August 15, 2008 10:00 am
Santa Barbra, California: Earth
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▫️Soren:

Everyone expects that when they get an acceptance letter in the mail it will be for something amazing. A new college opportunity, or a new job so you can buy your dream car, maybe even an acceptance invitation into the cool kid's party.

For me, it was the total opposite.

"Congratulations," it read.
"You have been selected to attend high school at Oceanside High School for your remaining high school years. We invite you to attend our open house on August 19th to meet your teachers, sign up for clubs and get to know your fellow peers.

Sincerely- Principle Blake."

I had had a bad feeling ever since they started building that school down by the beach. My old high school, Coral Cost High, were rivals with the other school in our area, Copper Cove High School.

We had been rivals for decades. Grandparents of the kids who now attend told the students about the big football games of their time like they were recalling a major war. Now with this new high school, they decided to take a little bit of both the schools and combine them together.

This was all so confusing for a guy my age, I had just got done with my freshman year. Now, for my sophomore year, I have to hate the people I was friends with and like the people I was taught to hate. Confusing for a young man, right?

I have only two friends coming with me to this new school. The rest will all stay behind and soon we will become enemies.

Those two lucky guys are Ames and Hudson. They are both filthy rich, so I have been having a lot of sleepovers at their houses this past summer. Both have gigantic mansions that have a hundred bedrooms, they never mind when I stay over.

I am technically considered an orphan, don't feel bad for me. My parents aren't dead, they just aren't here. My mom left my dad when I was very young. She left all of us kids with my dad. Dad remarried and remarried, but he never found someone as good as my mom. When I was fourteen my father basically disowned me. Now I am on my own.

My parents both hate me. Don't try to argue with me, they really do. They don't just say that when they are angry at me, they say it every waking moment. They tell me they hate me at dinner or when I'm leaving to go to school, even when I'm doing my chores. My dad always says he wishes I was never born. The only moment I got when he didn't hate me was when I turned fourteen, then he went right back to the hate. Instead of saying happy birthday to me, he told me he regretted his life the day I was born because I came into it...

Anyways, street life has been pretty fun. I bathe real quickly in the fountains or in the showers in public pools. I get food at my friend's houses or I steal it from fast food places or gas stations. Don't judge me, in the summer it's harder because the school doesn't provide you lunch and breakfast.

I live in an alley by the mall. If it's cold I can usually just hang out in the mall till they kick me out. Then I either walk to a friend's house to sleep or I lay on a nice, comfy piece of foam I found in the dumpster of the camping store down the road.

Streetlife wasn't my preferred choice of living. If you saw me walking down the street, you would have never guessed that I was homeless. My bright blond hair is combed and sprayed to perfection, my pearly white teeth freshly brushed and my clothes are not even dusty.

I wore the same thing every day: a white shirt, a tan pea coat that was given to me by my brother, some jeans and black Vans for shoes. Some days I wear sunglasses, more often I don't. My sky blue eyes are my favorite part of myself and I loved to show them off. My least favorite part of myself was my height, I'm only five foot five. Pretty short for a guy my age, but I am thankful for the tall genes in my family. I haven't grown in the past year. If I'm stuck this height forever, my luck with the ladies, who are the size of trees compared to me, is not going to be amazing.

I got my letter at the local post office in my own mailbox.... this was practically the only thing that was purely mine and no one else's. I know it seems stupid that a boy like me would like a mailbox so much.... but it holds value to my heart.

The letter said that I had to go to the school to get a locker and schedule my classes. Glorious for me! I thought I should be there in a little under thirty minutes if I walked. Maybe some of my friends would be there. Probably not, they would just send their butlers to do their work. Because in case you still couldn't tell...they are crawling with money.

I made my way west, traveling alongside the highway. Ever since I had become a loner I had really gotten to know the city. I knew where everything was, from the best food places to the softest alley. My only problem was that I didn't have money. No place in California hires kids who look my age, you got to be at least sixteen to even think about getting a job, let alone get hired for one.

