First step into Archville.

I woke up the next day with the sun shining on my face.

I yawned, and I stood up and looked in my wardrobe mirror, jeez, my hair was a tangled mess. After taking my bath, I dressed up quickly in short black overalls with a white short-sleeved top inside and packed my hair into a high ponytail, then smiled and patted my dimple.

I went downstairs and saw Val cleaning the living room, and I walked up to her.

"Hey Val"

" Oh hi, good morning. You'd better join Mera in the kitchen or else you'll find yourself scrubbing the toilets with Chris." she said and wiped the sweat on her brow with the back of her hand.

I found my way into the kitchen and saw Mera peeling potatoes.

" Hey Mera."

" Good morning, sweetie, do you know how to bake?" She asked.

" Yeah, I do, Just a little bit."

" Then start baking else you'll find yourself cleaning the rooms with mum." she said

" So Aunt is cleaning the rooms, Chris is washing the toilets, Val is cleaning the living room, and you're in charge of cooking and cleaning the kitchen?" I stated.

" Hmm, not necessarily cooking. Just in charge of making the snacks, so any hungry stomach could get one anytime."

" Ohhh…"

"Every Saturday's always like this. The mornings are filled with work." she said and I smiled.

" So where's the list of the things we're to bake?"

" Oh here." she said and handed me a sheet of paper on which an extremely ugly piece of writing showed what she wanted to bake, and I understood what Val said the other night when she compared Mera's handwriting to the old man's she was dating.

" So we're baking Crumpets, Potatoes, Cookies, Cupcakes, Pretzels, Bagels, Cream puffs, Blueberry muffins, Whoopie pies, Cornbread, Blueberry muffins, Red velvet cake, Banana bread… Woah woah woah… all this?" I asked.

" Cool down, they're just thirteen, and we have to bake at least half of them before afternoon if we want to show you around to everyone" She said as she peeled the last potatoes.

" Well, let's start baking then."I said, excited about been showed to everyone.

We baked for like hours.

Chris and Val only came in a few times to taste our baked goodies, my apron was all covered in flour, butter, and yeast and I burnt my fingers like twice, when I forgot to put on the oven gloves to bring out the already baked banana bread.

We made two batches of each, and we ate almost half of each.

" I never knew you were a good baker." Mera said when the time was One in the afternoon.

" Thanks. Hang on, wanna put a call through to my dad."

" I'll be taking my bath." she said, and I sat on the kitchen chair and brought out my phone. It rang twice before he picked it.

" Hope you are having a smooth journey, seeing you didn't even bother to wake me up."

" Oh come on Pris, you were sleeping soundly. I couldn't disturb you."

" Oh dad, why is this always the excuse when someone always forgot to wake me up." I said smiling.

" Oh no, I never forgot to wake you up. Here's proof. Your door was unlocked, leftover crumpets on a tray beside your bed on the floor and your hair was a tangled mess." he said and I laughed.

" My hair's always a tangled mess in the morning, so that doesn't count. Safe journey dad."

" Thanks Pris. I'll call you later, your mum's calling"

" Bye, love you. " I cut the phone and Chris came in.

" We heard you yesterday when you cried to your dad and I assure you, you won't feel lonely here. You're a part of us now, and we're better because you've joined us." he said and I smiled.

" May I?" He said, extending his hand, I took it, and he kissed my hand, making me turn red, so I looked at my feet to avoid him seeing my face.

Mera came in with her hair wet and went straight for a cookie.

" Oh come on, don't flirt Chris." she said putting some cookies and a pretzel on a plate.

" What's that for?" Chris asked.

" Sam, you know how much he loves cookies." she said and left, and I followed.

"Val!" Mera shouted and Val came downstairs wearing bum shorts and a white shirt which she tied at her belly and her hair was down in curls, unlike mine, which was always down in waves.

She gave a shy smile, and I wondered what guy wouldn't fall for that.

Mera was wearing a striped white and black mini tight skirt tucked into a pink off - shoulder top.

Chris was wearing an oversized yellow sweatshirt and black shorts with sneakers, and he looked too good.

We stepped out of the house, the air was cold, and the skies were gray. It seemed the rain was going to be coming soon.

We walked down the street, attracting stares and it felt so good.

At one time, I turned my head 360 degrees to look at a guy with lovely gray eyes and dark hair laughing with his handsome friends. I was so excited, I felt like jumping.

" Jeez, you look like a baby amused at the prospect of going out for the first time." Chris said, staring at me.

