I'm still working on characterization in third person, all advice is greatly appreciated. Even if you haven't read the previous two installments. I mainly want to know how the characters are coming across. But nitpicks are fun too. :] -JC
After two more hours of being stared at, and several kind half-smiles, Kimber walked out onto the quad. Hordes of students, all well dressed and laughing with friends who were just as good looking, milled around the campus without a care. Kimber looked around, shuffling her feet and twisting her fingers together while looking for a tall oak tree.
She felt even more out of place as time went on, and nervous butterflies careened through her stomach at full speed at the thought of approaching Veronica’s friends. Kimber had no doubt that they would stare at her like she was from another planet. It would be even worse if Veronica wasn’t there when she showed up.
Her eyes found the oak tree in the center of the school. It was tall and grand, and must have been hundreds of years old. Tables and benches were set up around it, and glamorous students sat in its privileged shade. Few of them were eating, and most were sitting, basking in the rich company and four star atmosphere. Kimber’s stomach tightened at the thought of putting herself within that area. It seemed wrong. They had all earned their place through glamour and nefarious action, and Kimber would just be an intruder.
Just then, a slim, white arm slipped over Kimber’s shoulder, breaking her concentration. For a second Kimber forgot whether she had remembered deodorant that morning, but, sure she had, she let the thought slip away and the panic rolled back in.
“How you holding up, new girl?” Veronica laughed her bell-toll laugh and lifted her shades to the top of her head.
“Overwhelmed,” Kimber admitted. For some reason, she felt fine telling Veronica her insecurities, despite that fact that she was clearly the top dog. Veronica seemed friendly, and held a smile the way murders held evil; and with the same intensity.
It was a friendly smile, but for some reason, it unsettled Kimber. Made her feel like she had to live up to an impossible standard, where the rest of the world had an eighteen year head start.
“So-Cal does that to some people,” Veronica said. She walked forward, pulling Kimber along with her.
“So-Cal?” Kimber asked. She had never heard that particular phrase, and if there was anybody to ask; it was Veronica.
Veronica laughed and said, “You are so cute.”
But she didn’t answer the question. Kimber’s heart beat faster and faster and her armpits were damp with nerves as she was pulled closer and closer to the group of sunbathing, tanned royalty. This was not her place. Even back home, while she’d had many friends, she was never considered ‘elite’.
She didn’t know where stood with them, and had only ever been to one party. But something told her that here you had to be able to withstand drugs, alcohol, dancing late into the night and waking up in time for church the next morning. Kimber didn’t know if she could do that. She didn’t know if she could fit the standard here. California was lowering her self esteem by degrees.
It seemed like Kimber had hardly had time to blink when Veronica let her go and sat on one of the sun-warmed benches around the oak tree.
The others at the tree were staring at Kimber. Harsh, judgmental stares. More-so than any of her classrooms combined. Kimber felt like cowering, lowering her head, twisting her fingers together and calling it one big mistake. She was in the wrong place, and it was obvious to everybody.
A girl with chocolate hair looked to Veronica, one of those questioning looks on her face. The others followed soon after, and it seemed like forever before Veronica looked at them. She was smiling, reveling in the curiosity of her friends, and the distress of Kimber as she twisted her hair in knots around her shaking fingers.
“This is Kimber,” Veronica said, her voice calm and almost bored. She paused, letting the annoyed curiosity of her friends sink in. Kimber looked around, other groups were staring now as well, less hostile than entertained. They were waiting for her to be humiliated and shoved away. Kimber was bracing herself for much worse than that; she was braced for rejection.
“She’s new here.” Veronica paused again. This time the brunette sighed and rolled her eyes.
“That’s enough, Ronnie. I’m done with your games.”
She turned to Kimber, a smile that practically screamed I’m better than you, and I know it.
“Don’t pay her any attention,” the brunette said. “She likes messing with peoples heads.”
Kimber had that much figured out already, and was already taking a few rejected steps back. Her eyes were watery, and she felt stupid. Played. She should have known that she wouldn’t be good enough for these people.
“I’m Leslie.”
Kimber stared at the brunette’s- Leslie’s- hand. She was smiling, and it was the same smile, but the longer Kimber looked, the more it changed. It went from menacing, to strong, to confident, to even friendly. Kimber took a tentative step forward, careful about more games. She wasn’t sure what was real and what was a cruel joke on her behalf.
She reached out and shook Leslie’s hand.
“Where you from, Kim?”
“Texas,” Kimber said. “And it’s Kimber. Not Kim or anything.”
Leslie laughed, but it was different from Veronica’s ringing one. More sultry with and edge of sex, even when everything was casual. It was a Hollywood actress laugh.
“But you're so small,” a beach blonde with a curvy figure said. “Isn’t everything supposed to be bigger in Texas?“
Her eyes ran over Kimber’s body, studying with awe. Kimber was beginning to recognize the expressions in the faces around her. They were different, with subtle undertones and difficult to see hints. But she was unlocking the code, slowly, but surely.
“And ain’t you supposed to ‘ave a Tex-as ac-cent,” a boy with golden hair stepped in with his best interpretation of what he thought was the expected accent, drawing out the last two words to a ridiculous degree.
Kimber laughed softly, and while it was different from that of those around her, she was already feeling more comfortable around this group of people. It was becoming clearer as time went on that they had both had expectations; things Kimber thought they were, and vice versa.
“That was a terrible interpretation,” Kimber said. To her surprise, the group around her laughed. Surprised, vivacious laughter that brought a smile to Kimber’s face.
“She told you, Johnny,” the curvy blonde said.
“Shut up,” Johnny said, frowning and walking away from the group to join another, where his jokes could be appreciated.
Kimber smiled larger, and the group around her went on talking about the points of their lives. They asked about Kimber and her life, and for the first time in her life she felt well and truly like she belonged somewhere.
Every few moments Kimber’s eyes flicked to where Veronica was lounging, leaning back against a bench with a smugly nonchalant look on her face. Every time Kimber looked at her she had this look in her eyes, one which Kimber wasn’t quite sure about. After a few moments it became clear.
Veronica was proud of her.
All of the games and the testing had been to prepare Kimber, to help her. Kimber smiled and a sense of home fell over her. California was home, and the very thing which had connected those around her to each other, now pulled her in, tying her to the strange and beautiful energy.
The cell phone in Kimber’s pocket started vibrating, and with a curious sigh she slipped it into her palm. She checked the caller id and the smile fell from her face immediately.
Mom. Just perfect.
