• Dear Dairy,

    I’ve always been told by the people around me that high school is the best years of ones life but I really don’t know if I can agree or disagree with that having just started high school in all. Today though had to be one of the most interesting days I’ve ever really had.

    The new girl that’s what I was, new to the school and new to my class. Moving from England to the United States had been a big change. My parents had said everything would be alright but I’m not so sure about that. I’m sitting here in my class surrounded by all the other freshman and only guys have spared me a glance and that usually meant trouble for me… well if I was lucky they would leave me alone.

    “Nis,” the teacher looked at my name in confusion, that didn’t surprise me any.

    “It’s Nisvainiel,” I was frustrated but that was okay I hadn’t expected anybody to be able to say my name. It seemed every class I had in the morning went about the same way. The teacher took attendance by calling out names and always they came to my name and paused. I think the only teacher that got my name right was my U.S. History teacher Mrs. Anderson. All the classes went in the same boring order though, I really don’t think I liked the repetitive order each teacher introduced themselves and the rest of the class period had to do with sitting there and listening to them talk about what they were going to teach the class. That and all of them but one assigned all about me papers, I think I was about to scream, that’s a lot of all about me papers. What about the trees, I mean save some trees you idiots! There needs to be some trees around otherwise we are all going to die because of the lack of oxygen.

    People wouldn’t believe how glad I was when lunch finally came, but then I realized that I didn’t have anywhere to sit. The tables were crowded with students there wasn’t even a single table without a kid on it making that a little irritating. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do so I stood there like an idiot trying to come up with something intelligent to say to someone if I were to ask to sit at their table. I wasn’t standing there by myself much longer though because three people got up from their table and started to walk towards me. I was a little worried they all looked similar to how I dressed yes but the guy was tall and he didn’t have a friendly look on his face. I was really hoping that he wasn’t going to beat me up or something, he really looked like he could. I was almost panicking by the time the three of them reached me, my panic went away the moment the smallest one of their group talked.

    “So you’re Nis, the new girl right?” it was more of a question then a statement.

    Now that they were up close they didn’t seem so scary, at first I had been a little more then terrified but the girls were actually about the same height as me. The guy was the only one who made me nervous because he towered over me and the girls, but I figured that if he was hanging out with them he couldn’t’ be too scary… right. They were a very unique looking group, the guy who as I stated before is several times my height had dark hair with the tip dyed blue, it had a kind of spiky quality to it. The girl who had spoken was only a little shorter then me with bleach blond hair that faded into turquoise at the tips, it was one of the most unique hair styles and colors I’ve ever seen. While the last girl who now that I really paid attention was only slightly taller then me had long black hair that had red streaks in it.

    It took me a moment to realize that I hadn’t answered her, because I was to busy staring at them my eyes as wide as golf balls. I only realized that I hadn’t answered because she was giving me a really strange look equivalent to a look a person give a person they don’t think is very smart.

    “Oh yea that’s me, I’m Nisvainiel,” I gave her a really cheesy smile that definitely looked fake but I was hoping she didn’t notice it.

    She seemed to take a little bit to process this and then finally the blonde gave me the biggest smile I had ever seen on anyone’s face before.

    “I’m Lace,” she thrust her arm out at me and I took it shaking hand with her.

    “So Nis, I can call you Nis right?” she questioned.

    I just nodded at her I doubted I would have been able to answer before she bombarded me with something else. She seemed like the type of person who loved to talk and didn’t really wait for anyone else to state what they were thinking. I found out within the next seconds that I was completely and utterly correct.

    “Why don’t you sit with us?” she offered.

    I was a little shocked but then I was also glad, nod I didn’t have to worry about not having a place to sit. Well, at least I didn’t have to go around and ask someone only to get stared at like some idiot.

    “Okay,” I smiled and followed Lace to their table.

    Well, through out my hanging out with them at their lunch table I found out that the tall and scary looking guy was Benjamin and the dark haired girl was Ravyn. I also found out that they liked a lot of the same stuff that I liked, especially when it came to music. I found out that they all play different instruments Ben played the bass guitar, Lace played the drums, and Ravyn played the regular guitar. I too played an instrument well… more then one instrument but that didn’t really matter. We all actually got along good and I was a little more then sad when the bell rang and we all had to head to classes. I also found out that they were missing a friend because he had a different lunch period then they did.

    We all got up and filed out of the cafeteria as slowly as we could get away with and when we were finally out in the hallways we all separated in our different directions.

    “See you later alligator,” Lace called out running down the hallway and I just smiled and waved at her.

    I actually had Art at the moment and I was a little excited because it was Adv. Drawing and Painting. I only got into the class because I sent samples of my artwork to the school and the teacher automatically put me in it. I was glad that I was a part of the class though.

