A Labyrinth

Veronica

Room 101, 108...114? What the hell was this school? A labyrinth?

    I huffed in frustration, looking back down at my schedule, and promptly running smack dab into someone - hard. The girl let out a screech as I ricocheted back slightly. 

"Watch where you're going, why don't you!" the girl had an even more annoying speaking voice. When she turned to look at me, I saw why. 

She was blonde, full of curls that probably took her two hours to do this morning, a face full of too much makeup, dressed in a black skirt and a white blouse that left little to the imagination. Between that and her band of three other girls who were dressed similarly, but not exactly, like her lead me to the concrete conclusion that I had just met my new school's queen bee. 

"Huh. I don't know you," she looked me up and down, some confusion in her pale blue eyes. Then they lit up, but not in a kind way. "You're the new girl! From Texas. Veronica, isn't it?"

"Yes," I replied dryly. My earlier assumptions about this being a small 'everyone knows everyone else's s**t' was confirmed. They already knew who I was. 

But how much did they know?

"Tell me, Veronica," she said in an obnoxiously incorrect southern accent. "What causes someone to have to move to small-town Virginia from big ol' Texas two weeks into the school year?"

"What can I say? I like to make an entrance," I met her gaze, unwavering. "And also? We don't talk like that," I let my natural accent Texan accent flow. "If you're going to mock me, at least do it correctly."

We were drawing a crowd now, which I'm sure wasn't unusual for her. Queen bee crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at me. "You should watch yourself, new girl."

I rolled my eyes. "Like you said, I'm from big ol' Texas. Small-town Virginia doesn't scare me."

She approached me, speaking so only I could hear her. 

"It should."

I raised an eyebrow at her threat. "If you're done, can you move please? I need to go that way," I nodded past her. Whispers rose from the crowd as queen bee looked baffled. I rolled my eyes, pushing past her and leaving her dumbfounded along with the rest of the crowd.

That was an exit I was proud of. I just really hoped I was gong the right way.

"That was awesome," a guy's voice caught up from behind me. I turned to see a tall, blonde-haired guy with bronze skin grinning toothily at me. He was muscular, probably a football player, and his voice deep. "Standing up to Elise like that? No one does that," he fell into step with me. 

"Then y'all need to grow a pair," I muttered, looking back down at my schedule. The guy chuckled again.

"You're not wrong. Where are you headed? I can help you find your classes," he reached for the paper in my hand, which I yanked away. His hand took an exceptionally long time to find it's way away from my arm and back to his own. I shuddered involuntarily.

"That's okay, I need to find it for myself or I'll never find it again," and I meant that. I was lousy at directions until I'd been there once myself.

Plus, this guy was giving off a seriously weird vibe and I wanted to be away from him as soon as possible.

"Accept a little help on your first day," he reached for the schedule again, and I yanked it away again, causing him to pout and try to get closer to me. "Oh come on --"

"She said no," another deep voice came from behind us. "Or do I need to remind you what that means, Carson?"

Blondie's face went rigid at that, turning slowly to look at the new guy. I followed suit, and had consciously keep my jaw off of the floor. 

He was tall and pale, with dark brown hair and dressed in a black dress shirt and jeans that did little to hide the muscle beneath. The most striking though, were his eyes. They were a brilliant shade of green - so bright that they almost looked illuminated. 

His face, however, was not amused as he stared down Carson. 

"Go to hell, Oliver," he spat back. 

"Only after you," he said coldly. "Can't believe they let you come back."

"Only after you," Carson snapped. I have no idea what the history was between these two, but it clearly wasn't friendly. I was really managing to bring out the best in people this morning. 

"Leave her be," Oliver repeated calmly, his facial expression never shifting. Carson seemed to debate for a moment, looking between me and Oliver, and decided it wasn't worth it. 

"I'm Bennett, if you need anything, come find me," He said to me. Oliver scoffed. 

"Unlikely."

I thought Bennett was going to punch him, but instead he walked away, fists clenched at his side. Oliver watched him walk away before turning back to me. 

"Thanks," I said. He nodded once. 

"Rule #1, newbie. Bennett Carson? Biggest creep at Riverside. Stay away from him," his voice was serious; low. 

"Duly noted," I knew I had a weird vibe from him. I was grateful for this Oliver character at the moment. 

"Where are you trying to go?" he asked, his voice softer this time. 

"The office. I'm supposed to meet this tour guide..."

"Taylor Wallace?"

"How did you know?"

He smirked. "She's every newbie's tour guide. Come with me," he turned on his heel and I fell into step with him, taking in my new school we walked. "I'm Oliver, by the way. But most everyone calls me Ollie."

"Veronica, but you already knew that," I said. "You can call me Vera."

"Vera," he repeated. "I like that. What does bring you to small-town Virginia, Vera?"

"My dad changed jobs," I said, and it wasn't a total lie. It just also wasn't the total truth, either. 

"What's he do?"

"He's a doctor."

"Vera from Texas with the doctor dad," he nodded. "I like it. What's your mom do?"

