tangerine.
Cass hears me come in and turns to grin at me over her shoulder. “Good morning, sweetie!”
I smile at her enthusiastic tone. “Man, somebody’s happy to get rid of me this morning. Have I really been that hard to be around this summer?”
Dad responds with a low, gravelly chuckle. “Not at all, sweetheart. We’re just celebrating your first day of your last year of high school.”
I nod as I pull off a section of my tangerine. I bite into it and relish its sweetness as the cool juice runs down my throat. There’s nothing quite like a California tangerine. These were grown not even two hours away from us. I can taste the freshness oozing out of the fruit here like I never did back in Kentucky.
After a hearty breakfast, I kiss Dad and Cass goodbye and step carefully out to where the red Jag, now officially mine, is waiting. I hurry into the driver’s seat and turn the ignition, eager and nervous to get this day started.
A few minutes of driving later, I pull into the parking lot and my breath catches in my throat.
There it is…Wilcox High School in all its glory. The place where I’ll be spending the next year of my life. Its marble pillars, towering palm trees, and gigantic double doors scream to the world that this is the richest, most elite, most powerful school in all of Los Angeles…possibly in all of the West Coast. I feel like a tiny mushroom in comparison to this.
Soon after I start down one of the aisles, Raven’s limo rolls in and drops her off in style. I roll my eyes as I pull into what we call a “heart healthy” parking spot in Kentucky. One thing I don’t want to do is strut into this school like I own the place. That’s fine for Raven, but today I need to keep as low a profile as possible.
When I step out of the car and slam the door shut, I lift my head and glance around at my classmates. My shoes scuff onto the sidewalk and my stomach sinks. These people are not going to be impressed by me. They’re all from some affluent family or another and are accustomed to people like me coming and going all the time. I won’t be able to con them into thinking I’m something special. That’s why my plan to blend in might just work.
Raven appears beside me when I finally reach the covered sidewalk at the entrance of the school. Her crisp red lips pull up in a strained smile.
“Ready, darling?” She holds out her arm and I slip mine through to link it with hers.
I blow out a deep sigh. “Not really, but let’s go.”
Raven ushers me down the walkway. People seem to tremble in fear as we pass by. I wonder if I should be trembling with them. Several girls join us on the way and form a circle around us, just like the circle of bodyguards we had to have on our trip to NYC. Two of them pull the double doors open for us.
Out of the clear blue, as I step inside the entryway, someone shoves an iced latte in my hand. I look over to my right and see the Asian girl from Gio’s party. She wears this uniform better than I do and has her hair pulled back into two cute braids.
“Welcome to Wilcox, Madison. If you need anything this year, just call on Kiki Nguyen.” She rolls her fists back to point at herself with her thumbs.
“Uh…thank you,” I reply in confusion.
Kiki accompanies us into the domed entry hall. I glance up at the fine chandeliers that hang from the ceiling and follow the wall down to the marble floor, which is overlaid with strips of red carpeting. The center of the entryway has a mosaic of the school crest inlaid. Antique doorknobs adorn the mahogany doors of the offices. Some of them have glass windows in them so you can look right in.
We continue down a hallway to the right and find two other girls waiting for us in front of my cherry red locker. One is a full-figured girl with fiery copper hair, and the other has black hair pulled into a tight bun at the nape of her neck and giant chocolate brown eyes. Her lips are pulled into a thin line, and she’s
Cass hears me come in and turns to grin at me over her shoulder. “Good morning, sweetie!”
I smile at her enthusiastic tone. “Man, somebody’s happy to get rid of me this morning. Have I really been that hard to be around this summer?”
Dad responds with a low, gravelly chuckle. “Not at all, sweetheart. We’re just celebrating your first day of your last year of high school.”
I nod as I pull off a section of my tangerine. I bite into it and relish its sweetness as the cool juice runs down my throat. There’s nothing quite like a California tangerine. These were grown not even two hours away from us. I can taste the freshness oozing out of the fruit here like I never did back in Kentucky.
After a hearty breakfast, I kiss Dad and Cass goodbye and step carefully out to where the red Jag, now officially mine, is waiting. I hurry into the driver’s seat and turn the ignition, eager and nervous to get this day started.
A few minutes of driving later, I pull into the parking lot and my breath catches in my throat.
There it is…Wilcox High School in all its glory. The place where I’ll be spending the next year of my life. Its marble pillars, towering palm trees, and gigantic double doors scream to the world that this is the richest, most elite, most powerful school in all of Los Angeles…possibly in all of the West Coast. I feel like a tiny mushroom in comparison to this.
Soon after I start down one of the aisles, Raven’s limo rolls in and drops her off in style. I roll my eyes as I pull into what we call a “heart healthy” parking spot in Kentucky. One thing I don’t want to do is strut into this school like I own the place. That’s fine for Raven, but today I need to keep as low a profile as possible.
When I step out of the car and slam the door shut, I lift my head and glance around at my classmates. My shoes scuff onto the sidewalk and my stomach sinks. These people are not going to be impressed by me. They’re all from some affluent family or another and are accustomed to people like me coming and going all the time. I won’t be able to con them into thinking I’m something special. That’s why my plan to blend in might just work.
Raven appears beside me when I finally reach the covered sidewalk at the entrance of the school. Her crisp red lips pull up in a strained smile.
“Ready, darling?” She holds out her arm and I slip mine through to link it with hers.
I blow out a deep sigh. “Not really, but let’s go.”
Raven ushers me down the walkway. People seem to tremble in fear as we pass by. I wonder if I should be trembling with them. Several girls join us on the way and form a circle around us, just like the circle of bodyguards we had to have on our trip to NYC. Two of them pull the double doors open for us.
Out of the clear blue, as I step inside the entryway, someone shoves an iced latte in my hand. I look over to my right and see the Asian girl from Gio’s party. She wears this uniform better than I do and has her hair pulled back into two cute braids.
“Welcome to Wilcox, Madison. If you need anything this year, just call on Kiki Nguyen.” She rolls her fists back to point at herself with her thumbs.
“Uh…thank you,” I reply in confusion.
Kiki accompanies us into the domed entry hall. I glance up at the fine chandeliers that hang from the ceiling and follow the wall down to the marble floor, which is overlaid with strips of red carpeting. The center of the entryway has a mosaic of the school crest inlaid. Antique doorknobs adorn the mahogany doors of the offices. Some of them have glass windows in them so you can look right in.
We continue down a hallway to the right and find two other girls waiting for us in front of my cherry red locker. One is a full-figured girl with fiery copper hair, and the other has black hair pulled into a tight bun at the nape of her neck and giant chocolate brown eyes. Her lips are pulled into a thin line, and she’s
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