Welcome to New Haven

by Dawn Doyle

  Chapter 5

  Holly woke up in the morning and, this time, she actually did have a migraine. She felt so sick that she couldn’t get out of her bed.

  “Holly, love, are you up?” Kim asked as she knocked on her bedroom door.

  “I’ve got a migraine Mum. I feel sick.” She replied which had her Mum coming in.

  Her bedroom was a square, but the door was in the area that was diagonal to the rest of the room. Kind of like it’s own little hallway.

  Walking through the door, the closet was to the right, separated by a narrow wall that she had all of her reminders and photos pinned onto a cork board that hung there. Next to the closet was her own bathroom, with a shower. It was quite small, but big enough not to feel cramped.

  Her double bed, was on the wall to the right, the light wood a nice contrast to the red walls. Holly had put up some white, long stem flower murals either side of the bed that reached almost to the ceiling, and another two on the wall to the foot.

  Her vanity table that was called a dressing table back home, held a silk daffodil in a crystal vase, hers and her Dads’ favourite flower. Her full length mirror stood in the corner to the right of the dresser, next to the window. Holly loved her room. She would spend hours in there, looking through old photographs of her Dad. Some with both Holly and her Dad, and some that included Emily, her older sister.

  Holly was nine when her Dad was hit by a drunk driver. She’d been walking with him when the driver had clipped the kerb and had headed straight for them. Her Dad, James, had pushed Holly out of the path of the car and was hit head on. He’d died instantly, leaving Holly screaming on the ground.

  It had been her birthday.

  The last thing her Dad had given her was a platinum necklace with a daffodil pendant that was a birthday gift that day. His last words before the car had hit…

  ”I love you, my precious girl.”

  Holly wiped the tears from her cheeks as her Mum reached her bed.

  “Oh, baby girl, what’s wrong?” Her Mum’s voice full of concern as she sat down and pulled Holly into a hug.

  “I have a huge migraine and I feel like I’m going to be sick” She replied.

  “That doesn’t normally make you cry though love.” Her Mum added as she stroked her hair.

  “I was just thinking about the old photos I have of my Dad. I know it’s been years, but I still miss him so much.”

  “I know you do love. We all do. He’d be so proud of you, you know. What you’ve achieved, where you are. The amazing things you have done to the garden, all by yourself. You’re so much like him, baby girl, and I see him in you every day.”

  Her Mum leant down to kiss Holly’s forehead before standing up.

  “I have to go to work, but you should stay home today. You’re just getting used to a new country as well as a new school. I’m sure the principal will understand you having the day off.”

  Holly nodded as her Mum left, then got out her phone to send a text to Dev…

  H: Huge, HUGE, migraine. I feel really sick so I’ll be staying home today. Will see you tomorrow. X

  Dev replied instantly. The concern obvious in her text.

  D: God! Are you ok? Do you need to see a doctor? My Mom could call in, if you want. She’s taken a day off today. Do you want me to send her?

  Holly chuckled at Dev’s panicky message.

  H: Thanks, but I’ll be ok. Probably just the stress of the move and new school. I’ll just stay in and rest. I’ll be back tomorrow. X

  D: Ok. But let me know if you need anything. Oh, Alex says Hi.:)

  H: I will. Tell him I said Hi too. :) X

  Holly hadn’t met Alex, yet, but she was sure he’d be a good person, like Dev. He had to be if he were her twin. She’d meet the rest of the group Monday.

  Yes, definitely Monday.

  She’d give herself another day before including herself with the guys of the group, even if she had to go to lunch by herself. The girls would understand, because they knew Holly wasn’t used to hanging out in a large group, and they were ok with it. Even Dev had suggested they take the first week, by going to lunch elsewhere, to ease into it. They hadn’t tried to pressure her at all and she was grateful for that.

  Holly had met one of the group, Ben, and he seemed nice. He’d spoken to her in A.Calc, when the teacher had introduced her, and he said that he was Alex’s, friend. He didn’t try to force any conversation and the little chat that they had, hadn’t been completely awkward. In fact, she actually felt quite comfortable with him.

  I hope they’re all like him.

  If Alex were anything like Ben, then she’d probably get along with him too.

  Ok, maybe getting to know them all tomorrow may not be such a bad idea.

  Holly pulled the covers over her head and went back to sleep.

  Holly got to school early again and not long after, Dev walked into homeroom.

  “Hi Holly! How are you feeling today? We were all worried about you. Alex asked me if you were ok.”

  That was nice of him to ask; considering he hadn’t met her yet. Well, she was a friend of his twin sister after all.

  “Yeah, I’m good actually. I really needed the rest though. I slept until the afternoon.”

  Holly had actually slept that long. It was 12:30 when she woke up and she only got out of bed because she really needed a shower, and her stomach was complaining of starvation.

  “I was thinking…maybe I could meet the others today. I’ve already met Ben anyway, so maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing. Besides, I have the weekend to recover” Holly said with a chuckle.

