Halina Mitchell walked into her new school in Oklahoma, her backpack carelessly hanging from her shoulders. It was suffocatingly small. She was told that there were only around thirty kids in her class. She sighed. At least that gives me a chance to know everyone in my class. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and walked up the stairs to the office. A woman with short blonde hair and a smile greeted her.
"Hi, you're new here aren't you? You must be, I know everyone here and can't recall ever meeting you. I'm Mrs. Marshall. What's your name, dear?" she asked all in one breath. Hallie was a bit taken back by her friendliness, but returned the smile.
"Halina Mitchell," she said, following the lady further into the room.
"Oh yes, yes. The lawyer's daughter. I should have known that. We've been waiting for you to get here for a few days. I thought that you were supposed to come to school last Thursday," she said, looking at her questioningly.
"Well, flying to Oklahoma from New York will give you quite a case of jet lag. I've been trying to get used to the time change and helping my parents move into our new house," she said. The secretary nodded, accepting the explanation. She handed Hallie a few papers.
"Your parents need to fill these out and read the handbook which will be sent to them through the mail. You'll need to get a physical and turn it in to me if you plan on playing any sports. Here's your class schedule and locker number," she said, handing her a piece of blue paper. Pointing over toward a pile of books she said, "Those are all yours. I'll get someone to help you carry them up to your locker," she said, waking toward the door.
"Up?" Hallie asked.
"Yes, your locker is on the third floor. You have a lot of stairs to climb." Hallie blew her bangs out of her eyes and adjusted her backpack on her shoulders. Mrs. Marshall walked out into the middle of the busy hallway and looked for someone. Suddenly, she reached out into the sea of students and grabbed the arm of a person and pulled him into the office.
"Good morning, Mr. Hanson. How would you like to help a new student with her books?" she asked, still holding onto the sleeve of his shirt. He groaned and then Hallie stepped out from behind Mrs. Marshall. His disposition immediately changed.
"Sure, no problem," he said, flashing them both a smile that simply read 'I'm cute and I know it'. Hallie grinned and looked down. Mrs. Marshall released his arm and pointed toward Hallie's books.
"There you are, sir. If you could, show her where everything is, too. It's not like the school's all that big or anything, but she is new." He nodded and picked up an arm load of her books while Hallie retrieved the rest.
"Will do, Mrs. Marshall," he said, walking out of the room with Hallie following him. Once out in the hallway, he looked over at her. "So, what's your name?"
"Halina Mitchell. But, you can call me Hallie. That's why most people do," she said as they began climbing the stairs at the end of the hallway.
"I'm Taylor Hanson. If you'd like, you can call me Tay. I answer to about everything, including my brothers' names seeing as mom can never keep us all straight," he said.
"How many brothers do you have?" she asked.
"I have three brothers and three sisters," he said. "So I can get called one of seven names." He began imitating his mother, making his voice higher. "'Ike, Zac, Jess, Avie, Mac, Zoe, oh whatever the hell your name is, come here!'" Hallie laughed.
"I don't have any brothers or sisters. You'd think with my dad's job and stuff, mom wouldn't be as weird as she is about popping out kids."
"What does your dad do?" Taylor asked as the two came to the top of the last flight of stairs.
"He's a lawyer. He got offered a job down here with some big firm in downtown Tulsa or something and he didn't want to live in town. So, here I am in a tiny little suburb," Hallie said.
"What's your locker number?" he asked, looking up and down the rows of red lockers lining the walls. Hallie looked at the paper on top of the books she was carrying.
"Um, ninety-four," she said. He started walking toward the end of the hallway.
"Aw man, you got this locker," he said, sitting the books down and shaking his head.
"What's wrong with this locker?" Hallie asked, letting the books she was holding fall to the floor.
"Well, it's on the end and by a door. That means that if you get out here and stand by your locker before this class is out . . . WHACK! You get hit by the door," he said. Hallie laughed.
"Nice sound effect."
"Thanks, I liked it," he said, grinning again. Hallie opened her locker and started putting her books away.
