High School Rejects

Chapter 1: The New Boy

Sixteen year old Dandi Henderson trudged through the crowded hallway of her high school. The junior was running late to her last class of the day and she still had another crowded staircase to climb.

She was pulled aside and her black baseball cap was knocked off.

"Not hats young man." Dandi's eyes narrowed as she recognized the man who was speaking.

"Excuse me?" she snapped.

Mr. Ungna's brown eyes widened, his plump pink face turned red. "I'm sorry Miss Henderson. But you know the rules, you can get your cap after school."

"Yes Mr. Ungna," Dandi drawled. Mr. Ungna disappeared amongst the crowd. "Dunga took my cap away again. He's so full of shit, his brown eyes are proof enough!"

The sixteen year old turned the corner and collided with another student. Books and papers flew every where as the two students hit the floor. Dandi blushed and instantly began to help the boy pick up his books and papers.

"I'm sorry," she bit her lip. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Neither was I," came a shy, quiet voice. Dandi looked up at the boy and she turned even redder. Her dark blue eyes met his light blue ones.

"Isn't the freshmen wing down a level?" he asked.

Dandi scowled. "I'm a junior."

"Oh," the boy blushed. "Sorry."

"I've never seen you in the junior wing before," Dandi said. "But. . .I don't even know half my class."

"I'm not a junior," the boy grabbed a book. "I'm a senior who's new here. I just knew the freshmen wing was downstairs. I guess we both need to work on guessing people's ages."

"Hm," Dandi handed him the rest of his books and papers. "Do you not have a locker or something, or do you just carry all your stuff around in order to run into people and meet them?"

The boy shrugged. "I couldn't get my locker open so I decided not to use it."

"What's your locker number?"

"24601," he said.

"That was my locker last year," Dandi grinned. "You have to push the door as if you were closing it when you're turning the lock."

"Really?"

"Yep. It has a busty door as you can tell. And you also have to kick it before you try the lock." The boy's eyebrows rose. "Trust me. It helps."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

The bell rang as Dandi walked with the boy to his locker since it was on her way upstairs. Dandi swore realizing how empty the hallway was. "Got to go, class beckons and I still need to get to my locker."

She walked away leaving the boy at his locker. She stiffened her laughter as she heard the boy kick his locker door. She shook her head when she reached her locker on the upper level, ranting about the horrible stair cases and stupid new kids. Yes she had had the boy's locker last year, but there was no need to kick the door. She just liked watching people stub their toe kicking their locker doors in.

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"Miss Henderson," Mr. Tavey said as Dandi entered the room. "You're late for the third time this week. You're lucky I didn't lock you out again."

I didn't know that, Dandi thought snidely to herself as she turned to face her teacher. The man was tall, slim, and athletic. His white hair was untidy as usual, blue orbs with white irises stared at her through dark rimmed glasses.

"Sorry Mr. Tavey," Dandi froze when she saw the boy from the hall in her seat. "I think you're in the wrong class."

"No Dandi," Mr. Tavey said. "This is Daniel's first day here and I gave him your seat since you like to sneak in to class before I take attendance. I am putting you right next to my desk." Dandi grinned at Damien who was sitting at the table, Dandi would be sitting at soon. "If I catch you two talking, I will split you up and you will never sit next to each other again this year."

"Yes Mr. Tavey," Dandi and Damien saluted the teacher when he had his back turned. Dandi plopped down in the seat next to her friend and dropped her bag on the floor. There was hardly any room for Dandi to put her stuff on the table, Damien's books were everywhere.

Damien. The smartest boy in the entire grade, maybe even school. He took pride in how smart he was. He would constantly babble about things, Dandi had learned by now how to tune him out. She wasn't that mean of a person, she just couldn't stand listening to Damien talk about things such as A.P. Chem and all the other A.P. classes he was taking.

He was by far the tallest in the group of their friends. Towering over their friends, Damien stood at six feet, five inches. The dork, as Dandi and Natalie liked to call him, was still growing. His dirty blonde hair was cut short except for the few times he grew it out to his ears. His eyes were brown. Dandi was sure most people who had brown eyes were full of shit. Sometimes, Damien proved her point.

A hand grabbing her collar jerked Dandi out of her daze. Damien was pulling her to her feet. It was then, Dandi first noticed, that the classroom was being cleared.

"Where are we going?" Dandi whispered.

"If you had been listening you would've heard that we were going out into the hallway to play a game," Damien grinned letting go of Dandi's shirt.

"Woohoo," Dandi muttered. "Game time."

