Status: Active
Red with Envy
Chapter One: Izzy King
"Welcome back to school, students of Dawson Prep!" The school principal, Mrs. Moore, said joyfully into the microphone from the podium on stage. Her statement was greeted by the cheers and stomping of 250 high school students hitting the ground and yelling at the top of their lungs. The first week of school here is always the best and funnest. Everyone - no matter the clique - is full of energy. Mrs. Moore smiles and raises her hand for silence as she launches into her Welcome speech. The new kids and the frosh are rapt with attention, but the others who have heard it already murmur amongst themselves.
The speech and the gathering itself take place in the auditorium/cafeteria. The tables are round and can seat up to ten people easily. Around me are Joyce Maxwell, Kendall Smith, Dillion Haus, Alexander Kaplan, twins Autumn and Nicolette Saunders, Kevin Gonzalez and Katy Marshall. Autumn and Nicolette are the co-captains of the cheerleading squad, Katy is the dance team captain, and Dillion is the quarterback and captain of the football team. Given that, you can probably figure out my social standing. I'm the flier on the squad, pitcher on the softball team and president of Junior Classical League.
Our table probably had the most school spirit out of all the others: we touch the image of the panther - our mascot - as we pass whatever it's on, spend as much time (and money) as possible on fundraisers, attend as many games as possible and cheer the loudest. "The Pantherettes are so going to regionals again this year." Autumn whispered. Everyone gave little snippets of agreement. "Let's not forget our guys going all the way again, too." Nicolette said, putting her hand on top of Dillion's own. We cheered again for the football team. "Hell yeah we will." Dillion agreed, smirking.
Dillion was easily one of the best-looking guys here: his face drew attention whenever he walked in a room. He was a dark blonde and his eyes were sea green. His hair, always too long, fell perfectly over one eye. Diliion was also tall and built, but he didn't have an ego the size of Miami. He played fair and square, and hated cheating- whether it be in class, on the field, or in a relationship. When he and Nicolette walked together, they looked like the Zeus and Hera of our school. They seemed perfect and had an air of authority about them.
Sometimes, when the novels I read portray the average teen girl as a lonely, unpopular loser, I look back at my own path in comparison. The way to popularity was fairly easy for me when compared to Steph Landry of Meg Cabot's How to be Popular. I was never lacking in friends like Alexis of Katie Alender's Bad Girls Don't Die. It was as easy as going to class. At 14 and having just escaped the clutches of a fiery death from my home country, I was shy and nervous. But Nicolette and Autumn - my first friends - saw a smart, assertive, black haired, hazel eyed exotic beauty. I practiced my English and tried hard to cover up my European accent days before I set foot in Dawson Prep. Gervais practiced with me, since he was originally from America. The native languages of Corpus Sano were Latin and Spanish, but it was a good thing aunt Dasha taught me English. Now, I sound almost like a native- except for when I get over-excited. Those times, my accent is prominent and my English is a stumbling block. Nicolette and Autumn are the only ones who know about my past. If anyone asks where I am from, I tell them "oh, just a small island off the coast of SOuthern Europe." with a dismissive wave of my hand.
As I daydream about my home, I catch Alexander watching me. I blush as his intense, dark eyes bring me back to reality. Alexander smiles and stretches subtly flexing his muscles. While Dillion was the charming cutie type, Alexander gives new meaning to a preppy-jock. He's very Aberocrombie-esque, and the school shirts are tight against his newly developed abs. Alex was tan and dark, kind of like Taylor Launter, in all his sexy goodness. "And how will Latin club do this year, Izzy?" he asks, leaning across the table. "Latin club" - or Junior Classical League - is an after club devoted to getting more kids interested in Latin and Greek studies. I made a face at him. "It's not Latin club, you duck. And we are ready from now for the certamen tourney." Joyce made a fist and bumped it against mine and said, "Awesome, Iz. 'Cause we are totally kicking Kentucky ass at nationals this time." I nodded in agreement. Joyce, Autumn and Kendall also agreed- they were the only others here in the club.
Finally, the welcome ceremony is drawing to a close. As we stand to partake in the ritual of the Panther dance, we take out our binders, and slide on our Jansports. (My binder is purpler with my schedule in the front and a poster of Emma Stone in the back) Like a ripple effect, the tables around us follow suit, and within seconds, the whole cafeteria has copied us.
The Panther dance is something done at the end of every assembly rather than a formal dismissal. You stomp, progressively getting louder, then you growl. You stomp three more times and yell, "Dawson Prepatory Panthers dominate!". It may be cheesy, but the fact that we all do it to begin the year kind of sets off the winning streaks. I remember - after explaining this - Gervais saying that it seemed more like a cult tradition than something to be done in high school. Maybe it was because he went to high school on the island, but he didn't understand that American school IS cult like.
