Chapter Text
Honey Brown…
-Carmilla POV-
“Carmilla! Come downstairs before you’re late for school!” My dad shouts up the stairs. I roll out of bed, throw on my usual attire of leather pants, combat boots, and an old band T-shirt. I walked out of my room an into the bathroom, seeing as we ere still in the midst of unpacking and moving into the house, there were still a whole lot of boxes everywhere and nothing was put in it’s proper place, making it harder to find a towel than ever.
“Carmilla!” My dad calls out again, getting increasingly aggressive.
“Yes sir!” I call back, rolling my eyes. Once I get downstairs I finally find a towel in a box at the bottom of the stairs, managing to wipe my face before walking into the kitchen to find my father, Matthew, mother, Lilita, and brother, Will, all sitting around the kitchen table. My father was reading the paper while my mom sipping coffee, and my brother eating a bowl of cereal. The fact that the scene before me seemed so domestic made me uncomfortable, my family was far from ideal. “Good morning.” I say, walking over to the fridge to get something to drink.
“Morning sweetheart.” My mom says with a smile as my brother grunts his acknowledgment.
“Good morning Carmilla.” My dad says from behind his newspaper.
“Good morning Sir.” I say with a nod as I sat down next to him.
“Are you two ready to start school?” He asks, folding the newspaper at the crease.
“Yep.” Will says with a mouthful of cereal.
“I guess.” I shrug.
“Well let’s go then.” My dad says, getting up from the table and grabbing his car keys and wallet from the counter. The only good thing about relocating from Germany to Southern California was the fact that it was literally a three-minute walk to the beach. There was something calming about being close to the water.
“Are we here for good dad?” Will asks on out way to school.
“You guys are, yes.” He says. “Your mother and I want you two to have a stable lifestyle now, even though you’re older.” He adds.
“Oh wow that makes perfect sense.” I say, rolling my eyes.
“I don’t want to hear a snarky word out of your mouth Carmilla.” My dad says sternly, looking at me in the rearview mirror.
“Sorry sir.” I say quietly, looking out the window.
“I’ll be here to get you at two-thirty. Got it?” He asks, pulling up in front of the school.
“Yes sir.” Will and I say at the same time as we get out of the car.
“This place sure beats Germany.” Will says with a wide smile as he gawks at the girls walking by.
“Well there is no arguing there little brother.” I say, throwing my arm around his shoulders. We start walking into the school to find the main office, seeing as we were starting school a little late, when all of a sudden someone slams into me.
“Oh my! I’m so sorry.” The girl gasps, grabbing at my forearm to steady herself and I. “Are you okay?” She asks, looking at me with warm honey brown eyes.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine don’t worry about it.” I say, brushing off the front of my shirt.
“Are you new here?” The girl asks, tilting her head a bit.
“Yeah.” I say as I look to see that Will has already disappeared.
“Well then, hello I am Laura Hollis, senior class president.” She says proudly, sticking out her chest a bit. Laura was cute, like textbook definition practically. She was short, had honey brown hair and eyes, she was wearing skinny jeans, flats, and white shirt with a black cat pattern. She seemed too overly preppy for me, even borderline annoying. “Do you have your schedule yet? Do you know your classes?” She asks.
“Uhm, I was on my way to do that before you slammed into me sweetheart.” I say, pulling at the straps on my backpack.
“Right. My name is Laura, just so you know. I’ll show you where the office is if you want me to.” Laura says.
“I think I can manage.” I say, shoving passed her and walking into the building. It took me a little while, but I eventually found the office and got my schedule. I walk into my first period class.
“Ah! And the newbie has arrived!” The teacher says with a grin. “I am Mr. Xavier, your English teacher.” He says, walking over to his desk to look at his roster. “And you must be Carmilla Karnstein. Strange name.”
“My mother was reading the novella when she was pregnant with me, she loved the name.” I say with a shrug.
“Interesting. You can take a seat next to Miss Hollis.” He says, pointing to the back of the room with his pen before using it to write something on the paper.
“Well hello there.” Laura whispers when I sit down beside her.
“What are the odds, cupcake?” I ask, taking a notebook from my bag.
“Extremely low, apparently.” Laura says with a small laugh. The class flew by, when Mr. Xavier came around to hand out the books we had to read, I was relived to see we were reading The Catcher in the Rye, seeing as I have read the book about five times already, it was nice to know the homework for this class would be nonexistent. I take the book and throw it in my bag as well as my notebook. “Where are you going next?” Laura asks, standing over me.
“Statistics, room 221.” I say, looking at my schedule.
