chapter two; salvador dalí

"This is it!" Edward drummed his hands against the steering wheel, a grin gracing his features. He was sitting in the driver's seat in his pyjamas and slippers, as he didn't have time to get changed that morning. Marty sat in the middle seat, rocking back and forth as he grew sleepy. Edward reached over to his daughter and placed his hand on her shoulder. "My baby's going to school!"

Maggie didn't respond, she just sat in the passenger seat, silently trying to contain herself. Her heart was racing as she stared out into the dark abyss that happened to be high school. Teenagers were rushing around the campus, some carrying books or projects in their hands, others staring down at their phone screens and ignoring one another. She swallowed nervously, itching to be back in the safety of her home. "I can't do this, dad."

"Sure you can." Edward turned a little in his seat so that he was facing her. Sitting on her lap were the curriculum required books and stationery, and her backpack was a little too full. He smiled a little when he spotted her drawing notepad poking out the opening of the bag. His eyes then drew back to Maggie's face, his mood faltering slight as he saw her reluctant expression. He knew that she struggled socially, and that she was being tossed into the deep end, but he had no other choice. The middle-aged man sighed, concealing his fatigue and replacing it with an encouraging smile. "This'll be good for you. You get to meet other kids, make some new friends, it's just a little step that can lead onto greater things."

"And that 'little step' is me getting out of the car?" Maggie quirked an eyebrow, and Edward chuckled, nodding.

"Well, I guess if you put it that way, yes." He responded, and Maggie couldn't help but smile a little. Edward leaned forward and pointed out the window at all of the youth outside the large, intimidating school building. "Look at all those kids, Maggie. All those kids are smart, like you. Some of them know exactly what they wanna be when they get out of this place, some don't. That's the thing about ambition, it's important to have what you want in sight, but it doesn't come to everyone easily. What was it that Salvador Dalí guy said? That quote that I like?"

"I don't do drugs, I am drugs?" Maggie joked, and Edward laughed, shaking his head amusedly.

"No, no. The other one that I like."

"Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings." The teenage girl responded, staring out at the kids surrounding the institution. She watched the diverse groups of people, wondering how many of them actually had an idea of what they wanted to be, who they wanted to be. She certainly didn't know. "But what am I supposed to do?"

"The first person you sit next to in class is going to be your friend." Edward shrugged, one hand still resting on the wheel. Maggie pulled a face. "You'll turn to them and say, 'hi, I'm Maggie Prince. I like obscure music and quoting dead people, how are you?'"

"Thanks for the confidence boost, dad. Quoting dead people isn't all I do." Maggie retorted sarcastically, the swirling sensation in her stomach refusing to settle. She felt as if she was glued to her seat, unable to force herself to move.

"Hey, maybe you'll see Liz." Edward commented, and Maggie furrowed her eyebrows, returning her gaze to him in confusion. "She's Adrian's daughter, you two were friends when you were kids. You probably won't have any classes with her though, cause she's a senior. She's a nice girl, so if you need someone to have lunch with, she'll save you a seat."

"Yeah, right." Maggie muttered under her breath. From what she had seen in the endless amount of teen movies she had watched, the senior girls were mean and ruthless, so Liz probably wouldn't save her a seat. Her father unlocked the car, and with a sigh, she rested her hand on the door, opening it and instantly feeling the chill of the breeze on her face. "Okay, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna go."

"Right now?" Edward resisted from smiling in amusement, watching as his daughter internally battled herself over the decision to get out of the car. "You're gonna go, right now?"

"Right now." Maggie nodded, repeating his words. "I'm gonna step out the car and I'm gonna go to high school."

"Yes, you are. You're gonna step out the car and you're gonna go to high school."

"No, I'm not." Maggie tucked her feet back into the car, slamming the door, shaking her head and squeezing her eyes shut. "I can't do it, it's too hard and I don't want to."

"Maggie, I love you and support you." Edward began, reaching over, opening the door again, then proceeding to pick up her backpack from the floor. He handed it to his daughter, who opened one eye and hesitantly took it. "But if you don't get out of this car and get your ass into that fine institution, I'm gonna make you sign up for field hockey."

