Chapter 1:Pretty boy, Tree boy

Joanna was asleep, probably dreaming about cotton candy and rainbows, or whatever 14-year-olds dream about. She is suddenly woken up by her alarm clock. It beeps 4 times until she hits the button.

"Why would somebody make alarm clocks so annoying?", Joanna said as she got up. She took off her pajamas, put on a bra and got ready to start the day. She put on a lilac t-shirt with hed favorite band, " The Jimmies" on it, put on a khaki skirt, some fuzzy socks, and her pink sneakers. She brushed her black hair, straightened her bangs, and put her circular glasses over her green eyes. She grabbed a granola bar and got in the car with her mom. She looked through her phone and saw all her friends posting pictures at Rhinestone High. "Why did mom have to send me to OakBridge High?", she thought to herself as they arrived.

" Bye, honey, love you." her mom said as she drove off.

"Bye", Joanna said sadly. She turned and tripped and fell into someone. At least they caught her?

"Are you okay?", a handsome sounding voice asked. She looked up to see a handsome boy with curly black hair and brown eyes, he was wearing a blue collared shirt with jeans and blue sneakers.

"Ummm are you okay?", He asked again. Joanna stopped daydreaming and quickly stood up.

"I'm fine." She replied picking up her bookbag.

"Cool, my name's Cort.", he said, "And you are?"

"I'm Joanna but you can call me Joe." She replied.

"Cool, talk to you later, Joe," Cort said before turning around and walking towards the basketball court. Joanna kept on staring at him. She totally has a crush on hi-

"Don't waste your time." said a higher sounding voice than Cort's. She turned to the voice. It was a curly-haired ginger kid with green eyes and glasses sitting under a tree reading a book. He had a green sweater with jeans and green and white sneakers

"Huh?", Joanna asked curiously.

"I said, "the boy said looking up from his book," don't waste your time."

"What do you mean?" Joanna asked.

"Cort takes the cutest new girl out on a date and then breaks up with them," the boy explained, "making every cute new girl feel like they're not good enough, he's done it since 5th grade, everyone knows, but they're still all over him."

"So he thinks I'm cute?" Joanna asked twisting her hair around her finger.

"He basically just wants to make you miserable." the boy replied.

"Okay, and you are?" She asked folding her arms.

"You ask a lot of questions," he replied as he looks up from his book, "I'm Damien."

"I'm Joanna, but you can call me-" She started before being interrupted by Damien.

"Joe, I know." he said standing up.

"So why do you sit under trees and listen to people's conversations?" she asked picking up her bookbag she dropped.

"I don't know, it's just a hobby." he replied, "Want me to show you around?"

"Sure." Joanna said as she picked up her bookbag. Damien showed her around and then they went to orientation. At orientation, she met a British girl with freckles, blue eyes, and curly, pink-dyed hair, named Rosa. She had the same "The Jimmies" shirt on, which made them friends really quickly. Then she met Rosa's boyfriend, Ai, who was an Asian boy with curly purple-dyed hair. She got Cort, Rosa, and Damien's number. Everyone got picked up except for Cort and Damien. She called her mom but she was left on voicemail.

"How is she still at work?" she said as she put her phone in her pocket.

"I can walk you home." Said Cort's voice from behind her.

"Sure." She said happily. Damien watched them walk down the sidewalk.

"There goes Mr pretty boys new victim." he thought to himself.

Cort and Joanna were almost at her house when Cort decided to talk.

"So you're new?" he asked

"Yeah, I used to go to Rhinestone Middle School."

"Cool." he said with a smirk on his face, "those bangs look really nice on you."

"Thanks," she replied, "I cut them myself."

"So you're like a hairstylist?" he asked.

"I've wanted to be one ever since I was little." she replied, "I even take classes."

"Do you think you could do mine sometime?" he asked.

"Totally!" she said as they arrived at her house," just text me and I'll do it for free." they stopped at her house.

"Cool well, I'll see you tomorrow, Joe." He said as he started walking away.

"Bye." She said as she waved. she walked into her house and got into pajamas. She grabbed her phone and got on her king-sized bed. She decided to call her best friend, Imani, from her old school, but she didn't answer.

"She probably left her phone at school again, she always leaves it at school." Joanna thought to herself. She decided to check Instagram. The whole time she just looked at memes before eating some dinner and then going to bed.

