Status: unfinished but I'm trying hard to do so! =D
Dressed up in Faded Costumes
Labeled
A ringing alarm in the morning never brings a smile to my face especially if it was ringing at 6. I mean, who decided for school to start at 8 am?
It was always a rush before going to school, but today was different. It was my first day at a new school. I enrolled a bit late, because we just arrived to this place about a week before. It’s the 9th of November—Tuesday. I just moved into a new neighborhood from a very different hometown. I mean, how different could Los Angeles be from Minnesota? :))
After a quick shower, and a long thinking of the perfect clothes to wear, I ended up being finished with everything by 7 something in the morning. I walked downstairs, still a bit dazed and half-alive, to eat breakfast. At least I thought I was going to eat. I woke up and mom wasn't there; cooking the blueberry pancakes I loved. Hmm? Where could she be?
"Mom?" I called out.
"Yes?" she said, suddenly right behind me, startling me a bit. "Why are you up so early?"
"School, mom," I told her. "Don't you remember?"
"Oh! Of course!"
"Yeah," Oh, mom...
"I'll make you something to eat, wait just a sec..."
"No need mom," I smiled at her. "I’m not hungry anyway. I think I’ll just go to school early."
"Are you sure? I'm sorry I forgot,"
"Its fine," I told her smiling. "At least you don't really have to bother me about not being late on my first day."
So I said goodbye to my dear mother, leaving her with my sister still asleep in her bed. I have one brother, Chris, 19, who was in college at the time, and a little sister, Lea, 7. My father was a person I didn’t want to think about. I never knew him. All I knew about him was that he was a guitarist, and he liked singing me lullabies, before he left me at the age of 3. My dad divorced mom for another woman. It hurts to think of the story every now and then, but it’s the sad truth.
I arrived at school, with everybody looking at “the new student”. Can’t a 15 year old girl not be looked at on her first day of junior year? Sigh.
I went to the school office to find my schedule and locker number.
“Good morning, I’m Hannah Michelle McAdams,” I said.
“Oh, good morning dearie. We’ve been expecting you. Welcome,” the school registrar told me.
She gave me my sched, and locker number, and wished me luck on my first day. I walked around the school, struggling to find everything I needed to find. It was only a matter of time when I would bump into one of the most wonderful guys I will ever meet.
“Ouch,” I said as my stuff fell down, and I was down on the floor.
“Oh! I’m sorry,” he said as he helped me with my things. He looked at me and he smiled. “You’re new, aren’t you?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m sorry, I’m such a klutz,” I told him with a slight smile.
“You’re… uh… Give me an intro,” he said.
“Hannah Michelle McAdams, 15, just transferred from Minneapolis,” I smiled. “What about you? What’s your name?”
“Liam Montgomery, 16,” he said. “First year of High School?”
“3rd. I’m already a junior, actually,”
“Oh, well, I guess, I’ll bump into you again,” he told me. “It was nice meeting you, Michelle. Can I call you that? Or would you prefer Hannah?”
“Michelle is okay,” I said.
He walked away looking back once at me with a certain smile I paid back with the same. Just as I was watching him walk away, I was interrupted by a girl who would end up being one of my bestfriends for the rest of my journey.
“Were you just talking to Liam?” she asked.
“Why, was I not supposed to?”
“Well, it’s just that, he doesn’t just talk to anybody,” she told me. “He’s the shy type, but I guarantee you’ll like him. Everybody practically does; which is kind of annoying at times.” She smiled.
“Do you like him?” I asked with a teasing smile.
“No,” she said confidently and smiling. “He’s my cousin and I have a boyfriend.”
“Oh, well, then that’s… good,” I smiled. “By the way, I’m Michelle. I just moved into the neighborhood.”
“Welcome. I’m Maria,” she said. “Very nice meeting you. What’s your first class? Maybe I can help you get there.”
“Well, I have World History first.”
“We have the same class, then.” She smiled.
She walked me to my locker where I stacked some of my heavy books. We walked to class together, me being a bit awkward—as I always am in social things… I sat at the back with Maria, where both of us were on a low-profile key. She was telling me who was who in the classroom.
