- Eli! her mom shouted. Get up!

- Mhh... she groaned as she turned her pillow to the cold side.

- Hurry up, I won't wake you up like this every time. Don't you have to shower this morning?

Her eyes opened wide, her mom was right, she did have to shower. She quickly glanced over to her alarm clock. She had about an hour left to get ready.

- Couldn't you have said it sooner! I'm going to miss my bus! she almost shouted, even if she knew really well that her mom did told her a few minutes ago.

She went over to the bathroom with fast little steps, as if it would really make a difference in time. She jumped in the shower after the temperature was neither too hot nor too cold. The warm water ran down her young body, making her feel all comfy as she just got out of bed.

Exactly twenty seven minutes after, she was in the kitchen making her toasts for breakfast. Her still wet hair sometimes dripped on the floor, without her noticing it. Grabbing the peanut butter jar with a strawberry and rhubarb homemade jam, she almost felt down by slipping on the floor. "I should probably clean that" she thought, noticing the few small puddles on the ground.      She looked over to the microwave on which we could see what time it was. "7:30" she read. She still had plenty of time to eat and get dressed. She let out a deep sigh that she didn't know she kept in.

- Y'alright? asked her brother as he entered the kitchen.

- Huh? Oh, yeah, don't worry about this! she said, smiling.

- Are you stressed for your first day?

- Mayybe... just a little bit. She giggled. But it's pretty normal to be stressed. I mean, it's not everyday that we get to go into new schools.

- And in completely unknown towns... he added.

- Right. Why are you up so early, Nath?

- I wanted to see how my little sister was doing, of course. He looked at her with laughing eyes.

- Ah, of course, what else? she said sarcastically. My dear brother always do such caring things!

- It's in my nature, everyone knows! he answered, playfully. But seriously, it's because a friend of mine wanted to meet before he had to go to school.

- You already made friends here? she asked, a bit surprised since they just moved in.

- Oh, no. Well, uh...yes, he babbled, but he's an old childhood friend so it doesn't count. Do you remember Calvin?

- Calvin? Like... Calvin, Calvin? she spread the peanut butter and jam on her toasts.

- Yeah, he laughed. Calvin, Calvin.

- I do remember you two were really close and that he was probably the most energetic kid I ever saw.

- Hahaha, you're right, he laughed. He's always been like this.

As they kept talking about her brother's childhood friend, Eli ate her breakfast and didn't notice the time. Her brother and her always had had a good relationship, but they never took a lot of time to talk to each other. Since there was a 4 years difference between the two, they also didn't go to the same schools. Her brother, Nathan, was starting University in the town they've just moved in. It was almost already time for her to go when Nathan noticed the time.

- Woah, it's already 7:50!

- What!? Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, she kept repeating as she ran to her room to put on some clothes.

She took off her pyjamas, took a random black shirt in her drawer and a pair of jeans. "Whatever, it's not like I was going to a fancy restaurant thing" she told herself. She took her bag which was already full with her school supplies and ran outside, shouting a little "goodbye!" as she was getting out of the house. She unlocked her bike that she kept on the front balcony and rode off.

- - - - -

She arrived at the school 15 minutes in advance, she thought it would be better to have a little bit of time to walk around the school and find her classroom.

The building looked a bit old, but a part of it seemed more recent. The tall red bricks walls showed three rows of windows, "three rows, three floors" Eli thought. There was a bunch of small groups every here and there around the school entrance. Everyone looked like they already knew every students, waving and smiling at each other. She was probably the only one new student, that was a little lost in this unknown environment. However, this didn't discourage her. She started walking with more confident steps to the main entrance, where two distinct groups seemed to be trying to get people's attention. On the right side, the newspaper club was giving off their new edition to students passing by, while trying to also get some new members. On the other side, the popular teens were joking with each other, confusing new young students that looked almost as big as their backpacks.

Her pale brown eyes scrutinized the few groups around her, trying maybe to find decent looking people to help her not get lost in the building. Without really noticing it, she was already climbing the few steps where the two "main groups" seemed to be sticking around.

- Heyyy, there! Do I know you? suddenly said a tall and strong guy, who looked at her like she was his pray.

- I... uh, I don't think so? I'm new here. She answered, almost murmuring.

- Huh? he came closer to her, turning his ear to her like if he would hear better this way.

- I said that I was new here. She said a little louder.

- Whaat? he giggled, playfully. Can you repeat again?

She knew perfectly that he did understood what she told him, we didn't need to be a genius to understand that this guy was only messing with her. She saw him glancing over his friends, who were all giggling and whispering about her. "Great... and I thought I wouldn't attract too much attention" she told herself. 

- Mathis, another guy with black hair started talking to the boy messing with Eli, just lea- he stopped talking as Eli said something

- I'm not a dumbass, I know that you understood, now could you let me pass by? she admitted, confident and not intimidated by the guy looking down on her.

- Uh... y-yeah.

He stayed there, looking a little surprise and let her pass through. He seemed to not be the only one surprised, as she didn't hear anyone talk and laugh anymore while entering the school. The black haired guy started following her into the school, until she stopped walking, noticing someone was following her. He stood behind her, waiting for her to face him.

Seeing that they weren't talking, she turned over and saw him. He was wearing an old Bon Jovi's concert shirt with black stripped pants. He wasn't much taller than her and his dark hair was a little messy. He looked friendly, but had this strange distant look in his eyes. "Are they blue or green?" she asked herself as she was examining his pale eyes.

- Uhm... hi. He finally said, feeling a little uncomfortable of being inspected so intensely.

- Oh, sorry... hi. She excused herself as she noticed how she was staring right into his eyes. Didn't I see you earlier?

- Yeah, I was actually trying to defend you before you cut me. That was pretty rad.

- Ah, that. She laughed. Honestly it wasn't much of a big deal. Since it's my first day, I just don't really want it to start in a bad way, you know?

- Haha, I see. He softly laughed. Well, since you're new, do you need help finding your locker and other things like that?

- Oh yeah! That would awesome actually.

- Alright, so what's your locker number?

- Uh... she took out of her backpack a sheet of paper showing her class schedule with her locker number and other informations. It's the 6-3-4.

- Oh, it's almost right besides mine. Mine's 637. Follow me, he said, smiling.

They began walking towards the main stairs, where they'd go to the second floor on which their locker was. She was happy to see she already made a "friend".

"Hopefully, this won't be too much of a hard year" she whispered to herself.