Chapter Text
Daniela looked out at the tall landscape in front of her and smiled. Breathing in, she walked confidently towards the entrance of her new school. She was always moving schools. Normally, she despised it, but this year was different. It was her senior year of high school. After this year, she'd be 18 and could comfortably switch to college. At least that's what her dad had promised. No spontaneous moves this year, he'd told her. She wasn't sure how he would manage that, seeing as he was still in the army but...
As soon as Daniela burst through the doors, all eyes were on her. She strutted down the hallway, headed for the principals office. Then she turned a corner and stopped, her confidence slipping slightly. This school is crazy big! She thought, How am I going to find the principals office in this maze?
Her best bet was to ask a student in the hallway. Stopping by some lockers, she approached the friendliest looking people she could find: Two girls giggling and cracking jokes with each other. Daniela smiled, hoping she could find a friendship like that here.
"Um, excuse me?" Daniela asked shyly, and the girls turned their attention to her. They each gave her a nod, signaling her to go on.
"Do you two know.. where the principals office is?" She fidgeted with the hem of her skirt. "So I could get my schedule and stuff?"
Daniela watched as the girl on the left perked up, eyes shining with understanding. "Are you new?" She said, with a slight accent that Daniela couldn't recognize. It seemed to be fading, as if the girl was layering it with an American accent instead.
The girl on the right rolled her eyes, swatting the other girl on the shoulder playfully, "Obviously she is, Yoonchae," and Daniela found her answer. It was obvious Yoonchae was Korean, and had probably learned English from native speakers.
The girl on the right spoke again. "I'm Lara, and, sure, we'll take you to the office." Daniela studied her silently. Lara was really pretty, and at once she figured out that she was Indian due to the bindi sitting between her eyebrows.
Thanks to Lara and Yoonchae, Daniela got her schedule, school calender, campus map, welcome packet and all the important forms her parent or guardian needed to sign. They even walked her to her first class, which was Spanish. Since they had other classes, though, they told Daniela to sit with them at lunch so she could meet the rest of their group. After a quiet pep talk, Daniela made her way inside the classroom, the teacher greeting her warmly.
"Everyone, say hello to our new student, in Spanish." The class replied with chaos, some actually following instructions, others yelling "Hi" anyways, and a few using the chance to whisper something to their seat mate. The teacher, who Daniela learned was Ms. Sharpe by the words on the whiteboard, quieted the class down by slamming her desk several times with a ruler.
"Please, come in further and introduce yourself." Oh, great, Daniela thought. The thing she dreaded the most; public speaking. She stepped to the front and cleared her throat.
"Uh, I'm Daniela Avanzini, I'm new here, of course," She let out a nervous chuckle, "I'm Cuban-Venezuelan due to my parents, and I was born in Atlanta."
Ms. Sharpe gave her a tight smile and pointed her ruler to an empty seat near the back, "You may sit right there, next to Sophia Laforteza."
A girl in the middle with black hair and pink at the ends gasped, then covered her mouth like she didn't mean to do it out loud. The rest of the class turned their attention to Daniela as she made her way down the aisle of desks, and sat beside her new seat mate. Sophia tensed and scooted her chair away slightly, but her head stayed down, hair covering her face. Daniela couldn’t see her eyes—only the pale curve of her cheek. She huffed a sigh, knowing this was going to be a long, long year.
When Daniela exited her last class before lunch, she was ambushed by the friendly pair once again. They insisted on walking her to lunch and after much protest from Daniela, they succeeded. As they approached the lunch table, Daniela was introduced to two more friends; Karlee, Yoonchae's friend and Manon, Lara's friend. Lara informed her that two more girls—Megan and Emily—would be sitting with them soon. "But they're late, as always," Karlee added with a chuckle, while Manon played with Daniela's curls. It felt oddly comforting in a way she couldn't recognize, but welcomed all the same.
"Did that hurt?" Daniela asked, turning around to point at the piercing on Manon's nose. She'd been thinking of getting one herself.
"This?" Manon chuckled softly, letting go of Daniela's hair and giving her a lazy smile. "No, honestly, I've felt worse."
Lara raised a finger at Manon, eyes wide, "It's true!" She paused to swallow her food, "She has crazy piercings, it's wild."
Manon rolled her eyes, amused. "Are you planning on getting one, Dani?"
Before Daniela could answer, two slim figures emerged from behind Lara and took their seats, setting their trays down on the table. One tall, one short. Daniela recognized the taller at once as the girl who'd gasped when her seat was announced. The shorter girl had long, blonde hair with red highlights and a small face like a mouse.
"Hi, I'm Megan," She then pointed to the shorter girl next to her, who gave Daniela a tiny wave. "This is Emily,"
Daniela waved back and pointed at Megan, "You're in my Spanish class," She stated it almost like it was a question.
"Yeah." Megan smiled, nodding profusely, "Did she tell you guys?"
Lara, who was on her phone, snorted, "That you're in the same class as her? No, Meg, you're not a celeb."
Megan rolled her eyes as the table erupted in snickers, "No! That she's sitting next to Sophia Laforteza."
She practically whispered the last two words, yet the table fell in silence immediately.
"What?" Yoonchae nearly spit out her drink. "Are you serious?"
Megan nodded vigorously, Lara blinked at her food like it was a confusing math problem, Manon held her hand over her mouth like someone just told her that her cat died, Emily continued eating with a look that said 'I'm not apart of this', Karlee was carefully chewing as if she was trying very hard to remember something, Yoonchae looked like she was about to flip the table, and on top of it all Daniela was perplexed.
"I don't get it.. What's wrong with Sophia Laforteza?"
Everyone looked at her like she was crazy.