Chapter 1 | 𝚃𝚠𝚘 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝙵𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜

A/N: Okayy, so here is the first real chapter!! And don't worry, Grayson is coming ;) Enjoy!

Sophia's POV

After debating on running away from the school, going back home and sneaking into Liv's house to stay there—I'm sure she'd let me sleep in her basement or something—I finally decided that it wasn't a good idea. I would get in a lot of trouble. And yes, I was actually being serious.

I turned around again, facing the school, already starting to sweat from the nerves. I took deep, shaky breaths. "I can do this," I whispered to myself. Luckily, no one was looking at me, well at least not many people. I noticed a few boys and girls turning to look at me. This wasn't exactly a big town, it wasn't small, either, but let's just say that most people already knew each other.

I tried to ignore them as I walked toward the school's entrance with double doors, but I could feel their scrutinizing stares on my back. Maybe I was being paranoid, I did always overthink, but still, I was extremely anxious.

I walked through the doors that stood open and looked at my right, then my left, searching for the principle's office. Fortunately, I saw a sign against the wall that read "Principle's Office" with an arrow to the left. I sighed in relief, thankful that I didn't need to speak to someone to ask for directions.

As I walked through the hallways, some people took notice of me. A few girls looked me up and down and turned around, back to talking to their friends. I hated my social anxiety, I always thought people were talking about me, judging and gossiping. But at least one girl seemed friendly enough to smile at me. I gave a small smile back, barely evident.

When I stood in front of the office doors, I could still feel holes being bored into the back of my head, so I quickly went inside, hoping to hide from them.

I saw a middle-aged lady sitting at a desk, her hair in a ponytail and glasses on the bridge of her nose. She looked up when I took a step closer to her, now standing in front of it.

"Hello, what can I help you with?" she asked politely, looking over her glasses. But before I could react, she interrupted me, "Oh, are you new here?" I nodded and smiled a little, trying not to look rude, but not wanting to talk.

"Let me see. Is your name by any chance..." She paused, reading something on her computer screen. "Sophia Ross?"

"Yes," I said, rather quietly. She hummed softly and rummaged through a pile of papers on the desk, decisively finding what she was looking for. "Here's your timetable with all your classes. If you need any help, the office is always open during school time, except throughout lunch, or you can just ask a passing student. That may be a chance to make some new friends, okay?" she advised.

I nodded again and persuaded myself to say something. "Okay, thank you." I said my short answer and left the office.

A few boys noticed me this time though. They were leaning against the lockers, and one of them elbowed a friend of his when he saw me. His friend rubbed his ribs, where the other guy had poked him, and looked at his friend with one eyebrow raised. The one that saw me motioned with his head to me, his eyes never leaving my figure. His friend followed his gaze that landed on me, and raised his other eyebrow as well.

I didn't know why they were looking at me like that. Was it my outfit? Did I have something on my face?

I quickly shifted my gaze away from them and started walking in the other direction. When I rounded a corner, I realised I had no clue where I was going. So, I looked down at the paper the friendly lady gave me, and frowned, having no idea where my first class was. English... Not too bad, I thought.

My grades were good, they weren't great, but definitely not bad. Only sometimes during Math, but I mean, it's a fresh start, I'll study a bit more this year.

I jumped slightly when I felt someone touch my shoulder. I turned around and found myself staring at a tall boy. I've seen taller people before, but compared to my 5'3 height, he certainly wasn't short.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," the boy chuckled, his somewhat messy, blonde hair falling over his forehead. He was attractive, I couldn't deny it.

"Oh, uhm... It's okay," I smiled sheepishly. I blushed after I caught myself gaping at him a bit too long. Why do I always have to make things so awkward? Couldn't I just have a normal conversation with someone for once?

"Do you need any help with finding your classes? I'm assuming you're new, since you've been sulking at your timetable while standing in the middle of the hallway for a few minutes now," he said, rather bluntly.

I looked at my, now so suddenly interesting shoes, and immediately felt the heat rising in my cheeks at the thought of people catching me standing here, pouting at my timetable. I could tell that he found that amusing as he chuckled again, shaking his head lightly.