"Bye, dad!" Maggie's eyes widened at her father's words, so she leapt out of the car, her books in hand and her backpack hanging from her arm. She heard her father laugh from inside the vehicle as the grass beneath her feet crunched. After a minute or so, she reached the front of the school, and she huffed as she stared up at the steps that led up to the brick building. Her anxiety was eating her alive, but she knew that she had to suck it up, because she wasn't going to be homeschooled anymore, and she had to be a normal teenager.

Kids bumped her shoulders as they all tried to get into the school, but she was left to stare up in fear and wonder. The institution looked intimidating and she knew what awaited her inside. Within the hour, she would be told what to wear, how to act and when to pee. Sounded like fun.

A soft sigh escaped her lips and she frowned, as she hadn't moved an inch yet. High school. A kid's worst nightmare. Though it took another five minutes, Maggie finally took a deep breath, before taking the first step towards another drastic change in her new life.

☆★

"Hi, I'm Maggie Prince." Maggie stuck her hand out as she sat down in her first period seat. Biology was written in marker on the board at the front of the class, though Maggie had chosen to sit as far away from everyone as possible, snatching up the seat in the far back corner. Not too long after the first bell had rung and other students began arriving, another girl had taken up the seat next to her, so Maggie decided to try what her father had dared her to do.

"You're new." The girl deadpanned, before pursing her lips and looking down at the novel in her hands. It was big, with tiny words and lots of pages, but the cover was hidden so Maggie had no idea what it was. Her classmate seemed pretty invested in it though, so she wasn't going to interrupt again.

Swallowing anxiously, she retracted her hand, lacing her fingers together and turning back to face the front of the class. The pair sat in silence for a moment, and Maggie felt her insides flipping over and over.

It wasn't long before the girl next to her sighed, picking up the awkward atmosphere. She hesitated for a moment, before glancing over at Maggie with a reluctant expression. "Uh, I'm Michelle. Michelle Jones."

"Nice to meet you, Michelle." Maggie plastered a small smile on her face, though the nerves never settled. Michelle nodded once at her, before returning to ignoring her. Though her actions were hostile, Maggie was relieved that she had at least been acknowledged, which was good enough for her.

As soon as the teacher walked in, Maggie's attention was caught, and she sat up straight in her seat, pulling her notebook in front of her and picking a pen from the dozens in her bag. She was inexperienced regarding high school, no doubt, but she didn't notice how the other kids were scrolling through BuzzFeed on their laptops or tapping on their phones underneath the desks while she had enough stationery to provide for the entire grade.

"Morning, class." The middle-aged woman at the front of the classroom greeted everyone, and the students all gave incoherent grumbles in response. No one really wanted to be there, it was evident. The woman grabbed a piece of marker and scrawled on the whiteboard, an uncomfortable squeaking sound echoing through the room. "I'm Ms. Wilson, and I'll be your Biology teacher this year. Welcome back to school, I'm sure we'll all get along well."

Maggie seemed to be one of the only people taking down notes during the class, though they didn't go over many things besides rules in the classroom. Michelle was still focused completely on her book, and the other kids in the classroom were talking quietly while Ms. Wilson rambled on about the experiments they would be doing that semester.

The fifty-five minutes flew by, and before Maggie knew it, she was scouring the campus for her English class. Though the school mainly focused on Science and Technology, it was still required for them to teach English for the first couple of years before students could decide to drop the subject. She was more than happy to take English, as it wasn't as complicated as other courses.

The day was currently going okay, to her surprise. Since it was the first day for everyone, most of her classes involved teachers introducing themselves and the curriculum. Though she was becoming a little more comfortable, Maggie had already been late to two classes and gone into one of the wrong rooms, which wasn't good for her head. She was still slightly panicky with every move she made, and she hadn't said much besides the few words to Michelle in the morning and when she acknowledged the teacher for the roll call.

