II

.𖥔 ݁ ˖𓂃.☘︎ ݁˖(episode 1 pt. 2 - welcome to coloradofirst week of september 2023).𖥔 ݁ ˖𓂃.☘︎ ݁˖

"Bea, I know you can do this! Relax, cous."

It's been a few minutes since Seb and Bea arrived at the school's parking lot, and Bea couldn't help but to fidget her hands, awkwardly shifting herself in the passenger seat. She isn't usually the one who got nervous, especially in such things like on the 1st day of school.

This one's different. She knew attending on the 1st day of school here will not be the same as when she attend her 1st day at her old high school back at her hometown, and the one thing that she'll not see are the familiar faces that she loved and adored; her favorite teachers, her co-members from the glee club, and most importantly her two best friends, Jamie and Mia.

I wonder what they are doing right now?

"I know, Seb. It's sad that I'm not gonna see Jamie and Mia," she sighed, dropping her head as the memories with her best friends started flooding in her mind.

"I'm sure they'll be fine, though I hear them crying when you're Facetiming with them last night." Seb chuckled, making Bea rolled her eyes at him.

"You didn't hear anything." 

"Yeah whatever."

As soon as they exited out of the car and entered the main building, Seb guided Bea to her classroom and gave her a thumbs up before leaving her for his class. As she entered the room, the teacher hasn't arrived yet and most of the students were in their own world: some were chit-chatting with their seatmates, some were sleeping, and some put their chewed gum below the table, which made Bea grossed out.

As she scanned around the room, there were two empty chairs; one was beside a blonde boy in the second row and the other one was beside......

"Hey, pretty!"

Well, it's none other than but the one and only Isaac Garcia, grinning as she noticed him at the last row. She didn't greet him, as she was still fed up about yesterday's event. Who in the right mind would grab a lemonade drink from someone and thinking it was for them?

"Wanna sit here with -"

"No, thank you." She said coldly, and was about to go to the second row when someone already occupied the empty seat beside the blonde. Cursing at herself for being so slow and leaving with no choice, she slowly walked to the last row and sat beside the Garcia boy. He cleared his throat as the girl adjusted her seat. 

"Well guess what? You're lucky you sat here next with me. I'm a better seatmate than that blonde Theo—"

"I'm still pissed off about what happened yesterday." Bea cut him off, slamming her notebook and pencil case in the table.

Isaac blinked. He wasn't expecting that the girl he just met yesterday would turn out to be like this. Shouldn't girls get giddy and flustered when they sat beside him?

"Oh, that? It's just a lemonade, and I'm thirsty."

"I don't care."

The noise inside the classroom started to lessen as the teacher entered the room and greeted his students. As he scanned the room and adjusted his glasses, the first thing he announced was this'll be the permanent seating arrangement for the rest of the school year.

Permanent seating arrangement.

This is gonna be a long school year.

______________

As soon as the bell rang for lunch break, Bea sprinted from the classroom as fast as she could, ignoring Isaac's voice calling her. 

Throughout the period, she ignored him and fully put her attention to the class. But she felt his eyes pierced at her, and probably barely listened to the professor. 

What's up with him? 

Giggles from girls were heard beside her. In her peripheral vision, Isaac was swarmed by 4 girls, with two from the cheerleading team. Girls were swayed by this guy? He's nothing but a jerk--- yes, a jerk! It may just be a lemonade to him, but his action was enough for her to call him that, albeit just meeting each other for the first time yesterday. Getting annoyed by the giggles, she sped walk in the hallway, without knowing that his eyes glued at her the whole time. 

As Bea slowed down her pace knowing that she's away from them, a girl suddenly come up beside her, her keychains in her bag pack making a noise. Her long golden locks entangled in her fingertips as she started fidgeting the tips.

"Hi, Beatrice!"

"Um, hi. Do I know you?" Bea blinked.

"Silly, we're in the same class!"

Bea remembered. She was the one who sat beside the blonde boy on the second row!

"How do you know my name? The professor just went straight to discuss the lesson.", tucking the part of her hair beside her ear, she nervously laughed. "Silver Falls barely got blessed with newbies, so technically everyone around here knows you and the other city girl from New York.", the golden girl chuckled. "Have you met her, by the way?"

"Uh no, not yet."

Silence fall between the two of them after that. The girl, still fidgeting her hair tips, decided to break it. "I never got to introduce myself, sorry! I'm Phoebe Miller." Phoebe reached her hand for a handshake, which made the two girls stopped. 

"I'm.....I guess you already knew me. But call me Bea." Both of them laughed and shake hands.

"Want to eat lunch with me?"

