Charlotte Walker's Story

"You look like you're dressed to go on stage. Are you sure you want to wear that on your first day back to school?" Questioned a judgmental mother staring over her newspaper at her daughter that had just made her way down the stairs. The daughter looked down at what she was wearing, it wasn't like her mother was wrong. It was probably an exact outfit of what she had worn on stage at one point. Most of her clothes were her stage clothes, but that's what she liked to wear. Besides, it was her first day back, and she didn't want to just go to school in a pair of jeans and a band t-shirt, she felt like she had to do her best to make a first impression, so she went with one of her more favorite outfits.

"What's wrong with looking like I'm on stage? This is my favorite outfit, besides it's not like I'm wearing a costume. These are normal clothes," Charlotte shrugged as she made her way to the kitchen to make a bowl of cereal for herself.

"I think it looks fine, but are you even sure you want to go back to school, Charlie? You haven't seen these people in like three years," Her younger brother asked. "They probably won't recognize you or they'll want to use you for your money. I mean, it seems a little weird to be wasting your time with going back to school for a whole year, when you're as popular as you are. You could be out traveling the world, or making a new album."

"Wow, everyone's so judgmental today," Charlotte sighed, sitting down at the table next to her brother. "I'm not gonna back out now. Mom and dad already went through the trouble of enrolling me, plus the school is letting me come in late to avoid crowding and such. I'm going to school, for the whole year so I can graduate with the people I grew up with. Whether they remember me, recognize me, extort me for money, or not."

The two sitting at the table stared at her for a long moment before shrugging it off and going back to eating their breakfast. They all had somewhere to be and to worry about Charlotte's first day back would be far from their minds if they were all late. She was sure that there would be more arguments to come, but she wasn't going to worry about those until they were there. She had her own problems to worry about, mainly getting to school and getting through her first day back to school. It had felt longer than three years since she had been in the small town and living a normal teenage life. She felt like she was going to school for the first time in her whole life, which just made her even more nervous.

Charlotte arrived at the school at the time that she had been told to come by the principal. It was right after the bell had rung signalling that anyone getting to class at this point would be tardy. It felt weird to be walking around when nobody else was around. She could see people through the windows already in class, and trying to pay attention to the teachers. She wasn't so sure if going back was such a good idea at this point. A part of her just wanted turn back and leave. I could just leave, nothings stopping me from doing that. I could just go back home, get to work on my next album and be home schooled. I'm sure my friends have already moved on. She thought as she got closer and closer to the entrance.

Her pace got slower the closer she got to the doors, knowing that once she walked in there was no turning back. Well, there was, it would be just as easy to leave after entering the hallways, but something kept telling her that the entrance was the point of no return. Her legs kept bringing her closer to the doors though, even with her mind racing on the idea of just going back home. She had no idea how these people were going to react to seeing her again. She didn't know anything about them, and it had already been a few weeks into the school year. She had no idea where they were with their lessons.

Everything will be fine, you're worried about nothing. You can catch up, you already took all the tests to show that you were at the right grade level. It'll become normal in a few days, and you'll get to see your old friends again. Everything will be great. She took a deep breath as her hand shakily reached the metal door handle and pulled the heavy door open. She'd just have to face her fears now. The halls were just as empty, with a few teachers rushing to their classes or to the office and a few students passing by to go to the bathroom or run to their classes late. She was lucky that nobody stopped her or even noticed her. She just walked to her classroom in peace.

Though, the moment she walked into her classroom, things changed. The peace, the silence of the empty halls was destroyed by the whispers that grew louder with every additional voice. Soon, the classroom was just filled with people trying to talk over one another as they realized who the new student was. Charlotte looked over at the teacher, who had been caught off guard by the sudden disruption and just stared back at the new student.

The teacher quickly got the attention of the class back in order, "Everyone, settle down! We've got a new student joining us to day, would you like to introduce yourself?"

Charlotte blinked for a moment not quite sure what to even say, "Well, I'm Charlotte Walker, you can call me Charlie or Lottie or Charlotte, I don't really have a preference. And, I'm looking forward to learning with you and making some new friends while I'm here." That must have sounded so cheesy and stupid. She could recognize a few faces in the classroom or old classmates and friends.

"Alright, Charlotte, why don't you take a seat next to Benjamin there," The teacher pointed to the empty seat. Charlotte nodded and sat down, trying to shake of the nerves that she felt and the thoughts of running away. This was going to be her life for the rest of the school year.

Lunchtime finally rolled around after a long morning of class being disrupted every few moments by other students asking her what it was like being a pop star. She tried so hard to just keep herself occupied with the lectures and notes, but with every pause the teacher took, came another question from one of the students. Now she had broken from the group of people that were constantly asking her questions, some things she didn't even know about like the latest celebrity gossip going around. She just wanted a moment of quiet.

She grabbed her lunch and sat down at a table that nobody was sitting at. Before she could even think about eating her lunch, an arm wrapped around her shoulders. She looked over at who had decided to do such a thing and ended up face to face with a large guy grinning at her. She shrugged off his arm and stared back at him with an unamused look on her face.

"Hey, baby, how 'bout you and I leave this place and go get something better for lunch? I'm buying," He tried to sound so smooth and tried to wrap his arm once again around her shoulders.

Charlotte dodged his arm, and shook her head, "I'm alright, thanks for the offer though."

"Oh, come on, you don't even know me yet. Who turns down free food anyway?"

"Um...I do."

"You won't be disappointed, just go out with me."

"I said no."

"Why not?"

"Because," She quickly realized that this man was not gonna go away if she just told him she didn't want to go. She bit the bottom of her lip looking around the cafeteria for anyone to help her out. Unfortunately nobody seemed to want to meet her pleading gaze. She had to think quick, and an idea sparked just as the boy that she had sat next to the entire morning started to walk by. He seemed like a nice guy and she was pretty sure she recognized him from before she left school to be a big pop star. If she remembered correctly, he was nice and always so happy. He'd be perfect. She pointed right at him."Because Benjamin's my boyfriend, and we were just about to eat lunch together."

"What? Him? There's no way," The boy looked over at Benjamin, with a glaring look of jealousy. Charlotte peeked over the large boy's shoulders to try and look like she needed help. She just needed him to know that this guy was not leaving her alone and she needed his help just this once.