New story… (:
"Miley, you're going to be late if you don't get your butt down here in the next five minutes!" I heard my father holler from downstairs.
I groaned and turned over, nearly falling out of bed when I saw what time it was. I threw the blankets off of my body and tripped over my rug as I ran into my closet. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." I said as I flipped through each hanger hurriedly, trying to find something to wear.
"Miley!" I heard my dad scream again.
"I'm coming!" I yelled back and yanked a t shirt off its hanger. I threw it on and slipped off my basketball shorts and hurriedly pulled my favorite pair of jeans on as I stumbled over into my bathroom. I messily dabbed some toothpaste onto my toothbrush and ran the bristle over my teeth quickly and spit out on what I thought was the sink, but got the faucet instead. I wiped it away with the towel and rinsed my mouth as thoroughly as I could before emptying the water into the sink. I washed my face quickly and ran a brush roughly through my hair.
I was silently thanking God that I had straightened my hair the night before or my hair would've been a big ball of mess. I power-walked out of the bathroom and tripped over the same rug that I had before. "Ugh!" I kicked it into the corner of my room, getting frustrated that I was rushing so much. I grabbed my book bag from the floor and began throwing in notebooks and random pens and pencils into it, telling myself that I'd organize it later.
"Where is it?!" I asked myself as I rummaged around for my drawing pad. "Ah!" I quickly picked it up from the floor and stuffed it into my bag. I swung it over my shoulder and grabbed a pair of socks from my drawer. Half walking and half trying to put my socks on, I walked down the stairs and nearly rolled down, but caught myself before I did so.
"Miley—"
"I'm already down dad, no need to scream anymore." I rolled my eyes and grabbed the muffin that he was offering me. I stuffed most of it into mouth and chewed with my mouth open.
"What did I tell you about setting your alarm 15 minutes earlier? I told you that you were going to sleep in." He lectured and I nodded, pretending to be taking in what he was saying.
"I'll set the alarm later on tonight." I told him.
"Yeah, I highly doubt that." He looked down at his watch. "You better get a move on, the first bell rings in less than 4 minutes." He told me.
My eyes went wide, "what?!" I screeched and took off towards the door. "Ugh, today is already a horrible day." I muttered silently as I slipped my shoes on quickly and ran out the front door of my Californian home and started running down the sidewalk, the taps of my feet against the pavement making a rhythm as I raced to beat the bell. Running across the street of busy traffic of cars trying to get their kids to school on time, I dodged oncoming cars and made it safely across the street, but not with the occasional honks and glares of angry parents. I ignored it and looked down at my clothes, smoothing out every crease that was made when I had been running. I touched my hair, patting it down to make sure it wasn't too poofy.
I heard the bell ring, "shit." I muttered and quickly started walking to the main building, following the example of a few kids who were power-walking to their classes to prevent getting a tardy on the first day of school. I walked through the newly painted doors of Sea View High School, trying to ignore the whispers and stares of teens who used to be my friends back in middle school. That was until they all let high school change their lives, but high school didn't alter them as much as it did for Demi, my ex-best friend.
I had lived in this town all of my life and knew almost everyone that came here, but the person that I knew inside and out was none other than Demi Torres. Well, I used to know everything about her that was until she started to change and isolate me from her life. We had met at the end of kindergarten when she was a new student and I was forced to have to share my play-doh with her. We had been inseparable ever since that day, but it wasn't like that anymore. We barely even looked at each other now, let alone talk to one another. It was like we were in two completely different universes. She didn't acknowledge my existence unless it was either to make fun of me or comment on how hideous my outfits were, but I did everything but that. I wanted my best friend to be my best friend again.
It was the start of my Senior year. Over the course of the past few months, Demi had started to distant herself from me, spending most of her time with the school cheerleading squad or with her new boyfriend, the football star, Nick Gray. It was the number one thing on her list; she had to be at all the school events, supporting the clones that she had created over the summer. I knew that most of them were only her friend because her dad was a big CEO at GAP. Most of those people were just after her money, trying to steal 15 minutes of fame, but I couldn't tell Demi that. She wouldn't even believe me anyways if I had. I was nothing in the eyes of Demi Torres.