“The brunette in the black shirt in front is Leila, Liam’s younger sister, and the coolest brainiac you’ll ever meet and one of my closest friends ever. I’ll introduce you to her later. The guy next to Leila is Matt. He’s the school drummer. Not the most sociable guy though. He’s more timid than Liam. He seldom talks to people, but he’s very nice. The blonde girl behind him is Abigail Lexi. She’s what Leila and I call ‘The Hidden Flirt’. You get that, right?...” and she kept going until,
“Ah! Ms. McAdams,” Mr. Fitz said. “Who was America named after?”
I looked at Maria first, and then I looked at my teacher. “Uhm, Amerigo Vespucci, sir.”
He looked at me in disbelief… and so did the rest of the class.
“And who is Vespucci?” Mr. Fitz added.
“He was an Italian who started an expedition in South America…?” I said.
“Very good,” he smiled.
I looked at Maria, and she whispered, “first day, and you’re already impressing the teach.”
I just smiled at her. After History, she introduced me to Leila.
“Leila!” she called out.
Leila approached the two of us smiling. “Hey, Maria,” she said.
“Michelle, this is Leila, Leila, this is Michelle.”
“Hi, I’m guessing you’re new?”
“Uh, yes,” I smiled. “I’m sorry I feel a bit awkward. I’m not used to meeting people,” I told her smiling awkwardly.
“Oh, you don’t have to be shy around us,” Maria said putting an arm around Leila. “We don’t judge just like that.”
“It’s really nice meeting you, Michelle,” Leila said.
“You too,” I told her.
“Well, I have to get going, see you guys later!” Leila said and practically just skipping away.
After classes, before going home, I stopped by my locker to leave some stuff for the day. I closed my locker, and just standing there was Liam. I flinched a bit, while he just stood there and smiled at me.
“I’m sorry if I startled you. Didn’t mean to…” he told me.
“I just didn’t notice you,” I said. “I’m fine.”
He kept staring at me and it kinda felt a bit weird.
“Uhm, I have to get going,” I told him. “My mom is expecting me to tell her everything that happened today.”
He looked at me, and I responded with looking back, and waving my hand goodbye, then walking away.
“Wait!” he said catching up with me. “I’m pretty sure you’re just avoiding me, right?”
“What made you say that?”
“Because these days, no girl tells her mom everything anymore; Let alone you hurrying home for it.”
I was caught. I was avoiding him a bit because I didn’t want that much attention after knowing from Maria that he was ‘the adorable guy’ in school. I smiled coyly at him as he just laughed.
“You’re cute, you know?” he said.
When he said what he said, I felt as if I was just listening to my brother say it. It felt flattering, but just that. I never jumped to conclusions that he liked me or something; I didn’t even consider liking him more than just friends then.
“Hey,” he said. “You still here?”
“Wha? Oh, yeah… I’m sorry… It’s just… I…”
“Are you okay? Can I walk you home or something?” he told me.
“Uh…” I was dazed and I didn’t know why…
“Let’s go then.”
I simply nodded and just walked along with him. While walking, I noticed that people were looking at me—I could hear their whispers.
“New and lucky,” one girl told her friend.
“She must be a witch,” one girl said. “She must’ve used some sort of love potion.”
And the whispers kept on going.
Liam looked at me, and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, uhm… do you have any guy friends?”
“I asked them to go on home without me,” he told me. “Why?”
“Why?” I told him, suddenly thinking that it was a bit disrespectful. “I mean, I’m totally new. You just met me… And, I’m not saying that I don’t like it but, you treat me like we’re really close.”
“So you’re saying you like me hanging out with you?” he smiled.
“*Sighs* it’s so hard to reason with you…” I smiled at him too.
“I’ll explain later,” he said with a smirk upon his face.
I just smiled back at him, and shook my head in slight annoyance and defeat. I tried to let him walk ahead so I could stare at him. Just one day in this school made all the difference. I became labeled like everybody else even though I hated it… I was “the lucky newbie”. Maybe I could go with that name—even if it was a bit of a paradox because I was the unluckiest person alive—rather than the witch I know I’m not…
As we got closer to my house, within seeing distance, I started to wonder how he knew where to take the turns, and where I lived. Remember, he was walking either next to me, or, he was ahead a little.
