Welcome to New Haven Read online

  Contents

  New Title Page

  Disclaimer

  Dedication

  Author's note.

  Prologue

  Chapter1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Epilogue

  Other books by this Author

  Welcome

  To

  New Haven

  Dawn Doyle

  Copyright © 2014 Dawn Doyle

  This is a work of fiction.

  Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.

  Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Published by Dawn Doyle at Smashwords

  Edited by Dawn Doyle

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is dedicated to the people who believed in me and told me to never give up.

  My husband, Daniel, for telling me how proud he is that I wrote this book, after wanting to do it for so long!

  My sister Jennie, for listening to my ideas.

  My friend, Kimi, who supported me and gave me a lot of encouragement to write.

  Sarah, for being my crazy friend and proof reader!

  Also, my beautiful kids. Without their faith in me, I think I would have given up.

  I love you all.

  XxXxX

  Authors’ note

  This book has been written in dual POV’s. The story is also based day-to-day, unless days have been skipped through non activity. Characters text, so beware of textathons! There is a lot of dialogue in this book because, I feel, that the characters interactions tell the story a lot better than I could explain with a description. Some will have Americanisms like ‘Mom’ and ‘Ass’ when an American character is speaking. However, those same words will become “Mum” and “arse” when an English character is speaking. When the characters, Holly, Kim and Emily talk. Try to imagine, if you have heard it before, them talking with a Liverpool, or scouse, accent. G’s are usually dropped from the end of words and T’s are dropped in the middle of some. For instance ‘little’ becomes ‘li-uhl’ and ‘kettle’ becomes ‘keh-uhl’. ‘H’s are dropped from the beginning of words. “Have” becomes ‘ave’. ‘My’ usually changes to ‘me’ which turns the words ‘My hair’ into ‘me air’. ‘My Mum’ into ‘me Mum’. Some of the words will be written as the person would say them, when their accent is strong, thickened by emphasising their mood, or style of conversation. There will be some slang words, which will be explained within the text, and I hope you can visualise the character speaking in that manner. Please be aware that not all scousers sound the same. We don’t. There are still many slang words and sayings I don’t understand myself and I was born and raised in Liverpool!

  But mostly, I hope you enjoy this story, as much as I had writing it.

  Dawn.

  Prologue

  Holly and her Mum, Kim, pulled up outside New Haven high school. It was the beginning of a fresh start, in Seattle which meant finishing her education at an American High School.

  “Good Morning! I’m Mr. Lawson, the Principal here at New Haven High. Welcome!” said a tall man as he walked towards them from the main entrance of the school.

  He looked around fifty years old with greying hair, that was once dark brown. He gave off a friendly vibe and Holly felt comfortable with him straight away.

  “Good morning, Mr Lawson, I’m Kim Charles and this is my daughter Holly Edwards. We spoke on the phone.” Her Mum, Kim said to him.

  Oliver, or Oli as he liked to be called, was her Mum’s husband and Holly’s Step-Dad. He was born, and raised, in Seattle until he moved to Liverpool to set up the new offices there. He’d stayed for six years, but regularly flew back to Seattle for work. Oli and her Mum had met when she started to work as a legal secretary at the firm. They were married three years later.

  Before they had moved, Holly had said she’d wanted to finish school and didn’t mind going to a new one so late in her education. I the UK, even though she could have left at sixteen, Holly had wanted to carry on with higher education. As the leaving age was eighteen in the USA, Holly had wanted to go to school and New Haven had the learning programs that she was looking for. She’d had the choice of staying in England, with her Nan, and finish her studies there, but Holly hadn’t wanted to. She wanted to get away, go somewhere new. It would have meant staying in England for another seven months.

  No. That wasn’t going to happen so New Haven it was.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Holly, I’m sure you will love it here. It’s a wonderful school and the programs we have are the best in this town. We also have some small changes coming up that will only make it better.” He gushed. Happy that his school had a higher rating for their education than any other in the area.

  “That’s why I chose it.” Holly replied, trying to sound enthusiastic when all she wanted to do was look around, find where she needed to be and then get out of there.

  “Well, that’s great! I’ll show you around the place. We find it’s easier to look around when the school is closed as it can get pretty crazy when the other students are around. We wouldn’t want you to get lost!” He chuckled at his own joke.

  Holly just smiled as sincerely as she could and followed him, with her Mum, into the school.

