Chapter 2

Note: There will probably be a new note for each chapter. Just warning you.
Actual Note: The boy in the new banner at the top of the page (his name is Ulliel Gaspard) is my interpretation of how Ellis Lennon looks. Feel free to picture him anyway you like, but I'd thought I tell you what that random kid is doing there. Also, I've made up Ellis and Hazel's school schedules for no real reason other than character development and all that jazz, but if you'd like to look at them they're the first thing at the top of page to the right. Thanks for reading! -Deb

I slept soundly that night, with no dreams. When I woke in the morning, clear bright sunlight was pouring into my room through the window, just as a perfect summer day would be imagined. I smiled as I hopped out of bed, well rested but hungry.
Chris was already sitting in the kitchen when I got there, his long hair tousled and his rectangular black glasses substituting for his regular contacts. I was fortunate enough to have nearly perfect eyesight, unlike the rest of my family.
“Do you want a strawberry poptart with butter?” I asked.
He stared at me for a few seconds before answering “No, I’m just gonna have my coffee.” He’d taken to drinking pure black coffee either to seem older or more mysterious, I wasn’t sure which.
“Suit yourself.” He had never liked poptarts to begin with, especially the fruit flavored ones. But strawberry ones with melted butter on top was my favorite breakfast. I couldn’t remember when that tradition started, but I was the one who started it somehow. My parents had always thought it was irregular, but it seemed normal to me. I poured myself a small glass of milk to go along with my breakfast, and waited for the poptart to get done toasting.
“What’re you doing today?” I asked Chris.
“Just hanging around here,” he answered in a groggy voice.
“Oh. Maybe we could see a movie or something later.”
“Okay.”
The toaster beeped, indicating that my poptart was toasted thoroughly. I spread butter all across the hard crust of the white icing and sat down. I noticed the Thursday paper was sitting just in front of me. The headline on the first page was boring, so I started looking through the layers. One page starting falling out, but I didn’t notice. I dropped the paper down on the table, dissatisfied with the stories. I took a bite of poptart and glanced at it one more time. A small face stared back, a fixed smile on his face. It was Ellis Lennon.
I shook out the portion from the rest of the paper, curious. The rest of his band mates were there, too, and the title read “Local Band Wins Big Gig”.
“What are you looking at?” Chris asked.
“This article about Ellis Lennon’s band. Apparently they have a big gig coming up.”
“Oh.” He sounded interested. “Can I see it?”
“Uh, yeah.” I reluctantly handed it over to him. He scanned the page while sipping his coffee. “They won some contest for a chance to play at the Vine Arena. I guess that’s hard to book or something.”
“When is it?”
“Let’s see…next Friday. You wanna go?”
I really did. I had liked their music a lot, but I didn’t want to seem like a weird fan or something. “Um, I have to see what I’m doing and everything, but I think I’d go, if you went.”
“Yeah, I’d go.” He put down the paper. I wanted to grab it and read it for myself, but I held back.
“I’m gonna go take a shower,” he said. He rose and left without cleaning his cup.
When he was gone, I took the article and went to my bedroom. I read the whole thing once over, paying attention to every detail. Then I went back and read different parts of it to get the information straight.
Their band was called December Breath. I’d somehow missed that when they played at Frisco. They’d competed in a contest that had started in June for a chance to play at the Vine Arena, and then record a demo of three songs. About one hundred small local bands tried out, but only ten made it to the semi-finals. Five made it to the finals, and then people voted for the winner based off of a performance.
“Ha-zel!” My mom called. “Mail!”
I left the paper on my bed and went down to the kitchen.
“Here.” She handed me a thin manila envelope. “It’s from the high school.”
“Oh, thanks.” I ripped it open and pulled out one single paper. It was my schedule for eleventh grade.
I reached for the phone. I had to call my best friend, Cassie. She’d gotten her schedule last week, and I realized we didn’t have any classes together, not even lunch.
“Hello?” I recognized Cassie’s voice.
“Hey, Cass, it’s Hazel.”
“Oh, hey.”
“I just got my schedule, and we don’t really have any classes together.” I said this slowly and regretfully.
She groaned. “You’re kidding me! What lunch period do you have?”
“Fifth.”
“Ugh! I have sixth!”