" That guy was Hans." I said and blushed scarlet.

We entered a person's lawn and Mera rang the doorbell and a guy with red hair falling over his face opened the door.

He had green eyes and his green eyes fell on me and watched me coolly, taking in every single detail of me…

If he had asked me out right then, I would have screamed YES! YES!! YES!!!

Then Val used her hands to close his eyes and pushed him inside, He put his hands on her waist and asked in a low voice.

" Who's the beauty?" He said, still looking at me through the open spaces in Val's fingers.

Goosebumps were already on my skin.

" Cousin." Val replied.

" Stop staring, don't scare her off." Mera said, and he walked to her and sat on the chair with her.

" I'm interested, she single?" He asked, and my heart rate spiked up.

" Come off it, Sam. I'm not giving her to you." Chris said and held my hand and led me to sit on a sofa with him. I felt really uncomfortable.

This guy was staring at me, then he looked at Mera and pouted his lips and said in a babyish voice.

" I'm interested, Mera."

Awwwwwwwwn! Aaaah! He's so cute!

" Want some cookies?" She asked

" You brought some?"

" Yeah." she said and brought out the plate of cookies.

" Feed me."

Then Mera began to feed him as they talked about some things.

" We'll get going, meet us at Poppy's." Chris said and val stood up.

" Chris! So you're not leaving her?" Sam asked.

" No way, playboy." Chris said smiling.

I, Chris and Val left Sam's house.

" So? Where to next?" I asked.

" To Poppy's." Val replied.

" Pris, do you know how to play hard to get? It'll drive the neighborhood guys crazy. Sam back there, he always loves the idea of dating a girl first, so he can say ' Oh that girl? I've dated her, ' he's a damn playboy." Chris said.

" Um, I don't know how to play hard to get."

" You don't have to know how to. Just don't date any guy who doesn't care to know you." Val said and I smiled.

" So, what's Poppy like?"

" The party type. I bet her house is going to be full of guys. She,her two sisters and their boyfriends and their boyfriends' friends. it's going to be like a total of ten. Let's bet it Chris" Val said

" I'm not betting. I'll only bet you're right because I know you're right, but we're not going to spend a long time there because…"

" Poppy is always sticking to you like glue and you find that annoying. I know."

" I never said that, I just wanted to get my Math note from her sister and nothing more." he said

" Well, you have got to admit that Poppy's really taken with you even though she's got that boyfriend of hers." Val said, smirking.

" Well yeah… I know about that"

" Pris, can you please not look innocent? You just look like a cute bunny. Try to look at least… bad girl style. You know what I mean?"

" I get it, I'm a good actress. I won't spare them a look." I said smiling.

" That's the spirit." Val said.

" Woah, that side of you will be cute." Chris said and I smiled.

We got to Poppy's house and when we got in, we saw some bottles of wine and yeah guys… and just like Val said, they were almost numbering ten and all the guys looked my way as I got in. Gosh, they were Hans! But I looked away, towards the stairs.

" Your new babe, Chris?" One of them asked.

" Does she look like it?" Chris asked in return.

" Quit teasing Chris and answer the question."

" Well, she's not yours to play with."

" I think she'll decide that." One of the guys said.

" Hey, baby!" He called and I looked at him. He was shirtless and was sprouting beards, and I hated bearded guys.

" I think I've got a name." I said.

" My bad, sweetie. What's the name"

" Pris and that's all you'll get to know about me." I said and turned to Val, who was grinning ear to ear.

" I think I like her." I heard a guy say.

Aaaagh! For the first time in my life!

" Well, who is she, Chris?" I heard a girl's voice and could tell she was jelly. She was cute with straight brown hair.

" My lovely cousin." Chris said and put his arm round my shoulder and pulled me close to him. Jeez , he smelled nice.

" Lucy, let's get to business, please. Are you done with it?" Chris asked a girl with thick hair.

" Almost. Let's go." Then she said to me. " If you want to tour the house, feel free. You might meet a friend, not one of these guys." She said and winked at me.

I looked at where Val had been standing. She was no longer there, she was now chatting merrily to a guy who kept on staring at her.

I climbed the stairs and came into a hall with doors.

I guessed they were rooms, but a certain room caught my eye. Its door was half opened and it had beautiful blue lights.

I stepped in and sat on the bed.

It was so bouncy.

I didn't want anyone to accidentally see me there, so I closed the door and looked around.

This was definitely a boy's room.

Although, it was very neat, unlike the boys' rooms I saw in movies.