The next morning she wakes upturns of her alarm clock and gets ready for school. she brushes her hair, fixes her bangs, puts on her glasses, puts on a yellow tank top with spaghetti straps and a blue t-shirt on under, puts on some dark green jeans, some fuzzy socks, and her pink sneakers. She grabs her book bag and heads downstairs to eat some breakfast with her mom.

"How was school yesterday?" Asked her mom as she gave her some pancakes.

"It was great, mom." She replied as she started to eat her pancakes.

"Did you make any friends?" Her mom asked.

"Yep." She replied as she finished her pancake.

"That's good honey." Her mom responded grabbing her plate and putting it in the sink. They walked to the car and her mom dropped her off.

"Bye honey love you!" her mom said as Joanna got out of the car.

"Love you, "Joanna replied as she closed the car door. She realized no one was there yet so she sat on the ground and began to go through her phone. As she was going through her phone Damien got dropped off. He said bye to his dad and sat down under his tree near where joanna was sitting.

"So I saw you walked home with Cort." He said pulling a book out of his bookbag.

"So what?" She asked annoyed.

"You aren't a very good listener." He replied, "Corts a player, all he's gonna do is make you miserable. You should've backed out when you had the chance."

"Well maybe he changed," replied Joanna.

"Cort never changes."responded Damien as he looked back down to his book.

"What book are you reading?" Joanna asks.

"Carrie by Stephen King." He replied, "You should read it." Damien says as he hands the book to Joanna.

"Aren't you reading it?" she asks.

"I've read it 10 times, it's my favorite book." He responded, "give it back when you're done though."

"Thanks." She said as she put the book in her backpack. "So why do you sit under that tree?"

"I just like too." He replied.

"Well, that's a good reason," Joanna responded. They both laughed as Cort got dropped off.

"Hey, Joe." He asked as he sat down next to her on the grass. "Want me to walk you home again?"

"Not today, my moms picking me up." She replied.

"Oh okay." He responded as he went on his phone. Damien pulled out another book from his bookbag to read, and Joanna started reading Carrie. They went to class and Damien was in every single class, but Cort wasn't because he was in ninth grade b. But luckily Rosa and Ai were in ninth grade A.

They went to lunch after the fourth period. Joanna sat at a table with Rosa, Ai, and Damien. Sadly Cort sat with his guy friends. They had lots of fun at lunch though. They all laughed and talked, but Damien mainly read his book.

After the 6th period, everybody started going home. Joanna watched Cort get picked up in an expensive-looking car by his dad. She called her mom and was left on voicemail again.

"Come on, again mom?" She said to herself. Damien was sitting at his tree and called his dad. His dad didn't answer and was left on voicemail before realizing his dad had to work late today.

"Why does her boss always call her in?" Damien overheard Joanna say.

"I can walk you home." Said Damien standing up quickly.

"Sure." Said Joanna as she stood up slowly. Her and Damien started walking towards her home. As they were walking Damien noticed the new McDonald's that had just been built near the school.

"Wanna stop?" He asked pointing towards the McDonald's

"Sure." She replied as they started walking towards it. They ordered some Cheesy Bacon fries and burgers with drinks. As they were eating they talked and got to know each other better. They laughed a lot and talked about their thoughts on the first chapter of Carrie. Then they finished their food and continued walking. They kept on talking and finally got to her house.

"That was really fun," Joanna said as she turned to Damien.

"Yeah," replied Damien," Well I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, Damien!"Joanna said as she walked towards her door.

"Bye, Joe," Damien said as he started walking towards his apartment two blocks down the road. As he was walking he kept on thinking about Joanna, no matter how hard he tried to stop, and he kept on smiling about it too.

"C'mon brain I can't like her, she likes someone else!" He thought to himself. He got to his apartment and made himself and his dad some tea and sat down in the living room and watched some TV. At 6 PM his dad came home.

"Sorry I couldn't pick you up son," he said as he put his keys on the table along with his phone." The boss wanted me to stay late." His dad sat on the couch in front of the TV.

"Its okay dad," said Damien as he got up to get his dad's tea from the kitchen. He gave it to his dad.

"Thanks, son, I really need this today." Said his Dad as he sipped his tea. Damien sat back on the couch as they watched TV.

Joanna was at home in her room eating some pizza rolls and watching YouTube. She then went to bed.

Damien and his dad ate dinner and went to their rooms. Damien sat in bed and looked at the ceiling. "Why can't I stop thinking about her?" He thought to himself before going to bed.