Chapter One

"Breathe in, breathe out...breathe in, breathe out..." I repeated to myself, sweat dripping down the back of my neck. A small slip of paper crumpled in my shaking fist and my other hand slowly reached for the door. My fingertips just barely brushed against it when I jerked my hand back, the door flying open in my face.

"Yeah, and then I was all like- oh! Oh crap!" Someone said as they exited the room, "Ma-han!" he laughed as I gripped my nose, "Dude, are you bleeding? Aw sick!" he said, staring intently at my face.

"Hey," another person's voice arose as she exited the room. My heart skipped a beat for just a moment at her clear yet strong and beautiful voice.  "Marley, apoligize to her." she said.

"I didn't do nothin'!" he responded, "Dumb b***h walked in front of the door!"

"Marley..." she growled, slamming him back against the wall. Her strength surprised me. "Watch your mouth." she warned.

"What the hell?!" he shouted, throwing her arms back. He gave her an evil glare and starting walking down the hallway, "F*****g lesbians think they run this school..." he mumbled under his breath.

I looked up at this girl, her eyes were a gorgeous green with a light reddish hue, her skin was tan and her hair, just a shade of darker brown hung up in a ponytail. She was tall and thin with decent sized breasts- about a B or a C if I were to guess. I shook my head- wait, was I staring at her breasts?

"See something you like?" she asked me, almost as if to confirm my suspicions.

"Uh, n-no, erm...uh, I mean I uh..." I turned my eyes away for just a moment, feeling my face get a little hot.

She laughed, "Relax babe, doesn't bother me, I play for that team, too."

"N-no!" I stuttered, "I'm not a lesbian, I was just..." I coughed and turned my head, "Erm, a-anyway you didn't have to do that. He wasn't hurting me, not on purpose anyway."

"Yeah I know," she said nonchalantly, "But he should've apoligized. Besides, I don't like how he talked. Cursing every once in a while's fine, sure, it's a form of english, but he feels the need to break out a cuss word in every sentence. He does this a lot, it's really annoying. And anyway, he was picking on a cute girl, what was I supposed to do?" she said calmly, more as if it were a fact than a compliment.

I shuddered, "Like I said, I'm not a lesbian. So...thanks?" I said, leaving her and pulling open the door to go inside.

I walked up to the teacher sitting behind his desk, the classroom now empty as the bell must've rung. He looked up from his paper and stared at me through his glasses, his frizzled gray hair curling around its edges, "Can I help you?"

"Um, yeah." I said, pulling out the paper covered in thick wrinkles. "This is history right? You're Mr. Bradburgh?"

He took the paper from my hands and furrowed his eyebrows, "Ah, yes, Clarissa Havens. You're going to enjoy being in my class, we've already got the seating arrangements decided, you'll be sitting in the front next to a Matthew Richards, he'll explain to you everything you've missed this semester. Ah- Allison!" he called out, pulling a 'come here' sign with his hand.

The door opened and the girl from earlier poked her head in, "Yeah Bradburgh?

"Mr. Bradburgh," he said with a sigh, "You need to be more formal with your superiors, Miss Gray."

"Sure thing," she said, only half listening, "What did you want?"

"Yes, could you please show Miss Havens around to her classes? I'd rather she not get lost."

"Sure," she said, "Here, what's your next class?" she asked, swiping the paper from the teacher, "Oh cool, you've got A lunch right now. Come on, I'll show you where the cafeteria is. Later, Brad." she said, taking hold of my wrist and leading me out the door.

"It's Mr. Brad-" but his words got cut off as we exited the room.

She dropped my hand as the door shut, and I followed as she exited the building and re-entered another one, walking down the corridor and turning the corner. The hallways were long, the marble square tiles in the floor changing to orange as we began to approach the cafeteria. The planning of the school was a little strange, rather than the cafeteria having its own building, it was inside a large room (still an average size for a cafeteria) within a building that carried special programs and a few elective classes. I didn't know why it was made this way, but if I were to guess, maybe to keep from too many people swarming the cafeteria at once?

Before we entered, a girl, maybe half an inch taller than me with straight blonde hair that reached a couple inches past her shoulders smiled at us and stopped along the way, "Hey, Alli, how's it been?" she asked, raising her hand, her blue- somewhat dark- eyes shining a little.

Allison gave her a high five, and smiled back, "Ah, just showing around the Freshies, the usual." she said, referring to me as a freshman. 

"Ah, I-I'm a sophomore..." I said quietly.

They both blinked, "No kidding?" Allison asked, "I mean, no offense, I thought you were just a smart freshman and that's why you were in our class. Honestly, you look more like you should be in junior high. You're, well, a little on the small side, kid." she said bluntly.

"I'm not short!" I shouted, "I mean, I am, but I'm not that small..."

The blonde girl laughed, "Aw, don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll grow up sometime. Don't feel too bad, I mean, hey, look at me." she gestured to herself, "I'm a senior, and I'm barely taller than you!" she laughed, "Or better yet, it's probably just her. This girl's like 6 feet tall, makes everyone feel short around her," she laughed, pointing at Allison.

Allison rolled her eyes and smiled. "Well, we've got to get to get out of here, I haven't had time to eat breakfast yet and I'm hungry."