"What do you think of the new boy?"

"What do you mean?"

"All of the girls can't stop fawning over him."

"I'm not all girls, Damien."

"Excuse me, most of the girls in our class are fawning over him. All of them but you. What do you think of him?"

She shrugged. "Seems nice. I ran into him in the hallway. He was having locker problems."

"You didn't."

"I did."

"You're so mean. Someone's going to break their foot on your advice."

"Then let them! If they're stupid enough to follow my advice, it's not my fault if they break their foot."

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Dandi stood right across from Scarlet Curry in the circle. Blonde, head cheerleader, prep, daddy's little rich girl, and the most popular girl in school were things that defined Scarlet. That's how the school viewed her. Parents viewed her as sweet, innocent, a lovely young woman. That's not how the High School Rejects viewed her. They knew Scarlet as an evil, conniving, stuck-up witch.

"Hey Danny, you can stand next to me!" Scarlet winked at Daniel.

"My name isn't Danny," Daniel muttered as he came to stand next to Dandi.

"What're you doing next to her? She's a tomboy, she doesn't even like boys," Scarlet pouted.

Dandi blushed and glared at the girl. "I like boys, I'm just not a stalker like you!"

"Girls, quiet down! Classes are going on!" Mr. Tavey said sternly.

The teacher broke the class into two groups. He gave the groups two tennis balls each, in order to learn everybody's name they had to throw a tennis ball at someone and say their name. Dandi found the game quite pointless and boring; but she did notice Daniel kept throwing the tennis ball to her.

The majority of the class time was spent in the hallway playing games. Dandi was still bored and couldn't wait to go home for the weekend. The Rejects were meeting at Alex's house that night for a sleepover. Her mind was on the party, not focusing on the tennis ball that was aimed for her.

The yellow ball hit her heard causing Dandi to jump. Scarlet and her boyfriend, Blake, and their friends laughed as the ball bounced back to them.

"You o.k.?" Daniel asked. Dandi opened and shut her mouth. She nodded. "I'd chuck one right back at him but the teacher's looking."

Dandi grinned and followed Daniel back into the classroom.

The class was given the last five minutes to talk. Damien packed up his backpack before turning in his seat to talk to Dandi. A serious look was on his face.

"What were you talking about with Daniel? I noticed you two hit it off really well."

"Are you jealous that he likes me and not you?"

Damien blushed and glared at her. "Shut up, midget."

"I'm not a midget," Dandi stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm a leprechaun."

"What I meant was, he really seems to like you. You know, like you like you."

"Nah," Dandi shook her head. "He was just being nice."

Her friend shook his head. "Why are you so oblivious to him?"

"I'm not oblivious! I just don't think---"

"That a boy might actually like you?"

"No. I mean why would he like me?"

"There's plenty of reasons."

"Like what?"

Damien was about to answer but he was interrupted by a group of teenagers surrounding their table.

"Awww, how cute. The couple is reunited again," Scarlet purred.

"Shut up Scarlet," Dandi snapped.

"Mr. and Mrs. Henderson," Blake grinned.

"It would be the other way around," Damien said asmatteroffactly. "I'm the guy, Dandi's the girl."

"Sometimes we wonder," Dandi was glad Damien didn't hear that. If he did, he kept it to himself.

"Stop talking before your foot gets stuck in your mouth, Damien," Dandi shoved her way through the crowd to get to the door.

"Hi Dandi," the girl spun, narrowing her eyes at the boy who was talking to her. Eric was tall, smelt bad, and very round. He was very pale and had beady little eyes that made Dandi think of a mouse.

"Gardner."

"Come on Dandi, I'm going to be nice this year."

Dandi rolled her eyes. "And I'm going to fall in love with you this year."

"I'm serious!"

"Yeah right," Dandi spat. Eric reached for her. "If you even dare touch me, I'll punch you."

"I always told you that I liked feisty girls. If you don't like me, why do you act like my perfect match?"

"Shut up Gardner."

"You have really pretty eyes."

"Hey Dandi," Dandi let out a quiet sigh of relief. She looked up at Daniel, her eyes meeting his as if she was telling him she was thankful he had stepped between them.

"Hey Daniel."

Eric sized himself up to Daniel. Eric was a good five or six inches taller. "Are you trying to make a move on my woman?"

"I'm not your woman!" Dandi spat. "I'm not property. I don't belong to anyone."

Eric whistled. "I like stubborn chicks."

Mr. Tavey was sitting at his desk. He couldn't see what was going on, but he could hear the conversation. He knew Dandi was going to make a move.