We leave the auditorium, and everyone packs into the hallways.The speech cut into our homeroom time, so we got to choose how to spend the last five minutes until first period began. The ten of us lean against the back wall, watching the other kids do whatever it is they want to do. "Hey, we should host a party this weekend." Kevin suggested. "Didn't David Argos already have a back to school bash?" Emily asked. "Yea, but everyone got totally wasted and got massive hangovers." Autumn pointed out. Nicolette shook her head in disgust. "It's sad that those people have such lack of self-control." We all nodded in agreement. Our group wasn't fond of spending our weekends getting drunk. When we threw parties, we threw them in true, good style. Nobody took too much to drink or slipped date rape drugs into someone else's glass.
Right then, the warning bell rang, and we split up. My first class was Western Philosophy. Nicolette and Autumn were in it with me, and Alex's class, Geometry 2, was right next door, so he walked with us. We kept shoving each other playfully as we walked, occasionally and accidentally bumping into other people. "Will you two quit it?" Autumn admonished us, slightly amused. I stuck my tongue out at her, and she hip-bumbed me back into Alex. "Oh come on you big toddlers." Nicolette clucked, tugging the back of our shirts into class.
After we take our seats, Nicolette and Autumn pull their desks against mine, slamming me in the middle. "Audi, darling. I think I spy a girl in love." Nicolette joked in a British accent. "Why yes, Nikki darling. I think you are quite right." Autumn replied. They both stared at me when I blushed. "Oh hush up, you two." I whisper fiercely, taking out my notebook. We never get work on the first day, but I needed a distraction. Nicolette, however, snatches my book. "So tell me, how long has this been going on?" I looked straight at the board. "I don't know what you're talking about." Autumn snorted, ignoring two people who turned at the sound. "Let me put it in terms you'll udnerstand: you want Alexander to be Prince Kingsley." I looked back down and let my hair cover my heated cheeks. Nicolette and Autumn high-fived. "There's no use in hiding it, Isali." Nic scolded, raising my chin to look in her clear, blue eyes. "We just want to know if there's any chance of you two being an item." I pushed her hand away and glanced at the board where the teacher was going through a powerpoint about the class. "Okay. I like him. Maybe he'll ask me out, maybe he won't."
They rolled their eyes at my non chalance. But on the inside, I was nowhere near as calm. Getting dressed today was torture. I decided on a pale yellow t-shirt and some tight-fitting shorts after maybe a half hour, and spent even more time on my hair. The only reason I had it pinned up with a purple butterfly clip was because Gervais threatened to drag me out into the street and make me get to school by my own means of transportation, muttering about how the first day traffic was the worst every year. Soon, however, class was over before I knew it, and after English 3 and Chemistry was lunch.
Lunch here is almost exactly the way your dream high school would be. Here, we experience summer year round, with maybe 3 weeks of winter. Dawson Prepatory Academy is located smack dab in the middle of South Florida. Although we can eat in the part-time cafeteria, we prefer to sit on the grass outside the caf.
Lunch is divided into three sessions, and only Katy, Alex, Kevin and Emily had this lunch with me. Kevin hadn't reached us yet, but the rest of us were sprawled out on the grass. "So this girl Hayley Morris actually refused to participate in class unless we got recess after lunch." Katy told us, swirling a carrot stick in dip and taking a bite out of it. "Is she a frosh?" I asked her, taking a bite of my turkey-and-cheese sandwhich. Katy nodded. "She came from some half-assed school in the Midwest or something. Appearantly, they hadn't weaned eigth-graders off of the idea of playtime yet." Emily ran a hand through her short, brown hair. "Ah, to be so young and innocent. The frosh have it easy." Alex snorted, his head resting in the grass. "Until prank week officially begins, that is. Besides, I don't remember bneing 'innocent' at fifteen, do you, Emily?" he smirked. Emily rolled her eyes at him. I reach up to push Alex's hair out of his face. "You sure were different at 15, Kaplan." I smiled, reminiscing. Alex made a face while Katy giggled. "Yea, you looked like a scrawny, brown-haired version of Sterling Knight."
Suddenly, like Moses over the Red Sea, the crowd of kids parted. In the middle were Kevin and a girl I'd never seen before. My eyebrows raised. If life were a movie, this is the part where Popular by The Veronicas would begin playing. Katy looked over at me with wide eyes as the pair drifted toward us. Alex made a point of ignoring the approaching girl. She had the body of Megan Fox, face of Hayley Kiyoko and the cute blonde 'do of Taylor Momsen, so that must've been difficult for him. Even more so as she decided to come to me. "Hi there." she said. Up close I could see that she was blushing, nervous. "Um, hello." I replied. Why'd she come to me? "My name's Anabelle." she told me. "Is it okay if I sit with you guys?" I looked around at the other guys. "well yeah, I suppose." Just like that, our clique expanded to eleven.
