Chapter 2 2

"Oh, Brooke, dear, you've grown into such a beautiful young woman!" Her aunt, Lisa, gushed, admiring her niece with adoration. "I'm wonderful dear, now you're here."

"Thanks, Lisa," Brooklyn said, blushing from the compliment.

"Brooklyn, it's a pleasure to have you staying with us," her uncle, David, said and ruffled Brooklyn's curly blonde hair.

"Thanks for letting me stay," Brooklyn said sincerely. "Mum and dad are driving each other mental."

"Tell us something we don't know," David muttered and shook his head. "I've never seen a more stressful divorce."

"It's been crazy, but I am glad I'm away from them," Brooklyn shrugged.

"I'm glad you're with us," Lisa smiled. "I'm going to start dinner, it should be ready within the hour."

"Okay," Brooklyn nodded and made her way back over to her bed where a magazine was laying.

"Oh, Brooklyn, I almost forgot; school starts tomorrow."

*

"It's... Cute?" Brooklyn desperately searched for a nice word to describe the bricked building in front of her.

"It's a shit hole," Brandon laughed, looking at the school building.

"It's different to the city," she said and grabbed her bag from the backseat of Brandon's car. "Can you show me to the reception?"

"Sure, I'm not going to ditch you and let you get lost, B," Brandon chuckled and climbed out of his car, Brooklyn followed close behind.

"There's a lot of people," Brooklyn observed, her eyes quickly scanning over the masses of students that crowded around cars in the car park. "I thought this town was small."

"It is. Everyone knows each other," Brandon shrugged and started walking towards the school steps.

Brooklyn caught up with him and looked around as she walked. Many eyes were on her, but she wasn't bothered. She was rather good at dealing with confrontation and attention, being the new girl didn't bother her. "The reception isn't hard to get to," Brandon said when they entered the school. "You literally turn left, then right and it's at the end of the corridor."

They turned left and right, and within seconds Brooklyn was standing behind a desk, looking down at a middle aged woman who was typing on a computer.

"Hi," Brooklyn said, gaining the woman's attention. "I'm Brooklyn Fox, a new student."

"Brooklyn," the woman repeated. She frowned for a few seconds before she gasped and nodded. "Brooklyn yes," the woman said and shuffled through a pile of papers. "Welcome to Ridgewood High. Here is your timetable, your locker combination and a map of the school." Brooklyn took the paper she was handed and smiled.

"Thank you," she said and looked down at her timetable, briefly scanning it.

"What lesson do you have first?" Brandon wondered, peering over Brooklyn's shoulder. "History," he said and nodded. "You're with me."

"Great, at least I'll know someone," Brooklyn smiled. "Can you show me how to get to my locker before class?"

"Sure," Brandon nodded and Brooklyn thanked the receptionist once more before walking out of the reception and back into the slowly filling school hallways. "What's your locker number?"

"Um..." Brooklyn looked at the paper and looked for the number. "A23."

"That's right by the entrance," Brandon said, taking Brooklyn towards the entrance of the school. He stopped by a locker and Brooklyn grinned.

"Thanks, Bran. I don't know what I'd do without you, you know how bad I am at directions. I would be so confused right now," Brooklyn said and Brandon laughed.

"The school usually supply books, you should check inside your locker," Brandon said and Brooklyn nodded, entering the combination that was on her piece of paper.

Brooklyn looked at the neat stack of books that were waiting for her and put them in her bag just as a girl opened the locker next to her. The brown haired girl looked Brooklyn up and down and frowned. "Are you new?"

"Yeah, I'm Brooklyn," Brooklyn said, smiling at the girl.

"I didn't think I recognised you," the girl said and smiled back. "I'm Sasha." Sasha looked and Brandon and back to Brooklyn. "You make friends easily."

"Oh, Brandon's my cousin," Brooklyn said. "I'm staying with my aunt and uncle."

"Cousin? At least you know someone, this school is extremely clique-y," Sasha said and rolled her eyes. "It's so stereotypical it really pees me off. You don't want to get in with the wrong crowd."

"What do you mean?"

Sasha nodded to a group of girls crowded round a locker and scrunched her nose up in disgust. "If it was any hotter their makeup would be pouring down their faces. I want to puke at the sight of them."

Brooklyn laughed. "I'm sure they're not that bad," she said optimistically, but her face dropped when she noticed the slutty cheerleader uniforms and bad bleach jobs.

"B, I'm need to check on something, I'll see you in class," Brandon said and walked off before Brooklyn could ask how to get to her class.

"What a great cousin, he ditches you with the first stranger you meet," Sasha said sarcastically. "What if I was an evil barbie?" She said dramatically.