Cousins - Episode 4

 

    Hey everyone! Ack, I did NOT mean to take a break on this series for the entire month of July, but I totally put it on the back burner. My bad. We're getting back to it now, don't worry! Anyway, if you guys haven't seen, Min-Ji and Troy are doing a Q&A and we still need questions! Here's a link.

    And in case you need a refresh on what's happened in this series so far, here are the previous parts:

    - Episode 1

    - Episode 2

    - Episode 3

    Enjoy! 

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     When you move away from the only home you’ve ever known in the only town you’ve ever lived in, there’s a little something called “starting at a new school.” For me, this so-called “new school” was Piney Grove School of the Arts, which sounded like a really cool school because I’m a very artistic person. BUT, (and of course there’s a “but”) this was unfortunately the same school that Troy attended. Of course, Troy was in the grade above me, so it wasn’t like I would be seeing him often (hopefully), which gave me a glimmer of hope for my first day of school. 

This hope was immediately crushed during first hour fashion design class, when who was in my class but none other than Troy. I mean, really, I would not have expected Troy of all people to be in fashion design class. Though now it did make a little more sense why he seemed to pay more attention to his clothes than I remembered. I wondered how, out of all the classes available at this school, he ended up in fashion design class. I wasn’t going to ask him, of course. I had to remind myself that I did not like my cousin. 

The whole morning, I kept to myself. Normally, I’m a very friendly person, but something about this “new school” thing had me completely overwhelmed. I didn’t talk to anyone at all, except for my teachers at the beginning of class to tell them that I go by the nickname Lottie. (If you must know, Lottie is typically short for Charlotte, but my full name is Elliot. Everyone thinks Elliot is a boy’s name even though it can be for boys or girls, so I like Lottie better because it sounds a lot more girly.) 

All day, I dreaded going to lunch. Lunchtime at a high school is the pinnacle of a social hierarchy in action… and I knew nothing about the clique scene at Piney Grove School of the Arts. I determined that I would sit alone at lunch today, and I was not looking forward to it. Of course, the day crept inevitably closer to lunch as each hour went by. 

Eventually, I found myself scanning the cafeteria for an empty table. I, Elliot Harlowe Craven, the social butterfly, was going to sit all alone at lunch for the first time in my life. 

Just then a voice called to me. “Hey Lottie, do you wanna sit with us?”

I turned, only to find my cousin of all people asking me this question. “Oh, um, sure,” I said, hesitantly. Did I really just agree to sit with Troy? What is wrong with me? 

I followed Troy to a table that two girls were sitting at. A part of me didn’t want to believe that Troy actually had friends, but the two of them didn’t seem mad to see Troy. It annoyed me for some reason. 

“Guys, this is my cousin Lottie,” Troy announced to the table. “Lottie, welcome to the VIP table, aka the allergy-free table that the school makes me sit at but anyone can really sit at as long as they don’t have any peanuts!” 

“Hi, Lottie! We’ve heard so much about you!” One of the girls said cheerfully. She was very friendly-looking with shiny black hair.  

The other girl had bouncy blonde curls and her nose was buried in a book. “Salve! Mihi nomen est Caroline.” She said, looking up at me. I had no idea what that meant. 

“Yeah, so these are my friends,” Troy said as we sat down. He pointed to the first girl. “That’s Min-Ji, and that—” he pointed to the girl with the book— “is Caroline.” 

I smiled. Call me crazy, but I was already feeling a bit more comfortable. As lunch went on, I relaxed more. Troy’s friends were actually kind of cool, and maybe, just maybe, Troy was less insufferable than I gave him credit for.

Maybe I was going to be okay in Piney Grove after all.

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    This post is brought to you by Samantha's scenes and settings lol. I found Samantha's scenes and settings on Facebook Market a few weeks ago for $10, and I thought for that price, it was perfect to use for my blog. This was my first time I officially used it, and it really is perfect! Definitely beats finding a random corner in my house to use as a classroom. :)

    That's all for now. Have a great week and remember to eat your veggies! Bye! <3