Chapter 1
I shoved my way through the hallway to my next class. Luckily I didn't pass Charlotte, or any of Hamilton's football team. For some reason they had been giving me dirty looks all morning. Not that it's unusual for Charlotte. She along with the whole cheerleading squad, the science club, and every other person hate me. Except Hamilton Holt, he is the only person in the entire school that actually would notice if I disappeared off the face of the earth. We had become good friends after the hostages had been rescued. I sat down at my normal spot by the window, and looked down at last night's homework. Every question was correct and written in clear handwriting. School is way too easy these days. Just then Hamilton walked through the door and sat down next to me. He shoved his backpack under his desk and took out his homework from the night before. He shot me a quick smile and then class started.
After class I met up with him in the hallway.
"Hey Sinead." He said as he shoved all his books into his locker.
"Hey Hamilton, sorry I missed your game last night, Ted had a doctor appointment."
"It's fine. I'm glad you weren't there, we lost."
"You lost? Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault, but the team thinks it is." He laughed at this as if it was the funniest thing in the world.
"Why do they think that?" I asked as we started to head for the cafeteria.
"Because ever since you started helping me with my grades I've been spending less time practicing for football. But just so you know Charlotte hates you even more now."
"I didn't even know it was possible for her to hate me even more." He opened the door to the cafeteria and we walked in. We grabbed some trays and had goo slapped onto them. We took a seat at a window, and tried to swallow the food on our trays without barfing it up.
"So how is it my fault that you lost again?"
He sighed. "It's nothing Sinead. The team just says that because you're helping me with my grades, I'm not spending enough time practicing for football. They said I have to dump you 'or else'." He made air quotes with his fingers.
"Or else what?" I put my fork down.
"They said that I'll regret it. Now Charlotte is who you should be worried about. Since she is on the cheerleading squad, you'll probably see her. She says that you're dead meat for making me lose the game."
I laughed. "So do you have football tonight?" he shook his head no.
"Do you have plans for later today?" he asked.
"Besides school, no."
"We could go see a movie or train at my house."
"Training sounds fun. Just so you know Amy taught me a new trick, so watch out." I smiled at him. Then the bell rang and we headed back to class.
At school Hamilton and I decided to meet up at his house at five thirty so I had some time to waste at home. As I was walking past an alley I felt a hand grab my shoulder and yank me in. I felt another hand wrap around my mouth so I couldn't scream. As if. Then my captor slammed me against the back wall of the alley and showed his face. It was Trevor, one of Hamilton's team mates.
"Don't scream or I'll be forced to gag you." He removed his hand from over my mouth and put it on my other shoulder. "Now listen, you stay away from Hamilton and I'll leave you alone. If you don't… well let's hope you make the right decision. Now you never saw me." With that he tossed me against the left wall sending a wave of pain through my left shoulder. I sat up and looked around, but Trevor was gone. I guess Hamilton was right; his team was out to get me. Great, now the entire school is out to get me. I got up and looked at my shoulder. It was already swelling up and turning green and purple. I walked home and locked myself in my bedroom without saying anything to my brothers. I walked into the bathroom that was attached to my bedroom and took a nice long shower. The only reason I even go to school is so that as my parents put it, I can make some friends. Well that is working out great. The warm running water felt soothing on my bruised shoulder. I still can't believe Trevor actually did this to me! What did I ever do to him? Nothing. Why did the entire school hate me? Why? I could feel tears coming, but I blinked them away. I got out of the shower and dried off. After I put an aqua blue pair of shorts and a white tank top, I put my long auburn hair in a braid down my back. I looked at my shoulder in the mirror and mentally gagged. The lump wasn't that big yet, but it was already a sickening green. I rushed down the stairs and slipped into the cool afternoon air. Then I started to run to Hamilton's house.
When I reached his front door, he opened it without me even knocking.
"My parents are upstairs so… let's make a run for it."
I rest my hand casually on my shoulder so he can't see the bruise. We quietly run across the hallway and down the stairs. Even though I've been here several times I couldn't help but catch my breath. The entire basement was covered with workout equipment. He had almost everything from weights to a Gatorade machine to an indoor biking course. He had a radio that was blasting some kind of mix between pop and country. I recognized the singer as Taylor Swift, her music was everywhere, but then I started to listen to the lyrics.