"Lucky you've got such an early lunch," she laughed, "Oh, but wait I haven't gotten to meet her yet," she held a hand out towards me, "I'm Lauren, just call me Laura." she said as I shook her hand. Then she turned towards Allison, "So, is she straight?"

I almost choked, "W-what?! Of course, I'm straight! I-"

"Bisexual, I think," Allison said, "What? You were staring at my breasts!" she teased.

I felt my face get a bit red, "Th-that's because they...you...ah! Oh never mind, look, I'll find the cafeteria on my own." I said, walking away, embarrassed.

I could hear their laughter behind me as I opened the doors to the cafeteria. The place was booming with people to and fro, adorned with large circular tables with about ten seats apiece. The small shops that sold food- I counted three of them- were lined with people. I passed the first shop, it seemed to have the smallest line. It was mostly off-brand junk food and poorly made sandwiches here, but they sold very cheap. I grabbed a sandwich and contemplated buying some fries, too, but decided against it since I didn't have much money with me today.

After paying, I looked for a seat but all the tables were now full of lively, active students. Being new, I felt a little weird at joining someone's table, but I needed somewhere to sit. I looked about and found Allison. I sighed, and decided to go sit with her.

"Well, look who's back," Allison laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get used to it, I just couldn't find a place to sit."

"Sure," she said sarcastically.

She looked at my food, and sighed, "That's all you're eating?"

"Yeah, it's fine," I nodded, taking a bite of my sandwich, "The stuff here's expensive." I said, though my words were hardly coherent as I stuffed food in my mouth.

She shook her head and got up, "Stay here," she demanded, leaving the table. 

I shrugged and followed orders, chugging it down with a water in my bag. I was still a little hungry, but it didn't worry about it. Prices here were expensive, even from the cheaper store. I looked at my nails, black and glittery, but I loved the way they sparkled that pretty color when the light hit it. 

Allison came back few quickly, returning with a couple granola bars and a bag of chips. She dropped the chips and a granola bar in front of me and took the other for herself. I blinked, "Is this for me?"

She shrugged, "That little sandwich isn't going to fill you up."

"Thanks." I said, unsure of what to say. I ate it gratefully, still a little surprised she would buy me part of lunch after knowing her for not even an hour. Maybe she's actually a good person? I looked up at her through my food, she was leaning back in her chair, calm and relaxed, but somehow she seemed kind. I took a bite of my granola bar, and felt like I wanted to melt, "Mm, what is this?"

She smiled at my expression, "Homemade granola bars, the culinary classes make them. You like?"

I nodded vigorously, "It's amazing..."

A couple people strolled by our table just then, stopping a few feet ahead of us, "Allison, finally got a girlfriend, have you? 'Bout time. Thought you'd gone straight after the last one."

Allison rolled her eyes, "Just a friend, back off Red." she said, referring to the girl with wavy brown hair.

"What? I'm just saying. Besides what's wrong with dating a goth? I guess they could be cute." she said, referring to me.

I looked at myself, I guess from anybody else's perspective I might've looked like that. I had short black hair that reached my shoulders and amber eyes with shiny black painted nails, a black band shirt and dark pants. Even my converse and jewelry were black. I placed my hands in my lap and looked down, a little embarrassed.

"Hey, she's not goth." Allison defended, "And besides, who cares if she is? It's just a color. You wouldn't care if she was wearing blue or neon green, would you? Now get out of here, Red, before the counselors have to get involved again."

"Oh, you little b***h." she said, already rolling up her sleeves. Her friends grabbed her arms and pulled her back, "Hey, did you hear what she just said?" she asked angrily.

"Come on, another fight and they pull you from your classes. Do you want that high GPA or not?" one of her friends asked.

"But-!"

"No, Red, come on. She's not worth it anyway, let's go."

The girl followed her friend, but not before giving Allison a long hateful glare. 

I blinked a few times, "What was that all about? Who is she?" I asked

Allison leaned back in her chair again, "That's Red, just some girl I got in a fight with back in freshman year. Gets her name from her eyes, when she gets mad, they turn this reddish brown color. Really cool, actually. Anyways, but I beat her so bad she needed counselling. Not my fault, though. She'd been teasing me about being openly gay since day one. Had to figure I'd rip her a new one sometime or another."

"Harsh..."

She gave me a worried smile, "But don't worry about them, okay? You want to wear all black, do it as much as you like. And if they ever give you any trouble, just come to me. Red's kind of rude, but she's actually really smart, and her friends are really nice."

I nodded, "I know, I'm not worried. It's just a color, I just wore this today cause it was there, no big deal. I'm not like, goth or anything." I said, scratching the back of my head. 

The bell rang loudly above our heads, ending our conversation, "Alright, well we've got to get to our next classes. I can meet up with you for fourth period. Right now, your class is gym, so just head straight down the hallway to your right and you guys will be meeting on the grassy lawn outside the building, okay? I'll see you later, have fun, squirt." she said, rustling my hair as she left.

"I'm not- oh what's the use?" I asked, laughing a little despite myself.

Author's Note

Sorry this took longer than expected. Had some summer classes I had to finish up, and I got a little behind. ^-^'