DGA: Chapter One

Mandy is just a very angry girl in a very regular high school, with regular friends, but some very scary students

An overly fake smile was on her face; covering her deep despise for the school she had to attend every day. She walked slowly with the sound of lockers opening and slamming closed, which matched perfectly with the chatter of friends who made sure you heard their every word. With every step she took she found herself cut off by another student. The annoyance on her face grew, as the task to make her way to her own locker seemed like a maze of selfish people; people who she grew to despise.

She was fifteen and a year older than most of the freshman class. The thought of being older trapped in her head didn’t help with her irritation of the rest of the student body. With as much built up anger and frustration she held for the rest of humanity made it hard to feel sorry for the girl.

She sat in the front seat of every class. Her personality is quite complex, she loves, but hides all those feelings. She doesn’t feel she is better than others, in fact she feels the exact opposite, but her manners and attitude tell otherwise and the only ones she allows close to her are her family, but even they don’t know the true torment that goes on inside her head. She gives off the attitude that she doesn’t care for anything anymore, which makes since knowing the truth that she walks around with everyday, but the act wont protect her from her true emotions.

For her looks, they never really change day to day, she doesn’t dress up for school, the most she will try to do is straighten her curly red hair, which going all the way down to her butt when completely straight, but with its natural curls, her hair only went to the middle of her back.

Finally making her way to her class she sat there reading, her left hand holding onto her thin reddish-brown plastic framed glasses. Her right hand holding her head up as she looked down at the page in front of her. Slowly she sat the book down on the desk so she could flip the page with her left hand without moving her right hand from her cheek. Slowly she flipped the page and lifted the book back in front of her face. There she buried her face into the book her eyes barely skimming each line before she placed the book back down on the table to flip to another page. This book just kept the girl’s eyes from glaring at her classmates around her.

“Mandy!”

Mandy’s head jumped up as she heard the sound of a person slamming their hands down on her desk. Mandy’s hair bobbed as she put her book down on the desk and stared at the person in front of her.

“Jana,” Mandy pulled the headphones from her ears and rolled them over the first generation iPod she carried. She then shoved it into her little black purse, and ripped a small corner piece from her homework to put in her book, willing Jana to have Mandy’s full attention.

Jana turned her head to the side and leaned against the wall next to Mandy’s desk. “What is bugging you now?” her eyes narrowed and her words seemed muttered. Jana was Mandy’s only real friend, and with that, Jana was the only one Mandy could back her problems on. It was hard to understand why Mandy would want to be friends with someone who had no interest in actually helping her with her problems, but shrugging them off as if they didn’t matter at all. In reality, Jane only cared about talking about her own problems, which becomes rather annoying if you ask me.

“Ahh” Mandy stopped taking a long breath as she thought of what she should say next, “it is first period what do you think is bugging me?” Mandy’s words were filled with sarcasm and irritation. Mandy stood up and walked around her desk so she could sit on top of the desk itself. “It isn’t fair, you know? Why did we get the bogus schedules with math as the first period, algebra is retarded! I mean when will I need math?” Mandy stuck out her tongue.

“Hopefully the only thing I will need to count is money.” Jana smiled.

Jana was one of those girls who spent far too much time on her makeup and hair. Nothing wrong with looking your best, but too much was still too much. Jana always wears thick cover up her cheeks almost as bright as a rose and dark blue eye shadow. The colors would of looked better if they weren’t on so thick, but that wouldn’t help her already dead burnt hair from all the bad dye jobs.

Her hair was dyed black with split ends from all the straightening even though her hair was not far past her ears. Her teeth completely white, her parents spent good money on those teeth, hid her smoking habits; for now. Then there was her fake plastic nails that covered her real ones. 

“I doubt that, with our luck…” Mandy’s words trailed on as Mandy noticed someone coming through the class room door. 

The girl who walked in also wore way to much make up, but was heavier set and her clothing a few sizes too small. She made her way past them and placed her things down on her desk in the last seat, then turned and gave a big toothed smile to Mandy and Jana who quickly looked away.

“Oh great,” Mandy muttered.

Jana smiled, but rolled her eyes as she pushed off the wall and headed to her seat.

“Hi Mandy,” The girl had a high bubbly voices that was always too loud. The girl stepping beside Mandy’s desk leaning in close to Mandy who was still sitting on the top of the desk. “How is your brother?” A giggle left the girl’s lips and Mandy wrinkled her nose in distaste and had to turn away.

Mandy tried to hide the annoyed look on her face by lifting up her book to cover her face. “I don’t know; his class room is right across the hall, go ask him.” She then pulled her iPod out from her purse and popped them into her ears.

“Well tell him I said hi next time you see him then,” the girl leaned back on the desk beside Mandy’s.

Mandy looked up and smiled. “Ok Hannah I will do that. So Hannah how was your day?” Many asked, but then went back to her book.

“Simple, I mean family is a bunch of b*****s and so forth, but,” she shrugged, “it was great.”

“Great… I don’t care about your family, why do you even come over here to talk to me?” Mandy thought.

“Be nice!”

Mandy looked around trying to find the person who kept whispering to her, but the bell rang and the classroom filled with people. Every student went to their desk as the teacher walked in and started calling names. Mandy looked at Jana who sat beside her, she then leaned over and whispered, “Did you hear that?”.

Jana shook her head, and then turned to talk to one of her other friend.

“It was loud though…” Mandy whispered to no one and lifted her book.

“Mandy Jefferson,” Mr. Kiber said a second time.

