"Oh. Hi." Hazel cursed herself for not having anything more to say. "I'm Hazel. I'm new here."
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Do new students usually have the habit of wandering around boys locker rooms?"
"No," Hazel said. "But my friends here said we could go through here and look at the field. They're giving me a tour." She glanced meaningfully at Alex, who seemed to suddenly snap out of her trance.
"Right! We're giving Hazel a tour," she repeated.
"We're having a closed practice," Sebastian said. "You can't go out there."
"Right. That's why we'll be leaving. Right Alex, Noah?" Hazel brushed past him, feeling the embarrassment rise up in her. "Nice meeting you Reid!"
"You know my name?" Sebastian asked amusedly. He looked way too at ease, just standing there casually with an infuriating smile on his face. "You guys been talking about me?"
Hazel rolled her eyes. "Yeah, no. I've seen the dean. You look like him. I made an inference." She squirmed, knowing she was digging herself deeper into a hole. She hadn't even seen the dean yet. She was supposed to report to him today and get checked in and settled and all that, but she had been pushing it out and talking with Alex and Noah.
Sebastian stared at her for a full few seconds. Then, slowly and deliberately he replied "I'm adopted. The dean's not my real father."
Hazel could feel herself turning red, but she refused to break. "Well. Alright then. See you around." IN her rush to get out of the locker room, she nearly tripped, but she managed to get out relatively unscathed.
"Oh my god," Alex emerged from the locker room behind her, laughing so hard that she was wheezing. "Oh my god! Hazel, that was the funniest thing I've ever seen! Man! We should've told you more about the school and dean before you made a fool out of yourself like that!"
Hazel pouted, feeling incredibly embarrassed but trying not to show it. "Well, he probably heard all about you describing his 'dreamy eyes'! Alex, you should be as embarrassed as I am!"
Alex's eyes widened, and she stopped laughing. "Wait. Do you think he heard that? Oh my god, he didn't hear that, did he!?"
"Oh, he definitely did," Noah said. "He heard absolutely everything. Good luck living that down, Alex."
Hazel and Alex laughed at Alex's mortified expression. "My life is ruined!" Alex moaned. "Ruined!"
And with that dramatic sentiment in mind, the trio started to make their way back to the dorm rooms, wheezing with laughter.
oOo
"And here's your schedule. How's your room? Are you enjoying Ravenwood?"
Hazel nodded. She had finally gone to meet the dean, Mr. Reid, and to her embarrassment, besides looking nothing like Sebastian Reid, he wasn't even the same skin color. There was no way anyone would have even thought that they were related if they had placed them side by side, which made her fumble in front of Sebastian ever more embarrassing.
"It's great, thanks," Hazel replied, scanning her schedule. Her classes looked easy enough, though she'd have to check in with Alex if the teachers she had gotten were tough or not.
"Unfortunately, you arrived a little late, so classes will be starting immediately tomorrow," Mr. Reid said apologetically. Hazel internally rolled her eyes. The reason she had been so late was because her mom had been too busy the past couple of nights to see her off, and Hazel wanted to see her at least once before leaving.
"But the welcome dance is tonight, so perhaps you can get acquainted with a few more students there," Mr. Reid suggested. "I'm sure my son, Sebastian, would be willing to show around a new student too, if you'd like to ask him."
Hazel shook her head vehemently, then realized she was literally talking to his father. "No. I mean, I've already seen the school a bit. With Alex and Noah. I'm good. I've met your son, though." She quickly fumbled around for something to save the situation. "Good football player."
Mr. Reid glowed with pride. "Ah, yes, thank you. Well, I hope you enjoy your year here at Ravenwood, Ms. Torres! Do not hesitate to make an appointment with me if you have any concerns, or just pop by my office. In case of a dire emergency, my school phone number is listed in the introduction sheet, and my house is right over there." He pointed out the window at a three story house that stood a little further apart from the classrooms. Hazel raised her eyebrow in amused shock—their house was huge, and just like Alex had said, it was gorgeous. She knew she had been coming into a school full of rich kids, but she hadn't really thought about how rich they would be.