The one person that I couldn't tell was using her or not was her boyfriend. Nick Gray was quiet, not like most of the other jocks that roamed the High School Kingdom. He kept more to himself, then trying to be in the scene with everyone else around him. It was hard reading him, but it wasn't like that was my priority to figure him out or something. I had better things to do. Not.
I reached my locker and twisted the familiar numbers with ease, popping the lock open and swinging the door open. An old sandwich bag fell out of it and I jumped back, disgusted by the odor that was fusing inside of the bag. I held my nose and shook my head, shutting my locker again. It was one of those stupid pranks people would pull on me. School hadn't even started yet and I was already dreading the school year that was to come. Did people really hate me that much? I never even did anything to them.
"Look at her!" Someone yelped, pointing at me as I walked down the hall.
"Where the hell did she buy her outfit? From the dumpster?" Another cackled and I just shook my head, trying to rid of their rude comments. I didn't dare let their words affect me as I averted my eyes down to the ground. Looking up at them and showing them the fear and hurt in my eyes would only make matters worse. They always said that the predator fed off of the fear of the prey.
I slipped into my first period as the warning bell went off and I let out a sigh of relief as everyone in the classroom looked over at me. "Take a seat." The teacher looked at me and I looked around the room, searching for any empty seats. "We don't have all morning." The tone of my teacher stung me again. I walked down the aisle, spotting a seat in the far back. I quickened my pace, trying to rid the stares that the other students were shooting at me. I wasn't paying attention to the kid who had stuck his foot out in front of me, causing me to trip and stumble onto the dirty school floors with a loud bang. Cackles and uproar rang throughout the classroom as everyone turned to look at the loser who had tripped over her own feet.
"What a loser." Someone laughed.
"Quiet everyone. No laughing…" The teacher said, but I could hear that she was trying to suppress a laugh herself.
I got up slowly, not even bothering to brush off the dirt that was now staining my worn out jeans. I just took my seat in the back of the room, blocking myself from the noise that was surrounding around me, trying to ignore the looks that people were sending towards me. Don't let them get to you. Don't let them get to you. I repeated to myself.
As soon as the teacher said my name and role was done and over with; I took my ipod out and stuck the ear buds in my ear, happy to be able to drown out the voices of the students who hated me so dearly. I was already learning to love the seat in the far corner. The rest of the class had formed their desks in a circle and I was the only one out of the bunch, but it didn't matter to me. I had been the outcast for as long as I remembered; it wasn't my thing to do what the others students did. I wanted to stick out, I wanted to be different. The teacher herself didn't really seem to notice that I wasn't apart of the group discussion that they were having about each other's summers.
I could feel someone's gaze on me, but I didn't want to look up knowing that someone would mouth rude comments to me or give me the finger for even looking at them. I listened to the lyrics of the song blasting through my ears, trying to hold in the tears that were ready to spill at any moment. The lyrics that the band sang were so incredibly accurate to the emotion that I was feeling, I couldn't help but feel the urge to sob, but I taught myself well enough to never ever cry in front of people that could hurt you the most.
I sat there and just watched the emotions of the others go from surprised to happy to awe as they listened to the speaker talk about the plans that they had done over the summer. Every now and then, there would be a round of laughter before they settled down and continued to listen. It sort of upset me that they hadn't even bothered to ask about me, even though I wouldn't have anything to share. Sometimes, I just wanted to be included in something, just once. Was it really that much to ask of someone?
The bell went off and the sounds of chairs scratching across the floor were heard as the students quickly pushed their desks and chairs backed to their original places, not caring if it was in a neat and mannered way. Desks and chairs bumped against mine, but no one cared enough to mutter a sorry to me. They just continued to chit and chat and soon, student by student filed out of the classroom and I slowly rose from my seat, pulling off my earbuds and stuffing them into my book bag.
Expecting that I was the only person left in the classroom, I finally let a few tears fall, but was surprised to see that Nick was still seated at his seat, bobbing his head lightly to what sounded like The Fray on his ipod. I stared at him, wondering if he knew that the bell had rung and everyone had left, including the teacher. Suddenly, he looked up at me and our eyes locked for a few seconds and he could tell that I was visibly upset. I tore my gaze away from him and walked out of the classroom as fast as I could, knowing that my face was not wet from the tears and red from the embarrassment of him seeing me cry.