“How do you know where I live?” I asked him.
“Lucky guess?”
I just looked at him like an extrovert.
“I know you,” he said.
I just stared at him as we both stopped walking.
“I’ve known you since I was 8, I think,” he said. “My mom talks about you to my sisters and sometimes to me and my brother… Telling us that you look different since the last time she’s seen you; that me and my sisters should meet you and Chris and Lea. Of course, I’ve only gotten the chance to meet Lea the other day.”
“Wait, your mom is Liz Montgomery?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“And you’re Michael?”
“Yes… Michael Liam Montgomery, that’s me.”
“My mom has been telling me about Darren, Eliza, Melina and Leila, but I didn’t know the Leila I met earlier was the same Leila as your sister,” I said. “Chris has been mentioning you too, but, he always uses Michael instead of Liam.”
“It’s because I prefer that family call me Michael, and friends to call me Liam,” he said.
“Don’t you get confused?” I said. “I mean, using two names for two separate groups of people?”
“I have my reasons,” he laughed. “So why weren’t you here the other day?”
“I wanted to have a look around the neighborhood. I decided to just walk around, and explore everything.”
“Really?” he said then just laughed—and without any hesitations, I started to play-hit him like he was my bestest friend ever.
“What do I call you then?” I asked him.
“Call me Michael… or Liam… you can call me whatever you want to call me.”
I smiled.
He walked me to the front door, where we said goodbye to each other, and where I sort of liked him. He felt like the most likable person in the whole entire world, and I wondered why he was the shy type when he appeared the total opposite in front of me.
I walked upstairs, passing through my mom’s office—where I greeted her; passing through my little sister’s bedroom; passing through Chris’ room, and I still felt like I was with him.
Today my mom forgot about breakfast, I went to school early, bumped into Liam, met Maria, met Leila, met my terrors, I was labeled, and I walked home with a boy. All of that happened on my first day of junior year. A bit too much right? Well, not really, compared to everything else…
It was always a rush before going to school, but today was different. It was my first day at a new school. I enrolled a bit late, because we just arrived to this place about a week before. It’s the 9th of November—Tuesday. I just moved into a new neighborhood from a very different hometown. I mean, how different could Los Angeles be from Minnesota? :))
After a quick shower, and a long thinking of the perfect clothes to wear, I ended up being finished with everything by 7 something in the morning. I walked downstairs, still a bit dazed and half-alive, to eat breakfast. At least I thought I was going to eat. I woke up and mom wasn't there; cooking the blueberry pancakes I loved. Hmm? Where could she be?
"Mom?" I called out.
"Yes?" she said, suddenly right behind me, startling me a bit. "Why are you up so early?"
"School, mom," I told her. "Don't you remember?"
"Oh! Of course!"
"Yeah," Oh, mom...
"I'll make you something to eat, wait just a sec..."
"No need mom," I smiled at her. "I’m not hungry anyway. I think I’ll just go to school early."
"Are you sure? I'm sorry I forgot,"
"Its fine," I told her smiling. "At least you don't really have to bother me about not being late on my first day."
So I said goodbye to my dear mother, leaving her with my sister still asleep in her bed. I have one brother, Chris, 19, who was in college at the time, and a little sister, Lea, 7. My father was a person I didn’t want to think about. I never knew him. All I knew about him was that he was a guitarist, and he liked singing me lullabies, before he left me at the age of 3. My dad divorced mom for another woman. It hurts to think of the story every now and then, but it’s the sad truth.
I arrived at school, with everybody looking at “the new student”. Can’t a 15 year old girl not be looked at on her first day of junior year? Sigh.
I went to the school office to find my schedule and locker number.
“Good morning, I’m Hannah Michelle McAdams,” I said.
“Oh, good morning dearie. We’ve been expecting you. Welcome,” the school registrar told me.
