Hana Lane
Katherine's response was a typical one, and although the attitude was not justified, Hana wouldn't expect any less of her. She simply returned the girl's eye roll and followed her out of the apartment. Although Hana knew her way around the equisite house, it didn't feel like home to her. She continuously insisted to herself that it would just take time to get used to the life she was now living, but not much had changed in the few months she had lived there. It was strange for her, since she recognized how lucky she was to be living in one of the nicest and most expensive residences in Manhattan, but couldn't help but to feel dissatisfied. Sometimes she longed for the little two-bedroom apartment that she had shared with her mother ten years ago, and other times she just wanted something new and different. But this was her new start, and she supposed that there was nothing that she could do but try to make the best out of it.
Katherine was a good distance ahead of Hana until she abruptly stopped on the sidewalk and pulled out her cellphone. Now, Hana was able to catch up with her, but she only slowed her pace a bit when she noticed that Katherine wasn't going to start walking until she finished texting. It was probably for the best that way. Hana couldn't even count the number of times that Alexandre had insisted that the two go shopping or get dinner together, and Hana would have to grab the back of Katherine's shirt or her tiny arms to stop her from walking into traffic or other people while she was preoccupied with her phone. She usually regretted helping her and was now considering picking up her speed and walking ahead of Katherine, but she didn't want to arrive at the school first. Even though she had walked to it on a couple of occasions over the summer just to see what its exterior looked like, she was less confident now that the campus would probably be flooded with students who were all already friends with each other. It would have been different if she was transferring in during freshman or even sophomore year when friend groups were still forming, but by now, everyone already knew where they fit in, and Hana felt destined to be an outsider.
As she wallowed in self-pity over her predicted social doom, she felt her phone buzz in her backpack. In a quick movement, she pulled it out, relieved with the thought that maybe one of her old friends wanted to check in. Even though Hana did have many friends at her own school, she had distanced herself from them over the summer and after months of being ignored, most of them had given up on trying to reconnect with her. She couldn't blame them, really, and soon realized that it wasn't any of them who was texting her. It was just a notification that a blog that she had subscribed to earlier that week had made an update. It was the infamous "Gossip Girl" blog; one known for notoriously leaking the secrets of students at Constance Billard and Saint Jude's. Hana had overheard someone talking about it at the welcoming party she had attended for Melissa and Mark Cane and although she was a bit weary of even looking into the drama, she couldn't help but to subscribe. Even if it was probably just lies made out of vengeance, she felt some sense of inclusion by at least knowing what was the hot topic in town, even if she didn't know many of the people the posts were about.
Although Hana was interested in seeing what the post read, she decided to wait to actually read it. She and Katherine were quickly approaching Constance Billard and the realization that she was now going to have to face her new year was dawning on her. Without thinking too much into it, she sent a text message to Melissa Cane. Hana knew that she and Mark were also new students and while they were probably wealthy enough to fit in seamlessly with this crowd, Melissa seemed to like her at her party, and Hana felt like she had no other options now.
To: Melissa Cane
Hey, it's Hana Lane. Are you at school already?
Hey, it's Hana Lane. Are you at school already?
She didn't want to sound too clingy or anxious, but at the same time, she was beginning to doubt her own confidence in being able to fully isolate herself from everyone and still be okay. It would probably be better than clinging to the outside of the group of girls that she was sure Katherine would soon clique up with, but having at least one friend would be nice too.