I watched as other girls pulled their friends in tight hugs, laughter filling amongst them as they filled each other in on what had been happening in their lives for the past three months. I yearned so much to be able to do that, but knew there was no one I would be able to run up to and hug, to tell them how horrible my summer had been and how much it sucked having to spend most of it working to help my dad.
Shrills of voices continue to fill the loud halls, but I just brushed past people and continued walking to the only person that I could tell things to besides my dad. I walked into my old History class and saw Miss Nathan looked up from behind her glasses to see who was disturbing her reading time and smiled when she saw who it was.
"Miley, how was your summer?" She asked with a smile.
"Good." I replied, not wanting to go in depth or lie to her. It was good for the most part anyways, so technically I wasn't lying. "How was yours?" I asked politely.
"It was good." She answered in a playful mocking tone. "Now, are you going to tell me how your summer really was?" She asked.
"It was okay." I sighed. "I just had to spend most of it helping my dad with the farm and stuff. We're kind of going through a rough patch ever since my Grandpa passed away a few weeks ago." I said in a mumble.
"Sweetie, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" She placed her book down, telling me that I had her full attention.
"Yeah, it's just really… different now. Like the house seems even emptier now without him… I'm just not used to all the peace and quiet when I'm with my dad. He's usually laughing along with my granddaddy about some joke they had saw in the newspaper, but now all he does is spend most of his time out at the barn." I looked down at the silver charm bracelet that Demi had given me when we were twelve. It was funny how I still even possessed this piece of jewelry even though I knew she had probably thrown the one I had given her out ages ago. It was rusted around some of the charms, but I could still make out the little message that she had engraved in it. Demi and Miley = BFF. Established 5/24/97
Miss Nathan caught me looking down at my bracelet again and quickly spoke up, "have you tried talking to her at all this summer?"
I shook my head and looked up to meet her piercing bright green/hazel eyes, "there's really no point in trying to be her friend. She hates me more than anything now." I replied.
"Now Miley, hate is a really strong word and I highly doubt that Demi feels that way towards you." Miss Nathan responded.
I didn't have time to respond back to her statement because the bell rang and students were beginning to fill in the empty seats around me. I got up from my seat and muttered a soft goodbye to Miss Nathan before exiting the class. Even the lower classmen threw their share of looks over at me as if they knew about what had happened over the past few months between Demi and I. The thoughts of me being able to start over with the fleet of new people were quickly swiped away from my mind as I felt someone through a piece of paper at my back. I slowly bent down and picked it up, smoothing it out to read the message that was scribbled inside. Loser.
I couldn't help but laugh harshly at how pathetic it was for someone to throw this at me, this causing a few people to look over at me like I had 5 heads. Did these people not have enough guts to come up to my face and tell me that themselves? It's not like those words would cut me even more inside, I was far beyond numb and anything anyone did or said to me flew by me like wind. I shook my head and tossed the piece of paper into the trash bin as I walked into my homeroom, beating the bell by a mere ten seconds.
I saw an empty seat in the middle of the class and walked over to it, only for it to get snagged by an overly cocky baseball player. "Oh, were you going to sit here?" He asked me and I wanted to yell obviously his face, but instead I just rolled my eyes, ignoring him as I walked toward the back of the classroom. I threw my book bag onto the ground and slid into my seat glumly. Today sucked so much right now.
The teacher shut the door with a loud bang and everyone's attention shot up to the board. "Just because this is a history class doesn't mean that people are going to be allowed to fall asleep in here. I'm not going to be like your past teachers, you're going to have to actually work to get a good grade in here. No work, you fail. Easy as that. My name is Mr. Richards." He scribbled it messily on the white board and pointed his finger at it. "No, you cannot call me Mr. R. It's Mr. Richards. Learn it." He said loudly.
Wow, I'm already learning to love this class. I thought sourly to myself. I tore my attention off of the teacher and looked around the room. I noticed that more than half of these people that were now sitting in my class used to be part of my 7th grade history class as well. The only difference was that some of them had grown big heads over the tears had passed while others had grown out of their childish days and were now striving into their careers. I looked over to my right and saw Thomas with a finger in his nose, clearly digging for some treasure. I had to prevent myself from gagging when I saw him stick his finger into his mouth. Okay, maybe some things don't change…
"We're going to be doing an Ice Breaker. There are 30 things here on this list and what a coincidence, there are 30 of us here in this class. You have 20 minutes to go around and ask everyone in the class, so that by the end of those 20 minutes, you'll have a paper filled with names." Mr. Richards told us as he sent papers down each row. "You may begin." He said as he typed the time into his timer on the white board.