  Chapter1

  Holly pulled into a free space outside the school and cut the engine. She’d managed to make it in one piece. The few lessons she had, to get used to driving on the other side of the road, had helped a lot but she was still nervous. She drove a black Ford Focus ST-2 and got quite a few looks from some students walking by. Holly wasn’t trying to be the kid with the ‘new shiny car’ by any means, as she didn’t want to attract attention to herself, but because it had been a present from her parents, so that she could get out and about whenever she wanted, she didn’t turn it down.

  Holly took a deep breath and got out of the car. She kept her head down as she walked into the building, through the main door. Mr. Lawson had told her to come to school a little early to visit the school admin office to collect her schedule. She was ten minutes early, but the place was heaving with bodies already. She tried to remember the way to the office; her vision blocked by the huge crowd of students. Now, she knew why the Principal advised looking round when it was closed. Good thinking.

  Holly found the room and walked in.

  “Hi. I’m Holly Edwards. I’m starting today.” She
told the middle aged woman behind the desk.

  She had long auburn hair, tied into a huge bun, and round glasses. Her bright pink lipstick seemed to stand out from her face when she smiled, her eyes crinkling up in the corners.

  “Oh; of course! You’re the English girl. Welcome to New Haven. Here’s your schedule, a map of the school and a list of extra classes you can sign up for during your free periods.” The woman handed the papers to Holly, and she glanced quickly over the list of classes.

  “Can I sign up for one of these now?” she asked.

  “You sure can!” the woman replied happily. “I’m Sheridan, but you can go ahead and call me Sheri. Just let me know what you want to study and I’ll set you right up. Oh, by the way, I love your accent. Which part of England are you from?”

  “Thanks. I’m from Liverpool.” Holly replied.

  “Well it sounds just lovely.” Sheri beamed.

  Holly liked her. She was friendly, and she seemed genuine.

  “Now what can I sign you up for?”

  “Spanish class, please.” Holly said after looking down the list again, making sure it was definitely a beginner class. She’d tried learning a few phrases, but nothing seemed to stick in her head, and she would quickly forget what she had learned.

  “The language of love.” Sheri sighed. “Ok, well I’ll let Miss. Delaney know you’ll be starting her class right away. If you have any problems at all, my door is always open.” Sheri said with an enormous warm smile.

  Holly was so taken in with Sheri’s friendliness, she didn’t know whether to hug her or give her a high five and that wasn’t something Holly would have ever dreamt of doing.

  Holly left the admin office and followed the maps’ directions to her homeroom. She’d been there when she was shown around, but now she couldn’t see where she was going. Holly wasn’t very tall, five-foot four inches to be exact, but the students blocking her vision seemed to be at least five inches taller than she was, and that was just the girls!

  Seriously, what do these people eat?! She thought to herself.

  Whatever it was, she wanted some. It was good being short, sometimes. Fitting into the junior sized trainers, and track pants meant her sports wear cost a lot less than the adults. If it weren't for her chest, she could’ve gotten away with the tops too. Holly walked along, getting a view between some people every now and again until she finally found where she was meant to be. Room five. The door was already open, and she walked through, greeting the teacher at the front.

  “Hi. I’m Holly. I’m starting today.” She said quietly, so as not to disrupt the other kids in the class from their conversations.

  “Ah yes, Holly. How nice to meet you.” Mrs Carter said, not sensing Holly’s need to stay invisible.

  The room silenced as everybody stopped and turned in her direction. Holly closed her eyes and groaned inwardly.

  “Everybody, this is Holly Edwards. Our new student from England. Please make her feel welcome.” She turned back to Holly and smiled apologetically, as if she knew Holly wanted to stay out of the limelight.

  “You may as well pull the bandaid off now honey. They’re going to know you’re new soon enough.”

  Mrs.Carter motioned for Holly to find a seat, and she turned in the direction her hand was held out to. She looked around and saw a girl smiling in her direction. She had big brown eyes and long dark hair. Her skin was olive and completely blemish free. Cheek bones that any Hollywood star would be jealous of. She was so pretty that Holly thought she may be a model, or at least, a beauty queen of…somewhere. Maybe the world… The girl smiled even bigger, and Holly looked behind her wondering who she was smiling at. She was giggling when Holly turned back. The girl beckoned with her hand and scooted over to make room for Holly at her table.

  “Hi! I’m Devon Valencia. But, I like to be called Dev.” She said as she beamed at Holly.

  “Hi. I’m Holly.” She replied, shyly.

  “Your accent is so cool. Which part of England are you from?” she asked with, what looked like, genuine interest.

  “Liverpool.”

  “Awesome! Where about is that?”

  “The North West. It’s not as huge as Seattle, but it’s still a big city. I used to live about twelve miles from the Centre.” Holly explained.

