Second Chances by Kimberly Berryhill (books to read for teens .TXT) 📖

She did not know where she was, or what was going on. All Cassie knew was it was dark and cold. She sat up trying to configure her surroundings which she thought was stupid, because even if there was anything around her she could not see it in the first place. Her mind automatically scanned through the possibilities that could have wound her up here. Then, her roommates came to mind. Of course. They were always playing jokes on her. This is just another one of their pranks, Cassie thought to herself. It was never dark or a teensy bit chilly on this campus she was trapped on. Against her constant wishing it was always bright and sunny here. It is not like she hates the sun or warm weather it was just that it would not go away no matter how she felt about it. Everyone needs a bit of shady skies in their life. The sun was always burning in the sky, but here she was frozen to the bone in a blackness that was as deep as a tidal pool. Then, a whirl of images floated around her. They were pictures that had been taken of her on her first day coming to this campus. She was dizzy in the photos and very confused. She was a new student with a grudge toward her parents for leaving her here while they went to study culture in Fiji. Cassie remembered that day as if it were just yesterday. With a whip, the images were gone and replacing it was the image of him. He was beautiful, like he often was, in the photo. Immediately, Cassie's heart began to break along a new split. She knew she would never see him again. Suddenly, just as quick as they appeared, the images vanished.

Cassie's eyes fluttered open and she was in her dorm room with her roommates, Nicki and Nicole, fast asleep on the other beds. She took a deep, ragged breath preparing on facing another day of everlasting sunshine. She stiffly got dressed and put on the usual duo of mascara and lip-gloss. She popped three bagels in the toaster and went to go wake her roommates. They were always a hassle in the morning, but today they were a tad more stubborn. First, she went over to the drapes and pulled them back. Morning sunlight flooded the room making Nicki and Nicole pull their covers higher over their messy bed heads. She then proceeded to the usual tug-of-war with the blankets on the two girls' beds. Cassie won like she always does and went on to the feet pulling and as she predicted, Cassie's roommates held tight to their headboards. They eventually fell to the floor with their pillows. They usually got up by now, getting tired of Cassie's many different wake up calls, but here they lay still struggling to reach unconsciousness. Cassie reached and snatched up their pillows tossing them on the beds. She then snatched them both by their arms until they sat straight up. They finally gave up and slipped into their jogging suits as Cassie already had. The bagels shot up out of the toaster and the girls went to get their breakfast.
After their morning jog, Cassie, Nicole, and Nicki went to the Star Bucks they had on campus and got their daily dose of cappuccinos in them. They then walked to their first class of the second semester. Mr. Bender was wearing his common jeans and collared shirt. He was the science teacher of the school. See, there were only a hundred or so that attended the school they went to. It was not because it was exclusive on who they let in; it was just not many people come to this small town in California. It seems weird, because so many people come to California and it’s so popular. That is what the big towns are like (can someone say Hollywood?). Nestlé Seed, you see is not a big town. It's tiny, so who would think to attend a school in little o' Nestlé Seed. Also, students in this school are sent here for a reason. It varies for each person. It's not that the students have special needs or are insanely smart. For instance, Nicki is here, because she needs to get away from her own life. She described it as getting claustrophobic from to much stuff going on. Nicole is here for a totally different reason, she doesn’t have enough going on with her that she needs a chance to socialize with brand new people. You may be wondering about Cassie. Well, she's a little more complicated. You'll discover why later on. Anyway, the class was surprised to learn that a new student had arrived last night and would be coming in Mr. Bender's class in just a few minutes. Naturally, they were all anxious to meet the new kid. Everyone was so busy talking about the new guy that no one actually saw him come in the classroom except for Cassie.

He was the new student at a new school again. His parents traveled quite a bit; whenever, they got tired of a place they would move to another. He never attempted to make friends anymore knowing he will be gone by the end of the month. Derek did love his parents, but eventually moving to new places every month or so gets old. He was getting tired of all the moving and trying to convince his parents to stay in one place for more than a year was harder than anyone could imagine. They always insisted on a 'new adventure' which he figured out shortly after was their words for running away. He does admit that moving does have its perks. For one, he gets to see a lot of beautiful places, and if he doesn't like it; he doesn't have to worry about staying very long. Derek still didn't like the fact that his whole life was based on running away. No matter how hard he insisted on staying his parents would turn around and leave again. They could be overbearingly stubborn at times. His parents also got exasperated of his constant wishing over staying, so they would tolerate another short month and move again. This didn't make Derek any happier about it though. His life became entirely routine. He didn't even bother unpacking all of his stuff anymore. There was just no sense in it knowing that he would just have to pack it all up again in just a short time.
This new adventure of theirs dumped him in a small town called Nestlé Seed, and as far as Derek could tell it was downright plain compared to all the big places he has been to. I mean sure, it has a nice feel to it. Comfy even. It was perfect for a suburban type person, but Derek wanted more out of life than just settling down in his youth. It seems that he would want to stay in one place and get cozy, but he was a natural born mover. What could he say? Old habits die slow. Perhaps he would settle in a permanent spot later on in his years, but he wanted to stretch his wings first, so to speak. You could say him and his parents were meant to be a family. No matter how Derek felt about their running away. See, he wanted to see the world, but not through moving boxes and under his parents watchful gaze. He was a rebel at heart, always wanting to get away, but never too far out of the parents reach. He only had to suffer through two more dependent years with them until he was free to make his own choices. When he was free to decide how long to stay or if he should stay at all. Yes, in about two years he would be eighteen and independent. He couldn’t wait for those stretches of glorious freedom to come. It seemed too far away. Derek was patient, though. He hoped that would pay off.
“Do you need something, Mr. Miller” the school office’s secretary broke Derek out of his revere.
“No, no. This is all, thank you.” he assured the overly helpful Mrs. Dawn. She had just handed him his schedule and a map in case he needed help finding classes. It was silly, who could get lost in a tiny school such as this? He thought to himself. He made his way toward his first class. The subject was science. He never really liked the topic, but always made one of the best grades in the class due to home-teaching as well as top schools since age 5. The teacher’s name was Mr. Bender. Derek was thinking of nick-names that would have come with the name as a child (not all of them good) when he stepped into room number 103. He was surprised the rooms actually broke the triple digit score. He shuffled into the room full of rambling students all talking about the new guy no doubt, and introduced himself to Mr. Bender. He was a science teacher all right. Right down to the space tie around the collared shirt he wore button all the way up to his neck. Mr. Bender pointed to all the open seats, indicating Derek to pick one himself. Derek took the books the teacher gave him and looked up to see which seat he would choose to spend the next month in. He was scanning the rows of students when his eyes fell upon her.