    Advanced Drawing and Painting actually went really fast the teacher just talked about what we were going to do during the year and then gave us the rest of the time to doodle. It was funny though because one kid drew a sun in the corner and the teacher picked it up and had to make a big deal about it in front of the class. I had a feeling that this teacher and I were going to have a whole lot of fun together. I was a little sad when the bell rang and I had to head to my next class, sure I didn’t make any friends in art but I was still having a lot of fun just drawing.

    I couldn’t remember what I had next and had to look at my list of classes and to my surprise I saw independent study on the list. Well that should be interesting I had no idea what to do for that class but I guessed it was kind of like study hall or something so I headed around the school and tried to occupy myself with something. I eventually ended up in one of the music rooms with all the instruments. I figured that since I was going to try out for choir next hour I might as well practice for it, they only let the most elite in and there was no way I was going to give up the chance to be a singer in the choir.

    The music room I entered was actually a little bit bigger then what I thought it was and it had tons of guitars and other instruments lined up everywhere for people to see. I eventually selected a acoustic guitar and sat down in the middle of the floor to begin playing. At first I just played what ever randomly but then I started to play Everybody’s Fool by Evanescence. When the words to the song were supposed to come in I began to sing. At least now I was getting some practice before I had to try out I would really have to ask what independent study was for though.

    As I was playing though I was extremely happy, I remember when I had first begged my parents to pay for both piano and guitar lessons. Both of them had taken weeks to finally give in to what I wanted and I practices furiously learning everything I could and I actually was pretty good, there was one girl that was way better then me I’m hoping that someday I would at least be as good as her. I improve every time though and that was very good. I have to say that out of everything I think my singing is the best talent I have nothing else compares with how good my singing is.

    I was happy when I finally finished singing the song I had hit almost every note perfectly only missing a couple slightly here and there.

    “Bravo!”

    I can’t say that I didn’t jump when the voice suddenly shouted that because I most certainly jumped there is no other way to put what happened well except maybe to state that I practically flew through the roof. I hadn’t even considered once that I might not be alone in the room and now that I knew someone had been in here to hear me I turned bright red in the face, I was most definitely embarrassed. I finally turned giving the person a shocked look, it was a guy and that made it even worse. He was tall like Ben, but with better muscle tone and he was blonde. He was actually kind of cute with his long blonde hair that rested on his shoulders and his eyes were the most enchanting blue eyes. Stop it! I could have slammed my head into the floor at that moment in particular moment.

    “I’m sorry I startled you,” he gave me a mischievous smile.

    “Oh, its okay, I just thought that I was alone,” I was a little embarrassed.

    Normally I wouldn’t have allowed anyone to surprise me, but I had been so into my singing that I hadn’t even realized that I wasn’t alone. That’s what music could do to a person especially if they loved music as much as I did.

    “So… Who are you?” I was a little confused by the new comer first off where on earth he had come from and then there was the fact that somebody I didn’t know had just snuck up on me.

    “I’m Jude,” he gave me another playful looking smile.

    “Nice to meet you I’m…” I was cut off.

    “Nisvainiel, Right? Lace told me about you.”

    I just nodded so this was the friend they had been missing today at lunch due to their mess up in lunches. He was kind of cute but I still wasn’t too sure about him, I didn’t really trust guys all that much and I really didn’t want to deal with him.

    “Yea...” I trailed off.

    I was a little frustrated I couldn’t believe that he was cutting me off and he knew my name before I knew his. For some reason that thought bothered me a lot, but I knew that I was just being childish and needed to stop before I looked even more like an idiot. It was a couple seconds later that he seemed to notice that he had actually upset me quite a bit by sneaking up. I wasn’t giving him a bad look or anything… at least I don’t think I was, but then again you never know when it’s me.

    “I’m sorry I was rude, I shouldn’t have snuck up on you,” he put his hands in the air and I realized within that second that I had been glaring at him.

    I was such a stupid idiot I couldn’t believe that I had been glaring at him, I’m such a brat! I had to admit that I that moment I almost wished the floor would open up and eat me whole, it was better then having to state what a idiot I am.

    “No, I’m sorry, I’m the one being rude,” I felt my face heat up a little and I knew I was blushing.

    He gave me a big smile at that moment and I felt myself get lost in it, it took me a couple seconds before I realized that I had stopped breathing altogether. I took a deep breath of air into my lungs and gave him a huge smile back; it was one of those smiles that my mother would have died to catch on camera. I never smiled when she had that evil camera out, I didn’t really like pictures all that much.

    “It’s okay, I shouldn’t of even…”

    “No, its okay really it is,” I cut him off.

    He seemed happy that I had told him it was okay, and personally I was glad that I told him. I really didn’t want to irritate someone today if I could help it. There was no way on earth I wanted to frustrate anyone on my first day if I could help it. I gave him another smile, but it was much smaller then the one I had given him only a few moments before.

    I jumped miserably when the door to the room opened and in walked Lace, Ben, and Ravyn. It seemed everyone wanted to bother me that day, it was okay though and I had to admit that I was happy to see them all.

