Chapter 2

Oct. 1, 2015 Thu.

Natalie

  A dim light peeking through the curtains of a sliding door, lit up the room. It was a big room, with a magnificent bed. The bed had a canopy over it, with translucent drapes on each corner. Next to the bed, was a vanity with a round mirror, connected to gold painted wooden drawers. Next to that was the closet with sliding mirrors for doors. Across the room was a door that led to a big bathroom. 

  A phone on the vanity rang as it hit 6:00 am, it had a calm beautiful ringtone with sounds of birds chirping. A hand reached for the phone and turned off the alarm. The hand slinked back under the covers as Natalie gracefully rose from her bed and stretched as she removed her sleep mask. She looked through her closet that was filled to the brim with extravagant clothing. After she selected her outfit for the day, she proceeded with her morning routine. Once dressed, she took a selfie in front of her closet mirror and posted it to her social media. Immediately, notifications popped up on her phone of likes and comments. She smiled and skipped down the stairs.

   She went to the kitchen looking for breakfast. She could hear her mother coming down the hallway on the phone with one of her clients. Her Mom was a realtor, one of the best in the valley and her Father was a well respected doctor. Their work kept them busy but gave them a good amount of wealth. 

  "I already have another spot filled for that time, how about 7 p.m tonight?" Her mother spoke into the phone. She mouthed the words "good morning" to Natalie, and gave her a kiss. 

"Morning Mom," she whispered back.

  Her mom continued on with her conversation as Natalie proceeded to eat cereal and browse through her phone. 

  Her dad walked into the room exclaiming, "GOOD MORNING MY DEARS!" in a very cheery mood. 

  "Shhh!" the Mom interjected, "no, sorry, I'm listening," she continued on the phone.

  He walked on over to Natalie, giving her a kiss on the head. “Good morning sweetheart, ready to have a good day?” he asked, fixing his tie.

  “Good morning, Daddy, yeah,” she replied.

  "Mwah!" She kissed the air in his direction.

  “Good!” he grabbed an apple and his suitcase, as he proceeded out the kitchen, “I'll see you when I get home dear, love you both,” He said as he left. 

  Natalie kept browsing her social media, liking posts and photos while eating her cereal. 

  “The earliest I can do for you is 8:30 am, about an hour from now. Is that okay for you?...Ok, I will see you then! Buh-bye.” Her mom finished her conversation on the phone. 

  “Hurry and finish your breakfast Nat, I have to go.” 

  Natalie arrived at school, her mom pulled up to the front in her bright red shiny Jaguar.  

  “Have a good day sweetie, love you,” her mom said to her as Natalie left the car. Natalie closed the door and turned around to say goodbye but before she could, her mom sped away to her appointment. Natalie sighed, her expression sank. She adjusted her outfit and held her head high as she continued into the school. Not even a minute into the school day and she was bombarded with greetings and pleasantries from her fellow peers. Almost everyone in school knew who she was. Her popularity came from throwing the most spectacular parties a senior her age could throw. She also got along well with everyone and was very friendly. Everyone always wanted to be with her but she kept her friend group very minimal, only choosing to be with her best friend she met in 9th grade, Emma Quemquem. A petite, gorgeous looking girl who was always wearing a beanie. She had long raven black hair with bangs and braces. She almost always wore stylish clothing. She was quite vain and loved receiving positive attention. The rest of Natalies group was more of Emma's friends. Natalie talked and mingled with them but only ever confided with Emma.

  “Hey Nat!”

  “Good morning Natalie!”

  “Lovely to see you Natalie.”

  “Can't wait for the next party Nat!”

  Her morning continued on with greetings from anyone she passed. She walked up the stairs to the main entrance of the school where Emma had been waiting. She was talking with some of the guys from the lacrosse team; Emma liked to flirt.

  “Natalie hey! Good morning queen!” Emma said, her voice raised a pitch. She moved away quickly from the guys she was talking to, to be by Natalies side.

  “Good morning, beautiful!” Natalie said as she reached for a hug.

  They finished their embrace and Emma excitedly pulled out her phone.

  “Look at this cute dress! I really want to get it for the winter formal!” she exclaimed, putting her phone into Natalies view.

  “OMG! That looks so pretty! I think you'd look really cute in that dress!” Natalie replied enthusiastically. 

  “I want to ask one of the lacrosse boys, maybe Niko, or Andre,” she said, contemplating all of her options, “Oh, I don't know! Do you know who you're gonna ask?” Emma inquired.

  “Actually yes, but I want to get to know him first, see if he's taken or not, he’s this new guy,  just transferred yesterday,” Natalie said. 

  “Ooh, what's his name?”

  “I'm not sure, I didn't get a chance to ask him, I was a bit nervous. He had bumped into me in the hallway.”

  “Show me, show me!” Emma said, hopping in excitement.

  “I wouldn't know where to look, I guess let's just walk until we find him,” Natalie suggested.

Due to the size of the school, they didn't have to walk for too long. 

  “Over there, talking to those girls.” Natalie pointed.

Emma looked over.

  He sat there, sitting on the table next to Looz, opposite to him was Sam and Audrey sitting on the bench portion of the table next to them. 

  “Uh oh, that one girl Samantha is with him, I've heard from Micah that half of the guys in our grade have the hots for her.” Emma stated, “what if he's trying to get with her?” Emma continued. 

  “I've had some classes with her before, she's actually really nice, and I happen to know she's been in a relationship with the same guy since 9th grade.”

  “Really? I've never even seen her with any guy before,”

  “I always see him hanging out in Mr. Cho’s class, she hangs out with him occasionally.”

  “Ooh, what a weird relationship,” Emma said, “So then are you going to ask him out or what?”

  “I'll do it when I invite him to my party, but first I need to make sure I have passing grades on this report card or my parents will freak out and make sure there is no party to invite him too.”  

  “Should be easy for you,” Emma reassured.

  Natalie chuckled nervously, Emma had no idea that she had been struggling in her Trigonometry class. It's also the class she just so happens to have first on her “A” day schedule. The bell rang and classes had begun. Natalie and Emma proceeded to the third floor. They said their goodbyes as they went to their respective classes.