The speech and the gathering itself take place in the auditorium/cafeteria. The tables are round and can seat up to ten people easily. Around me are Joyce Maxwell, Kendall Smith, Dillion Haus, Alexander Kaplan, twins Autumn and Nicolette Saunders, Kevin Gonzalez and Katy Marshall. Autumn and Nicolette are the co-captains of the cheerleading squad, Katy is the dance team captain, and Dillion is the quarterback and captain of the football team. Given that, you can probably figure out my social standing. I'm the flier on the squad, pitcher on the softball team and president of Junior Classical League.
Our table probably had the most school spirit out of all the others: we touch the image of the panther - our mascot - as we pass whatever it's on, spend as much time (and money) as possible on fundraisers, attend as many games as possible and cheer the loudest. "The Pantherettes are so going to regionals again this year." Autumn whispered. Everyone gave little snippets of agreement. "Let's not forget our guys going all the way again, too." Nicolette said, putting her hand on top of Dillion's own. We cheered again for the football team. "Hell yeah we will." Dillion agreed, smirking.
Dillion was easily one of the best-looking guys here: his face drew attention whenever he walked in a room. He was a dark blonde and his eyes were sea green. His hair, always too long, fell perfectly over one eye. Diliion was also tall and built, but he didn't have an ego the size of Miami. He played fair and square, and hated cheating- whether it be in class, on the field, or in a relationship. When he and Nicolette walked together, they looked like the Zeus and Hera of our school. They seemed perfect and had an air of authority about them.
Sometimes, when the novels I read portray the average teen girl as a lonely, unpopular loser, I look back at my own path in comparison. The way to popularity was fairly easy for me when compared to Steph Landry of Meg Cabot's How to be Popular. I was never lacking in friends like Alexis of Katie Alender's Bad Girls Don't Die. It was as easy as going to class. At 14 and having just escaped the clutches of a fiery death from my home country, I was shy and nervous. But Nicolette and Autumn - my first friends - saw a smart, assertive, black haired, hazel eyed exotic beauty. I practiced my English and tried hard to cover up my European accent days before I set foot in Dawson Prep. Gervais practiced with me, since he was originally from America. The native languages of Corpus Sano were Latin and Spanish, but it was a good thing aunt Dasha taught me English. Now, I sound almost like a native- except for when I get over-excited. Those times, my accent is prominent and my English is a stumbling block. Nicolette and Autumn are the only ones who know about my past. If anyone asks where I am from, I tell them "oh, just a small island off the coast of SOuthern Europe." with a dismissive wave of my hand.
As I daydream about my home, I catch Alexander watching me. I blush as his intense, dark eyes bring me back to reality. Alexander smiles and stretches subtly flexing his muscles. While Dillion was the charming cutie type, Alexander gives new meaning to a preppy-jock. He's very Aberocrombie-esque, and the school shirts are tight against his newly developed abs. Alex was tan and dark, kind of like Taylor Launter, in all his sexy goodness. "And how will Latin club do this year, Izzy?" he asks, leaning across the table. "Latin club" - or Junior Classical League - is an after club devoted to getting more kids interested in Latin and Greek studies. I made a face at him. "It's not Latin club, you duck. And we are ready from now for the certamen tourney." Joyce made a fist and bumped it against mine and said, "Awesome, Iz. 'Cause we are totally kicking Kentucky ass at nationals this time." I nodded in agreement. Joyce, Autumn and Kendall also agreed- they were the only others here in the club.
Finally, the welcome ceremony is drawing to a close. As we stand to partake in the ritual of the Panther dance, we take out our binders, and slide on our Jansports. (My binder is purpler with my schedule in the front and a poster of Emma Stone in the back) Like a ripple effect, the tables around us follow suit, and within seconds, the whole cafeteria has copied us.
The Panther dance is something done at the end of every assembly rather than a formal dismissal. You stomp, progressively getting louder, then you growl. You stomp three more times and yell, "Dawson Prepatory Panthers dominate!". It may be cheesy, but the fact that we all do it to begin the year kind of sets off the winning streaks. I remember - after explaining this - Gervais saying that it seemed more like a cult tradition than something to be done in high school. Maybe it was because he went to high school on the island, but he didn't understand that American school IS cult like.
