"Why did I choose to be a surgeon? If I never thought it was so interesting, I could have been satisfied with being a librarian. Then I wouldn't have to wake up at the ungodly hour of 6:30 in the morning, wishing I'd have dropped out two years ago." I grumble to myself my daily morning battle while in school. While it would have been nice to drop out and be assured with extra sleep, I could never do that. My dream is to be a neurosurgeon, helping people with mental illnesses and disabilities. And that unfortunately entails several more years of schooling, Probably around ten. I would be surprised if I survive this year. I chuckle internally.

"Chris, I hope you're not fighting with yourself about dropping out again!" I smile. Matthew knows me so well. 

"Nope! Just wondering how much money I would bring in being a prostitute!" I shout back.

"You know I will skin your ass if you so much as walk past a strip club!" I hear my dad yell from down the hall. Shit.

"Haha, yes Dad! I love you!" I get up and shut my door to cut the conversation off. Dad has always been protective, ever since the robbery that killed Mom. Skipping over to my closet, I pick out one of my softest t-shirts and a pair of snug skinny jeans to change into after my shower.

After freshening up, I put my clothes on and brush my teeth, skipping makeup because I'm confident enough not to need it every day. I might not have the longest lashes or the darkest eyebrows, but if people can't see me at my lowest, they don't need me at my highest.

The drool-worthy aroma of breakfast had me bolting down the stairs to grab a plate. I don't understand why Matthew doesn't become a chef rather than an engineer. He's a natural at cooking.

"Smell's heavenly, as always," Dad comments as I take several scoops of the mix of eggs, ham, and hash browns. "And I think we can agree the amount that is about to be consumed by Chris also tells us she thinks the same." We all laugh.

"You know I will miss your food when you leave for college again. Why don't you go to culinary school, Matthew? You can be my personal chef for when I make enormous amounts of money!" I joke, knowing his passion for engineering.

"If only you could have someone around to cook for you. We all know you wouldn't be able to survive half a day on your own cooking!" Matthew laughs. I scoff.

"Whatever. I don't need you. I'll prove it."

"Okay, okay. Just eat. You need to get to school."

"Yes, father." I stick my tongue out at Matthew. He just chuckles.

---

The walk to school has always been my favorite part of the day. I walk from our house, at the south end of town, to the school, on the north side of town, staying alongside the beach for as long as possible. The salty breeze helps to wake me fully before arriving to school for eight hours straight. As I stop briefly, I close my eyes blissfully, taking in the scent of salt water. Exhaling deeply, I continue until I find myself standing alone in front of the entrance of Haswell's Senior High School.

Suddenly, the doors open and a girl comes rushing out. I don't recognize her. She looks at me.

"Oh, hi! I'm Sienna. Sorry if I scared you, I'm new here and I forgot something in my car. Perfect start to the first day, huh?" She speaks with the heaviest Australian accent anyone in this town would hear. I smile.

"No problem. My name's Christine, but everybody calls me Chris." 

"Hi, Chris! Nice to meet you!" Sienna starts heading towards her car again, and for some unknown reason, my feet feel obliged to follow her.

"So, where are you coming from?" I ask. She laughs.

"I'm sure you can tell from my voice."

"Australia?" I nervously inquire. She nods and pats me on the shoulder.

"Hey, you don't have to be so nervous. I won't punch you for asking me questions," she teases. "Come with me." And I follow her to her car.

"What classes do you have?" I ask, trying to start up a conversation.

"Hmm," Sienna thinks for a minute. "Literature, biology, a history class, a P.E. class, an extra class, another class. I don't know. I haven't really taken a good look at my schedule." She looks at me. "What about you?"

"AP Literature, figure drawing, AP Chemistry, P.E., physics, and a health careers class." She hums in approval.

"At least we have literature together." I smile. She enjoys my company. "Why are you smiling so weirdly?" Sienna questions.

"Well, I don't have any friends here, so hearing that you seem to like having me around is comforting," I explain. "It's not that I'm shy or anything, people just don't approach me, let alone get to know me, so I don't waste my time on them."

"I see." Our conversation ends just in time to arrive at her car, and she climbs in the driver's seat to grab what looks like a planner. Once she locks her car up again, we turn to walk back to the entrance, and I notice people have started to show up around us. I didn't think we walked that slowly.

"Why is everyone gathered by the doors?" Sienna sounds confused, and I am equally confused. Did someone faint? Is there a celebrity who transferred here? We speed up to check on the incident. As we get closer, the muffled sounds of grunts and thumps become audible. What's happening?

Somehow, Sienna manages to drag me through the horde of students and we have front row seats to the fight happening between two guys. They're moving and punching too much for me to get a good look at who they are, but according to those around us shouting, their names are Cody and Nathan. One of them is familiar, but it's been years since I've seen him. It can't be him.

All of a sudden, I feel a hefty weight thrown into my legs, sending me falling back onto the crowd behind me. I would've fallen flat on my butt had these students not been here. One of the guys fell onto me, clearly in pain. He was rolling around groaning, holding his side. I whip my head up to look at the one who did this, but I'm left speechless.

"Christine? It's been awhile, hasn't it?" I hear the now gravelly voice of my old childhood friend. One who left so abruptly, I didn't have time to say goodbye, ask why he left, or even see a glimpse of him before he was gone. All I can feel... is anger. He smirks at me, watching my expression go from shock to exasperation.

"Aw, don't look at me like that. Don't you remember me?" He's teasing me. What's with his demeanor? Why did he leave? Why is he back? Why now?

"Nope." With that, I grab Sienna's hand and march straight into the school, leaving Nathan behind, just like he did to me six years ago. 

~

**AN: Hello everyone! I'm back after an unexpected hiatus! I'm transitioning into college, and it's quite the experience. I haven't had time to even think about the story with everything that's been piled lately, but I promise to make another update (hopefully a few) in the week or so! I have a new idea for this story, and I hope you guys come to enjoy it! Thanks! Stay classy! ;)