  “Damn! That would have been awesome! Alex told me, this morning, that they were going to go out today too. You know, because we were. I could text him and ask him to change his plans…” Dev said as she reached into her bag for her phone.

  “No it’s ok. I don’t want them to change their plans just because of me. We’ll wait until Monday. Anyway, I’ll probably see your brother later, when I go to your house.”

  “He usually goes to the gym on Fridays so you may see him just before he leaves.”

  “Ok, well, I’ll see him then.”

  Mrs. Carter walked into the room with a stack of forms and gave them out to the front of the class.

  “Hand these out please.” She said to Jake.

  Jake went round the room handing out, what looked like a letter, and winked at her as he placed hers on the table. Holly heard a snort coming from behind them.

  Stacey.

  She must have seen what Jake had done and was making her distaste known.

  “Ignore her” Dev whispered. “She gets jealous when guys pay attention to any girl that isn’t her.”

  Holly just shook her head in disbelief and picked up the letter.

  Dear students

  As you know, the faculty has decided on a schedule change. We believe that the previous system was a little outdated and, at times, confusing for some students. The changes in place are as follows:-

  All student chosen studies are numbered in the spaces. See the diagram for an example.

  Number 1 is AP Calculus; Number 2 is AP Biology etc. Therefore, number 1 on the schedule is at 11:40am Mondays and Thursdays. If any student has none of their chosen studies in a time slot, congratulations, you have a free period. Use it wisely.

  For the remainder of the regular classes, they will be grouped together. Previously, we had three groups who had their English classes on different days and times. Now, they will be all at the same time, but split into three groups. Some subjects require a short test to determine the designated group for you.

  Due to these changes, last semesters grades, and test scores will be used to determine your group. The results will be given out on Monday morning, during homeroom.

  We hope you enjoy the change.

  Good luck.

  P. Lawson

  Principal

  That was just great. Holly knew that this could potentially put her into
more classes with Hot-guy. She’d only had one class with him that week, and already she was a mess! She couldn’t even imagine going into class on Monday morning with him there. She wouldn’t have an escape if her heart decided to burst from her chest like an alien.

  Maybe she was overreacting. It wasn’t as if he could just sit next to her and strike up conversation…Or was it?

  Holly began to breathe a little quicker than usual. Her pulse racing.

  “This could be fun.” Dev said from beside her. Unaware of the emotional turmoil that Holly was going through.

  Yeah, she was overreacting a little bit…a lot.

  “We could end up with more classes together! That would be so great!” Dev was excited for the changes, but Holly couldn’t think about it right now.

  At least she had the weekend to prepare herself.

  I have to get through today first.

  When homeroom was over, Dev said goodbye to Holly and left for her A.Bio class as Holly walked in the other direction for her social studies class.

  As all of the students were walking ahead of her, she could just about see through the mass of bodies. She felt a shiver down her spine before the group directly in front of her changed direction to go into a room.

  Holly immediately saw him.

  Hot-guy was standing next to the lockers, and he looked as if he were looking around for somebody. Thinking that he wasn’t going to notice her walking past and embarrassing herself by blushing, she continued heading for her class.

  Holly glanced up at him just as he made eye contact with her, and was full of panic as she saw recognition there. Hot-guy stopped looking around and stared at her for a few seconds before he began walking in her direction. He’d been looking for her!

  Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God! She thought to herself, over and over again.

  Holly didn’t know what to do as she couldn’t go back because she’d be late for class, and the door she was trying to get to, was a few feet ahead of him.

  Holly dropped her head and moved her feet as fast she could, without falling on her face, to avoid him. She realised when he had gotten closer to her when she heard his voice.

  “Hey Holly”.

  Holly let out a strangled “Hey” as she carried on walking.

  “Are you ok?” he asked as he rushed to catch up with her.

  Holly took a deep breath as the sound of his voice floated over her, sending tingles to the depth of her very soul.

  Holly meant to say yes, but her tongue was currently having a seizure.

  “Um…I…I…” she took another breath. “Gotta go” she managed as she gratefully turned into her class.

  Holly sat in her seat and looked down to her desk, not daring to look in the direction of the door.

  Alex was left standing in the hallway wondering what the hell had just happened. He stared at Holly, who’s face was turning pink, as she was looking down at her desk. She didn’t look back at him, but there was nothing he could do because the teacher chose that moment to walk past him into the room. He turned to close the door, stopping to look at Alex who was still standing there. Then slowly closed the door in his face.

  Alex walked to class wondering what he could’ve done to make Holly act that way with him. Dev had said ‘Holly says Hi’ when she was texting her yesterday, when she was ill.

  He’d been worried something was wrong when Dev had told him that she had a migraine. If she had told him ‘Hi’ then why was she acting that way now?

  Ben had said that she was cool and Dev liked her a lot. He wondered if it were just him that she didn’t like, because she always seemed to be running in the opposite direction to avoid him.