"Where's your first class?" Taylor asked. "I'll help you find it." Hallie handed him her schedule and sat Indian style on the floor, shoving books into her locker. Taylor leaned up against the locker beside her's and inspected the paper. "Well, you have your first class in this room right here," he said, pointing to the closed door across the hall. "And then your second in the last room on the right side of this hallway."
"My right or your right?" she asked, looking up at him. He looked down and smiled.
"Just think of it this way, this side," he said pointing to the wall that her locker was on. She nodded.
"After that you have lunch the same period as me, you lucky girl, you. For third period you have journalism so that will be in the computer room in the basement. You'll have to have me show you the way down there because I'm not even going to begin to tell you all the turns and crap you have to make to get down there. And then for last period it's back to this room here," he said, pointing to the door across the hall again. He handed the piece of paper back to her. She accepted it and then stood up.
"Do I have any of the same classes that you do?" she asked. He nodded.
"Journalism. I'm the editor of the paper. Your day just keeps getting better and better doesn't it?" he asked. She laughed and nodded.
"Oh yes. Definitely." Taylor began walking away from her and toward the end of the hallway.
"I need to get to my first class before the teacher goes into cardiac arrest. If you need my help again, my locker is right across from yours on the other side of the hallway." She looked at the locker which had a name tag which read "J. Taylor Hanson" on it.
"All right. Thanks," she said. He nodded and began descending the stairs. Grabbing her books, Hallie walked over to the door that he had told her that he class was at and knocked.
An hour and a half later, the bell rang and first period was over. Hallie had decided that she really didn't like her Spanish teacher at all. The woman was almost begging to be shot. She tossed her books into her locker and then pulled the World History text book out. As she was searching for another pencil in her book back, she noticed a shadow looming over her. She looked up to see a pair of icy blue eyes staring back at her.
"How'd it go?" Taylor asked. She shrugged.
"Foreign languages never settle with me very well," she said. He laughed.
"Foreign languages don't settle well with anyone in this school, Hallie. No one likes her. Don't be afraid to say it," he said.
"All right, I was ready to slit my wrists after she made me conjugate twelve verbs out loud to the class. It would be and understatement if I said that I strongly disliked her," she admitted. He nodded.
"That's what I thought." Just as Taylor said this, the door to the room right next to flew open, hitting Hallie in the back, pushing her into Taylor. He caught her by her arms and laughed. "Didn't I tell you that would happen?" Hallie stared up at him and giggled.
"Yeah yeah. Taylor Hanson knows all," she said, stepped back out of his range. A hand on her arm suddenly drew her attention away from the boy in front of her and to the boy behind her.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Are you all right?" a boy with semi curly longish hair asked her. She nodded.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Taylor laughed and put his arm around the tall, lanky boy's shoulders.
"Hallie, I'd like you to meet my brother, Isaac." Isaac smiled faintly.
"You can call me Ike. Are you sure that you're all right? I'm really sorry about hitting you with the door." Hallie smiled and nodded.
"I'm fine, really. You just scared me a little."
"Ike usually has that affect on girls," a voice said. A girl stepped out from behind Isaac and grinned up at him while nudging him with her elbow.
"Hey, I got you," he said, putting his arm around her waist.
"I'm brave, though." He laughed.
"Hallie, this is my girlfriend, Noelle Carson. Elle, this is Hallie Mitchell," Isaac said. Hallie looked over Noelle. She wasn't very tall. Maybe 5"3' at the most, but definitely not petite. Her shoulders were a bit too broad and she had well defined muscles in her arms.
"Nice to meet ya, Hallie. Where are you from?" she asked.
"New York. We just moved here a couple days ago." Noelle's jaw dropped.
"You moved here from New York? What on earth ever possessed you to do such a thing?" she asked, a horrified expression on her face. Hallie grinned.
"My dad got offered this job with a big firm in Tulsa. He liked the idea of me spending some time in a small town. He wanted me to get the best of both worlds, I guess." Isaac looked up at the clock on the wall.