Everyone stood up from their seats and began to mingle, but I just sat there and stared down at my paper. I wrote my name in small print at the top of the page and read down the list of items, shaking my head at how stupid some of them sounded. Never once, did someone walk to the back of the room where my desk was and asked if I did any of the things on the list, but I wasn't really surprised that they didn't do so. I mean who wants to talk to the outcast of the school? Even Thomas didn't bother to ask me and he sat right next to me.
"Hey." I heard someone say. It kind of startled me and I looked up to meet Nick Gray's soft brown eyes. "Did you do any of these?" He asked and slid his paper toward me.
I stared at him for a moment too long and quickly looked down at the paper and slowly signed my name under the one that read Worked over the summer. "Uhm, did you do any of these?" I asked him awkwardly as I slid both his and my paper over to him. I watched as he scrawled his name under Played a sport over the summer. That was no surprise; everyone knew he had been practicing for the upcoming season of football. He then, handed my paper back to me and gave me a small smile before moving on to the next person without another word.
"Okay, everyone have a seat." Mr. Richards ordered twenty minutes later. "Now that everyone knows a little about everyone—"
"I still have an empty spot!" A boy yelled.
"Yeah, so do I and I made sure that I got everyone in the class." Another girl agreed.
"Is everyone missing a spot?" Mr. Richards asked.
"Yeah." Everyone said at the same time.
"No." I heard Nick say and everyone turned to look at him.
No no no no. I thought and I closed my eyes.
"Hmm, well that's quite weird." Mr. Richards thought aloud. "Here, I have a fantastic idea. How about we all introduce each other to the others in the class and read one thing from the Ice Breaker, so we can learn about them as well. Why don't you start Nick." Mr. Richards suggested.
"Okay." Nick replied and stood up from his seat. All the girls went goo goo eyed over him and paid close attention as they waited for him to talk. "Well, my name's Nick—"
"Obviously." I heard a girl giggle and I rolled my eyes.
"Please, no interrupting." Mr. Richards sighed. "Continue, Nick."
"I've been playing football since the 6th grade and…" He looked down at his paper and searched for a statement that he wanted to tell the rest of the class. "And Miley Stewart worked over the summer." He announced.
I closed my eyes and prayed that Mr. Richards didn't ask me the next question. "And where is Miley?" Mr. Richards asked. I guess my prayers will never be answered when I want them to be.
I opened my eyes and raised my hand in the air quietly. "Here."
"Oh, I didn't even see you there. So, Miley, why don't you stand up and share with us where you worked over the summer." He said and everyone turned to look at me. Glances of jealousy were filled in a few girls' eyes that Nick had chosen to read something about me and not them, but truly, I wished that he had chosen anyone's but mine.
I stood messily up from my seat and felt my heart pounding through my chest as people coughed at my quietness. "I-I worked at my dad's f-farm." I sputtered out. Snickers and spurts of laughter were heard from everyone in the classroom and I could feel myself beginning to blush deeply.
"Hey, quiet down." Mr. Richards tried to tame the laughter in the classroom. "You wouldn't like it if others laughed at you, would you?" He asked.
"Well, no one would laugh at me." Someone cockily replied.
"Who said that?" Mr. Richards asked in a stern tone and the class went dead quiet. "Yeah, that's exactly what I thought the answer would be." He turned and looked at me again, "now, Miley, why don't you tell us something about yourself."
"Uhm, I-I like the play the guitar…" I said quietly, hoping that he wouldn't make me repeat it. Mr. Richards just nodded, signaling that I was able to sit down again. I slumped back down in my seat, hating Nick deeply on the inside for making me have to go through that. I stared at the back of his curly head as if trying to burn a hole right through him, but I knew he didn't do that to me on purpose, but what I didn't get was why he chose to say my statement when there was clearly 29 other ones that were waiting patiently to be read.
