6Trust Fund Babies
Celeste POV
I walked down the luminous hallway, continually glancing at the ascending numbers on the large blue metal lockers, whilst gripping at a small sheet of paper with the number 226 printed on it along with my locker combination and name printed in smaller font beneath. I sighed in frustration as the bell rang out through the empty halls; the noise of hurrying students hit me like a sharp wind. Somehow I managed to continue down the now overly-crowded hall with its unfamiliar smells and unfamiliar faces. Oh no, I thought to myself, one smell was familiar: the over-powering scent of Chanel No.5.
"Move!" A petite blonde shrieked, causing my left shoulder to be met with cold metal.
I gripped my shoulder, mumbling sarcastically under my breath, "Hi, I'm Celeste, nice to meet you, too."
The offender turned on her expensively clad heel and haughtily retorted, "Did you say something?"
"Well, I wasn't exactly greeting the locker," I replied back sharply.
"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" She questioned patronizingly, placing her manicured hands on each hip.
"Do I care?" I asked in a disinterested tone.
"You will. The name's Eternity." She stated, her demeanor doing a complete 180 as she placed an arm around my shoulders, a dazzling Colgate smile forming on her face. "And you, 'new girl' are my new best friend."
"To be best friends would imply that we are actually friends." I attempt to shrug her arm off my shoulder, but her grip stayed firm.
This appears to amuse her and she gives me a pleased smile. "Well, you know my name and I know yours–" Eternity paused, glancing down at the piece of paper in my hand.
"Celeste Chamberlin… and that's all that matters around here." She finished, dragging me further down the hall.
Suddenly, she stopped and looked at me with wide eyes, "Wait, Chamberlin, as in Koen Chamberlin?"
I groaned and said, "Yeah."
Eternity nodded, and without another word, dropped her arm from my shoulder and continued walking down the crowded hall. That was weird. From what I've heard, most people in this place worship the ground he walks on. Snapping myself out of my stupor, I quickly caught up to Eternity.
"I'll meet you here before lunch." She stated, rather than questioned, once we arrived at a set of lockers.
"Um…thanks." I hesitantly replied, noticing locker 226 beside me. Okay, at least now I know where my locker is.
"Of course, what are best friends for?" She laughed, sauntering off down the hall, leaving me to stare in wonder after her.
"Brandon, it's our first day of filming. It has to be good! No, it's got to be better than good, otherwise it won't be picked up for a season," Larry explained, pacing up and down the perimeter of the TV trailer parked in the student lot.
"I've heard it a million times and I've given you the same response, if I'm in it, it'll make a season. Don't sweat it!" Brandon replied cockily, patting the balding producer on the back.
Larry smiled nervously and motioned for the camera crew to get ready.
Celeste left her fourth period AP History class and walked down the crowded senior hallway towards her locker, shaking her head at the sheer boredom she had just experienced in that last hour. Once at her locker, she leaned casually against the door, trying to look natural, and not like she was the 'new girl' waiting for her one and only friend to arrive. Clearly, that message was lost on her passing fellow schoolmates who paused and stared and then continued to whisper comments to their friends. And so the process continued for ten minutes, until Celeste realized she had been stood up.
Amazed at her stupidity for waiting for a girl like Eternity to show up, Celeste regained her composure, straightened from the locker and headed towards the cafeteria, or what she hoped was at least the general direction of the cafeteria – the place was huge! As she continued walking, or more accurately pushing, through the swarm of adolescent bodies, her attention was immediately captured by a walking cliché - a tall, dark and handsome male who had just walked around the corner talking to himself, or so it seemed, until the entourage of cameras following appeared from around the corner after him. Celeste shook her head in disbelief and muttered aloud, "Weird."
As she continued on her way, she was repeatedly met with the same looks she received whilst waiting at her locker. Do I have something on my face? She wondered to herself. As curiosity got the better of her, she turned around and headed into the nearby girls washroom. Once inside, she leant over the unusually immaculate vanity and gazed expectantly at her reflection. As she straightened back up again, a flawless looking blonde emerged from a cubicle.
"Watch it, these things crack easily," She said smiling smugly at Celeste, rinsing her hands and tapping lightly on the mirror.
"You know that from personal experience?" Celeste questioned, wondering who the hell this girl was.
"Um no, 'new girl' and watch how you talk to me!"