“I know.” I paused. “Do you have classes with Ryan?” That was her boyfriend since last year.
“Yeah. We have lunch, gym, and math together.” I heard her Mom talking in the background. “Listen, I have to go. My Mom’s yelling at me to go fold laundry.”
“Okay, see ya.”
“Bye.”
That was probably the shortest conversation I’d ever had with her. I was beginning to panic. Cassie was my best friend, one of my only very close friends, and I wasn’t the type of person to have a million other ones to call on. By a stroke of luck we’d always had at least lunch and one class together, but now I wasn’t sure if we’d be as close by the end of the year. She’d have different friends, and so would I. At least I hoped I’d make new friends.
“Do you have classes with Cassie?” My Mom asked. She obviously hadn’t been listening to my previous conversation.
I sighed. “No. Not even lunch.” “Oh, I’m sorry, dear. Chris went through the same thing in ninth grade, and he found friends all right. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
It must have been easier for him, though. By the time ninth grade rolls around, you usually find some new friends anyway because of the transition from middle school to high school. I sulked for a minute, but then I heard the water turn off upstairs.
By the time Chris told me I could have the bathroom, I was well ready for a shower. I just stood in the water for a while, letting it beat down on my back and loosening my muscles. I felt like a moody middle school girl because of how I felt about the news. I attempted to be a little optimistic, at the least. I could probably find some acquaintances to sit with at lunch, and getting through classes wouldn’t be that hard.
Reluctantly I shut off the water and wrapped myself in a towel. I wanted to get out of the house as fast as I could, do something exciting. I always knew that to get something off your mind you should stay busy.
Chris and I rode in his car to the movie. We decided to see a superhero movie about a superhero who is in love with his enemy, a beautiful but evil woman. He’s continually tantalized by her because she feints her way through a relationship with him so she can destroy him.
It was packed with special effects and twists, capturing the attention of Chris, but boring me a little. I was more of a comedy person, myself. I’d agreed to go see the movie because I didn’t want to stay in the house and be susceptible to my thoughts, but now I found myself panicking slightly again. As soon as the credits started to roll, I realized I’d missed the whole conclusion to the movie.
“That was great, huh?” Chris stood up.
“It was a little long.” My knees cracked as I rose.
“We have to get that on DVD when it comes out.”
“Mhm.”
Monday, the first of school, was approaching quickly. I was all ready for it to come, except for the part about Cassie. That morning, I showered and ate in the same routine as the previous year, but when it came to getting dressed, I drew a blank.
The first day of school was never a show for me, but it was always nerve racking. About half the girls in the school wore their very best new outfit, but I was never one to care all that much. I eventually decided on an older emerald green sweater. I wanted to feel comfortable today, not scared that I might stain a new shirt. I made an exception with my jeans, though. My old ones had been thrown away because of how often I wore them. I’d worn them to rags, almost. I sighed. The stiff fabric of my new ones would stretch with time, I knew, but I missed the familiarity.
“Hazel, you better hurry. Chris just left.” My mom opened the door a bit to make sure I was ready.
“Okay, I’m going now.”
She smiled at me. “You look great.”
I half-smiled back. “Thanks.”
The school was chaos when I got there. Eager, hyper freshmen were looking at their maps and nervously talking, while seniors stood in clumps, completely at ease. I chuckled to myself as I crossed the parking lot. I remembered myself as a freshman, just two years ago, exactly like the kids today.
“Hey, watch out.” I stopped abruptly. I’d almost run into someone, distracted with my thoughts. I looked up at the voice. It belonged to Ellis Lennon.
“Hey.” He smiled, his eyes amused.
“Sorry,” I breathed. He hadn’t changed since I’d last saw him only a few days ago. He wore a gray long sleeved shirt and casual jeans.
“It’s fine,” he chuckled. “Just be careful here. Next you’ll be walking out in front of a car or something.”
I nervously tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear, embarrassed. “Yeah, I tend to get lost in my thoughts a lot.”
He was still smiling. “Well, I’ll see you later.”
“Okay, see ya.” I walked away feeling very stupid.
I found Cassie at her new locker, a hallway away from mine. She was hanging up her backpack in her locker when I came up to her.
“Hey Cass,” I greeted her, leaning against the closed locker next to hers.
