Solo (2 page)

"Yes ma'am," he said, with a mischievous grin.

I glared at Mom while following my tour guide out the door.

"So, it's Eliana, right?" Sammy paused, waiting for me to catch up.

"Yeah."

"Eliana, hmm, that's different. Is it a family name?"

"No; it's the name of a hotel. Well, actually a villa in Italy."

"Oh, um, wow." He scratched the back of his head. I knew he hadn't seen that one coming. "Where did you move from?" he changed the subject.

"California."

"Well, welcome to South Umpqua, home of the Lancers." He said the words a little too enthusiastically as he led me down the hall. "What grade are you in?"

"I'm a sophomore."

He pointed, "Your locker will be somewhere down here. The areas are divided by grade." Next, Sammy showed me the library, cafeteria, courtyard, and gym. "Well, that about does it, do you have any questions?"

"Not really, I'm sure I can figure it out."

We headed back to the office. "Is today your first day?"

"No, I'll be starting tomorrow."

"Well, good luck. If you need any help, I'm usually hanging around here somewhere." He smiled and held the door for me.

"Well, I think I can handle this school. It's about half the size of my last one. Thanks for the tour."

"Sure, no problem; anything to get out of the library," he winked. "See you around."

I nodded and turned toward the secretary who told me I was all set and to stop by in the morning for my schedule.

After dropping the van off in Roseburg, Mom gave me a lecture about respecting old people. She knew I was trying to be funny with the whole Pepto-Bismol thing, but my grandmother had taken offense. She reminded me that my grandmother was old fashioned and set in her ways.

Mental Note: Keep my humor to myself around Grandmother.

We found the supermarket. It seemed like there was someone in every aisle who knew my mom or my grandparents. I think I met all the little old ladies from my grandmother's bridge club. I hadn't known there were gangs of grannies casing the supermarket looking for prey. My poor mom looked at hundreds of pictures of their children
and
grandchildren. I tried to blend in with the shelves. Eventually, Mom had to resort to lying. She told them we still needed to hurry to get me registered for school. I vigorously nodded in agreement.

When we reached the produce department, I headed straight for the peaches while mom gathered a variety of vegetables.

"Sophie Young, is that you?" A woman cornered my mom.

"Well, it's Davis now, but yes. Oh, my goodness, Carrie Carter."

"Well, it's Andrews now, but yes," she laughed. "I heard you might be moving back. Are you staying with your parents?"

"Yes, while Chris is overseas. He'll be home in a year."

"I still can't believe you came back home. It's been so long. Now you have a daughter, right?"

"Yes, she's the one digging in the peaches." Mom pointed at me.

I smiled and gave an awkward little wave.

"Oh, she's so cute. She looks just like you. Can you believe we're old enough to have teenagers? I've got two, a seventeen year old son and a thirteen year old daughter."

I put the peaches in the cart while listening to reminisces about their younger years. They acted like giddy teenagers, laughing about inside jokes that only took one word to describe.

"Eliana, Carrie and I went to high school together," Mom explained.

"We sure had some good times," Carrie beamed.

"So, which Andrews' boy did you marry?" asked Mom.

Carrie hesitated. "I married Michael."

Mom's facial expression changed. "Wow, that's great."

I knew Mom was lying
. Liar, liar pants on fire.
Obviously, Mom didn't like the fact that Carrie had married Michael. I wondered why.

The atmosphere changed. Carrie got quiet. Finally, she broke the silence. "Well, I'm the veterinarian in Myrtle Creek. My schedule is flexible. I'd love to get together for lunch."

"Yeah, that sounds great. Eliana starts school tomorrow. I do freelance photography and my schedule is open." Mom reached and gave Carrie a hug. "It's so good to see you again. You know where I'm staying, so don't be a stranger."

"The same to you. We live on the Andrews farm down the road from your parents. Here's my number." Carrie shuffled through her purse for a business card.

"Great, I'll call you."

Carrie smiled and pushed her cart out of the produce department. Mom started thumping cantaloupes. I waited, hoping she would spill the beans.

"Do you want any cantaloupes?" Mom asked.

"Um, yeah, sure. So, Mom, that conversation got a little awkward. Who's Michael Andrews?"

"Oh, just a guy from high school."

"That's all you're going to tell me?"

"Yeah, it's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal? Were you in the same conversation back there? You didn't seem too thrilled when you heard his name."

"It was a long time ago. It just threw me off when she mentioned him. He was your dad's best friend. They had a falling out and that's pretty much it. Like I said, 'not a big deal'."

I didn't believe her, but I figured I should drop the subject. Obviously, she wanted to avoid talking about Michael Andrews.

* * *

I finished unpacking the few remaining boxes in my room. Other than the Pepto-Bismol walls and the dolls, the room was starting to look more like me. I set my clothes out and packed my backpack for school, making sure I had my iPod. I didn't go anywhere without it. My emotions got jumbled with thoughts of starting school with no friends. I couldn't help but wonder how long it had been since this school had had a new student—maybe years. It was depressing to realize I only knew a total of three people in the entire town, my grandparents and Mom.

I put on my PJs, yelled goodnight, and climbed between the sheets. I looked at the bulletin board with all my friends' pictures, wishing they were here. It would sure make my first day easier. I reminded myself that I only had to make it a few months until summer.

I was almost snoring when my phone jingled. Instantly, I jumped to my feet and ran for it, excited to see a text from my best friend, Kelly. It read, 'GOOD LUCK TOMORROW. I'LL BE THINKING ABOUT YOU. LUV KEL XOXO.'

That made my night. I sent her a quick text before crawling back into bed. With all the stress I was feeling, Kelly's text eased everything for the time being.

