A Work in Progress

*If you can't read right now you can listen to me reading the post to you here.*

This is the story I'm currently working on. I started this story such a long time ago that I can see how much of a different person I was when I got this idea. It still needs a lot of work and a title, and I've been reading and rereading parts, but I was surprised that I actually kind of like it. Sure it's not the most sophisticated piece of literature, but it's a fun silly read. I'm giving you guys the first chapter in this draft. Please let me know if you like it, share it, comment on it, or follow the blog, really every little thing helps with the motivation. Love you all and please enjoy!

Chapter 1

            I woke up and for a second I didn’t recognize where I was. Everything seemed so foreign like I had woken up in a completely different world. After a few seconds of utter confusion, I remembered we had just moved to a new place and had started a new life. God now all I wanted was to go back to sleep and never wake up again. Okay, maybe that was a little bit too dramatic. It wasn’t the end of the world. I wasn’t going to die or anything. I wasn’t living in a post-apocalyptic world where people have no freedom. I had just moved. I moved from Puerto Rico to the U.S. nothing more. Still, I felt like being dramatic.
           I got up from the bed and stretched tripping on boxes as I stumbled my way to the door. I knew I should have unpacked that box or better yet I should have stayed in bed. After a pause and regaining my balance and my pride, I exited my room only to bump into my brother.
    "Elena! Watch where you’re going," Diego exclaimed.
    "Perdón," I muttered and kept walking.
            This house was the biggest house I had ever lived in. It was a two-story house with four rooms and three bathrooms. My mother's room was the master bedroom which had a bathroom included, ah to be the adult and the privileged. Diego and I, unfortunately, had to share the second bathroom. Which, even though I didn’t like it, it wasn’t as bad as one might think sharing a bathroom with a brother is. Diego was really clean and he didn’t take too much time. In fact, I was pretty sure he wasn’t as happy with this arrangement as me. The third bathroom was downstairs and we'd decided it was going to be for guests. Diego and I made our way downstairs where our mother met us. She was already dressed and ready for her new job (that was the reason we moved here). She was a social worker who really enjoyed her job. Granted, sometimes it wasn’t the easiest job, but she felt useful and complete while working cases. She really was an angel sent from heaven.
    "Buenos días, how did you sleep?" Mom asked with a heavy Hispanic accent. She was practicing so she didn't mess up her job not that accents should matter, but well some people, I guess.
    "Morning mom," I said at the same time Diego said. "Buenos días."
    "You two ready for school?" Mom asked.
    "Yeah," Diego answered while I made my way to the refrigerator.
    "No, Elena you goin' to have to buy some food," mom said. "Anyway, I have to go. Diego, give your sister a ride."    
    "Mom I think that was implied," Diego said smiling. He said that now, but he and my older sister Ana Sofia once left me and went to school because “they thought I didn't need a ride”. Yeah, like anyone believed that, they had left me on purpose and nobody was going to change my mind about that.
    "Be nice to each other and I love you," mom called out as she left the house.
    "You better be ready in ten minutes or I'll leave without you," Diego said looking at me up and down. As soon as mom left he showed his true evil colors. I was still in my PJs while he was ready to go, so I ran back upstairs and put on the first thing I found. And then ran downstairs only to remember I hadn’t brushed my teeth. Running back upstairs I tripped on the stairs and hit my shin, which was going to leave an ugly mark. Maybe I could blame Diego? I mean it was kind of his fault that I was running at all. I quickly brushed my teeth and my face and made my way back downstairs. I grabbed my coat, backpack, and shoes, and went outside. I had made it just in time because he was already putting the car on drive. Jeez, it hadn’t even been five minutes. I glared at him as I got inside and he looked at me innocently. He drove while I put my shoes on and checked my backpack, making sure everything was there.
    “Aren’t we buying breakfast?” I asked. I was starving and there was no way I was going to start school feeling like my stomach was going to eat itself.
    “No time, Lena,” he answered like the freak he is.
    “What do you mean there’s no time? We have like an hour left and the school isn’t that far,” I said glancing at the clock.
    “Gotta beat the traffic.”