“Hey!” She didn’t look my way, but continued to struggle with hanging her backpack.
“I can’t quite seem to get this hooked.” She stooped to see what the problem was. “Oh, got it.”
She stood up again, turning to me with wide eyes. “I saw who you almost ran into a few minutes ago.”
“Ellis Lennon?”
She nodded. “Your face was hysterical.”
“I was embarrassed.”
“He’s cute, don’t you think?”
I’d never fully admitted it before, but I’d always thought very highly of his appearance. “Yeah, he is.”
“Did you know he’s in a band?” she leaned forward. “Yeah, they played at Frisco just last Thursday. And they won some contest thing so they’re playing at the Vine Arena soon.” “I heard about that. You going?”
“Well, Chris wanted to, so I thought I’d go just for something to do.”
“I wish I could go. How much cuter would he be playing an instrument? What does he play, anyway?”
“The bass.”
“Did he get sweaty?”
“Oh my word, Cass, what’s wrong with you? Getting a crush?”
“No!” she shot back defensively. “I’m fully committed to Ryan.”
Cassie had always loved to talk about guys. She was usually quiet, but when it came to the subject she asked a million questions and spoke her mind easily. Of course, it was typical of teenage girls to be like that, but somehow, I’d always been more laid-back about them. I’d had my fair share of crushes, but I’d always fit in with them in a very non-romantic way.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Cassie nagged. I rolled my eyes and said good-bye.
Homeroom was typical for the first day. The teacher introduced himself and informed us about attendance and the announcements, which were being broadcasted over a TV for the first time. He was ecstatic about it, and droned on for the whole ten minutes.
Next I had US History. The teacher was an older man. He looked like he’d been here for at least fifteen years. He gave out all the text books, and we ploughed through a rough outline of what we were going to cover that year. By the time the bell rang, I was dreading history class already.
I had a study hall next, so I relaxed a little. The history teacher didn’t give us homework, but I knew that I’d probably have a small mountain of it by the time the day was done, though it was only the first day. I walked into study hall and scanned the contents of the class. My eyes stopped on the back of a head, his neck scarred. My face burned as I sat down quietly, thinking of the minor embarrassing incident this morning. There were two empty desks near me, one in front of me and one beside me, but the one beside me had books piled on it. I hoped no one would come back to it. I liked it like this, avoiding conversation right now. I was starting to miss Cassie already. The teacher announced we could talk because none of us had homework yet, so I settled into writing a note to her.
About half way through it, someone came to sit in their previously claimed desk. I didn’t look, but I spotted dark hair out of the corner of my eye. I looked to my left instead, the opposite direction of the now occupied desk.
“Oh, hey Hazel.” His voice came from my right.
Slowly I turned to look at him. He sat beside me, poised in the chair, slightly leaning towards me. I noticed his well rounded arm muscles under his shirt. Cassie’s words about him playing an instrument came back to me.
“Hi.” My lips curved into a small smile.
“I hope you didn’t run into anyone else today.”
“No, just you this time.”
“Good. Listen, I wanted to ask you about my band on Thursday night.”
“Oh, what’s that?”
“Did you like it?”
I nodded enthusiastically.
“Which was your favorite song?”
“The one you played for sound check. It was beautiful.”
He looked down at the ground for a second, thinking. His eyes quickly flitted up to me before he spoke again. “Did you hear about that contest we won?”
“Yeah. Good job.”
“Thanks. We get to play at the Vine Arena.”
“Yeah, I read a newspaper article about it. Friday’s the big night, right?”
“Yup.” He paused. “Do you think you might like to come?”
“My brother Chris and I talked about going. I’d like to hear you perform again without being preoccupied with working.”
“That would be great! You guys could even come back stage if you wanted to.” I couldn’t imagine myself back stage, with Blondie and the tough drummer. But I was sure Chris would love to. He’d tried to be in a band when he was younger, but they didn’t stick with it.
“Oh, Chris would like that a lot.” Just then someone called him from across the room, and he excused himself in so many words.
I finished my note to Cassie, not mentioning Ellis. She’d probably have another session of twenty questions about his performance at Frisco. The ball rang soon enough, and I lurched out of my seat, smiling all the down the hall.