew it and he stood at the cafeteria doors, looking for Claudia.
"Looking for me?" A voice asked behind him. Taylor turned around and smiled when he saw who it was.
"Hey Claudia.. geez this place is big."
"Yeah.. it can seem that way sometimes... but once you get used to it, you'll be right. Did you bring money?" She asked. Taylor held up a brown paper bag. Claudia laughed. "I should have known... you look like the packed lunch type..."
"Shh! Don't say that! people will hear you..." Taylor said, looking around, pretending to be worried. Claudia rolled her eyes.
"Sure sure.... since when do you care what people think? I mean... if you did, you wouldn't be standing here talking to me... don't you know that it could ruin what chance you have to get yourself a decent reputation?"
"Hey! Now don't go talking like that... I don't care about that.. if I want to talk to you then I will.. I'll even have lunch with you... which by the way I'm starving.. " Taylor hinted.
"Ok .. ok.. I get the point. This way." Clauida said and started to weave her way through the tables and bodies. Taylor got plenty of interested looks and a few lingering stares from some of the girls. He didn't mind that much. He liked the attention and that conversations would come to a hault when he walked past a table of giggling girls. He also caught a few looks of disbelief. He ignored those. Taylor guessed they were because he was walking behind Claudia or "The Freak" as he had heard someone call her. Claudia came to a stop at a table with about six or so other people sitting at it.
"Hey Claud.... Taylor! I didn't know you knew Claudia!" Alison greeted them.
"Likewise... I'm staying with her until my family finds a house." Taylor explained, sitting down next to Alison. Claudia sat across from him.
"Groovy... well.. this is Trent, Cathy, Joel, Cammie, Jeremy and Dave." Alison introduced the group to him. "Guys, this is the guy I was telling you about, Taylor." There was a chorus of "HI's" all round and the group settled down to eat. Taylor was glad to see Claudia had a few friends at the school. "Will your charming younger brother be joining us?" Alison asked Taylor. He almost laughed. The thought of Zac, sitting with these people, Zac just wouldn't hear of it. Taylor senced that the group were sort of out casts. They sat at a table at the back of the cafeteria, and they each had their own look. Trent, Jeremy and Cammie were all Gothic for starters. This didn't bother Taylor in the least.. if anything, he was intrigued by them. Cammie had long ebony hair. It was almost to her waist. She had dark eye makeup on and her lipstick was a dark purple. There was something about her that Taylor liked. He wondered if she was seeing anyone. The rest of her face was pale. Her fingers were covered with rings of all shapes and sizes. Around her neck was a black velvet choker. Trent and Jeremy also wore eye makeup and black nail polish on their nails. Joel and Dave were identical twins. They were fairly short, with short brown hair and brown eyes. They were dressed alike, which freaked Taylor out just a tad. But whatever they wanted.... he didn't have a say about it. Cathy was average hight. She was a plain jane. She had straight brown hair, which she wore down. She also had braces, but only on her top teeth. She wasn;t ugly... but she wasn't the type of girl Taylor went for. His thoughts turned to Tanya.. his last girlfriend. She had been the bubbly cheerleader type. Taylor had been one of the more popular guys in the school.
"Where did you come from Taylor?" Cammie asked, with a thick Australian accent.
"LA..." Taylor answered. "I have some friends in Australia... where did you live?"
"It's that obvious hey? I thought the accent was fading a little... but I lived in Adelaide.. where do your friends live?"
"Sydney.. "
"What made your family want to come to Tulsa.. I mean, you were in LA!" Trent asked. Taylor smiled.
"Well, I was born here and so was my older brother.. I guess Mom and Dad just wanted a change.." He explained. The conversation from then was mixed. There were more questions asked about Taylor and there was talk of a party Jeremy was having that weekend. Taylor, of course, was invited. He noticed that Claudia and Alison kept the conversation to a minimum...between themselves. Every now and then, one of them would glance over at him, he was always looking over, so he would catch the glance, they would smile and return to the conversation. But Taylor soon forgot about it when the bell rang, signaling that lunch was over.