"Come on, I'll show you. What do you have first?" he asked, getting a little closer to look at the paper in my hand.

"Uh, English," I said, still not looking directly at him. I could see him nodding in my peripheral vision.

"With Mr. Sandberg, right?" he inquired rhetorically, and already started walking away. Was I supposed to answer him or—?

"Are you gonna follow me or just stand there?" he asked, looking over his shoulder after noticing that I hadn't moved. I could hear the grin in his voice, and I made an "o" with my mouth, swiftly jogging 'til I was beside him again.

"I'm Logan, by the way," he started. I think I was supposed to say my name now, so I quickly replied with, "Sophia."

He turned his head to the right and looked down at me, the ghost of a smirk still there. "Nice to meet you, Sophia." I didn't know how to reply, so I just blushed again and looked down.

"How old are you?" he asked me.

"Sixteen," I replied, but realised that I was being rude, so forced myself to add, "But I turn seventeen in a few days." After all, he was helping me find the right room.

He hummed in response. "I'll try to remember that," he said. Does that mean I'm going to see him again? I hope so. He was the first person to talk to me at this school and was nice enough to show me my way to English.

For the rest of the walk, no one spoke, it was silent between us. But not an awkward silence, more like a comfortable one. Which was weird, usually I didn't feel this relaxed with strangers. Not that he didn't intimidate me—because he undeniably did—but he was easy to talk to.

The bell rang just when he came to a halt, and I almost walked past the classroom door, because I was so deep in thought, but his voice stopped me. "We've arrived, milady," he said with a grin plastered on his face. I turned around to face him and blushed when I had to take a few steps back.

"Thank you for showing me," I said, grateful for not having to search the whole building and be late. But then I abruptly thought of something, "Aren't you going to be late for your class?" I asked, worried that I had made him late. We've practically walked to the other side of the building to get here.

He shrugged nonchalantly, "Probably." I frowned slightly. Didn't he care to be late for his first class of the year? I mean, I knew people skipped classes and did way worse, but I never dared to do such a thing. I was, for one, too scared of the attention I'd get if the teacher would yell at me in front of everyone, and two, my parents would freak out and undoubtedly ground me.

"Don't worry, Princess. But you should go inside though, you don't want to be late now, do you?" he asked playfully. I shook my head and felt flustered at the new nickname he gave me. I wonder how many times he would make me blush today...

"Thanks again," I said, and walked into the classroom.

When I was inside, I wasn't ready for all the attention I got. All eyes were on me, the teacher's and the students'. Again, for the hundredths time today, I blushed, looking away from the kids in front of me and decided to put my focus on the teacher—Mr. Sandberg.

"S-Sorry for interrupting, Sir. I'm new here and didn't know where to go," I rambled out quickly. At least I didn't stutter too much, I thought proudly. My hands fidgeted with the paper in my hand and I shuffled on my feet, feeling quite uncomfortable under everyone's observation.

"That's alright, Ms. ..." he trailed off, looking down at his desk where a paper laid, probably with all the names of the students in this class.

"Sophia Ross," I interjected rapidly. He lifted his head up and smiled. "Right. Okay, Sophia, you can go sit over there, next to Natalie," he pointed at an empty seat next to a girl with black hair.

The girl seemed surprised when she heard her name being called, as she lifted her head up from the desk, looking very disoriented and confused. I think she was sleeping, because she had her head rested on her arms before the teacher had awoken her.

When she spotted me and the teacher looking at her, she cleared her throat and blinked a few times, still trying to process what was happening.

"Everyone here will do their best to make you feel welcome here and make sure you fit in just fine," the teacher said sternly, and I took that as my que to leave the front of the class. I went over to the empty desk, avoiding any eye contact, and put my bag on the ground next to the chair.

"Hey, I'm Natalie," said the black-haired girl beside me. I sat down in my chair and finally met her gaze. I felt comforted when I saw her features. She had a big grin on her face, making me feel a bit more stress-free than before. She was also extremely beautiful with her shoulder-length, black, shiny hair and brown eyes that twinkled in the light.

"Hi, I'm Sophia," I introduced myself. I was glad to sit next to her, she seemed like a truly outgoing and funny person.