She gave me my sched, and locker number, and wished me luck on my first day. I walked around the school, struggling to find everything I needed to find. It was only a matter of time when I would bump into one of the most wonderful guys I will ever meet.
“Ouch,” I said as my stuff fell down, and I was down on the floor.
“Oh! I’m sorry,” he said as he helped me with my things. He looked at me and he smiled. “You’re new, aren’t you?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m sorry, I’m such a klutz,” I told him with a slight smile.
“You’re… uh… Give me an intro,” he said.
“Hannah Michelle McAdams, 15, just transferred from Minneapolis,” I smiled. “What about you? What’s your name?”
“Liam Montgomery, 16,” he said. “First year of High School?”
“3rd. I’m already a junior, actually,”
“Oh, well, I guess, I’ll bump into you again,” he told me. “It was nice meeting you, Michelle. Can I call you that? Or would you prefer Hannah?”
“Michelle is okay,” I said.
He walked away looking back once at me with a certain smile I paid back with the same. Just as I was watching him walk away, I was interrupted by a girl who would end up being one of my bestfriends for the rest of my journey.
“Were you just talking to Liam?” she asked.
“Why, was I not supposed to?”
“Well, it’s just that, he doesn’t just talk to anybody,” she told me. “He’s the shy type, but I guarantee you’ll like him. Everybody practically does; which is kind of annoying at times.” She smiled.
“Do you like him?” I asked with a teasing smile.
“No,” she said confidently and smiling. “He’s my cousin and I have a boyfriend.”
“Oh, well, then that’s… good,” I smiled. “By the way, I’m Michelle. I just moved into the neighborhood.”
“Welcome. I’m Maria,” she said. “Very nice meeting you. What’s your first class? Maybe I can help you get there.”
“Well, I have World History first.”
“We have the same class, then.” She smiled.
She walked me to my locker where I stacked some of my heavy books. We walked to class together, me being a bit awkward—as I always am in social things… I sat at the back with Maria, where both of us were on a low-profile key. She was telling me who was who in the classroom.
“The brunette in the black shirt in front is Leila, Liam’s younger sister, and the coolest brainiac you’ll ever meet and one of my closest friends ever. I’ll introduce you to her later. The guy next to Leila is Matt. He’s the school drummer. Not the most sociable guy though. He’s more timid than Liam. He seldom talks to people, but he’s very nice. The blonde girl behind him is Abigail Lexi. She’s what Leila and I call ‘The Hidden Flirt’. You get that, right?...” and she kept going until,
“Ah! Ms. McAdams,” Mr. Fitz said. “Who was America named after?”
I looked at Maria first, and then I looked at my teacher. “Uhm, Amerigo Vespucci, sir.”
He looked at me in disbelief… and so did the rest of the class.
“And who is Vespucci?” Mr. Fitz added.
“He was an Italian who started an expedition in South America…?” I said.
“Very good,” he smiled.
I looked at Maria, and she whispered, “first day, and you’re already impressing the teach.”
I just smiled at her. After History, she introduced me to Leila.
“Leila!” she called out.
Leila approached the two of us smiling. “Hey, Maria,” she said.
“Michelle, this is Leila, Leila, this is Michelle.”
“Hi, I’m guessing you’re new?”
“Uh, yes,” I smiled. “I’m sorry I feel a bit awkward. I’m not used to meeting people,” I told her smiling awkwardly.
“Oh, you don’t have to be shy around us,” Maria said putting an arm around Leila. “We don’t judge just like that.”
“It’s really nice meeting you, Michelle,” Leila said.
“You too,” I told her.
“Well, I have to get going, see you guys later!” Leila said and practically just skipping away.
After classes, before going home, I stopped by my locker to leave some stuff for the day. I closed my locker, and just standing there was Liam. I flinched a bit, while he just stood there and smiled at me.
“I’m sorry if I startled you. Didn’t mean to…” he told me.
“I just didn’t notice you,” I said. “I’m fine.”
He kept staring at me and it kinda felt a bit weird.
“Uhm, I have to get going,” I told him. “My mom is expecting me to tell her everything that happened today.”
He looked at me, and I responded with looking back, and waving my hand goodbye, then walking away.
