Your Guardian Angel

The top was down and the wind was blowing. I was on my way home from swimming at the local swim club. Even though we had a pool in our backyard, Mom thought it would be good for me to get out a little and maybe even meet some new people. After all, it was ninety degrees out, definitely a change from the seventy-degree weather like it usually is in the fall in New York. It’s not everywhere you go that you can go swimming in the fall. Yes, that’s right; I already moved to Florida.

As I had previously predicted, this place could not have been more different than what I was used to. For one thing, I definitely was not used to having relatives living five minutes away from me. We’ve only been here a week and I’m already sick of my aunt. She comes here every day! Not only that, but our house here is so much different than our old house in New York. It feels so much smaller and quieter because my siblings no longer live with me; they just like to come to “visit” every once in awhile. But, hey, at least my room is bigger and I have a pool in my backyard!

The people are so much different here also. I feel so awkward with my New York accent because it makes me stick out from all the people who have Florida accents. Whenever someone hears me speak, they always say, “Oh, you must be from the North.” Is my accent really that bad? So far I haven’t really found anyone I have anything in common with, but hopefully that will change. I start school today and I’m sure that will be some jolly good fun. I just can’t wait for all those weird looks of people thinking, “Who’s the new girl?” you know? It’s like I’m really asking for that kind of attention. Then, of course, once I find someone, I might actually become friends with, they will start asking all these questions and I will have to tell them my whole life story and then I will have to hear theirs in return. It’s just going to be one big nightmare that I wish I could wake up from.

BEEEEEEEEEP!!! BEEEEEEEP!!!!

There it was, the alarm that was supposed to wake me up from the nightmare, but it never truly woke me up. I slowly got out of the warm comfort of my bed and started to get ready for the eventful yet unexciting day ahead of me. Half an hour later, I was ready, but not quite raring to go.

When I got there, I immediately went to the main office to receive my new class schedule and then I went off to find my locker. As I walked through the hallway, I felt like all eyes were on me. I swear I must have been the only one in the whole school wearing capris in 75-degree weather; everyone else was dressed like it was winter. Go figure.

Way to not stick out in the crowd, I thought to myself sarcastically.

I was trying to find my first class room, not really looking where I was going when-

“Ouch!”

And that’s when my books went flying everywhere.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” I said, kneeling down to pick up my books, not looking at the person I had literally run into.

“It’s ok.”

A hand appeared, helping me pick up my books. That’s when I looked up into the softest brown eyes I have ever seen. I could not help but stare.

“T-t-t-thanks,” I stammered. I found that a tall boy with shaggy, dark brown hair and beautiful brown eyes was staring right back at me.

“No problem. You must be the new girl.”

“Is it really that obvious?”

He laughed. “It’s just that you didn’t seem like you knew where you were going and everybody knows everybody else here and I didn’t know you. Plus, if you were a Floridian, you probably would be wearing jeans or warm pants.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“Oh yeah, I’m Eric, by the way,” he said, extending his hand out to me. I shook it.

“I’m Riley.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Riley.”

“You too.”

RINNGGGG!

Darn! Of course it had to ring at the exact time I didn’t want it to!

“Well, I guess we had better get to class,” I said.

“See you later then,” he said, giving me a little wave and then walking away.

“Wait!” I shouted.

He turned around. “Yes?”

“By any chance, do you think you could tell me where my next class is?”

“But of course.” He walked back over and took my schedule. “Follow me, kid.”

Compared to my old school, this was about the size of a shoebox. It only had about 3 hallways and it was all on one floor, which made it that much easier to find my way around on the first day. The lockers were about ten times bigger than my old ones too, so that wasn’t too bad at all. My very first class was English, my favorite subject.

“Well, here we are,” he said, holding his hand out toward the door to the classroom.

“Thank you so much. I really appreciate it,” I said.

“No problem,” he responded.

“So I guess I’ll see you later then?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

“Bye,” I said and I walked into the classroom. When I came in, the teacher was writing something on the board, but she turned when she heard me come in.

“You must be the new student, Riley, right?”

“That’s me.”

“Hi, I’m Ms. Cunningham, your English teacher, obviously. I’ll have to get you caught up with the class, but for now, just go sit down over there by Eric. Eric, raise your hand so that Riley knows who you are.”

Eric? He’s in this class? I wondered. I turned around and, sure enough, there he was. I made my way toward him. “You liar!” I whispered.

“Me? A Liar? Nah!”

“You never told me that you were in this class!”

“You never asked.”

“Ugh I hate it when people do that!”

“Riley and Eric, I know you two are just meeting each other, but please be quiet. You can talk to each other after class.”

“Sorry, Ms. Cunningham. It won’t happen again,” said Eric, winking at me.

The class went by relatively quickly. I realized that I was actually ahead of my English class, if you can believe that. They were reading The Guardian, which is a book that I read, ironically, right after Josh died. Later, I told Ms. Cunningham that I had already read and learned about every aspect of the book; she thought it would be silly to re-teach the book to me, so she just let me do busy work while the rest of the class worked on assignments related to the book. I was so glad she did that because that book brought back bad memories for me that I didn’t feel like reliving, especially now.

I felt someone poke me in the side and I flinched slightly.

“Ouch!” I whispered.

Eric just laughed and passed me a note very discreetly.

Riley,

Meet me in the cafeteria fifth period. I sit at the table all the way in the back and to the right. I really want to get to know you better and there are some people I would like you to meet.

Eric

I turned the paper over and started to write-

Eric,

I’ll be there, but, next time, try to find another way to get my attention besides poking me. My side still hurts from it. Thanks for being so nice to me.

Riley

I made sure the teacher wasn’t looking and then passed it to him.

Eric and I hit it off right from the get go. We had so much in common; he liked just about all the same things I did. We never ran out of things to talk about. I felt so comfortable around him, like I could be myself and that would be enough; I knew he understood me for me and who I was. I was pretty lucky to make such a good friend on the very first day in a new school. I knew that Eric and I would have a beautiful friendship, but it wasn’t until later that I knew it could possibly be more.