First day packets were passed out to us and I just stuffed mine into my cream colored book bag and watched the clock, wanting it to ring already. Class seemed to have flown by with a blur, but the remaining two minutes of class were the ones that seem to be torturing me on the inside. I had spent a majority of the class period trying to decipher a reason to why Nick chose to read something about me, but then dubbed myself as retarded for even trying so hard to figure out a reason why when clearly, he could've just saw it by random and read it to get over with the oral presentation quickly like I had.
At last, the bell went off and I rushed out of the class and toward my next one. It was art, which had grown to be my favorite subject over the course of the past three years. In the beginning, my drawings were nothing but chicken scratch on paper, but then as I started spending more time on each drawing and actually tried to make the picture worth something, my drawings began to transform into something more beautiful, more extraordinary.
I was the first in the class, but that didn't seem to bother me. I shot the teacher a small smile and dropped my bag onto the table. This was the only class that I had actually brought materials for; I took out my drawing pamphlet and began drawing as the seats of the class slowly started to fill up. No one sat down at my table, it was kind of sad that even the art freaks didn't even want to talk to me, but I was not going to let this get to me. People liking me were the last thing on my mind, the one thing that needed my attention was my picture of my granddaddy that was currently sitting right in front of me.
I had been working on this photograph for the past 5 weeks and I was far from being half way finished. I had to make sure that every part of the photo was perfect before I could start on another section of it. I was trying my best to finish it in the next few weeks to give to my dad for his 45th birthday, but by the look at how long it was taking me and how much of a perfectionist I was being, I wasn't quite sure I was going to meet my own deadline.
I had to put away my drawing pad when the teacher discussed with us the syllabus of the class and showed us the wrong and right ways to use some of the utensils. She displayed some examples of the projects that we would be working on throughout the year. Most of them seemed amateurish to me, but there was one that stood out to me and that one was where we would have to draw a self-portrait of ourselves.
That I knew from experience, would be a great challenge for me because I could never draw a picture of myself without wanting to scratch out parts of the picture. I made a note to myself, saying that I should start on that a few months earlier than we were planned to actually start it which was mid March. Approximately 7 months from today.
The teacher introduced herself as Miss Herb and told us about how when she was a little girl, she could already see herself being an art teacher. It wasn't really a big surprise because she was in her young 20's. She had a fresh face and a smile that helped light up the room. Guys in the class were already beginning to swoon over her, but she didn't really pay much attention to her. Art was her first and only love and I don't think anything or anyone was going to be able to change that.
Quickly, this class had become my favorite class that I've had all day. Miss Herb ended her little introduction and assigned us a small assignment where we had to write two sentences describing two of our hobbies, a drawing of them being included with the sentences. The due date was the next class period and after that, she gave us the remainder of the class period to mingle and talk. As chatter erupted throughout the classroom, I slipped my ipod ear buds back into my ear and began my art assignment before anyone else. Carefully and precisely, I drew out an easel and a paint brush, making sure that every stroke of my pencil was accurate.
"You know art isn't always about being perfect and precise." I heard Miss Herb say from behind me.
I looked up from my drawing and up at her, "what do you mean?" I asked.
"If art was always perfect, then it would be boring. Sometimes it's fun to just scribble on a piece of paper or splatter a little paint on something and call it art. I want you to redo your assignment, don't think about what you're going to draw, just let your pencil guide you." She told me.
I nodded and watched as she walked away. I crumpled up my piece of paper and took out a fresh one. I stared down at my paper, waiting for my pencil to think of ideas and start splattering the page with infinite drawings, but as I sat there for ten minutes and nothing appeared on the page. I slowly unwrinkled my paper from earlier and smoothed it out on the side of the table and began redrawing over the lines that I had drawn earlier. Art didn't have to be perfect, but my art was based around perfection.
The bell rang, breaking me away from my trance. "See you guys on Wednesday." Miss Herb said from the door. I placed my drawings into my bag and slid it onto my shoulder before giving another small smile at Miss Herb. I walked out into the blazing heat that had formed from the fresh morning. It was now lunchtime and everyone was in their own little groups and cliques as I just walked down the pavement alone.