“Wait!” he said catching up with me. “I’m pretty sure you’re just avoiding me, right?”
“What made you say that?”
“Because these days, no girl tells her mom everything anymore; Let alone you hurrying home for it.”
I was caught. I was avoiding him a bit because I didn’t want that much attention after knowing from Maria that he was ‘the adorable guy’ in school. I smiled coyly at him as he just laughed.
“You’re cute, you know?” he said.
When he said what he said, I felt as if I was just listening to my brother say it. It felt flattering, but just that. I never jumped to conclusions that he liked me or something; I didn’t even consider liking him more than just friends then.
“Hey,” he said. “You still here?”
“Wha? Oh, yeah… I’m sorry… It’s just… I…”
“Are you okay? Can I walk you home or something?” he told me.
“Uh…” I was dazed and I didn’t know why…
“Let’s go then.”
I simply nodded and just walked along with him. While walking, I noticed that people were looking at me—I could hear their whispers.
“New and lucky,” one girl told her friend.
“She must be a witch,” one girl said. “She must’ve used some sort of love potion.”
And the whispers kept on going.
Liam looked at me, and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, uhm… do you have any guy friends?”
“I asked them to go on home without me,” he told me. “Why?”
“Why?” I told him, suddenly thinking that it was a bit disrespectful. “I mean, I’m totally new. You just met me… And, I’m not saying that I don’t like it but, you treat me like we’re really close.”
“So you’re saying you like me hanging out with you?” he smiled.
“*Sighs* it’s so hard to reason with you…” I smiled at him too.
“I’ll explain later,” he said with a smirk upon his face.
I just smiled back at him, and shook my head in slight annoyance and defeat. I tried to let him walk ahead so I could stare at him. Just one day in this school made all the difference. I became labeled like everybody else even though I hated it… I was “the lucky newbie”. Maybe I could go with that name—even if it was a bit of a paradox because I was the unluckiest person alive—rather than the witch I know I’m not…
As we got closer to my house, within seeing distance, I started to wonder how he knew where to take the turns, and where I lived. Remember, he was walking either next to me, or, he was ahead a little.
“How do you know where I live?” I asked him.
“Lucky guess?”
I just looked at him like an extrovert.
“I know you,” he said.
I just stared at him as we both stopped walking.
“I’ve known you since I was 8, I think,” he said. “My mom talks about you to my sisters and sometimes to me and my brother… Telling us that you look different since the last time she’s seen you; that me and my sisters should meet you and Chris and Lea. Of course, I’ve only gotten the chance to meet Lea the other day.”
“Wait, your mom is Liz Montgomery?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“And you’re Michael?”
“Yes… Michael Liam Montgomery, that’s me.”
“My mom has been telling me about Darren, Eliza, Melina and Leila, but I didn’t know the Leila I met earlier was the same Leila as your sister,” I said. “Chris has been mentioning you too, but, he always uses Michael instead of Liam.”
“It’s because I prefer that family call me Michael, and friends to call me Liam,” he said.
“Don’t you get confused?” I said. “I mean, using two names for two separate groups of people?”
“I have my reasons,” he laughed. “So why weren’t you here the other day?”
“I wanted to have a look around the neighborhood. I decided to just walk around, and explore everything.”
“Really?” he said then just laughed—and without any hesitations, I started to play-hit him like he was my bestest friend ever.
“What do I call you then?” I asked him.
“Call me Michael… or Liam… you can call me whatever you want to call me.”
I smiled.
He walked me to the front door, where we said goodbye to each other, and where I sort of liked him. He felt like the most likable person in the whole entire world, and I wondered why he was the shy type when he appeared the total opposite in front of me.
I walked upstairs, passing through my mom’s office—where I greeted her; passing through my little sister’s bedroom; passing through Chris’ room, and I still felt like I was with him.
Today my mom forgot about breakfast, I went to school early, bumped into Liam, met Maria, met Leila, met my terrors, I was labeled, and I walked home with a boy. All of that happened on my first day of junior year. A bit too much right? Well, not really, compared to everything else…