"Make that move, Miss Henderson, and you will end up in the principal's office fast." Dandi lowered her clenched fist from mid-punch. "Eric, we need to discuss your previous test score."

Eric moaned, giving Dandi one last look before going over to the teacher.

"I barely even know him for a class period and he's already annoying," Daniel shook his head.

"Try having to go to school with him since first grade," Dandi muttered.

The bell rang. Dandi was the first out the door. She went to her locker to drop off her books. She closed her locker door and shoved roughly into the side of the lockers.

"You really don't think you have a chance with him, do you?"

"Don't you already have a boyfriend, Scar?" Dandi asked turning around to glare at the girl and her posse. "And I have no idea who you're talking about."

"What Blake doesn’t know, won't hurt him. And you know I was talking about Daniel. You really don't think you have a chance with him. The beautiful girls are the ones who get the boy. After all, we should know. I'm the beautiful one and you're. . .not."

"I already know the beautiful girls are the ones who get the boy. But you just said you were beautiful. I don't know why because all I see is an ugly bitch."

Dandi expected Scarlet to attack her as she walked down the hall. She was alone in an empty hallway. It would've been four versus one. But Dandi was left alone as the girls left the hallway whispering dark, ugly lies about the tomboy. She stuffed her headphones into her ears as she turned her iPod on. Music played as the girl walked down the hall.

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Dandi walked quietly down the steps to Alex's basement. She arrived late at the party because her parents weren't able to give her a ride, thus having to walk two miles to her friend's house with a backpack full of video games, a sleeping bag, a pillow, and her other sleepover stuff.

"Where's Dandi?" Damien asked. "I thought she said she'd be here."

"She didn't answer the phone at home," Alex said. "It would be so much easier to contact her if she had a cell phone."

Dandi smirked. Alex loved her cell phone and thought everyone should have one. It was true though, Dandi did need a phone. But Alex had three phones of her own. A social butterfly, Alex loved to have attention. She was the flirty one in their crew of friends. Five seven, long silky dark hair, and beautiful, Alex stood out in a crowd, but in a good way. Each Reject stood out in their own way and that's what made them good friends. They didn't belong to their own clique, so they formed their own.

Susannah was the quiet dreamer. She had shoulder length dark brown almost black hair. She had big brown eyes like a doe. Susannah wasn't one of the people full of shit, according to Dandi. Susannah was very quiet, but she wasn't as painfully shy as Natalie.

Natalie was the youngest in the group. She had skipped a grade and met Dandi in sixth grade. Natalie was blonde and had blue eyes that changed color depending on the weather. The Rejects had fun predicting the weather when Natalie's eyes changed color. Natalie was the shy one, she was quiet and not a people person. The only time she came out of her shell was when she was angry or when she was with her friends. She was also painfully shy around Ashton. She'd had a crush on him since they were younger.

Ashton was like the brother Dandi never had. They'd known each other since Ashton had moved in next door to her when they were four. Ashton was of medium stature, he had shoulder length light brown hair and brown eyes. He was a joker and Dandi's partner-in-crime when it came to their pranks. They were often mistaken for brother and sister because they did look like siblings.

Speaking of siblings, Dandi could hear Jonathan and Alaric arguing. The twins looked the same: tall, blonde, green eyes, and handsome. But that was were the similarities ended. Jonathan was a trouble maker, a social butterfly, a player, a flirt. He was always ready for fun. His motto was "The best things in life are dangerous" and "Your daughter is in good hands if she's with me."

Alaric was quiet, shy, and wise beyond his years. He had a maturity that none of their friends did. He was reserved and very sensitive. He was like everybody's older brother, someone they could always talk to.

"Jon, get off of Alaric before you crush him," Ashton snapped before turning back to his friends. "Dandi's probably on her way."

"Sorry I'm late," Dandi said entering the room. Jonathan and Alaric were wrestling for the guitar so they could play guitar hero, Ashton, Damien, and Susannah were playing pool, and Alex and Natalie were playing foosball.

"Dandi's here!" Natalie cheered.

"Where were you?" Alaric asked, stopping the fight with Jonathan. Jonathan shoved him off, grabbing the guitar. Alaric glared at his brother before looking at Dandi. "What happened to your eye, Dandi?"

"I had to walk because my parents couldn't give me a ride," Dandi replied. "And I tripped on the rug leaving the house and poked my eye on the doorknob."

"You're such a dork!" Natalie laughed, everyone joined in.

"Thanks for asking if I'm o.k.," Dandi mumbled.