“Here,” Mandy muttered as she flipped through the book.

“Mandy, homework?” Mandy looked up and the clock was 10 minutes into class, she had been sucked into her book for that long. 

“Here…” Mandy pulled out her homework, thankfully; she was always organized, the only thing that the teachers liked about her. She got her homework done, and she was organized, but grade wise she needed help.

The teacher eyed her, but took the paper, then handed her the day’s homework for her to pass back.

“I don’t understand it…” Mandy shook her head, her desk turned pressed up against Janna's desk as they worked together.

“Well I don’t either… I thought you were good at math!” Jana frowned.

“I understand it in fact, give me a minute,” she rolled her eyes. “I meant why do we need school; I mean all the teachers seem to do is pass out papers, it is a waste of my time and not only that. I am on the last chapter of this great book! What am I going to read after lunch? I didn’t bring another book!” Mandy frowned.

“You are such a brain-ie-ack… How come you understand all this but you never pay attention. You seem to always get the answers right on homework. So why do you always get average grades. I will never understand how my GPA is higher than yours.” Jana stated.

“Well if you get a better grade than you do not need to copy my work,” Mandy stuck her tongue out, yet she handed her paper over anyway and lifted her book, “I don’t know, just seem to know the answers, yet when tests come I just don’t... I fail tests…” Mandy shrugged, “Maybe I have test anxiety, you never know.”

“That is because I don’t help you on tests!”

“What did you say?” Mandy eyed Jana.

“I said, I only get good grades because I seem to passed tests, and copy your home work, which reminds me, did you do your world history?” Jana asked.

“What? We have different teachers remember.” Mandy smiled. “One class that you cannot copy me in.”

“Awe damn it,” she stood and walked over to another student. 

Mandy pushed her chair back and began to read again.

“Mandy the bell rang,” a boy’s voice rang through her ears.

She looked up, “Dex?” She jumped up and looked around finding the class to be empty. “Really? I need to get all the way to the other side of the school!” she lifted her books and went into the hallway, but quickly poked her head into the classroom, “Oh, Hannah said hi, again,” Mandy smiled.

“Yeah tell me something I don’t know,” Dexter seemed very irritated. 

“I am going to be late again!” Mandy pouted as she held her books close to her. Her head was down looking at her white sneakers, the bunny loops bounced with each of her steps. Her eyes were caught on the yellow colored school titles.

“Watch out!”

Mandy heard the voice that had been following her for months, quickly she looked behind her, but her feet kept going forward. As she took a few more steps, her hands hit against someone and she found herself being bounced back her hands letting go of her things as she hit the ground.

“No no no!” Mandy’s hands quickly scrambled to pick up her things. As she started to stand she could feel the gaze of the person she ran into, slowly she looked up at the person only to see dark black eyes looked down at her. They were squinted, almost seemed capable of piercing into the soul. She then seen a smirk come to the guys face as the bell rang and he slammed his locker closed, leaving with a dark low laugh. She could hear him, and then she saw all the guys who were waiting for the guy she ran into. She could hear them all laughing as they started away and her eyes lowered.

“That was embarrassing,” she muttered.

Quickly picking up her things she made it to her next class, English. She stood outside the room, bracing herself to enter. Taking her usually stance outside the doorway, preparing for all of their eyes to fall on her, the one wrong thing about being later. She pushed open the door, and like she predicted all eyes once again turned to her as she made her way to her seat. The force of their eyes was almost enough to knock her over.

“You are late again,” The English teacher told, marking her tardy.

Mandy said nothing, she just quickly pulled out her homework, sat it on the table for the teacher to collect. Her eyes went back to her book an easy way to escape her classmates’ gazes. Nothing but the worlds in her books, romance, sci-fi, horror, it didn’t matter, as long as it wasn’t reality. Yet ever book, that same uncaring look and feel.

“School is a bore…,” she thought, finishing her book and laying her head down.

The teacher was going on about poems, all the silly definitions and difference, it was true that Mandy didn’t know anything about the definitions or the names, but she always was the first finished when it came to poems, and they were always basically on Q. She pulled out a piece of paper and began to write.

A poem about my life

“How dull…” She thought. “Writing a poem about my life isn’t much of a poem at all…”

Where do I begin?

When I don’t know where it ends

How much can I say about my life?

My day my time

When I am only fifteen

And waiting to live

I am a year older than my classmates are

Held back for this same subject

Reading wasn’t my strong suit

Still there sits a book in my hand everyday

What do you want me to say?

I am late to your class nearly every day

So here is my poem

I write to get home

Since my days are set in stone

Stuck in this building

Tell the day I turn nineteen

“Anyone want to read their poems out loud?” the teacher’s eyes scanned the room, but no one rose their hand. Her eyes stopped on Mandy who was re-scanning her poem. “What about you Mandy?”

Mandy’s eyes rose to look at the teacher, then slowly went back to her paper. “No thank you,” she muttered. “You wish. Pick someone else’s day to wreak…” 

“Well then, anyone else?” The teacher asked.

The teacher managed to get five people to read their poems before the day ended. Mandy wasn’t a poet, she hated writing, she wrote down the first thing to come to her head, and never changed it unless she seen an error, which was rare. She just read books, yet never lengthened her vocabulary. She didn’t care too. To her books are her escape from the world. 

Author's Note

This is very different from most of my writings as I usually start in the middle of the plot where the suspense is but instead decided to have a simple build up for this one. In fact this is the first book of a series I plan to do and this one is rather slow compared to what I usually enjoy.