I turned off the annoying alarm clock and rolled out of bed. In the bathroom mirror, I stared at my face looking for any signs of a breakout. With the stress I'd been under the past few weeks, I figured there would be dozens of little blemishes. So far so good, but I knew they'd strike when I least expected it. Today of all days, I didn't want an attack. The dreary weather didn't help matters.

 Although it was probably all in my head, my California tan seemed to have faded. My light emerald eyes that usually had a faint bluish cast now looked dull grey-green.

As I slipped on my favorite jeans, I noticed a rippling row of clouds out the window—perfect weather for a bad hair day. I pulled my sun-streaked brown wavy locks into a headband.

"Eliana, are you up?" Mom yelled.

"Yeah, I'm up." I hurried down the stairs. The last thing I wanted was to be tardy on my first day of school.

"Breakfast is ready!" She sounded enthusiastic.

"I'm not really hungry. Can't I just eat a breakfast bar on my way?"

"I would prefer that you sit and eat a real meal. It's your first day at a new school; you need your energy."

Sighing heavily, I sat down and inhaled my toast and scrambled eggs. My mind wandered and I thought about my friends. If I were back in California, Kelly would be outside honking so we could get an early start for a day of sun and fun at the beach. It was Spring Break in California.

Now I was stuck in Myrtle Creek with a disgusting overcast day and flying solo to school. I tried to keep my composure. Since I was already running late, reapplying my make-up wasn't an option at this point. My tears would have to wait, too. I planned to call Kelly after school and find out all the details about the beach.

The drive to school took forever. I got lost a few times and had to back track. Every once in a while I drove past the rancid odor of a cow or pig farm. Who needs coffee when you have the smell of fresh cow pies in the morning to wake you up?

When I drove into the school parking lot, it was like I'd entered a used car lot that specialized in pickup trucks. Butterflies swarmed in my stomach when I pulled my little pastel blue Volkswagen bug between two Monster Trucks.
Here goes nothing.

I felt a strong wave of nausea and took a controlled deep breath to calm my nerves. Fortifying myself, I walked toward the building. I had no idea what to expect from the kids here. Most of them had grown up together. I was the outsider.

 The bell rang as I entered the office. "Great, I knew I would be late," I muttered.

A secretary, different from the one the day before, stood behind the counter. The petite older lady pushed up the rim of her glasses as she gave me a welcoming, almost sympathetic, smile. "You must be Eliana Davis. Welcome to South Umpqua High School."

I couldn't help but notice the line of bright magenta lipstick across her two front teeth. It was so distracting I couldn't remember what I was going to say. "Thanks. Sorry I'm late. I had a few issues with the directions."

"Yes, it can be a little tricky with some of these roads. Just don't make a habit of it. That excuse only works on your first day." The secretary laughed and rifled through a pile of papers, still oblivious to her pink teeth. "Oh, well, here's your schedule. Your first class is Geometry in room 116. It's down the hall on the left."

I took my schedule and started down the hall. My new dilemma was whether I wanted to sit in front and look smart, or in the back to look like I really didn't care. When I walked in the classroom, it didn't matter, because all the desks except one in the back were taken. The teacher stopped in the middle of his lecture to hand me a textbook.

"Welcome to Geometry. I'm Mr. Donaldson. Here's your textbook. Please take your seat." He motioned toward the one empty desk.

"Thank you." I walked to the back of the room and everyone gawked at me. I felt like a new attraction at the zoo. I noticed the bubbly, blonde, blue-eyed girl sitting next to my desk.

"Hi, I'm Casey Douglas. If you need any help, just let me know?" she whispered.

I grinned shyly and opened my textbook. "Thanks."

"So do you know anyone here at school?" Casey asked.

I shook my head. "Not really. Sammy Alvarez gave me a tour yesterday, but I don't really know him."

"Sammy, oh he's a nice guy." She smiled, helping herself to my schedule on the corner of my desk. She scanned it from top to bottom. "Oh, I see we have four classes together."

I just nodded and sat through Geometry, half listening to Casey's ramblings, and half listening to Mr. Donaldson. When the bell rang, I followed Casey into the hall. She said, "I'll see you in third period. Your next class is Chemistry in room 153. If you want, I can meet you there after class and show you to U.S. History?"

"Really? That would be helpful." It was a relief to know someone was willing to help me.

I hurried to my next class so I could get a seat before the classroom filled. I was flipping through my textbook trying to look busy, when a commotion at the door captured my attention. A group of four students strutted their way into class laughing loudly. This had to be the 'in-crowd'.

A thin and tall brunette beauty, with artificial highlights and an over-baked tan, caught my attention. She had to be 'Miss Popular' because she tried too hard. Then there was the guy with his arm draped across her shoulders. His letterman's jacket said it all. He had to be one of the top jocks.

I pretended to read the chapter posted on the board while ignoring stares, whispers, and snickers from across the room. This was the very thing that made me nervous about coming to a new school. I focused my attention on the rain pellets hitting the window. The ticking of the clock seemed too slow. Five minutes to go. Second period hadn't gone as smooth as the first.

The bell rang. I took my time leaving the classroom, hoping the group of students would make their way down the hall. I reached the door and heard Casey's bubbly voice asking about me.

"Oh, there you are," she said, as I stepped out of the classroom.

"Here I am," I replied with a smile.

"How was Chemistry?"

"Oh, it was Chemistry."

"Well, on to the next class." She grabbed my arm and towed me down the hall. "We don't want to be late."

There happened to be a substitute teacher for our next class. The substitute found an extra textbook and told me to find a seat. She informed the class that the teacher had left two chapters on the board for us to read and then handed out worksheets.