    “Diego, there is no traffic, stop being such a control freak and give me food,” I whined, trying to be as annoying as possible.
    “No,” he answered without mercy. We went the rest of the ride in silence or as silent as it could be with my stomach rumbling.
           When we got to the school we noticed all these different groups. It was like a movie I could actually tell who was a jock or a cheerleader or even an outcast. I would have never imagined that the most ridiculous trope in movies and books was real, but here we were. Which was great because I’ve always wanted to live in a movie, sarcasm intended.
    "We could have eaten something," I said not forgiving my cruel brother for this punishment. Diego ignored me, as per usual, and parked the car. I got out of the car feeling exasperated, I was so freaking hungry I couldn't think straight.
    "Elena come on, we have to go to the administration office," my torturer said while he rushed to the office. He must have some problems, nobody was this excited about school. With a sigh, I ran after him not wanting to face this awful place. And, of course, because this was my own personal hell, I smacked face-first into a wall. At least I thought it was a wall, but walls don’t hold you so you don’t fall on your butt. I looked up and my gray eyes met hazel eyes.
    "Oh Dios, perdón. I'm so sorry," I said mortified. The guy I had just smacked into just smirked.
    “No worries,” he said and walked around me as if this was a normal occurrence.
    "Elena, ¿que haces? Hurry up," my brother yelled. I really didn't know what his problem was; we were an hour early! Why couldn't he just chill?! Still, with another sigh, I was going to deflate if I kept this up, I followed him. In the office, the secretary gave us our schedules and our locker numbers and sent us on our merry way. We now had an hour for the classes to start thanks to my brother's hurrying, and I didn't know what to do with my time.
            Diego, like the traitor he is, left me saying he was going to start making acquaintances with the soccer team. Both my sister and my brother were soccer players, actually, they were amazing soccer players, while I was more like the sit on the bleachers and read kind of girl. So yeah, while my brother went around creating a social life I went to my homeroom hallway and sat down on the floor to read. At least while I read I could forget the hunger that was sure to kill me. I sat there for like five minutes before a group of people came to the same hallway I was sitting.
    "Look is the new girl," a girl with long black hair said.
            I ignored them and kept reading as if I hadn't heard them. You see, my brother is great at making friends, but I am super shy, and making friends has never been my strong suit nor was it my first priority in life. I was fine with the loner status, it gave me more time to be my boring self. The group didn't care I had just ignored them and just sat down all around me and started talking among themselves. At first, I didn't notice they weren't talking in English, after all, I could understand what they were saying but apparently, this was a Hispanic group and they thought I couldn't understand them.
    "Así que esta es la chica nueva," one boy said.
    "Sip," a girl answered. "No es la gran cosa, right? Yo diría que es hasta fea". I didn't show any emotions, but on the inside, I was smirking. Who did this girl think she is? I thought. I couldn't resist and looked up from my book to see if she was this supermodel or something. She wasn't, she was average: brown wavy hair, brown eyes, not a very good body, not that I condone body shaming at all. She caught me staring at her and glared.
    "What?" she snapped.
    "Nada, nada, solo viendo qué tenías tú que te daba el derecho de llamarme fea," I said with a perfect Puerto Rican accent which people tell me is a thing, but I don’t know. They all stared at me and one guy sitting beside me started laughing. The girl was shocked and blushing. Well, it was her own fault for insulting me.
    "Hi, I'm Miguel," the laughing guy beside me said. I looked at him and took his outstretched hand. While I shook his hand I noticed his eyes were a very distinguished hazel color.
    "Oh Dios," I exclaim. "You are the guy I bumped into. I'm still very sorry about that you see my brother was hurrying me I wasn't watching where I was going..." now I was rambling and everybody was amused by me but, what can I say? I'm a very awkward person.
    "Okay stop, para para," Miguel said interrupting my rambling. "You have to stop talking so fast I don't understand you. And anyway you didn't bump into me so hard look I'm fine," he said with a smirk raising his arms as if to show me he could move. I stared at him for a minute and then something clicked in my mind, he knew I could speak Spanish I apologized in Spanish when I smacked into him. Huh, not a very good friend if he didn’t warn his group.