Then all of a sudden, the toilet door opened and a shirtless guy dripping wet with only a towel around his waist came in.

He had black hair and light green eyes, and they fell on me.

" What the?!" He said startled.

" Sorry, sorry! I'm so sorry… didn't know that you … someone was, you know… taking a bath… The room was open and empty… I mean, I thought no one was in!" I said with my words colliding with each other then he leaned against the wall.

" The least you could do is talk smoothly. What's the name?"

" Pris."

" Pris?" He repeated

" Priscilla." I said.

" Nice name." he said, but it didn't feel like he meant it. He opened the wardrobe and brought out a light green hoodie, just the color of his eyes and pulled it on. I studied him. He had a side swept hair cut. And he looked extremely handsome with it.

Then it suddenly clicked in my brain…

My green-eyed boy.

" You've never seen a guy before?" He asked, still checking out some things in his wardrobe.

" Huh? No… I just…"

" So, what brought you here?"

" My cousins, they came here for a reason."

" Okay… so you're living with them?"

" Yeah, so you live here?"

"Nah. I just come here sometimes when home is boring. My sisters always have a party going on." he said

" Your sister's Poppy?" I asked

" Yeah and Lucy and Sheila."

" Oh, I saw them. "

" How old are you?"

" Thirteen " I said

" You're pretty young." he said

" I'm not young. I'm a teen." I said.

" Nice." he said dryly. "So which school are you attending? "

" Archville."

"So I'll definitely be seeing you around."

" What year are you in?"

" Just started high school last year." he said.

"One of my cousins, too."

" So, what led you here?" He asked, staring at me for the first time since we started talking.

I felt uncomfortable.

" The room looked nice and different."

He gave a short laugh and I saw his perfect teeth and the way he laughed! Jeez so gentle

He moved closer to me, slowly until he was standing over me.

" Never dated a guy, right?" He suddenly asked.

" How… how… why do you say that?"

" Because of the way you're reacting to my stare. Like a guy's never stared at you before." he said and bent down.

" No, it's not that. I'm not reacting to your stare."

" You don't need to feel embarrassed, most guys have that effect on girls like you."

" You… you don't have an effect on me. I… "

He moved closer and closer and closer!

I pushed him away with my heart beating like crazy.

" Are… are you trying… to … to… why would you… I was on a bed and what was on your mind… why moving closer… " I asked with my words tumbling over each other?

He started to laugh…

he laughed so hard and looked at me with those cool green eyes.

" Your cheeks are red, I've never seen anyone with a face as red as that… guess your heart was in your throat. Plus, I don't and will never have any other thoughts about you apart from you being a 13-year-old girl who wanders around like something blind."

" Pris!" Val called from downstairs.

" Move it Piss, they're calling for you." he said

" It's not Piss it's Pris."

" Whatever, the only difference is an ' r ' " he said, leading me to the door with his hands on my shoulders, and jeez he was so tall … no maybe I was too short, perhaps I was a dwarf.

Nooooooo!

I ran out the door and down the stairs with my cheeks burning.

" Let's go." Chris said, and we walked out.

We saw Mera on the way, and they took me all around town, but my mind was on one thing… No, one person.

The green-eyed boy…

perhaps a poem should be written about it, but then, I wished to see him again, though he clearly stated that he couldn't think of me in any other way. Including a romantic way, but still…

Sunday came and went, and we spent almost the whole day preparing for school.

I was nervous, shaky, and panicky.

What if they didn't like me?

What if I had no friends?

What if, what if and what if.

When I woke up the next day, Aunt had ushered us into the dining and served us plates of lamb chops and baked potatoes with toast and marmalade.

" Eat up, eat up, it's the first day of school. Don't go looking dull." She had said putting more lamb chops on my plate and buttering my toast with marmalade…

" Mom, I need some hair ties… Fancy ones." Val said with her mouth full of baked potatoes.

" We'll get them for you."

I could barely eat. I had this feeling in my stomach like as if something heavy was sinking in it.

I had worn a yellow oversized sweatshirt and white bum shorts and my hair was in a high ponytail, it was the best way I liked to look, but it still didn't make me feel better.

By the time we got out, Aunt gave us a ride, she insisted that the first day of school had to be official in everything.

And I almost fainted as I stood in front of the large, enormous gates of Archville high.

It was full of students swarming in and talking in excited tones and then Chris, Val and Mera waved me goodbye and I stood there all alone, wishing I was back at Everglades, my previous school, and then I took a step.

My very first step into the school.