Chapter 1: New Town, Same as the Old Town.
~ Moving on, is a simple thing, what it leaves behind is hard. ~
~Dave Mustaine~
Vanessa Griffin packed her plaid messenger bag slowly. Notebooks, pens, her new schedule, everything she’d need for the coming day. She stared at the bright orange digital clock that rested on her oak bookshelf. It was 6:00 AM.
Going to a new school had become a habit for Vanessa, because her family moved around so much. Her dad promised that they’d stay in Douglas for a while, yet Vanessa could never be sure. No matter how many times the Griffin family moved it was always really hard. She had to leave behind all of her hard earned friends, her home, pack it all up, and move it elsewhere. Now here they were, Douglas, Michigan. Not only had they lived in Douglas five years before, but her parents had enrolled her in Douglas Preparatory School, which was about a quarter of a mile away, meaning she had to walk. And because this was prep school, it also meant wearing a uniform. But going to Douglas prep meant seeing her close friends Shiloh and Kendra.
“Vanessa! Hurry Up! You have to leave soon!” her mother’s voice sounded from downstairs. Vanessa sighed. Then she snatched up her bag and attempted to straighten the wrinkled pleats on her skirt. Then she shut off the small table lamp, and she left her newly unpacked room, unaware of the adventure waiting to unfold.
******
Vanessa walked down the musty streets of downtown Douglas. Stray cats purred lights of the many small shops and restaurants were dimmed. It had changed a lot in the five years she’d been gone. At 6:45 in the morning, it was even scarier, because the sun was only just now coming up on the horizon, making the shadows extend farther than normal. She noticed several students making there way into a large school building, which from Vanessa’s point of view; seemed like a million miles away. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she was cut off by two boys. One of the boys had red hair in a buzz cut, a well groomed goatee, and he wore a boy casual uniform, consisting of a white and orange short sleeved polo shirt and nice black shorts. The second boy had black hair in a ponytail tied at his neck; he also wore a casual uniform.
“Well, well, well, what have we here, a hot new girl? Don’t see many of those around here anymore do we Aaron?” The red headed boy asked the other one.
“No we don’t Toby,” the other boy, “Aaron” replied. Both boys reached for her. Vanessa braced herself, her messenger bag dropped to the ground with a loud thump. She did her best to stay away from “Toby and Aaron”. Toby grabbed Vanessa’s upper arms and began to lift her into the air. Vanessa squirmed and squealed, she attempted to break free. Her eyes squeezed shut. She made a quiet whimpering noise and prepared for the worst.
“HEY!” another strange voice called out. Vanessa’s eyes shot open. She attempted to turn her head, but she didn’t have to, because all of a sudden, “Aaron” dropped to the ground, a medium size instrument case landed on the ground by his head. A tall boy wearing another casual boy’s uniform with an orange hooded sweatshirt that had an eagle on it casually walked over and retrieved the case. Toby let go of Vanessa’s upper arms, and she dropped to the ground, landing on her butt next to her bag on the sidewalk. Toby began running down the sidewalk. The boy chased after him. She watched as the strange boy punched Toby square in the nose, sending him to the edge of the sidewalk near where Aaron was moaning and coming to his senses. The boy made his way over and grabbed Toby by the collar, pulling him up so their faces were inches apart.
“How dare you assault her like that!” he hissed. Vanessa reached out her arm to calm down the strange boy, but she immediately shrunk back. Toby’s eyes were wide. Vanessa noticed that he was trembling. The boy dropped Toby’s shirt. Toby quickly helped Aaron up and they ran off towards the school building. The strange boy made his way over to Vanessa and held out his hand.
“Don’t worry about them,” he said with a chuckle. “They’re drunk half the time anyways.” Vanessa grabbed the stranger’s hand and pulled herself up.
“I could have handled it,” Vanessa said, brushing off her skirt and swinging her bag over her shoulder.
“So I observed while you were dangling in midair,” the boy said. “My name’s Riley by the way.” Another boy came running up the sidewalk.
“Riley! What happened?” he cried.
“Toby and Aaron happened,” Riley replied. He turned to face Vanessa. “What’s your name?” he asked.
“I’m Vanessa, I just moved here a few days ago,” she said. Riley reached out and helped brush off Vanessa’s elbows and skirt.
“Nice to meet you Vanessa, I’m David,” the boy said. Riley rolled his eyes.
“Well, if you are ok, we’ll be off then,” Riley said. Vanessa nodded.
“Thank you,” Vanessa said, watching as David and Riley walked off towards the school. She noticed that her hands were scraped from landing on the sidewalk. She sighed, then she ran off towards the school herself.
Vanessa walked into the high school portion of the building. Girls and boys all wore their orange, white, and blue uniforms. Freshmen were talking to staff members about where their classes were. Vanessa opened her bag and took out the schedule that she had packed only an hour earlier. Homeroom, English with Hemm. That shouldn’t be so hard to find, Vanessa thought to herself. She walked around the 3rd floor searching for names on doors, or room numbers, but she had no such luck. All of a sudden, Vanessa saw someone she knew.
“Kendra?” Vanessa called out to the familiar blonde standing by the door to the 3rd floor pool.
“Ness?” Kendra asked turning around to face Vanessa.
“Kendra! I missed you so much!” Vanessa cried, hugging her friend.
“You didn’t tell me you were moving in this week! What a great surprise!” Kendra said.
“Strange, I thought I did,” Vanessa stated. Kendra rolled her eyes. A familiar voice made both girls turn. She saw Riley and David talking to a security guard.
“I wonder what that is all about,” Vanessa said. Kendra put her hand on her chin. She turned towards Vanessa.
“You know them?” Kendra asked.
“Yeah I met them this morning, wait, what is that security guard doing to him?” Vanessa asked. Kendra stared at the boys down the hall.
“Maybe he did something,” Kendra said. Vanessa watched as the guard escorted Riley down the hall.
“Well that doesn’t make much sense… it’s only the first day of school,” Vanessa stated, placing her hands on her hips. The girls continued to watch. Just then, David came running up to Kendra and Vanessa.
“Vanessa! Riley’s been arrested!” he cried.
“He’s been WHAT?” Vanessa said.
“Yeah, apparently someone turned him in for assault,” David said.
“How is that possible?” Kendra asked.
“Hell if I know, but he’s going to be suspended unless he pleads not guilty in the teen court!” David said.
“Wait… this school has a teen court?” Vanessa asked.