"Okay, Mr. Reid. Thanks for everything." She made to stand up, and Mr. Reid stood up also. He shook her hand warmly.
"Have a great time at Ravenwood, Ms. Torres!" he called as she left the office. It was beginning to get dark, and the trees looked like shadows against the dark sky. As she exited the building, she noticed a figure coming towards her, and she held open the door so they could come in. As he neared, she realized that the figure was none other than Sebastian Reid. She considered just bolting, but one look at his expression and she knew that he had already noticed her at the door.
"You saw my dad?" Sebastian asked. "He looks just like me, doesn't he?"
Hazel rolled her eyes, fighting down her blush of embarrassment. "Yeah, the resemblance is uncanny."
Sebastian smiled, albeit a little mockingly. "See you around, Hazel." And with that, he left.
oOo
"So what's all this about the welcome dance?" Hazel asked, laying on her bed. She was aimlessly looking through her phone, making sure to send her mom a quick text assuring her everything was alright. Her mom had replied back with an extremely enthusiastic 'okay'.
"It's the worst," Noah spoke up from his perch on Alex's bed, where he was playing a game on his phone. Alex threw a chip at him from her desk, and he caught it without breaking his focus on his game. He wasn't technically allowed to be in their room, but they had devised a system years ago where Noah could leave from the back staircase as easily as he came. "It's in the common room, and all the students are packed together like sardines while they play 'trendy' music. Everyone's usually pretty dressed up, but that's just an excuse to show off how cool they are right before school starts."
"Have you guys gone in the past?"
"Nah," Alex throws a chip in the air, attempting to catch it in her mouth and failing miserably. "We went freshman year. I went to the bathroom for a second, found three people in the same stall smoking god knows what, and I left. It's really not all that great."
"But we'll go tonight so you can see the scene yourself," Noah piped up. At Alex's glare, he shrugged. "What? Hazel's never seen it before. It'll be funny to see her reaction. C'mon, get ready. I'll meet you downstairs in twenty."
Alex groaned, but stood up from her desk. "Okay, fine, fine. We'll do it. Though I promise you, Hazel, once you go there, you'll want to come back."
"Now I'm not sure if I want to go," Hazel muttered, but she allowed herself to be pulled up from the bed and to the closet. "I don't even have anything to wear. I was told that this was a very 'academically inclined' school."
Alex snorted. "Oh yeah, we love to study. We're all nerds here. You must have something respectable in that huge mess of clothes."
Hazel plunged her hand in to the heap of clothes, all different sorts of colors, and came up with a pair of denim shorts. She tried again, and this time she found a white top that had a stain that looked and smelled suspiciously like peanut butter. Alex shook her head disapprovingly.
"I'm trying my best!" Hazel defended. This time, her efforts proved to be more fruitful. In her hand she held a casual, blakc dress. "Oh my god, this is going to be so tight on me, I haven't worn this since, like, 8th grade homecoming."
"You seriously don't have anything else?" Alex asked. At Hazel's nod, she laughed. "Well, get dressed then. I'm pulling out my fancy clothes for tonight. But if we cannot stay the entire time. I literally can't handle being in that room with the whole school for longer than an hour."
"Sure," Hazel laughed. "Dances aren't really my scene either. For one thing, I can't dance. I'd embarrass myself and everyone around me."
"I don't doubt that."
Hazel threw a shirt at her jokingly. "Hey!" she said, mock-offended. "Careful, or I'll draw a mustache on your face while you're sleeping."
Alex's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't dare."
"Oh, I would."
The two stared each other down for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.
"Come on," Alex finally said when they had calmed down. She moved through the room and picked out a dress in her closet. She turned to Hazel, her eyes shining with amusement and mischief.
"It's time to dance!"