"Sorry Dani," Alex grinned. "We love you."

Dandi laughed. "The way you said that sounded funny. Are you hitting on me?"

Damien laughed the loudest out of the group. "That's three people in one day, Dan."

"Three?" Ashton sputtered. "Who're the other two?!"

"Eric," Dandi made a face. "And Eric. Daniel wasn't hitting on me, Damien."

"Who's Daniel?" Susannah asked.

"The new guy in our health class," Damien replied.

"New guy?" Alex grinned. "Is he of medium height, shaggy black hair, and gorgeous baby blue eyes?"

"Sure," Dandi shrugged.

"She didn't even deny the fact that his eyes were gorgeous! Dandi has a crush!" Damien yelled. Dandi glared at him. Damien turned to Alex. "Yes. He is of medium height, has black hair, and blue eyes."

"First name Daniel, last name Frederickson," Alex squealed. "He's my new next door neighbor!"

"What?" Dandi's voice cracked. She was drowned out by her friends' whistling and cheering her on.

"We should ask him to play night games with us," Ashton grinned, running out the backdoor. "That way Dandi and Daniel can get to know each other."

"How cute!" Susannah followed Ashton outside. "Dani and Dan. Such a cute couple."

"But. . ." Damien and Natalie grabbed Dandi's wrists and dragged her outside.

"Why don't we have Dandi ask him?" Alex suggested. "His house is the big white one." Alex shoved Dandi in the direction of the house.

"Why do I have to ask?" Dandi asked.

"Because he likes you, now go!" Damien yelled. Dandi slowly went to the house ignoring her friends.

"Since when has Dandi been so shy of guys before?" Natalie whispered.

"Because. . .she likes him too," Damien coughed into his hand.

"She's at the door," Alaric said. "The door's opening. . . is that Daniel?"

"Yeah, that's him," Alex added. "They're talking. . ."

"He's talking. . ."

"She's blushing."

"How can you tell?"

"Her ears are red."

"You're right! They are!"

"Now he's blushing!"

"Is she going inside the house?!"

"No, she wouldn't do that."

"Ohmigod, she just went inside the house!"

"Where'd they go?"

"To his bedroom probably."

"SHUT UP JONATHAN!"

"Where else could they have gone?"

"I don't know. Is she already meeting his parents? He needs to meet hers now."

"What's taking them so long?"

"Maybe they did go up to his room."

"Ashton! Get your mind out of the gutter!"

"Which one's his room?"

"The window on the far right."

"Alex! You mean you actually watch him?"

"No, his blinds were open after school and I saw him working at a desk."

"Stalker."

"At least I don't obsess over my crushes!"

"Natalie has a crush on someone? Who is he?"

"No one you'd know, Ash."

"What's his name, Nat?"

"Look! The door is opening."

"Dandi and Daniel sitting in a tree. F-U---"

"JONATHAN!"

"They do look cute together," Susannah said watching Dandi and Daniel as they walked back to them.

"Daniel, I'd like you to meet my friends. This is Natalie, Ashton, Alex, Susannah, Alaric, Jonathan, and Damien. Guys, this is Daniel."

Daniel was already accepted by the Rejects. They treated him like they had been friends with him forever.

Daniel was the first to suggest a game. He had them all stand in a circle around him.

"This is a test of intelligence, coordination, and the ability to follow directions," Daniel started. "The first thing you do is raise your left hand and point the left index finger to the right, parallel to the floor. Then raise your right hand and hold your right index finger on a level with your left finger, pointing in the opposite direction. Then raise the left hand two inches and lower the right hand two inches. Close your eyes. . .has everybody closed their eyes?" Daniel paused for a moment. "Dark, isn't it?"

Dandi was the first to laugh. She opened her eyes, unwinding herself. She smiled watching the others try to figure it out. Everyone started laughing, except for Damien.

"That was stupid," Damien said.

"You're stupid," Dandi said between gasps.

"Anyone up for Kick the Can?" Alaric suggested.

"Nose goes!" Jonathan yelled. Everyone, but Daniel, touched their noses.

"What?" Daniel looked around. "Nose goes?"

"When someone says "nose goes" you have to touch your nose and the last person to touch their nose is it," Damien explained. "Nose goes!"

Daniel was still the last one to touch his nose. Everyone went to hide as Daniel closed his eyes. When he was done counting, Daniel made sure the can was ready before he went to find the others.

Susannah and Damien were the ones Daniel found first. "Why do we always hide far away from the can?" Susannah yelled at Damien. "Too much running!" Daniel caught them before either one of them got to the can.