After debating that I would skip lunch to rid myself of the humiliation of having to sit myself, I continued walking pass mobs of people and finally I reached a shady tree that no one was by. I set my bag onto the floor and sat myself down as well. I pulled my drawing pad out again, setting it on my lap. I looked up hoping that maybe there was something that I could draw, but unfortunately, the only view I had was of Demi and her clones that she called friends. I wouldn't want to draw them if they were the last things on the planet. I sighed and stuffed my drawing pad back into my bag, pulling out my ipod. This thing had become my sanctuary, I don't know what I would do if I was to ever lose it. But even with my ipod on full blast, I could still hear Demi talking loudly about what had happened over the past weekend at her house.
"If you guys didn't make it to the party that I had on Saturday, you really missed out." Demi gloated with a wide smile. "I had everything there and I even got The Killers to perform a few songs from their album."
I shook my head, clearly disgusted that she would even hire such an amazing band to perform at her party. It wasn't like she appreciated them as a band, she just wanted people at her party and of course, there was plenty attending. I mean of course who wouldn't attend when the goody bags themselves were worth over a thousand dollars? And you want to know the reason for her to be throwing such a big extravagant party? She had gotten a C- in Geometry and her parents thought it would be a fantabulous idea to throw her the party of her dreams to praise her for her well doings. A freaking party for getting a C- when I score an A+ on a math test, all I get is a pat on the back an extra piece of cake for dessert.
"But my Nicky had to miss it because he had football practice." She said with a pout as all the girls around her awed at the moment. "Nicky." I heard her say and saw Nick turn around to face her.
"Yeah baby?" He asked and I wanted to throw up the small breakfast that I had that morning.
"Do you—" was all I heard Demi say before the next song on my ipod went on full blast, catching me off guard and making me yank out my ear buds.
"Ow." I quickly turned the music down and looked up to see Demi and Nick making out, nearly sucking each other's faces off. I rolled my eyes and placed the ear buds back into my ears. It's not like what she had to say to Nick was so important that I had to hear it. I mean I don't care about any of them anyways… I really don't. I tried concentrating on the lyrics that The Maine were suddenly singing, but I couldn't help myself from looking up, trying to steal a few glances over at Demi and her group, but after a while I noticed that I wasn't really paying attention to Demi, the person that I was looking for every time I looked over was Nick, but of course I wasn't going to make myself admit that.
Thinking it was time to go, I put everything back into my bag and stood up, patting the little bugs and dirt off of my pants. I slid my bag over my shoulder and looked around and saw that lunch was indeed not over yet. I sighed, not wanting to sit back down on the dirty grass, so instead I stood there awkwardly and eavesdropped on a particular somebody's conversation.
"We should go shopping today." I heard Demi say, "Will you come with me today, Nick?" She patted her eyelashes cutely toward him, in hopes to get him to fall in her net.
"I don't know Demi—" He didn't even get to finish his statement when she flashed him those famous puppy dog eyes that she had used on me many times before to get me to go horseback riding with her. Those times seemed like they happened millenniums ago.
"Please?" Demi asked Nick in a cute baby tone.
"Fine, but only for an hour or two okay?" I watched as he pushed a piece of her back behind her ear and kiss her gently on the lips. "I love you." He told her quietly, but I still heard it. I shrugged it off my shoulders, surprisingly happy to be hearing the bell ring even if I had to go to stupid English next.
NO! I wanted to scream loudly as I watched Demi strut into the classroom that I was currently sitting in. Never in a million years had I wanted so badly to scream at the top of lungs because I was terrified of what might happen between the two of us. She turned to look for any empty seats and saw me. Her face was expressionless, she didn't want to smile nor glare at me, but her expression was more of a scowl than anything.
"Demi, over here!" I heard a girl call and saw Demi let out a small breath of relief before walking over to where the girl was, on the opposite side of the classroom where I was sitting at.
I just shook my head and stared straight ahead at the white board. This year was going exactly the way that I thought it would and that was the bad part. I had already predicted that today was going to be a pretty shitty and fucked up day, but I was hoping that God was going to be nice to me and have it happened some other way. Of course, that didn't happen. I was just silently hoping that tomorrow would be a brighter and better day because as of right now, I felt as if rain clouds were hovering over me and a thunderstorm was in motion.
"Miley Stewart." I heard Mr. Rogers repeat and I snapped out of my trance.
