PROLOGUE:
Normally, and perhaps at your school, people have left their graffiti on the walls. Sometimes the walls say strange, queer things. 'I met your mom last night.' And sometimes, the walls say boring, stupid things. 'Janice was here. And sometimes, the mean girls would get together and write, well, nasty things. 'Riley Vendetta is a whore.'
The bell sounded for the end of 7th period, and Mrs. Jamison's class pushed and shoved to get out. Among the last to leave were Amber, Jessie, and Kyla; a small little clique. "Did you see Haley's face?" Jessie exclaimed, her snotty laugh echoing down the hallway.
"Um, yeah. It's kind of hard not to, with that big nose sticking out everywhere." Kyla said, throwing her long hair behind her. Jessie laughed again, and Amber sighed. In front of the girls stood a short, thin girl with baggy clothes.
"Were you guys the ones that told Haley Wilson that her boyfriend was cheating on her?" The girl squeaked.
Amber blinked. "That kind of depends. First of all, who are you?"
"I-I'm Jessica Curtis." The girl hesitated.
"Jessica Curtis? Your father owns the peasant shop down the street?" Amber smirked. Behind Amber, Jessie and Kyla snickered into their hands.
"It's a thrift store," Jessica muttered.
"That's what I said," Amber said cooly.
"I'll only go in if I decide I don't care about what the public thinks of me," Kyla said.
"I'll only go in if I want to dress as a fashionably-challenged person for Halloween," Jessie added.
"Well, I'm never going in, ever. And I think we should tell everyone else not to either!" Amber smiled.
"What? All I did was ask a question!" Jessica groaned.
"We don't speak to people who dress like a circus clown..," Kyla murmured, glancing at Jessica's flowered, neon shirt. Jessica blushed out of embarrassment and anger.
"Yeah, and I had a great time with Haley's boyfriend. He's adorable and even said my butt looked better! You can tell Haley that if you want," Amber said, beaming at Jessica.
Jessica huffed and walked away. "I'd rate her a two." Jessie said.
"I'd rate her a 1. She'd be a two if she stopped wearing man clothes." Kyla said.
Riley Vendetta walked as quickly as she could down the hallway.
"I'll give someone 10 bucks to get a paper ball down her shirt!" Ryan grinned, talking to his friends. Ryan was the head of all his jock friends; they did anything he told them to do.
"Dude, it would be hard, with so much boob in the way!" Ryan's buddy, Hector, exclaimed. All the jocks burst into laughter. Riley bit her lip and hurried on- for the comfort and familiarity of her Prius awaited her. Riley sighed with relief as she threw open the main doors, passed all the teachers and students, and saw her car sitting in it's parking spot.
"Are you Riley Vendetta?" A tall girl asked her, the girls' friends glaring at her like she'd just commited a murder.
"Yes...why?" Riley said, hesitating to stop. She'd be humiliated by the boys again if she didn't hurry. The tall girl fought a grin as she handed her something in a little box.
"Word has it you, uh, might need this," She said, and spun away. Riley watched them walk a few feet, before they burst into laughter and pulled out their phones. Riley heard one of the girls mutter something about facebook. Oh gosh.. Riley thought. She looked down to open the box. She recoiled in horror when she saw; someone had written her name on a tampon.
Amber, Kyla, and Jessie all walked back to their sportscars. "And so she was like, staring at us as we walked away. It was totally classic." Jessie snort-laughed into her iPhone.
"What? Oh. Well, I'll ask Am-..Yes..Yeah. Okay. No! No, I love you too, but..yes, I..yes. See ya!" She grinned. She tapped the screen and shoved her phone back into her purse.
"Who called you?" Kyla asked her curiously.
"Oh, that was Simon. We're dating now, didn't I tell you guys?" Jessie blush-smiled.
"No way!" Kyla exclaimed. She gave Jessie a hug.
"That's cool news, chicka," Amber smiled.
"Thanks Amber!" Jessie beamed. "Oh, and Amber. Simon wanted to know if we are going to start writing about Riley now too." Kyla and Jessie looked at Amber expectantly. She rolled her eyes.
"Jessie, I obviously got that taken care of. She can't just move in and take my boys' attentions away from moi." Amber said.
"Sooo, what'd you write?" Kyla asked, grinning like she always did when she knew gossip was coming, but Amber waved her off.
"You'll see tomorrow morning. It's no big deal, really. Just the truth, I'm sure." Kyla smiled, "You're mischevious. I like that." Jessie sighed. It felt like Amber and Kyla always hit it off while she was stuck in the background.
Riley hurried to get into the safety of her Prius. The jocks were coming, and looking around. And if they figured out what car she drove, she'd never live it down. She never trusted boys. Not since her childhood..
Haunting images of blood and screams filled her mind as she bit her lip.
"I bet you like this, right, Riley?"
"Mommy!"
A flash of white light filled her mind suddenly, and she felt a chill across her back. Suddenly the light faded, revealing her steering wheel, her vanilla scented car air freshener, and her present life.
She turned her car on, looked in the mirror, only to realize that when she'd bitten her lip, she'd drawn blood.
She'd been having flashbacks ever since those horrid days. She put the car into reverse, and within minutes she was leaving the town. The trees, buildings, farmhouses and telephone poles zoomed by her as she rounded a few corners of the curvy road. She thought back to before, at school: Who were those rude girls, and who had told them that she was Riley? Of course she had confirmed their suspicions, but how had they known just who to ask?
Constuctive criticism; it's welcomed! :)
**Beta'd by my faboulous little granddaughter, whom I will refer to as my llama:)