    “So Jude what do you think of her?” it was Lace who asked this and I turned and gave her a strange look.

    “She’s perfect her voice will fit in nicely,” he nodded while saying this.

    “Umm... excuse me can we not talk about me like I’m not here. Now what are you talking about?” I demanded, I was really confused and all they were doing was making my confusion worse by the minute.

    “Well, we want you to join our band,” Lace gave me her mischievous smile.

    Now I was really confused did I even really get a choice in this matter? I had a feeling that I didn’t. Well, at least if I joined them I have somewhere I belong, and I might get the recognition that I have always wanted, but could I handle the fame? Yes, I would do it there was no other way I will get my chance and I might as well jump at the chance because chances only came once and sometimes not at all. That and I already liked most of them, they were defiantly people that I wanted to be friends with so why not join them and make them happier.

    “Okay, I’ll join.”

    I watched as everyone seemed to relax and smiles broke out in the group almost at the same time. It was a little creepy to watch those smiles come onto their faces at the same time, I had a feeling that I would get used to it in time.

    “So what is the name of the band?” I looked at them all and they all looked at Jude who just shrugged.

    “Are you kidding me? You guys don’t even have a band name; you can’t have a band without a name. Alright let’s brain storm!” I smiled slightly at the group.

    The next few moments were pretty chaotic, we spent most of the time trying out the sound of different names, of course we had some good ones offered but there were also a lot of crack names like Monkeys on Crack and Purple Hairy Lollipop, keep in mind that I didn’t name any of these ones off that was Lace.

    “What about Lost Echo?” I finally suggested.

    Everyone turned to me and seemed to think it over for a couple seconds, and then the smiles of doom were back. Every single one of them smiled about the same way and at the same time, yep this was definitely going to take some getting used to.

    Everyone looked over at Ben and shook their heads, there was no one on earth they were calling their band that.

    “I like it!” Lace shouted.

    Everyone else seemed to agree with her, and I was a little grateful that the search for a band name was over. As much fun as it was to shout out random nonsense it was better to know that we had accomplished what we needed to accomplish.

    “Okay, so we have a name now,” Jude smiled since it seemed everyone agreed.

    “Lets all meet and start practicing after school,” Lace suggested and we all just nodded in agreement we were going to need to start practicing right away it was better to get to know everyone’s talents right away.

    I was sad when the bell rang for me to go to choir, I liked choir but now I wanted to practice with the band. Well, I would get the chance to today after school. Everyone filed out of the room at the same time and went their different directions. The only one who didn’t go and opposite direction was Ravyn who actually entered the choir room and took a seat in the choir, she was actually in the top row and I had read that the higher up you sat in the choir the better the singer you were.

    The tryout for choir was actually very simple, he had me sing these different scales, and do these exercises to show off my register. It was actually extremely easy, but only because at my old school we had done exercises almost identical to the very ones I was doing here.

    “Miss Colten I want you to take a seat on the right side of Ravyn,” he pointed Ravyn out to me.

    I smiled at Ravyn and gladly took my seat next to her, I actually ended up bumping the whole row of people down and had taken the seat of one of the girls that everyone seemed afraid of. She had given me some pretty nasty looks when she was moved down to the other side of Ravyn, because the teacher thought it was best for her to remain by someone she knew, and for some reason I had the felling that he knew that I knew Ravyn.

    The teacher actually handed out music after that point, and we sang for what felt like hours, even though it wasn’t that long. The songs were actually a whole ton of fun and they kept me fairly busy even though they were easy to pick up on. I was a little sad and happy that the bell rang signaling the end of the day, but then I remembered the band and everything was okay.

    I wasn’t surprised when I went to put my music folder away in the bin that the chick I had bumped down the row confronted me.

    “You might want to quit choir before some bad happens to you and your little friends,” she gave me a nasty look and slipped her folder into her bin and then turned to leave, but then stopped and turned around once more.

    “You’ll be surprised what I can do to you, or you little group,” she smirked and with that she disappeared.

    I turned to look at Ravyn who had been standing next to me and she was as white as a ghost, apparently I needed to take the girl seriously.

    “Ravyn, we need to go,” I tugged on her sleeve and she nodded.

    We hurried down the hallway as quickly as we could and grabbed our stuff, it was pretty cool because our lockers were next to each other, and that meant that I didn’t have to fight the crowd to find one of my new friends.

    “So where do we go?” I asked her.

    “We have to go find Lace, we’ll probably just meet her at her bus,” Ravyn smiled and led the way.

    It didn’t take long and the whole group was gathered there, I was more the excited about this, and I knew we were going to have a lot of fun. The bus ride was a lot longer then I expected though because I even had time to write this down throughout the whole ride. Well Dairy, I have to go I will finish up my grand tale later. Bye.

    To Be Continued...