"Here." I raised my hand and saw him give me a bored look as he marked that I was present. After he continued to read off the names on the list, I rested my chin upon my palm and stared out the window, already getting lost in my own dreamland of make believe fantasies that I wish was really my life.
I hadn't even noticed that I had dozed off until I heard the screeching of chairs being scraped against the floor as students rose up and began to leave the classroom. I opened my eyes and looked up at the board, to make sure that there wasn't anymore homework assigned for this class. I stood up from my seat and gave my teacher a fake smile before it wiped off as I saw who was standing next to the door.
"Oh, my God. Look at her outfit." One of Demi's clones said, making me look down at my shirt. What was wrong with it? "It's like she didn't even try." I heard her say. Well, that was kind of true…
"Why are you even looking at her? She's a nobody." I heard Demi say loudly. "Clearly, you can tell she gets her clothing from Goodwill." She laughed.
I shook my head at them and turned the other direction and walked off, sulking a little at Demi's comment. 2 Years ago, Demi had been the one who was into wearing cut off jeans and plain white t shirts, but now… now everything was different. She was into wearing designer clothing and shoes that had just been dubbed 'in' style that cost hundreds of her daddy's money. To me, she just looked like a complete fool with all the jingle jangle stuff that was written all over her shirts and the shiny high heels that she was clearly uncomfortable wearing.
I crossed the street quickly and walked home as fast as I could, wanting to just throw myself on the bed and wake up when it was supper time. I walked through the front door and saw my dad at the stove cooking up something delicious. "Hey daddy." I walked over and kissed his cheek.
"How was your first day?" He asked me and continued to scramble up some eggs.
"It was good." I lied.
"Well, that's good. Did you have class with any of your friends?" He asked. My dad was still oblivious to what had happened between me and Demi. I wondered if he had noticed that I had stopped going over to his house and how Demi never came around here anymore. My dad was blind when it came to things like this, but I don't blame him. I'd have a hard time trying to explain all of this to him anyways.
"Yeah, just a few." I lied again. "Enough about me. How was your day?" I asked, steering the conversation towards him.
"It was quite great actually. Mary Lou finally gave birth to her baby calf. She's out back if you want to give her a little visit." My dad with a smile as he placed a egg on a plate and handed it to me. I declined his offer and set my book bag onto the floor.
"I'll go visit her later on or something. I'm kind of tired and I want to take a quick nap." I told him and walk up the stairs without saying another word to him. I close my door shut and sigh. I take off my socks and throw it in the pile where the rug was now sitting and take off my pants, sliding my basketball shorts back on.
"Oh, how much I've missed you sweet bed of mine." I say lamely before falling face first down onto it. "Ow." I said muffled from my blankets before turning over to see that I fell onto of a snow globe. "What in the world…" Then I had remembered that last night I had been looking at it. I didn't think that I would have actually fallen asleep with it.
"Miles." My dad barged into my room without knocking. The one pet peeve that I had against him. What if I had been half naked when he walked in? That would've been just darn right embarrassing.
"Daddy!" I whined, "You said you would knock next time."
"Sorry, bud. I forgot." He told me. "Your aunt said that will be here in a few minutes and wanted to know if you wanted to go shopping with her." I quickly sat up and started pushing my dad out of the door. "I guess I'll take that a 'no, you don't wanna go."
"No, take that as a yes and for you to get the hell out of my room so that I can get ready." I laughed.
"Hey, watch that language of yours. You know how much I hate French." He said and I rolled my eyes.
"What does cussing have to do with French?" I asked.
"I don't, but just don't use that kind of language around me or anyone else. Got it?" He asked.
"Yeah, yeah. Leave already. Auntie's going to be here any minute now." I said.
"Don't go overboard with the shopping… Just because she offers to buy you clothes doesn't mean you have to take advantage of what she's offering—" I close the door on my dad and walk into my closet.
"Man, he never stops talking…" I mutter and try to find something more decent to wear around my aunt. She was a fashion designer and I always felt like I was bringing down her image every time I went out in public with her. She was sort of like Demi, but she actually knew how to wear the pieces of clothing, but then of course she would, since her job is all about making clothing that would match and look good on someone.
