The next week went by incredibly fast and before I knew it, the first day of senior year started tomorrow. I was excited, but nervous. My past three years in high school were extreme emotional roller coasters. I hoped this year would be different and I could fly through the year without any unnecessary drama. Jason was going to drive me to school everyday, since I wasn't getting a car anytime soon. I had convinced myself that seeing him more and more each day would make me feel less guilty about my summer fling with Nate, who I hadn't really talked to since I've been home. We talked on the phone maybe three times, and I had been home for weeks now.

That night I laid my first day outfit on my bed and all its accessories. If I didn't plan out my outfits the night before, I was a mess in the morning. I went on the computer and did one last Facebook check before I went to sleep. I had one friend request and two notifications. I look at the notifications first, and saw my sister wrote on my wall, wishing me luck and a fun day on my first day of senior year. We brought her back to college a week and a half ago, so Facebook was our prime source of communication. The other notification was Jason commenting on one of my pictures from Cancun. I carefully picked certain pictures to put on Facebook, avoiding pictures with Nate that looked suspicious.

I didn't feel like reading his comment, so I clicked on my friend request. "Nate Frade has requested to be your friend." I gasped. Nate never mentioned he had a Facebook! I wanted to accept him so bad, but then he'd talk to me and people would see it and it would cause so much drama that I didn't want to deal with! I never told Nate I had a boyfriend back. I really didn't think it would be a problem, since Nate would never show up again, and if he did I could just keep him a secret. It would've been rude to tell him our relationship had to be a secret, because then he'd get offended and stop talking to me, and I really didn't want that.

I decided not to accept or decline his request and logged off, pretending I didn't see it. I changed into my pajamas, got into bed, and tried to get some sleep before my first day of senior year. I was trying not to stress over this so much. Stressing would really put me in a bad mood the next day, and I didn't want to start off the school year on a bad note. I reminded myself that I was never going to see Nate again, and if I ever did talk to him it would be privately, and everything will be all right.


I was woken up by my alarm at 6:05 A.M. I hit snooze, got out of my bed, got my outfit and went into the bathroom. All my worries from the night before had went away and I had a great feeling about today. I finished getting dressed, did my hair, put the final touches of make-up on and went downstairs. Every morning for the past three years, I would have a grapefruit, a granola bar, and Arizona Green Tea for breakfast. It became a ritual and if I didn't have those things, my day was a disaster. Nobody was awake, and I really didn't expect anyone to be at 6:45 in the morning. Troy would wake up in 15 minutes and my parents would wake up at 7:30, so I had the entire morning to myself.

I heard Jason beep his horn outside. I grabbed my books, my bag, and walked out the door. It was a warm morning without a cloud in the sky, which was unusual for normal Michigan weather. Usually, there were always clouds in the sky. I opened the passenger door, slid in, and Jason greeted me with a good morning kiss.

"Morning, baby. You look beautiful, like always," Jason said. I specifically told Jason I hated when he used words like "hot" or "sexy" and I preferred to be called "beautiful", and he made fun of me for being old-fashioned, but I didn't care. We drove for five minutes towards CSHS, which looked the same as always. The huge brick building with three floors to hold over 1,500 students, which made it extremely crowded in some parts of the school. Seniors mostly had classes on the third floor, which is why the third floor is named "The Senior Layer" (courtesy of the guys who spend way too much time in the TV production room). Jason walked me to my locker while Madison and Annette were standing near my locker.

"Morning, girls!" I said, cheerfully.

"Babe I'm gonna go to my locker. I'll see you later," he said, and walked away.

"So, I heard we're getting at least five new kids this semester. One of them has to be a cute guy!" Annette said. I rolled my eyes and started laughing. She said that every year.

"Well I'll believe it when I see it," I said. My first period was Biology with Madison. We said goodbye to Annette and walked to the science wing of our school. We took two seats next to each other and talked until our teacher came in.

"Good morning class," Mrs. Whitaker said. She was in her mid-50's and still had long, beautiful brown hair that I envied. She was a cool teacher, but her tests were impossible to pass. I always paid attention in school and my grades showed it. I was in the top 25% of my class and I planned to keep it like that.

"Let me just take attendance and then we can get started --" She was interrupted by a knock on the door. My desk was the farthest away from the door, so I couldn't see who it was. She was handed a slip of paper, read it, and turned back to us, "Class, we have a new student joining us." A tall, blonde, slightly curly haired boy with deep blue eyes walked into the room with a smile that made me melt instantly.

"Welcome, Nate Frade!"