"Do you run track or something?" Ashton asked, breathing hard.

"No," Daniel said giving himself a breather. He looked around. "Who haven't I caught?"

"The sprinter," Alex replied. "Dandi hides nearby so she can sprint to the can. We call her Dash for a reason. But I think you could give her a run for her money."

Daniel looked around, squinting to see if he could find the girl. "Where could she be hiding?"

"She's a midget!" Jonathan yelled. "She can hide anywhere! Even in the grass."

"What if one of us stepped on her?" Ashton gasped.

They all expected Dandi to leap out of her hiding place to attack Jonathan and Ashton; but the girl remained hidden. "Dandi's also the competitive one. She hates loosing."

"She's going to loose this time," Daniel smirked.

"Don't be so sure of that," Dandi hissed as Daniel took a step past her. The girl jumped out of the empty recycling bin, shoving it so it would hit Daniel. She took off down the yard to get the can. Daniel jerked out of the way before the bin could hit him. A moment too late was when he realized Dandi was already running. He ran full speed after her.

The senior tripped over a hidden sprinkler in the long grass. He fell forward making a grab for Dandi's sweatshirt. Dandi jumped over Daniel as he rolled under her in the grass. Daniel jumped up and Dandi swerved out of his reach. She ducked past him, diving under his arm, and knocked the can over.

"Ha!" Dandi laughed. "I won!"

"And she isn't in track?" Daniel gasped for breath.

"Nope," Dandi struck a pose. "I'm just awesome."

Ashton ruffled her hair. "Whatever midget."

"I'm not a midget!" Dandi kicked his shin and Ashton winced rubbing his leg. "And I'm not short! You're just tall, Ash!"

"Now that Dandi has kicked all of our butts again," Alaric said, "Let's play a new game."

"How about statues?" Natalie proposed.

They split into groups: Damien and Susannah, Alex, Jonathan, and Natalie, Alaric and Natalie, and Dandi and Daniel. The group of friends laughed and screamed until the neighbors called Alex's parents to complain. Dandi was the first one to the basement, having raced Jonathan to get to the play station.

"Hey Dani, move your stuff," Alex kicked Dandi's stuff out of the way.

"Why do I need to move it?" Dandi asked watching the TV. as the song started.

"Daniel needs a place to stay of course we could let you two share the same space," Alex grinned.

Dandi dropped the guitar. "Daniel's sleeping over?" The rest of her friend's comment sunk in, her eyes narrowing. "Wouldn't you rather spend the night with him? After all, you are the flirty one."

"I'm not the sex god," Alex gave Jonathan a look.

The boy smiled putting his arms behind his head. "What can I say? The ladies love me."

"All of them but us," Natalie piped up, motioning to Dandi, Alex, Susannah, and herself.

"You have no idea what you're missing," Jonathan purred.

"I have no problem with that," Dandi said. "Coming from you, I don't think I'd want to have my first time with you."

"Of course," Damien rubbed Dandi's shoulders. "She's saving that first time for Daniel."

"Who's saving their first time for me?" Daniel asked, dropped his backpack on the floor next to Dandi's.

"Ah. . .Dandi's saving her first time of playing the drums," Natalie said. "She's been wanting to learn how to play the drums."

"Really?" Daniel smiled as Dandi turned a deep shade of red. "We could start lessons next week, if that's o.k. with you."

"Of course it's o.k. with Dandi," Jonathan clapped her on the back. "She'd love to rock with your beat." Ashton choked on his coca-cola as he tried to stiffen his laughter.

"I'm just not going to ask anymore," Daniel sat down on the couch next to Dandi.

She jumped up from the couch, ignoring her friends' goofy faces as she blushed. "I can't play sitting down. I have to be standing."

Jonathan sprayed everyone with his pop. He set the can down and ran upstairs. His laughter could be heard from upstairs. Ashton followed moments later. Everybody else, excluding Dandi and Daniel, were shaking with laughter.

Dandi spent the rest of the night as far away as she could from Daniel. When everyone got their sleeping bags out, they formed a rectangle so their heads were all facing one another. The girls slept on one side, the boys facing them on the other side. They played a game where Dandi hypnotized people, Jonathan was about to ask Daniel if he liked anyone when Daniel woke up from going under.

The next morning, Dandi was the second to last to wake up. She had no idea how Daniel ended up sleeping with his head next to hers. Her friends were sitting on the couch talking quietly amongst themselves. As long as Dandi would live, her friends would never let her forget that sleepover when she first met Daniel Frederickson.