    “You knew,” I said softly laughing a little.
    “What?” the boy asked confused at my change of mood.
    “Nothing,” I said quickly and went back to reading and trying to hide my blush. It happens sometimes, I say something without thinking. People always end up thinking I’m just weird, which I am, but that’s beside the point.
            As I read they started talking again, but this time in English (since they knew I could understand them either way). We were that way for like thirty minutes when I felt Miguel get closer to me as if he wasn’t too close already.
    "¿Que lees?" he asked me annoyingly. I showed him the cover without taking my eyes off the page I was reading. It was a cheesy romantic novel with loads of clichés and whatnot, but I loved it anyway.
    "Seriously, you're reading that?" Miguel asked.
    "No, I just have the book open just because," I said with sarcasm dripping from my tone. He smiled but didn't say anything else. What the hell was wrong with this guy? Everything I said or do, he smiles. It wasn’t natural, his cheeks must hurt a lot. As I thought about this more and more people started to come and sit on the floor. Although, those people stayed far away from this little group of Latinos. I snorted so much for equality.
            Miguel apparently noticed my snort and said. "Don't worry about it much, after a while you get used to it," I looked at him. 
    "I don't really want to get used to it," I said harsher than I should have. He didn't answer and stayed quiet. I was a little bit afraid I had offended him. That hadn't been my intention. When the bell finally rang I closed the book and stood up. I nervously made my way to the classroom. This was it, the start of my new life. I entered the classroom and made my way to the back. It was a new school and I was too shy to sit in the front so don't judge me. I sat down on the second chair from the back to the front. Apparently, I was in the right place because all the other Hispanic people sat down at the back of the classroom. Maybe I should have sat at the front.
    "Good morning, I hope you all had a wonderful summer," the teacher said. "I've been informed we have a new student in our school."
    "Oh yeah teacher, it is the ugly girl here," the Hispanic girl who had insulted me said.
    "Rosa, watch your manners. Remember I don't tolerate insults or racist comments," The teacher said.
    "But Miss Evans it isn’t an insult if it’s the truth, and anyway it isn’t a racist comment either because she is Latina," Rosa answered. I really wanted the ground to open and swallow me. What was this girl's problem? Couldn't she see I hated all this attention?
    "Rosa please control yourself. Now Miss Morales why don't you come up here and tell us a bit about yourself," Miss Evans said. I looked at her for a moment with wide eyes. Was she serious? This had to be the worst kind of punishment there was. I usually got nervous talking in front of people I knew, and she wanted me to get in front of all these strangers, who would probably be judging if I was really ugly or not thanks to Rosa, and talk about myself? Man, I did not like this teacher.
            I slowly got up from my seat and walked to the front of the classroom.
    "Um, hi," I said nervously. Oh, I just wanted to crawl in a hole and die. "Um, my name is, um Elena, and well I am from um, Puerto Rico," I said hoping it was enough for the teacher.
    "Really? Puerto Rico? Whoa, and what brings you here?" apparently Miss Evans wanted me to keep embarrassing myself.
    "Well, my mother got a great job offer here and well we moved," I said looking only at the teacher.
    "And how did you learn to talk English so well?" Miss Evans asked.
    "Well at school," I said confused, where else?
    "Really? Is it like an elective?"
    "Um, no it is required," I said hoping she would just let me go to my seat.
    "Well, that is great. Thanks for sharing you can go back to your sit."
            I made my way to my seat with my head down and walking fast. It turns out that was an awful idea. I tripped with God knows what and almost fell on top of some guy who, instead of helping me, laughed.
    "Calm down girl, I know I'm hot but have some dignity," the guy said. I blushed madly and stepped away from the guy. My seat seemed like heaven after this embarrassing introduction and I was extremely relieved when my butt touched the seat.
            For the rest of the class, I kept my head down and took notes. I had decided that this was how it was going to be from now on. I would sit at the back of every classroom take notes and ignore everyone around me. A foolproof plan, right?

If you like the story and you want to continue it, here is my Wattpad profile where I'm uploading what I have written.