I settle on a flowly top that I had bought from Forever 21 the last time that I had spent time with her. I was pretty sure that the top was 'out' of style now, but it didn't really matter. It was hot outside and I've been trying to find a good time to wear the shirt. I pulled on a pair of cut off jean shorts and looked in the mirror, wondering why I hadn't chosen this outfit to wear to school instead of the one I did choose, then remembered that I was running late that morning.
I heard the doorbell ring and I opened the door and popped my head out of the room to see if it was my aunt or not. "Miley!" My dad called and I walked down the stairs.
"Melanie!" I say happily and she walks over to me and gives me an awkward hug. We had only met a few times before and every time we did meet, it was either to hang out at her job or to go shopping, but it wasn't like I was complaining. She helped me with a lot of things and I was truly appreciative of that.
She had barely entered our family two months ago when a cousin that I had never heard off invited my granddaddy, my dad, and I to their wedding where I had met him for the first time in my life. He was in his early twenties and was drafted to go into the navy. A few weeks after their wedding, he was already called in to work and had to big a sad goodbye to Melanie. My dad had told me to go hang out with her to help her feel a bit better about Peter's farewell. It was awkward at first between the two of us, but then we found something we had in common and instantly click. She was like a big sister that I had always wanted, but never could get since I was the only child that my mom and dad had ever conceived.
"Ready to go?" she asked and I nodded. "I'll have her back by 8, Billy." She told my dad, who just nodded.
"You two have fun." He told us and I gave him a quick goodbye hug before exiting the house with Melanie.
"So, I heard you started your first year of Senior year." She looked over at me with a smile when we were securely buckled in her car and she had pulled out of the driveway. "How was it?" She asked. I looked over at her and made myself look like I was about to gag. "Wow, that bad?" She asked with a chuckle. "What happened?"
"Things have just been a little rough over the past few months with me and my ex-best friend." I tell her.
"Whoa, ex-best friend? What happened?" She asked when we stopped at a red light.
"In high school, did you ever have to deal with those cocky, big-headed girls that they were everything just because their parents had money?" I asked her.
"Oh yeah." She shook her head. "They never learn to shut up and it's funny to watch them crash and burn when their parents tell them they're going to get disowned if they don't go out and get their asses some jobs." She laughed and soon I joined.
"That's sort of how my best friend is becoming. Like before High School, she didn't really care that she came from a wealthy family. She actually hated it because her dad was rarely ever home to be with her family, but then 8th grade summer came and all of a sudden she started hanging out with this new crowd of people and now she's using her dad's money like it's air to breathe or something." I explained.
"Hmm, seems like she just wants to be part of the crowd." Melanie looked over at me. "Why'd you guys stop being best friends?"
"It's complicated." I sighed, not wanting to talk about it. Melanie nodded, understanding that I wasn't quite ready to open up to her about that.
"It's okay. Just tell me when you're ready." She shot me a smile that caused me to smile as well.
Melanie pulled into the mall parking lot and I feel the pit of my stomach drop a little as she drives past the mall entrance and I see Nick and Demi with their friends in front of it. I had totally forgotten about how they were saying they were going to be there. IT was like Melanie had been reading my mind or something.
"That's her isn't it? The one with the guy's arms wrapped around her waist and everyone's listening to her talk?" Melanie asked and I nod slowly.
"How'd you know?" I looked over at her.
"She stuck out in the bunch. I mean she's the only one that's talking and everyone's attention is around her. She's also the only one that has a guy around her, clearly making a statement that she has a boyfriend and it happily taken by him. It's the typical popular girl thing to do. To always show off something that others cannot have." She told me and I nodded.
"I feel like it's all just an act though. Those people don't even really know her. They just want to be a part of the scene, just like her." I said quietly.
"Yeah and that's why they all fit so well with each other, well except the guy that's holding her." Melanie looked back over at the group. "He seems different…"
"Yeah, different…" I whisper and look at him.
a/n: WABAM! Whoa, an 8,000+ word chapter! This is the longest I've typed so far and this is just the first chapter, but then again I've been working on this for almost a month now… hahaha. Soooo.. I wanna know what you guys think of it so far, I mean of course the first chapter is boring, but if I don't get like 30+ reviews or something, I'll just drop the idea… (: Like it? Hate it? Boring? Good? Review! Yeah! xD