  She was used to being questioned which part of Liverpool she was from. Her accent wasn’t as thick as some. Quite possibly due to the fact that she didn’t go out much, or that she had to learn to speak slower and more clearly because Oli couldn’t understand her.

  “I like how you say ‘Seattle’. Will you say it again?” asked Dev, with a grin.

  “Seattle.” Holly repeated.

  With her accent, it came out as ‘See-a-uhl’. Dev giggled excitedly.

  “Oh my God that’s amazing. My friends are going to love you.”

  Dev told Holly about her friends, Marissa ‘Riss’ Kennedy and Kayla Roberts. They were cousins that were so close; they should have been sisters. Their Mums were twins and the girls were born close together, so they had been raised together too.

  “There’s a group of us who hang out together. Some of them are guys. One of them is my twin brother, Alex. He’s a great guy, I can’t wait for you to meet him.” Dev said with a warm smile.

  It was evident that Dev loved her brother and was close to him. Hey they were twins after all.

  “Um…ok…I guess.” Holly said nervously.

  “Oh, I’m sorry…” Dev snorted an apologetic laugh. “…Here I am already planning your day for you. You don’t have to hang out with us if you don’t want to.”

  Holly thought for a second and realised that she actually did want to hang out with Dev. She didn’t know why, but she had a feeling that they would be good friends, and Holly didn’t usually make friends easily.

  “It’s ok. I’d love to hang out with you.” She said, making Dev grin from ear to ear.

  “You would? Great! I’ll tell you what…We’ll keep it to just us girls for a couple of days. Let you settle in and then we’ll introduce to the others. We usually just have lunch with them anyways. You’ll probably see them in class before then.” Dev was practically bouncing in her seat with happiness.

  “What the fuck is that thing?”

  Holly heard from behind her. The girls’ voice was quiet, but Holly could tell she was meant to hear it. She turned in her seat and made eye contact with a girl at a table, one behind and to her right.

  “Excuse me?” Holly asked, her heart rate increasing.

  The girl had blonde hair, down to her shoulder blades, brown eyes, and her lips pursed as if she were sucking on a lemon. Her eyes were narrowed at Holly as if she had done something to royally piss off the girl.

  “Ignore her Holly…” said Dev quietly. “…That’s Stacey. The resident bitch. Don’t waste your time talking to her.”

  “I said ‘what the fuck is that thing’?” Stacey repeated. “And by that, I meant you.”

  Holly was surprised at what Stacey had said to her. She’d been in the class for less than twenty minutes and somebody had started on her already.

  “Me?” Holly asked, her voice high pitched in disbelief that this girl had said something nasty to her, when she didn’t even know her.

  “Yes, you. What the fuck are you supposed to be? New girl showing up halfway through the school year? What the fuck did you do at your old school? Fuck the principal?”

  This made Stacey cackle and the girl sitting at her table laughed with her. There were a few snickers around the room and Holly could feel herself getting angry. She told herself to stay calm and not rise to the bait.

  That’s what the girl wants. She wants to see how far she can push you because you’re new. Don’t let her win.

  “I moved here.” Holly kept her voice calm and steady.

  “Was he any good?” Stacey threw her head back and laughed again.

  Holly clenched her fists on the table.

  “Stacey, shut the fuck up. If an
ybody was going to fuck the principal, in any school, it would be you. Now shut up!” Dev shouted to Stacey.

  The other students burst out laughing at what Dev had said, and Stacey’s face fell into a scowl.

  “I was just kidding, for fucks sake.” Stacey spat. “I just wanted to see if ‘Mary Poppins’ could take it. You know, ease her into her new school. It can get real nasty around here.”

  Stacey was smiling but with a venomous look in her eyes. There was obviously a lot of animosity between her and Dev, and Holly had a feeling that she hadn’t heard the last of Stacey’s bitchy comments.

  The bell sounded for the next lesson to start and all of the students got up and began leaving the room.

  “What class do you have?” Dev asked as she picked up her bag and stood.

  Holly noticed that Dev was only a little taller than her. A few inches, maybe five-seven, but not as tall as some others she had passed in the hallways earlier.

  “Advanced English. You?” she felt relieved that her new friend didn’t tower over her as much as she thought.

  “Oh just regular English for me.” Dev chuckled. “My class is in the opposite direction to yours. Do you know where you’re headed?” she asked as Holly looked down at her map.

  “Yeah, I remember where this room is now. I think I’ll be ok.”

  “That’s good. What do you have afterwards?”

  “Chemistry” Holly replied as she looked at her schedule. “Room…thirty-two”