The new school was on the beach, fancy right? It was four stories tall and was made out of bricks and stones. This is where my social life would officially end. Inside the floors were pure white. There was a giant cafeteria with a pool in the center, a giant hole going up to the sky in the center of the school so you could bask in the sun as you swam. The only way I could describe this place was comparing it to a slinky. Classes wind around in a square around the center, or the pool area. Instead of stairs, it was all just one giant ramp to the top. I thought that I might not be so miserable here.

I went straight to the finance office, to get a schedule and map. Turns out my dad still hasn't canceled the automatic money transfer, that sucks for him. I decided to add five hundred dollars to my school lunch account before he realizes all his money is gone. I received my schedule and a map. I technically only have to take five classes this year, so I left a few spots empty on my schedule. More free time for me!

My first class was English, not impressive. Then I had history, then two free periods. The next day I had a free period, then science, then math, and finally PE.

"Fancy seeing you here." I heard a familiar voice.

It was Ames. With him were Hudson and another girl that I didn't recognize at first. Ames stood with his arms crossed as he looked at me. He had dark brown hair and green eyes, he wore a gray dress shirt and black pants. Very typical for the rich to wear. Hudson had bright blond hair and blue eyes. If you were stupid, you could have mistaken us for brothers. He had his hands in the pocket of his stupid green hoodie with jeans. He looked like a hobo, he even acted like a hipster. Never in a million years would you think that this kid was the richest person in the state. The girl that I did not recognize had long, straight, dark, black hair and green eyes. She wore tight clothing that had lots of detailed little buckles and straps. She wore giant gloves too. Her skin was pale and beautiful.

"Hey, Ames, Hudson!" I greeted them. "Who is this?"

"This is my sister," Ames introduced her.

"I'm Larkin," she said, smiling at me.

Her voice was just as beautiful as she was. Stop self! I promised myself I would never fall in love again, not after the last one. I can not bear another heartbreak. Never again.

"Hello Larkin," I said. "I'm Soren, Soren Sagittarius."

"Pleasure," she said, shaking my hand then wiping it off on her pant leg.

"What brings you down here?" I asked my friends.

"Classes," Hudson said, chewing some gum. "And we are putting our names down to try out for the basketball team."

"You should join us," Ames offered to me.

"Me?" I gasped. "No way. Have you seen me?"

"You can't be that bad." Ames chuckled.

"I'm not bad, I'm five and a half feet tall," I snap back at him.

They were both six-foot giants, easily candidates for the basketball team. They would make it, I should bet money on that... then I would have some cash...

"Come on," Hudson said. "You can at least try."

"No," I disagreed. "Besides, I'm busy a lot."

"You have three free periods," Ames argued. "I can see them in your paper."

"What?" I folded the paper and tucked it away. "I think you're seeing things."

"It would be fun to have all of us on the team." Ames looked at me, begging me with puppy dog eyes. Lucky for me I have never liked puppies so his eyes had no effect on me!

"I am coming to all the games, even though I'm attending the rival school," Larkin said.

"You bet sis." Ames laughed.

"Your beautiful sister is going to another school?" I asked.

"What did you say about my sister?" Ames looked at me, giving me a death glare.

"Is your sister going to the other school?" I corrected myself... Please someone else talk, I can feel myself blushing. This is not a good start to the school year. I shouldn't hit on my best friend's sister. That's like asking him to punch me.

"She decided to go to Coral Coast," Ames explained. "I and Hudson are coming here to Oceanside."

"Great," I sighed. "Anyways..."

"You don't want to talk anymore." Ames folded his arms. "I know you too well."

"Yeah," I ran my fingers through my hair. "I gotta go."

"See you later," Hudson called out as I walked away.

One thing you must know about me is that I hate people. Not the people themselves, just the being the presence of them. People always annoy me after some time.I need to be unique and I can't blend in with others. I just don't feel comfortable around people. That's why I stick with myself.

That's the only thing you need to know about living in California, you can only trust yourself.

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Isn't Soren now your favorite person ever?
Well, he is mine!
Thanks to all who read this! It always makes me so happy to see people reading my work!

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I dedicate this chapter to Midnight_Kaiulanis who's favorite character is Soren. Because he is the best! Midnight_kaianis is also one of the first people to follow me on Wattpad, check out her stuff, it's really good!
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