I could hear my phone vibrate, and started to read my messages again.
Melissa: Well, did you Google them?
Me: I’m not gonna stalk my own soon-to-be stepbrothers. That’s just weird. Besides, they’re really...normal when you meet them face-to-face.
I was going to say average, but that would be an obvious lie, one Melissa would see right through. There was no way I was going to swoon over that jerk Cole. And I wasn’t going to encourage Melissa to, either.
Melissa: Ooh la la, the guys over there must be hawt for identical six-foot twins to be your new normal! Why didn’t I move with you again? You must have a spare bedroom or two in that humongous mansion, right?
I now wished I hadn’t FaceTimed with her the first day I had arrived in Gray Lake. But the beautiful three-story place Marcus called home, with its limestone façade, wraparound balconies, and marble spiral staircases, spread luxuriously over ten gorgeous acres, was a wonderland in my mind, and I hadn’t been able to contain my excitement and amazement. Thus the video call to both Melissa and Tony. Whilst Melissa had joined me in my squealing, unable to keep her mouth from hanging open, Tony had simply smiled and wished me luck in my new life and went back to his studying. I found out later that Melissa had planned a movie date that night with Roy Garth, her ex, and Tony’s nemesis.
I wondered how Melissa would fare if she were in my shoes. She would probably hit it off right away with the twins. She would probably date them both at once, too. Melissa Torres, with her gorgeous chestnut-brown corkscrew curls and sexy curves, her bright smile and I-don’t-give-a-damn attitude towards life and what others thought of her, who on her first day of school in seventh grade sat at my lunch table and offered me some Skittles. After I had shyly picked out the green and yellow ones, she smiled, patted me on the arm, and told me we were going to be great friends, because she only ate the red, purple, and orange Skittles. This turned out to be a fair representation of our friendship – we complemented each other. Where she made hasty judgments, I was the voice of reason; and when I was umming and ahhing about something, she helped me weigh its pros and cons – although, with her, it was basically whatever felt good at the time. I extrapolated this to mean whatever felt right to do, and I had learned to trust my gut feeling ever since.
Tony joined our duo a year later, having moved from Vancouver to our small town with his mom, and we became a harmonious trio. Tony was the quiet, reliable one of us three, our rock, and we worked well together. Until Melissa started to notice the opposite sex and began to go out with them. I could swear he turned green after that first date with some jerk who only wanted to grope her. He never said it, but it was obvious, at least to me, how pained his expressions would become whenever Melissa went on dates. She would update us the next day – or the same night, depending on how the date went.
The Range Rover swerved around a corner, jolting me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see a colossal gray building ahead of us, the same shade of gray as the uniforms we had on. As Hans deftly parked the car in the nearly full lot, I could see several girls walking towards us, smiles on their faces. One of them, a tall, slim girl with sleek, brown hair, saw me and glared. I couldn’t even blame the sunshine for that nasty look she was giving me – it simply wasn’t bright enough out. Her expression immediately brightened when Cole stepped out of the car and headed for her. My breakfast threatened to make an appearance as I watched them suck each other’s faces for a good, long while in front of everyone.
“I missed you so much!” she gushed, flipping her dark brown hair over her shoulder. Cole replied something inaudible and she laughed as she linked arms with him. Right before they walked away she threw a triumphant look at me over her shoulder. Insecure, much?
I looked away from them and into the direction of the main building, where I presumed the offices were. I needed to get my schedule for the day and hopefully get a longer version of the skirt I was wearing.
“Need help finding your way around?” a voice asked me. I turned to see a guy with russet brown hair and twinkling eyes give me a friendly white smile. Judging from his muscular physique and smooth confidence, he was one of the school’s heartbreakers. He was leaning against a red SUV next to Hans, who made no move to introduce me or even make eye contact with me, his arms around a cute, petite blonde.
“Um, that’s alright, I can figure it out,” I replied, unsure if I was expected to answer otherwise. I glanced quickly at Hans and saw that he had no interest in my exchange, so quickly left. So much for having some familiar faces here.
***
After being told there was only one length for the skirt, and once I got my locker number and combination and a map of the school, I found myself in first period Math looking out the window and wishing the weeks would go by quickly so I wouldn’t be the new girl anymore. I had forgotten what it meant to try to fit in, especially when everyone already had their own group of friends. It wasn’t that people were unfriendly, other than Cole’s girlfriend, that is. It was just the feeling of being alone in a huge, happy crowd.
What would Melissa do if she were here? I decided that the first thing I could do was to stop feeling sorry for myself and wipe the