  Alex had told Dev that he and the guys were going to go out of school for lunch that day. That wasn’t true though. He’d said that, on the chance that the girls would stay in school, in case Holly was going out of school to avoid him.

  I’ll be meeting her for lunch. Then, I can find out what’s going on.

  “Dude you’re late” Ben said as Alex took his seat next to him. “Where did you go?”

  “I…uh…waited for Holly. I just wanted to say ‘Hi’ and see how she was after being ill yesterday.” Alex replied, not looking Ben in the eye.

  “And…?” Ben asked, a little smirk playing in the corners of his mouth.

  Alex blew out a breath of frustration.

  “She wouldn’t talk to me. I asked her whether she was ok, and she just said ‘I gotta go’ and then walked into her class. She didn’t even look at me when I spoke to her.”

  Alex felt a little sick himself then. He had no idea what Holly thought or why she was acting that way.

  “Maybe she’s just shy” Ben said with a shrug.

  “Yeah, well, she talks to you.” Alex practically spat. He didn’t like feeling jealous of his best friend, but right then, he did. He’d gotten to speak to Holly in A.Calc class.

  “Not much though. I only said hi to her and that I was your friend. I asked her how long she’d been here, and she said almost four weeks now. She lives with her Mom and Step-Dad, but I guess Dev already told you that. Anyway, she wasn’t overly conversational. She was still pretty shy. Maybe it’s just you, dude.” Ben grinned.

  “What do you mean? I haven’t done anything!” Alex whisper shouted.

  He didn’t want to attract any attention to himself in the class. Stacey was already shooting him some serious ‘fuck me’ eyes and he wanted to vomit. He didn’t want her to overhear him talking about Holly.

  “It’s not what you have done, it’s you. You are the resident beefcake round here. Maybe you just scared her off.” Ben snorted a laugh that he couldn’t hold back and Alex narrowed his eyes at him.

  He secretly hoped Holly liked him, but the way she avoided him didn’t make sense if she did. Ben leant on his elbow and faced Alex, giving him a little ‘stare down’.

  “What?” Alex said when Ben pursed his lips to stop himself from smiling.

  “Nothing, dude. Absolutely nothing.” Ben replied before turning back to the teacher.

  “I think she’s avoiding me because she doesn’t like me” Alex said suddenly as they got to their next class.

  “Are you still on that?” asked Ben, shaking his head.

  “Why else would she avoid me? I mean, I spoke to her, and she took off. She practically ran away from me.”

  “Yeah well, she’s a tiny thing. Maybe your towering over her freaked her out.”

  Alex knew Ben was just being a smart-ass. It was a running joke with them, Alex’s height, because he was two inches taller than the other guys, and he seemed to be more muscular too. So he tended to look bigger all over. Ben was closer to his size than Ryan and Kyle, but still a little smaller.

  “You’re so funny.” Alex said sarcastically as his so-called best friend cracked up laughing. “I told Dev that we weren’t going to our table for lunch today.”

  “Why did you do that?” Ben asked, confused.

  They’d always eaten lunch with the girls, until Holly started. Dev had told him they’d been going out because they wanted Holly to feel completely comfortable with the girls first, before introducing her to the boys.

  “Because if Holly is avoiding me, then if they think we’re not going to sit with them, which we are, they won’t have to leave.”

  “That’s not cool, man.” Ben said with a little shake of his head. “What if it goes completely wrong and she freaks? Did you think of that?”

  Alex was ashamed to admit that he hadn’t thought of that. The only thing going through his head was that he wanted to know what was going on. If she were there, at the same time as he was, he could find out. Now, though, he felt like an ass.

  “No I didn’t. Look, if she’s doing it because she has something against me, then I won’t say any more about it.”

  Ben pulled his lips between his teeth as if he were stopping himself from smiling, or laughing. Alex sighed and dropped his head down.

  “Go ahead” />
  Alex knew Ben was wanting to say something. Something that would potentially piss Alex off, but Ben would find amusing.

  “I was just going to say that you want her to have ‘something’ against you.” Then, Ben snorted a laugh, earning him a glare from the teacher.

  Alex’s eyes snapped to Ben in surprise.

  That’s exactly what I want

  Alex’s hormonal teenage brain was completely breaking out from it’s dormancy.

  Well…shit

  As the class came to a close, and lunchtime was upon them, Alex’s heart rate increased at the chance meeting with Holly. He was to be disappointed though. He, and Ben, walked outside to see Ryan and Kyle sitting there…alone.

  “I think your plan backfired dude.” Said Ben and Alex turned to scowl at him.

  He’d lost out now, but he would get his chance again. Even if he had to ditch class. Alex had wondered where those thoughts were coming from, as ditching wasn’t an idea that he would have entertained. He tried to tell himself that it was because he just wanted to know what was going on, and he would be ‘over it’ soon.

  Yeah right.

  He had a strong feeling that he wouldn’t. Besides, Dev had said it was just for this week and, of course, he would see her in class on Monday. Even with the changes, they were both in advanced English so their class together wouldn’t change.