"Sure, Phoebe."

__________________

The first 20 minutes in lunch break was fun, with Phoebe and Bea exchanging questions and answers and jokes in between; from answering Phoebe about what it feels like to live in Washington D.C. to asking Bea about her cousin. Bea never thought this'll be her experience in her first lunch break, let alone gaining a new friend. She almost forgot what it feels like to interact with a friend in real life, and not in Face Time.  Although she dearly missed Jamie and Mia, the thought of Phoebe having around reassured her everything will be fine.

Phoebe gulped down her 2nd cartoon of milk. "Okay, it's my turn to ask! What do you think about Isaac Garcia?"

Just by mentioning his name made Bea rolled her eyes as she took a last bit of her PBJ sandwich that Amelia made it for her in the morning.

"What about him?"

"Bea, girls would literally droll when he's around. He's technically loved by them, well aside from his cousin, Cole Walter."

"I think the drooling part was kind of too much. "

"Anyways, I know you sat beside him because there aren't other available seats, and while everyone, including myself, expected that any girl who sat beside him would get all flustered, you were unfazed.", Phoebe exclaimed. "And he even called you after you left the classroom. So, what's up with you two?", she wiggled her eyebrows at Bea, waiting for her answer.

"There's nothing between us, Phoebs." Bea sighed, sipping the homemade lemonade honey that Seb made for her. Just by talking about him made her head dizzy. "I'm... not actually in the mood to talk about it." Phoebe nodded, though she has no idea about it.

As both of the girls continued eating their lunch, Bea felt a pair of eyes staring at her. As she looked up, she saw Isaac staring at her — both his eyes and his stare unreadable. For a split second, he diverts his attention to Lee, who was talking beside him, and took a huge bite of his apple.

Isaac was this guy who flirt every girl he saw — whether he gave them a wink or complimented them. Hell, even calling Bea "pretty". 

But something's.... off today?

Whatever. Bea shrugged off that thought and continued eating her lunch while answering Phoebe's question about the difference between the organic apple from the farm and a city-brought apple.

She couldn't care less about him, anyways.

As long as he keep it this way, as long as she'll ignore him despite being seatmates, and as long he'll no longer call her 'pretty', maybe this school year wouldn't be so bad after all.

______________

God must've been real and might've answered her prayers, because Bea hadn't shared a single class with Isaac throughout the afternoon, which she prayed for few minutes before the lunch break ended.

The only con is that it same goes with Phoebe.

It felt it start all over again; new environment with new faces. 

Fortunately, a Walter boy named Nathan offered her to take a seat beside him. Bea was glad he wasn't like Cole or Isaac — not flirting with her nor being a jerk around her. 

As the school ball rang after the last class, Bea and Nathan left the classroom together. Even for Bea herself she was surprised by her action for not sprinting out of the classroom early.

"Oh by the way, I know this may sound so random, but I think you and Jackie would make good friends! I think she's sweet, have you met her?"

Bea widened her eyes, now knowing the New York girl's name. "Nope, not yet."

"You should come by to our house, then! Well, unless Bash wanted to visit Cole and Danny."

And met your jerk cousin? No way. 

"I think I will."

She's lying. She does not want to go back there again. Seeing Isaac at school already making her dizzy, what more if she goes with her cousin to their house  almost every weekend?

They had both arrived outside out of the building. Nathan bid goodbye to her and jog towards where his other brothers hanging around outside the car. And of course, Isaac was there, who was talking to another girl. Noticing her presence, his gaze shifted towards Bea.

Bea's breath hitched before breaking the eye contact, and started walking to where Seb's car was, with his cousin already waiting inside the car. Seb smiled as Bea entered the car and sat in the passenger seat.

"Hey! How's your 1st day?" he asked enthusiastically, excited to hear how his cousin's 1st day at her new high school went.  Bea started to rant, from having Phoebe as her new friend, complimenting his homemade lemonade honey,  and talking how sweet Nathan is. Seb smiled, and started to turn on the engine.

Bea purposely left out about Isaac.

Hell, her cousin didn't even know about what happened yesterday since they left the house immediately after helping the boxes, talking about how 'wrong timing' for them to visit the Walters.

Well, he's not worth talking about anyway.

__________________Hello, thank you so much for reading :))

I've updated the intro and put moodboards both for Bea and Isaac! I know I said that you are free to portray yourself as the main character, but I put her moodboard in order for yall to visualize about her character and her vibe (something like that lol)

I even made moodboard for Seb lol, but not sure if I should put it too. What do y'all think :)))

Again, thank your for your time reading 'So High School' ! Don't forget to vote and comment if you like the chapter :))