"We'd better get going to our next class," he said, noticing the time slowly disappearing. Noelle, looked up too, then nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, I guess we should. It was nice meeting you Hallie," she said as she and Isaac began walking down the hallway toward the senior's lockers.
"You too!" Hallie called to them.
Isaac looked over at Noelle and smiled.
"She seems like a nice girl," Noelle said. Isaac nodded.
"I get the sinking suspicion that we'll be seeing a lot more of her in these days to come," he said, looking over his shoulder to where Taylor and Hallie were still talking in front of her locker. They both shared a grin and began descending the stairs.
By the time the bell rang before her last period class, Hallie was severely frazzled. The Chemistry class that she was in was a bit farther ahead than the one she had been in back in New York and she was nothing less than completely lost. Forget the Geometry. Besides science classes, math classes were her least favorite subjects. Lunch had been the best time so far. She sat outside under an oak tree in front of the school and ate the lunch she had brought from home. She supposed that Taylor had forgotten about her. As she slammed her locker door shut, she began looking around for a face that looked friendly so that she could ask for the directions to the Journalism room that Taylor had promised to take her to. A hand on her shoulder broke her concentration. She turned around, a bit startled.
"Hey, ready for me to take you to the room?" Taylor asked. She sighed and nodded. "What's wrong? Tough first day?" he asked as they began walking down the hallway, side by side.
"Tough would be an understatement. I feel like I've been run over by a bus. I am just really confused with the Chemistry and Geometry classes that I have. Mom and Dad sold my car back in New York so I'll have to stay here for lunch every day, although the school does say that it has open campus lunch periods I won't be able to take advantage of that," she said as they bounded down the last flight of stairs and into the basement. Once through a series of different doors which Hallie swore she would never be able to remember, they entered a sprawling room filled with computers, books, large work tables, a television, stereo, and about a million other miscellaneous things. She stopped talking as they entered the room. There were only about eleven other students plus a teacher in there. They were all talking and laughing. Some were sitting with their feet propped up on the table drinking cokes and watching tv. Hallie automatically knew that this would be her favorite class. Taylor smiled at her reaction.
"This is journalism. We sit around eating and watch tv. Joke around. And, occasionally, we write." Hallie scanned the room in awe. "The teacher, Ms. Simon is a bit scatterbrained, but really cool," he said, pointing over toward a heavy woman with short blonde hair and glasses who was kidding around with the group of kids who were watching tv. Taylor grabbed her arm and pulled her toward Ms. Simon.
"Ms. Simon, this is Hallie Mitchell. She's new here," Taylor said, once he got her attention.
"Hallie? That's a cool name. Well, here, let's assign you a computer. Um, do you have any writing experience? Did you write for a paper back in your old school?" she asked, pushing her glasses back up her long nose.
"Some, yes. I didn't have a garunteed spot in it all the time or anything. It was a big school so there were other people who were put before me," she said. Ms.Simon nodded.
"I understand. Well, here you'll write one article every two weeks and have to sell four ads for the yearbook. Actually, since you're comng here late, I'll make that two ads. Um, that macintosh over there is free and works just as well as you can expect any macintosh to work," she said, shrugging and walking over to a computer. She removed the cover and turned it on. "If you need any help with the computer, talk to me or your tour guide over here," she said, pointing at Taylor. "He's almost frighteningly good with computers. Get signed up for an article to write and you'll be in business, okay?" she said smiling. Hallie was a little overwhelmed, but was sure that she could handle it with the help of Taylor. She nodded. "Great. Welcome to Bates High School." Ms. Simon rushed off in the direction that her name was being called. Hallie turned around to face Taylor, her eyes wide. He laughed.
"Don't worry about it, I'll help you," he said, patting her on the shoulder and pulling her chair out of her desk for her to sit in. "Have a seat and we'll introduce you to the mac, all right?" Hallie nodded and accepted the seat as Taylor took the mouse and began giving her a tour of the computer. She looked up at him as he leaned over her, looking at the monitor. He was biting on his lower lip and his eyes were in constant motion over the computer screen. She inhaled and smelled his scent, smiling. Maybe this school wouldn't be so bad after all.