"Or what, will you get the cheer squad to pom-pom me to death?!" Celeste rhetorically questioned as she dramatically raised her hands to her mouth, faking a look of horror.
The door swung open and Eternity's overpowering presence immediately filled the small washroom.
"Hi, E!" The scowling girl beside me greeted over-enthusiastically.
"Hey," Eternity replied vaguely.
"You two know each other?" Celeste wondered aloud, confused by the exchange.
"Uh, yeah. God, slow and ugly, what do you have going for you?" The bitchy girl replied.
"Oh my god," Eternity interrupted in an impersonated ditzy voice, "If she's slow and ugly then like, you two are like twins!" She jumped up and clapped her hands sarcastically.
"Shut up, E!" The girl snapped, glaring as she headed for the door.
Celeste shook her head, as she silently wondered how sometime during her journey from the hallway to the washroom she had entered the set of "Mean Girls." When does Lindsay Lohan show up to claw my eyes out?
"Spoiled little blonde bitch." Celeste muttered under her breath as she turned her attention back to Eternity.
"Hey, that's no way to talk to someone who just saved you from Brooke's evil grasp." Eternity replied jokingly.
"I meant her-" Celeste started and then trailed off, changing the subject. "So, what happened?" She questioned in a slightly harsher tone than intended.
"Oh, you mean meeting you at your locker?" She replied, having caught on.
"Yeah, class got in the way, and I had to stay back. C'mon, lets get lunch, I'm starved." She said, grabbing Celeste's hand and dragging her from the bathroom.
Once inside the cafeteria, they joined the rear of the lunch line that had snaked around the wall, grabbing their trays.
"So what's the food like here?" Celeste asked staring down at the menu imprinted on the surprisingly pristine tray.
"Oh, it's great! They change the menu every week and have a low carb option for everything!" Eternity beamed with genuine excitement.
"Oh, great!" Celeste rolled her eyes and replied in mock exclamation, whilst turning her attention to glancing around the crowded cafeteria.
"So, why'd you move here anyway?" Eternity asks, looking at Celeste expectantly.
"My parents moved, so I followed," She responded vaguely.
"Oh, cool," Eternity replied, not pushing the matter.
Once they had reached the counter, Eternity voiced her order to the plump old woman in a hair net, "The Caesar salad and a bottle of water, thanks." A small black bowl was slid her way as she handed over a bill.
"Um," Celeste looked down at the menu, looking for something remotely filling. "Chicken stir fry, thank you." She received her bowl and handed over the money.
On their way to a table, Celeste again noticed the camera crew circling a particular table in the vicinity.
"What's with all the cameras?" Celeste asked as she followed closely behind her new friend.
"Brandon's on a new MTV show. You had to sign the release forms." Eternity replied, looking confused.
"Oh, so that's what that mountain of paper involved." She replied and nodded slightly in acknowledgment. "Well, at least I didn't sign away my soul or something," She joked half-heartedly.
"Give it time." Eternity replied and sat down at the rectangular table centred amongst the cameras.
Celeste followed suit, immediately forgetting to question Eternity on her last comment as her attention was suddenly drawn to the obvious couple seated across from her.
"You again?" Brooke turned and questioned in a disgusted tone, almost falling off the lap of an all too familiar male.
"Oh, no!" Celeste replied in a faux-sympathetic tone. "You're slow, ugly and have short-term memory loss?" She patted Brooke's head, and added, "You poor thing."
"Nice to see my two favourite girls have met already." The aforementioned male interrupted, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Two? Favourite? What are you like talking about Koen?" Brooke snapped.
"Celeste's my sister, babe." He replied indifferently and shrugged his shoulders, picking up his burger.
"But she was a bitch to me." She pouted, breathing out dramatically.
Koen smiled and said, "Then you'll get along just fine." Everyone at the table laughed as Celeste took her seat beside Eternity.
Brooke huffed and stood, petulantly throwing a "Whatever" over her shoulder as she made a show of swaying her hips on her way out the door.
"Aren't you going to go after your girlfriend, bro?" Brandon asked, amused.
Koen just shrugged and said, "She'll get over it."
Celeste laughed as Eternity nudged her shoulder and said, "Yeah, you are totally my new best friend."
A/N: This is our first original fiction, please review and let us know what you think. Thanks to our brilliant beta Kelly!