This was it. This was Samantha's new life for the next few years. No matter how much she had protested and fought her parents, the fact was, she was here now. There was no going back. She didn't think that she'd be able to make it on her own, and her parents had been very clear that they wouldn't support her if she did.
She'd threatened to leave. To cut all ties with them. She'd cried and wept when she realized she couldn't win. None of her friends had been willing to help, willing to take her in. And so, she left. She'd left her old life behind, and made her way to the the ends of the Earth, destined to be forgotten. Or at least that's what it seemed like.
Where once her life had been filled with skyscrapers and concrete, now it held small buildings and forest in every direction. Her old school had held over a thousand students, and now she wasn't sure if there were a thousand people in this lonely village. She was probably exaggerating to herself about the size of the town, but still, the town might as well be empty for all she cared. None of her friends were here. None of the places she knew, or had grown up with. All for what? Because her dad had to get moved here for his work.
It wasn't like he had an important job or anything. He could have easily found a better job. One with prestige. One where she wouldn't be forced to move to this forgotten land. Honestly, she didn't even know what her dad did. He had worked with a pharmacy company, but he had never really talked about what he did. Well, he still worked for them, but now it was in the middle of nowhere.
The sound of a bell ringing caused Samantha to quicken her pace as she made her way up the lonely sidewalk towards a small, brick building with the words Bountiful High School in tarnished copper letters stuck to the front.
She had almost walked right past her new school, unused to something so small. Her last high school had been a massive, state-of-the-art building. This more reminded her of a small medical clinic in the horror movies she loved to watch. She was reminded even more of a horror movie as she made her way through the creaking front door, which echoed in the cold, empty hallways.
Shivering at how cold it was inside, she jumped slightly as the door slammed shut behind her with a loud crack. She glanced around, and let out a sigh of relief that no one had seen her jump. Catching her breath, she glanced around her new school with an obvious look of disappointment.
The floor was nothing more than a plain white tile, that merged seamlessly with matching colored walls. Though the paint was in desperate need of being repainted, and there were obvious cracks in the floor. The puke colored lockers didn't do much to break up how plain the inside of the building was, though she probably should've expected something like this with how run down the outside had appeared.
She pulled out her phone, cursing under her breath as she noticed the time. At her old school she'd always been early to school. She'd been a model student that the teachers loved. Now, she couldn't even show up to class on time. Glancing back and forth, she began searching for her first class, hearing voices coming from many of the closed doors that broke up the rows of lockers. Finally, finding her class, she slowly opened the door, and stepped inside and offered a hasty apology to the plump teacher at the front of the room before taking a seat in one of the empty chairs next to a really overweight boy who looked like he was struggling to reach his desk because of how big he was. The teacher made a brief comment about her being a new student to the class, but she didn't really pay attention to what he was saying.
She did her best to pay attention to what the teacher was talking about, but just couldn't seem to stay focused on the lesson at hand. She let out a sigh of relief as the bell finally rang, dismissing them to go to their next class. She jumped up before anyone else, and quickly went to find her next class. She finally found it just before the bell rang and she took a seat in-between another couple of fat students. The next class went in much the same way as the first. And the third was almost identical to the first two.
Finally, the bell rang for lunch, and she jumped up, rushing past a girl who seemed so fat that Samantha was surprised she could even walk. She was one of the first ones to the lunch room, which surprised her. Usually, there was already a huge line at her old school. Hopefully, they would have good food here. That was one of her complaints about her old school, was that it always seemed like they were serving cardboard. On top of that, they never gave enough food and she always left lunch hungry.
Sam grabbed a tray and moved towards the serving area, where a couple of very large ladies were waiting for her.
"I don't recognize you. You must be the new girl." Said the first lady with a large smile as she heaped a massive portion of potatoes and gravy onto Sam's plate.
"Yeah." Sam mumbled.
The woman chuckled as she loaded a huge portion of roast beef onto Sam's tray, "Oh dearie, there's no need to be shy, we won't bite. If you ever need anything just let us know."
Sam mumbled an okay and finished getting her food, feeling her tray growing noticeably heavier with each item. She couldn't believe how much food was on her tray, and just kept shaking her head as she plopped down at one of the tables in the corner, where she hopefully wouldn't be disturbed.
She watched as the other students began arriving and lining up as she shoveled the delicious food into her eager mouth. She hadn't realized how hungry she'd been, but now that she was eating she couldn't stop herself despite the massive portions. Though, if this was the norm, it was no wonder why almost every kid in line was at least chubby, if not incredibly obese. She really was going to have to be careful or she very well might join them.
She was surprised when she discovered that she'd eaten the entire tray of food, and promised herself that she'd go for a run later that evening. Which reminded her that she still hadn't heard anything about any of the sports teams here. Though, now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen anything advertising any sports. She didn't recall seeing any trophies in any of the display cases, or fliers on the walls. She hadn't even seen a gym since arriving.
She scoffed. The school was probably too small to really warrant any activities like that, though from the look of the other students, it might not be a bad idea. Maybe she would have to talk with the principal about starting up a team or a club. The principal would probably be happy that she was showing some initiative to help the other students. Still, she was the new girl here, so it wasn't like she really knew much about this place yet. Maybe they did have a team. She resolved herself to investigate it further once she was more settled in.
Getting up from the table seemed a little harder after her massive lunch, and she renewed her promise to go running after school so she wouldn't get fat. She tugged on her shorts as they felt like they were cutting into her bloated belly. She couldn't believe how much food she'd eaten. She'd have to tell the lunch ladies to take it easy in the future.
As she was just about to leave the lunch room, she heard someone call her name. She glanced around curiously, and spotted a rather large woman in a billowing dress striding towards her, "Samantha? Samantha Hatchins?"
"Yeah?"
"So nice to meet you!" said the woman with a large smile as she thrust her hand out and gripped Sam's free hand tightly, "I'm Mrs. Vee, the school nurse. If I can just have a moment of your time, it seems like some of your medical information is incomplete and I just need you to come to my office so we can fill in the gaps!"
"Ok." Sam said, feeling like her arm had been yanked out of its socket as Mrs. Vee began practically dragging her down the hallway.
"Now, I hope everything has been going well on your first day. I know we kinda threw you to the wolves, but I hope you've been able to find all your classes and everyone is making you feel welcome. We don't get many knew people in town, most people don't even know this place exists, but you'll find this is a very tight-knit community and we look after each other."
Sam struggled to keep up with Mrs. Vee's rapid speech as she seemed to go into detail about everything about the town before they made it to her office. Her head was spinning as Mrs. Vee half dragged her into a small room that looked like a cozy patients room, complete with a sunflower in a vase by the only bed.
"Have a seat." Mrs. Vee said, gesturing to the bed.
Sam cautiously sat down on the side of the bed, facing Mrs. Vee as she sat down in a large chair and grabbed a clipboard. The next half hour went by rather quickly as Sam was forced to answer question after question about her medical history. Most of the questions were pretty easy, though there were a few that she found a little bit prying.
"Well I think that's all my questions, but before you go, I need to give you a booster shot. It just has some vitamins and other nutrients to make sure you stay healthy."
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