It was now lunchtime, and Maggie had no idea what to do. She held a bottle of water in her hand as she followed the crowd to the cafeteria, but she didn't know what to do after that.

Standing in the line to wait for her food, she heard an oddly familiar voice behind her. She didn't want to turn just in case she was wrong, so she stayed still, only moving when the line did.

"Hey, uh, you're Magnolia, right?" The voice caught her attention, and she glanced back, feeling a little relieved to see May Parker's nephew standing less than a metre away from her, a tray in his hands. He wore a light grey shirt with the words 'never trust an atom; they make up everything' printed on. He offered her a wary smile, and she hesitantly returned it, nodding.

"Yeah, and you're...Peter?" She asked in response, and his smile broadened a little. He looked down at the ground, before back he returned his gaze to her. He too seemed a little anxious, though he was clearly hesitant to talk to her. 

"U-Uh-huh." He stuttered a little, before reaching behind him and grabbing the arm of a large Filipino kid, who appeared to be a little confused at the whole ordeal. "A-And this is Ned."

"Hello." Ned grinned, and Maggie smiled a little more at his clearly rare personality. He too seemed a little wary of her, but she didn't really mind, she wasn't sure either. "Um, I like your...hearing aids?"

"Oh, uh, thanks." Maggie forced a chuckle, noticing how Peter smacked Ned's side quickly. 

"Sorry, he doesn't talk to...girls. But, uh, it's not like a girl thing, it's just a Ned thing? He doesn't really talk to anyone, boys and girls." The brown-eyed boy was quick to defend Ned, who shrugged and nodded in agreement. Peter forced a sheepish smile onto his face. "So, h-how do you like Midtown?"

As they all moved further down the line, Maggie started to copy what other students were doing, picking up food that didn't look safe to eat and near expired milk. "It's okay, I guess. It's big."

"Y-Yeah." Peter muttered, nervously laughing. "Big."

"Are you sitting with us?" Ned inquired as they left the counter, and Maggie anxiously swallowed, not sure if she was going to be accepted into their little two man 'group'. 

Her frantic eyes flickered over to Peter, who cleared his throat. "D-Do you want to?"

"Uh, if that's okay?" Maggie blurted out, awkwardly following the two boys, unsure of where they were headed. The cafeteria wasn't as bad as she was expecting, it was surprisingly tidy, despite the few bits of food scattered across the floor. She was careful to dodge them though, keeping her eyes attached to her feet so she didn't accidentally tread in tinned spaghetti. 

After reaching a near empty table, Ned and Peter sat down, and Maggie lowered onto the seat next to Peter. She picked up her fork and tried to coax herself to eat it, but her stomach was churning and she felt like she was going to be sick. 

"My parents said that I might be able to get the new LEGO Death Star as a late birthday present." Ned muttered to Peter, who sat up a little straighter. Worried that Maggie would hear him, he leaned over with a smile. 

"Really?" He questioned softly, aware that Maggie was near. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of her, not yet anyway. "That's so cool!"

Maggie reached behind her left ear and rested her finger on the volume gear, turning it down a little. The uneven sounds of the cafeteria were slightly overwhelming, and since she didn't have those weird fancy electronic hearing aids, she had to set the volume manually. She knew she wasn't someone of importance in that moment, as the two boys were clearly bothered by something else, but she had decided that she didn't mind. 

Being lonely most of your life meant that it wasn't really a huge problem if you looked like a third wheel. Sure, there was the weird sinking feeling of dread when two people were enjoying themselves and you were supposed to be a part of their group, but when the only people you talk to is your dog and your dad, this was progress. 

☆★

I'M SUPPOSED TO BE DOING A HISTORY INTERNAL RIGHT NOW BUT GUESS WHO'S PROCRASTINATING??? THIS BITCH !!!

Hope you guys enjoyed, sorry if it's a bit less dramatic and shit, I'm trying not to make it too intense cause who needs that honestly. I'm also planning to keep this book around twenty chapters, so good luck to me. 

Bye!!