"I really like your outfit," she commented, examining my tucked-in shirt and skirt. I let out a soft, breathy giggle. "Thank you. I really like your ear piercings," I remarked. She had two earrings in her earlobe and one helix piercing. I've always liked how lovely they looked.

"Thanks. I can already tell we're gonna be good friends," she said, and then rested her head back on her arms, the smile never leaving her face. "But I'm already warning you, next time, bring your sleeping mask with you, this class is the most boring class ever." I couldn't help but laugh at her statement.

Like she said, we really got along simply fine. Even though we seemed polar opposites, I really had a good feeling about her, like I could trust her. And with polar opposites, I mean our personalities and looks. She had short, black hair, I had long, light brown hair. She seemed so confident and sociable, while I'm afraid and indecisive. I envied that about her, even though I don't even really know her, but it's not the jealous kind of type, I just loved people like her. They inspire me.

She also resembled Liv a lot, I noticed. Liv was also an open and kind-hearted person, but she could be pretty scary at times if someone pissed her off.

-

After Mr. Sandberg's class, Natalie offered to show me to my next location—History. I actually really enjoyed the subject, it was very fascinating and intriguing, which a lot of people found strange about me.

During English, I could still feel people looking at me. Sometimes with curiosity, other times they glared. Mostly girls glared, and I had no freaking idea why. It was the same as my last school. What am I doing wrong?

Natalie told me to ignore them, and that's exactly what I did. Okay, let me reform that. That's exactly what I tried to do.

It's a lot harder than you think. But after the first few minutes, I started taking notes of what the teacher said, even though it was only an introduction lesson, it kept my mind off of them. Natalie was sleeping, and I think the teacher only let it slip because it was the first day.

"What do you have now?" I asked Natalie. I usually never have the nerve to make conversation with someone I barely knew, so it surprised me that I did. It was probably because she was such an approaching person. In class, she looked tired, but when we left the classroom, she started chatting and telling me everything I needed to know about this school.

She explained me everything about the people I needed to stay away from, for example the, as she called them, 'snobby, stuck-up peaches'. She didn't literally say the word 'peaches', but I'm not allowed to curse. That was one of the first rules my parents taught me when I was younger.

Those girls in my English class, the ones that glared daggers my way, were one of those people, said Natalie. That's why she told me to disregard them. All they wanted was attention.

"I don't know," she answered at last. I tilted my head to the side.

"You don't know what class you have?" How could she not know? How will she go to her classroom if she doesn't know?

"Probably Math or something." She looked uninterested by the subject and completely unbothered, instead winking at a passing girl. They probably knew each other.

When she looked at me and saw the confusion on my face, she smirked. "You are truly adorable," she said out of the blue. My tilted head came back to its original position and I blushed, not knowing what to do How am I supposed to react to that?

"Have you ever had a boyfriend before?" she asked. I looked at her again, wondering why she questioned me about my love-life, but answered nonetheless. "No. Why?"

"Just curious," came her short reply, and she was quiet again.

We reached the History class and she turned to face me. "Show me your timetable." I fished the paper out of my pocket in my skirt and gave it to her. She studied it for a second, appearing deep in thought.

"I don't think we have any classes together before lunch... So, when you enter the canteen, look for me. I regularly sit at one of the tables in the middle, okay? Unless you're already planning on sitting with someone else, of course," she said, handing me back my paper.

"Uhm, no, I don't have anyone to sit with," I said, feeling a little ashamed of myself, as I am sure that if she were new here, she'd already have made lots of friends. Though I still feel pretty proud of myself. I mean, I already made two new friends in less than two hours. If I could even call Logan a friend. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be, which I am thankful for.

She smiled, "Well, you know where to find me. See you later, Sophia." She already started walking away and I waved, even though her back was now facing me and she couldn't see me anymore.

I inhaled deeply. Here we go again, I thought as I entered an unfamiliar classroom for the second time today.

Only a few more hours to go...

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A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter, it's still a bit slow-going though. But if you did please VOTE, it'll help me a lot!

CU hopefully in the next chapterrr