“Oh this is going to be fun, can I see that?” She asks, holding out her hand for my schedule. “We have the next two classes together, sixth period lunch, and seventh period Astronomy.” She says with a smirk.
“Lovely, I got from English, to math, to watching you get all hot and bothered in gym? That sounds fun.” I tease, winking at Laura and laughing when her cheeks turn a deep red. “I’m only teasing Sundance. Lead the way to this class.” I say, holding out my arm for her to go.
“So where did you move here from?” Laura asks as we walk to class.
“Germany.” I say not giving her much more to go on.
“Oh wow, that’s so cool. Did you live there long?”
“Four years, my dad he’s in the Army, where ever he goes, we go.” I say melodramatically.
“That must be fun.” She chimes.
“Not as much fun as you would think.” I say. “Bouncing all around, not really understanding it as a kid…” I trail off.
“Where else have you been?” She asks as we walk into the classroom.
“I think I should save that for another day, if I tell you all of my secrets, I may lose my air of mystery.” I say huskily, watching Laura pout. The rest of the day went by smoothly, that is until the day was over and Laura found me in the parking lot waiting for my dad.
“What are you reading? Why aren’t you reading the book for English?” She asks, sitting down beside me.
“Well, The Catcher in the Rye is a book for freshmen, the fact that I have to read this book at seventeen is stupid, I read that book for fun when I was fourteen. Besides, this book is better.” I say holding up the book I was currently reading.
“The Stand? You like Stephen King?” She chimes. “My dad read all of his books.”
“That’s good.” I mumble, not looking up from the book.
“Hey frosh!” Some redhead yells as another redhead followed close behind.
“Hey Laf.” Laura says with a smile. “Hey Perry.”
“Who’s your friend?” The Laf person asks.
“I’m Carmilla.” I say, peeking over my book.
“Nice to meet you. I’m LaFontaine, and this is Perry.” They say, introducing themselves with a smile.
“Laura!” A towering redhead calls out.
“And here I thought the ginger gene was dying out.” I say, rolling my eyes.
“Hi Danny.” Laura says, jumping up and giving the towering human a hug.
“Who’s this?” Danny asks, pointing at me.
“This is Carmilla, she’s new.” Laura chimes taking Danny’s hand in hers.
“Nice to meet you.” She says with a smile. “So, Laura we have a student council meeting, we should get going.” Danny says, seeming to be annoyed.
“Y-yeah. I’ll see you guys all later.” Laura says with a smile as Danny pulls her away.
“So, Carmilla was it?” Perry asks.
“That’s right curly sue.” I chime, finally closing my book seeing as I couldn’t pay attention to it.
“When did you move here?” She asks, sitting down where Laura was.
“Last week.” I say, brushing the hair from my face. Then I hear a horn beep and see that my dad had pulled up. “As much as I would love to continue this Q&A session, I have to go.” I say sarcastically, throwing my book in my bag and going to my dad’s truck.
“Who are those two you’re talking to?” He asks as soon as I get in.
“They’re friends of this girl I met today.” I explain.
“So you’re making friends?” He asks, cocking an eyebrow.
“I plead the fifth.” I mumble as we drive away. “Whoa what about Will?”
“He texted me before saying her was trying out for lacrosse or something.” My dad says shaking his head. “The boy knows he isn’t great with lacrosse and yet he defies me all the time about it, soccer is his strong suit and he never wants to follow through with it.”
“Yeah.” I say, not having a real understanding as to what he was saying.
“So do you think you’re going to like it here?” He asks, glancing over at me.
“A five minute walk to the beach is more than I girl could ask for.” I chime with smirk. “Who knows maybe I’ll learn to surf or something.” I shrug.
“You tried to learn once, remember? When we were in Florida you tried to learn.” He says.
“I was like ten dad, I think I will be better to learn now that I’m older.” I say.
“Well, all you did was use that skateboard while we were in Germany, isn’t it basically the same concept of balance, but you have water to support you when you fall?” He asks with a small laugh.
“Pretty much.” I say, getting out of the car when he pulled into the driveway. “Why do you drive if we live so close to the school?” I ask walking to the front door.
“Until you get used to the area, it’s better to drive you around. Then again, until I take you to get your license, it’s easier for you to get an idea of how to get around in a car, if you pay attention that is.” He says, unlocking the door.
“Okay. Where’s mom?” I ask as I start to walk upstairs.
“She went to get paint.” My dad calls out.
“Okay!” I say when I get into my room and shut the door, I throw myself onto my bed and close my eyes, as much as I hate to admit it, rather than seeing black, all I see I honey brown.