I knew people would ask about my mom. It's completely normal to ask the new girl what her parents do for a living, and I was ready for it. What I wasn't ready for was the pain that cracked through me like a whip at the thought of her. The thought of what happened. 

No. This was a fresh start. I couldn't let those images get to me today. I refused.

"Newbie?" Ollie asked cautiously. I shook my head. 

"She's dead," I said quietly. Ollie's green eyes widened. 

"I'm so sorry," he said gently. "I didn't mean to --"

"It's fine," I replied quickly, wanting to move on from the subject. "Oh look, we made it to the office!"

I was probably far more enthusiastic about finding the office than I should have been, and the mix of confusion and concern in Ollie's eyes told me he thought the same. But he didn't have time to say anything before another screech came from the office.

"Oh my GOD you're already a legend," a tall redheaded girl emerged from the office, dressed in simple jeans, a Rolling Stones tank top, and black sandal heels. She was grinning ear to ear. "I'd welcome you to Riverside but it seems you've already made your mark. I'm Taylor, I'm your tour guide," she held out her hand and I took it, smirking. News traveled fast around here.

"Veronica. But call me Vera."

"Vera! That's edgy; I like it," she looked next to me. "Coming with us, Ollie?"

He held his hands up. "No way, I just rescued newbie from Bennett and am delivering her safely."

Taylor scrunched her nose. "He's already trying to hit on the new girl? After last spring? Idiot."

"What happened last spring?" I asked. Taylor and Ollie exchanged looks that spoke volumes. I nodded. "Got it, don't ask."

"It's just...not something to talk about here," Taylor volunteered. 

"But seriously, stay away from him," Ollie repeated, his voice taking that serious tone again. 

"I got it," I met his gaze, feeling like his green eyes were searing into my soul.

"Great!" Taylor clapped her hands together. "Tour time! Ollie come with us...unless you want to suffer in Coop's Calculus."

Ollie shook his head. "Two weeks and the man has already managed to piss me off."

"Exactly! Let's go. I'll give you extra dessert at family dinner on Sunday?" She offered with a sweet smile. Family? They were related?

"Fine," Ollie held up his hands in surrender. "But only for dessert."

"Y'all related?" I asked as we started walking from the office.

"Oh I love the way you say y'all!" Taylor exclaimed. "Would it be weird if I said it?"

"Yes," Ollie replied to her flatly. "We're cousins," he answered me. That was surprising; I couldn't see that resemblance if it was a mile away. Ollie had dark features and those bright eyes, while Taylor had red hair and pale blue ones. They hardly looked anything alike, but I guess cousins usually didn't.

I learned a lot that morning; a lot about Riverside high and that yes, the building was indeed a labyrinth. I also learned that football was just as big of a deal here as it was in Texas, if not more, and Ollie was captain. 

Again, that made sense. 

Every person we passed in hallway said hey to him (and Taylor for that matter) and he said hey in return. He looked like a football player, but he was certainly nicer than the ones I knew from back home.

At least he seemed like it. I reminded myself that I thought the players from home were nice too.

I shook the thought and went on listening to Taylor. Every once in awhile Ollie would catch my eye and smile reassuringly. I don't know why, but there was something very welcoming about him, and Taylor, and I was glad they were my first introduction to Riverside...Elise notwithstanding.

It seemed that this new school wasn't so different from my old one - not that I expected it to be. High school was high school, no matter where you were. You always had cliques, you always had stereotypes, you always had drama, and thank goodness, there was football. 

"So!" Taylor clapped her hands together as we reached the front office again. "It's about to be second period, which you two have together, you smart people."

My second period was AP English. English was my favorite subject, and after seeing the reading list, I was really looking forward to the class.

"I leave you here. But! Give me your number. I'll make sure you don't pull a Mean Girls and eat in the bathroom on the first day," she winked as she handed me her phone. "Not that you seem like you'd do that."

"I can talk to a wall if I have to," I smirked, handing her phone back. "Thanks, Taylor."

"Of course! And hey, next time you want to tell off Elise, let me know so I don't miss it!"

I laughed. "You got it."

The bell rang and Taylor waved as I turned to try to find the next classroom.

"Just come with me," Ollie offered. "Trying to navigate this place is a waste of time."

"So, captain of the football team, hm?" I smirked as we waded through crowds of people. "And how lucky was I to have you come to my rescue this morning?"

He rolled his eyes. "I make a point to keep anyone from Bennett, especially the one person in this school who doesn't know what he's done."

"What did he do? I'm dying to know now."

Ollie gave me an amused sideways glance. "Well I can't go telling you all of Riverside's secrets on your first day, can I?"

"You're the one who brought it up," I pointed out. "I'm simply curious."

Ollie looked like he was going to respond, but he got suddenly swept away in a wave of football players - or so I guessed, given their black and gold letter jackets - all giving high fives and fist bumps and going the opposite direction. Ollie got sucked along with them, chanting down the hallway. I shook my head and squeezed my way through the rest of the busy hallway alone, finally emerging at room 202.

All eyes fell on me when I walked in.