We leave the auditorium, and everyone packs into the hallways.The speech cut into our homeroom time, so we got to choose how to spend the last five minutes until first period began. The ten of us lean against the back wall, watching the other kids do whatever it is they want to do. "Hey, we should host a party this weekend." Kevin suggested. "Didn't David Argos already have a back to school bash?" Emily asked. "Yea, but everyone got totally wasted and got massive hangovers." Autumn pointed out. Nicolette shook her head in disgust. "It's sad that those people have such lack of self-control." We all nodded in agreement. Our group wasn't fond of spending our weekends getting drunk. When we threw parties, we threw them in true, good style. Nobody took too much to drink or slipped date rape drugs into someone else's glass.
Right then, the warning bell rang, and we split up. My first class was Western Philosophy. Nicolette and Autumn were in it with me, and Alex's class, Geometry 2, was right next door, so he walked with us. We kept shoving each other playfully as we walked, occasionally and accidentally bumping into other people. "Will you two quit it?" Autumn admonished us, slightly amused. I stuck my tongue out at her, and she hip-bumbed me back into Alex. "Oh come on you big toddlers." Nicolette clucked, tugging the back of our shirts into class.
After we take our seats, Nicolette and Autumn pull their desks against mine, slamming me in the middle. "Audi, darling. I think I spy a girl in love." Nicolette joked in a British accent. "Why yes, Nikki darling. I think you are quite right." Autumn replied. They both stared at me when I blushed. "Oh hush up, you two." I whisper fiercely, taking out my notebook. We never get work on the first day, but I needed a distraction. Nicolette, however, snatches my book. "So tell me, how long has this been going on?" I looked straight at the board. "I don't know what you're talking about." Autumn snorted, ignoring two people who turned at the sound. "Let me put it in terms you'll udnerstand: you want Alexander to be Prince Kingsley." I looked back down and let my hair cover my heated cheeks. Nicolette and Autumn high-fived. "There's no use in hiding it, Isali." Nic scolded, raising my chin to look in her clear, blue eyes. "We just want to know if there's any chance of you two being an item." I pushed her hand away and glanced at the board where the teacher was going through a powerpoint about the class. "Okay. I like him. Maybe he'll ask me out, maybe he won't."
They rolled their eyes at my non chalance. But on the inside, I was nowhere near as calm. Getting dressed today was torture. I decided on a pale yellow t-shirt and some tight-fitting shorts after maybe a half hour, and spent even more time on my hair. The only reason I had it pinned up with a purple butterfly clip was because Gervais threatened to drag me out into the street and make me get to school by my own means of transportation, muttering about how the first day traffic was the worst every year. Soon, however, class was over before I knew it, and after English 3 and Chemistry was lunch.
Lunch here is almost exactly the way your dream high school would be. Here, we experience summer year round, with maybe 3 weeks of winter. Dawson Prepatory Academy is located smack dab in the middle of South Florida. Although we can eat in the part-time cafeteria, we prefer to sit on the grass outside the caf.
Lunch is divided into three sessions, and only Katy, Alex, Kevin and Emily had this lunch with me. Kevin hadn't reached us yet, but the rest of us were sprawled out on the grass. "So this girl Hayley Morris actually refused to participate in class unless we got recess after lunch." Katy told us, swirling a carrot stick in dip and taking a bite out of it. "Is she a frosh?" I asked her, taking a bite of my turkey-and-cheese sandwhich. Katy nodded. "She came from some half-assed school in the Midwest or something. Appearantly, they hadn't weaned eigth-graders off of the idea of playtime yet." Emily ran a hand through her short, brown hair. "Ah, to be so young and innocent. The frosh have it easy." Alex snorted, his head resting in the grass. "Until prank week officially begins, that is. Besides, I don't remember bneing 'innocent' at fifteen, do you, Emily?" he smirked. Emily rolled her eyes at him. I reach up to push Alex's hair out of his face. "You sure were different at 15, Kaplan." I smiled, reminiscing. Alex made a face while Katy giggled. "Yea, you looked like a scrawny, brown-haired version of Sterling Knight."
Suddenly, like Moses over the Red Sea, the crowd of kids parted. In the middle were Kevin and a girl I'd never seen before. My eyebrows raised. If life were a movie, this is the part where Popular by The Veronicas would begin playing. Katy looked over at me with wide eyes as the pair drifted toward us. Alex made a point of ignoring the approaching girl. She had the body of Megan Fox, face of Hayley Kiyoko and the cute blonde 'do of Taylor Momsen, so that must've been difficult for him. Even more so as she decided to come to me. "Hi there." she said. Up close I could see that she was blushing, nervous. "Um, hello." I replied. Why'd she come to me? "My name's Anabelle." she told me. "Is it okay if I sit with you guys?" I looked around at the other guys. "well yeah, I suppose." Just like that, our clique expanded to eleven.