In Case of Emergency, Dial 411

Jeremy tugged at the adjustment straps of his book bag as he walked down the unfamiliar road. The coolness of the mid-October weather wind nipped harshly on the tip on his nose. When he signed a faint white mist appeared in early morning air in front of him. Being from up North, when he found out that he'd be moving to Florida the last thing he expected was cold weather. He thought about many different things that morning. Homesick was one of many different emotions haunting his body. He thought of his friends back home. Then he remembered why he moved in first place, it was his choice. He had too.

"Fuck," he grunted stuffing his hands into his pockets. He continued to walk down the road. There were many empty houses in his new neighborhood some of them you could tell they had been unoccupied for a long time by the unkempt nature of the yards. The neighborhood was in a somewhat heavily wooded area so in most backyards there was forest it also rounded in a big circle giving the road its respective name Timber Loop.

When Jeremy reached the end of the road he looked up at the sign that read Timber Loop and Crest Pond Drive he dug in his khaki pants pocket to pull out his new schedule that had his bus pass printed on the top. Sure enough he was in the right place but the time printed on the paper seemed later than it was. Jeremy pulled out his cell phone to check the time.

"God damn," he cursed realizing he probably just missed his bus on his first day at a new school. He signed again, making his breath visible once more. He was about head back when he noticed someone sitting on a small cemented place on the other side of the road on the ground. He realized it was a girl, with a shoulder bag and black hair.

"Hey," Jeremy called out to the girl. She didn't move. "Hey, do you catch the bus here?" He asked walking over to the girl. He was behind her we he realized pink earbuds where in her ears he just couldn't see it before because her beanie which was black and upon closer inspection realized her hair wasn't black it was blonde. He was a tad taken back to see that the girl was black because of her hair color.

"AHH!" She jumped up releasing a quick, but incredibly loud "You scared me!" Strangely the blonde-yellowish color worked with her medium dark brown complexion. She pulled it off, but in weird way that worked for her. It could have been her light brown colored eyes that helped, or it could have been her septum piercing. Jeremy chuckled "It's not funny, asshole" she growled folding her grey crewneck sweatered arms.

"Sorry, I didn't mean too." Jeremy apologized his smile quickly fading. His gaze fell, looking up he noticed the several holes in the girls washed out faded blue jeans. The blonde just stared at him with angry brown eyes. She grabbed her bag, slung it over her shoulder and walked out the grass and onto the road.

"Whatever," She muttered as she returned her earbuds to her ears. The bus pulled up and opened the doors. Blondie stepped on the bus without another word. Jeremy followed. Blondie sat in the first seat so Jeremy sat a few seats behind. The entire eight minute drive to Western Heights high school Jeremy's gaze shifted from the blurry trees to the back of Blondie's black beanie. When bus unloaded he watched her walk quickly in different direction than Jeremy. She was quickly lost insight as she disappeared blending to the crowd of pupils. Jeremy didn't have time to care about her he had somewhere to be.

"Ah, Jare!" Jeremy's cousin, Wilko called. Wilko was a typical senior jock. He was known around school as 'Wilko loco' most people just called him Wilko even though his real name was William When Jeremy had asked before how he got that name his cousin just replied 'you'll see'. Wilko leaned against one of the many purple lockers of Western Heights. He was holding hands with a really pretty girl that had platinum blonde hair, really tanned skin and wore high heels."What took you so long?" he asked

"Hey, I think my bus was just late" Jeremy said

"Tasha, this is my younger cousin Jeremy. Jare, this is my girlfriend Tasha" Wilko introduced. Tasha smiled, but it was more like a smirk. "Hows living with grandma?” Jeremy shrugged. He thought it was okay. He was missing his old friends but he knew the move was the best thing for him. “Anyways, here's the locker that I never use”

"Thanks," Jeremy said taking the piece of paper that Wilko scribbled on the numbers of the combination. The bell ranged,"Well I have to go to chemistry now" Jeremy said excusing himself looking over his schedule he had already memorized.

"Lemme see" Wilko said snatching the paper away. "Awesome, we have Gym together third period and lunch. See ya then" Wilko left with a salute. Jeremy went searching for his classroom. Even though he had looked over the school map being there was a different thing. When he finally found the room he was a few minutes late but the teacher excused him since it was his first day. Jeremy glanced around the classroom quickly. There was only one table that was completely empty and the rest of the tables of the classroom was full. He quickly took a seat. He felt all of the pupils eyes on him it made the hair on the back of his neck stand. He was just starting to feel calm as Mr. Dorso was explaining something when someone came into the room. It was a relief that the eyes were off him and to the person the just walked in. But then Jeremy realized it was no other than Blondie. She seemed different, this morning she was angry but that was excusable considering he had unintentionally scared her. Now she seemed sad, depressed even. Her thick eyeliner was slightly smudged and faded as she had been crying. She handed Mr. Dorso the pink slip of carbon paper .

A referral.

"Hat off Miss Olson," the chemistry teacher ordered. Blondie pulled her beanie off exposing her dark roots.

Then her eyes landed on Jeremy and her sadden expression turned angry again.