Chapter 3 - Luke

I wasn't having a great year.

First, my parents get divorced. Ouch. Then, I get kicked out of my school, like three days before

summer break. Then, my mother decides to move as far as possible from New York, and we end upin Los Angeles. Then, my mom finds a school, the "Santa Monica High School" where I can go for

the rest of my school days. Hooray.

Anyway, my summer hadn't been the best. Until a week before school.

I decided to go for a walk on Third Street, so I got dressed and left. On the way there I met Nick andWilliam, two guys who would go to my same school. I found out that they both have been living inSanta Monica for their whole lives, so they knew the streets like the back of their hands.

Nick had curly brown hair and green eyes. He doesn't really talk much. He was in good shape, in

fact, he told me that he does kickboxing.Will, on the other hand, had blond hair and blue eyes. It's a little embarrassing, but he's the kind of a ladies man. When we met, about three girls were flirting with him, asking to be hisgirlfriends. That's right. All three.

As I was saying, Nick, Will, and I were walking down the road. I was much slower than the other two were because I wanted to stop at every single shop, so I was walking behind the two.

Anyway, I was looking at books (What? I'm a nerd) when I realized that Nick and Will were way ahead of me. So I took off, jogging down the street.

I ran past a guy, then a woman, then a couple. I was able to avoid two girls talking, but right behind her, another girl popped up with a book in her hands.

BAM!

Her book, her purse and... another purse?!...all fell down on the floor.

I turned around and saw a beautiful face. She had long black hair that fell onto her shoulders. Her light complexion showed off her sparkling blue eyes. Tiny little freckles were splashed onto her face.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Uh...um...yes...yeah. I'm...okay. Thanks," she answered.

"I'm sorry," I said, "Let me help you pick this up."

I crouched down and picked up her stuff, and I noticed what she was reading. The Set-up. That's actually a good book. I thought.

"No, it's my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going," she said.

"It's okay," I answered as I gave her her stuff back.

"Thanks," she said

"No problem."

I was about to turn around and leave, when another girl, this one blonde and with way too much make-up on, pushed away the cute one and started talking to me.

"Hello! I'm Vanessa. I'm sorry for Alexia's behavior. She's always looking at that...thing."

"You mean a book?" I asked.

"Whatever," Vanessa said. Then she turned to Alexia. "DID YO BRAKE MY PHONE?" she demanded.

"No, Vanessa. It's fine," Alexia answered.

"I should probably go," I said. Before turning around and running to Nick and Will, who were now staring at me, I said, "See you around Alexia."

She smiled shyly at me, but I thought it was cute anyway.

I went to meet Nick and Will, who were looking at me with their mouths open.

"What?" I asked

"Were you just talking to Vanessa?" Will asked

"Yeah, why?"

"Dude. That's Vanessa Wild. She's the most popular girl in school. This guy has been trying to get her since sixth grade." Nick pointed to Will.

"She is my Everest," Will said dreamily.

I honestly didn't get them. Why would they want to be with someone like Vanessa? She was being so mean to Alexia...

"Why would you want to be with her?" I asked.Both Nick and Will stopped dead in their tracks. They both looked at me like I was an alien."I mean," I said, trying to fix things, "She looked pretty selfish to me. I definitely wouldn't hit that."

"Oh yeah, she's a bad person. But, dude, did you see her? She's hot," Nick said.

"Yeah, sure. But she is really mean to Alexia. Even if she was the most beautiful woman in the world, I wouldn't date her if she was that mean to everyone," I confessed.

"Who's Alexia?" Will asked.

"Oh, she's the girl that was with Vanessa and her friend," I said. "Dark hair, blue eyes, freckles?"

"Oh, you mean her butler!" Will said.

"Her...what?" I asked.

"Butler. That's just what we call her. She's always doing stuff for Vanessa, she follows her around, she even does Vanessa's homework," Will explained.

"Why?" I asked, curiosity taking over my brain.

"How should I know?" Will exclaimed.

After a couple of silent seconds, we started walking again. A while later, Nick started talking again."So. Where are you from again?"

"I'm from New York. I've lived there my whole life. But, then my parents got divorced and my mom wanted to go as far as possible from New York City. So, here I am," I explained.

"So this is your first time in Santa Monica?" Will asked me.

"Yeah. That's why I need guides," I said looking at them.

"You came to the right people," Will said.

After a whole day of walking, I was ready to go home, read a book, and go to sleep. I said bye to my two new friends, then walked home.

Thank god, I didn't get lost. I took out my keys and opened the door.

"Hey, mom! I'm home!" I yelled.

"Hi, sweetie! How was your day?" she asked as she popped out from behind a corner.

She had curly blonde hair tied into a bun. Her green eyes were beautiful, but they looked...off. Since we left New York, my mother had been lookinglike that. She didn't laugh anymore. She didn't smile anymore. She almost didn't even go out anymore.

"It was good. I met two guys who showed me around. Santa Monica is actually pretty nice," I confessed as I took off my shoes.

"That's good," my mother answered.

"We should go out sometime, we can go on Third Street, go shopping at the mall, go to the movies, ..." I said.

"Oh yes, I think that would be nice, sweetie," she replied. "Aren't you hungry?"

"No thanks, I'm fine. Goodnight mom," I added, then went to my room. I took off my clothes and put on my PJs. I slipped into bed and stared at the ceiling.

Will this school be good? It sounds good. I hope I'll meet new friends. Am I going over my head with this? Am I worrying too much?A part of my brain asked.

Yes. Yes, you are.The other part said.

Shut up. I said to both of them.

They didn't answer.

But one more thought crawled into my mind.

Will I see Alexia again?