I'm only up when you're not down Don't want to fly if you're still on the ground It's like no matter what I do You drive me crazy half the time The other half I'm only trying to let you know that what I feel is true I'm only me when I'm with you
How strangely true, I thought as Hamilton brought over two bike helmets.
"You want to race the course?" he asked as he strapped one of the helmets onto his head.
"Oh yeah," I said as he handed me one of the helmets.
We walked over to where the Holts kept their bikes. Hamilton took out his and I borrowed his mom's. We hopped on them and started down the course. The course was ¾ of a mile and it was in their basement. I still have no clue about how they managed to fit it down here, but who cares? Then we approached one of the bigger bumps and sped up. I still wasn't very good at this, so Hamilton went in front. He sailed over the bump without any problems and luckily so did I. My landing was a little rough but at least I didn't face plant like last time. I loved these afternoons when all I had to worry about was landing correctly. We did several laps before we decided to take a break. We put the bikes away and sat down on one of the indoor dirt hills.
"So what do you want to do now?"
"We could go for a walk in that new park that just opened up," he suggested.
"Yeah, that would be fun!" I got up and we snuck out of his house.
"Race you there!" I called over my shoulder as I started to sprint for the park.
Once we reached the park Hamilton noticed that I was panting and went to a nearby vending machine to get us some water. I sat down on a bench and started to tie my shoe when a dark shadow cast over me. I looked up and guess who it was? Charlotte.
"Hi Sinead. Did you have an accident with the hair brush?" she asked pointing to my mess of what at one point was a perfect braid. One of the things I hate the most about Charlotte is that she looks good no matter what. Her straight blond hair always lays perfectly across her shoulders and her blue eyes are always surrounded by eye shadow. Her skin is strangely perfect and her teeth always seem to glow. She also has that perfect skin tone, the one that isn't to pale and isn't to tan. She looks at my shoulder and scrunches her nose. "Well at least your shoulder is now as ugly as face."
Even though that came from Charlotte, it still hurt me. I tried to think of something to say in return but couldn't think of anything. Then four more members of the cheerleading squad showed up. Oh joy.
Charlotte whispered to all the girls and pointed at my shoulder and then at all the scars down my arms. I tried to cover up some of the scars with my hands. Would they be laughing if they knew how I got them?
Tiffany started to pretend to gag and they all laughed. Why do they do this to me every day? Why do they want to make me fell so terrible and cold inside? Then Claire walked up to me and put her overly manicured hand on my shoulder in a mocking way.
"Don't worry Sinead. After four or five plastic surgerys you would actually be pretty." They all laughed and finally walked away. Just then Hamilton walked up with two water bottles. Luckily he didn't see me quickly wipe away a tear that seemed to come out of nowhere.
"What did they want?" he asked as he handed me a water bottle.
"Nothing, just to be annoying."
"Do you want to run some laps around the park?"
"Walking sounds much better," I said as I flashed him a grin.
"You Ekats are so weak," he mumbled.
"Hey!" I ran up to him and playfully smacked him upside the head. He grinned at me.
As we were walking, I thought about how much I enjoyed these afternoons were I could just be me. I know I must sound like the biggest sap out there, but besides my brothers, Hamilton was the only person who actually cared about me. Even my own parents wouldn't care if I disappeared. The only reason they even used to care was when we participated in the clue hunt. But when we lost… they pretty much disowned us. Just then I saw a Robin in one of the trees, I got Hamilton's attention and pointed at it. I was about to open my mouth and start telling him every detail about the Robin known to mankind, but decided against it. The information would probably go in one ear and out the other.
Then the Robin flew away and we continued walking.
"So do you have practice tomorrow?" I asked.
"Yeah. You?"
"Yeah. And guess what? I'm going to be on the top of the pyramid at your next game!" I couldn't help from bouncing a little.
"Really, and how did you beat Charlotte?"
"She doesn't know a thing about Physics or Anatomy."
"So I'm guessing that you won by calculating where to put your feet and how to stay balanced?"
"Precisely," I said as we approach the end of the trail.
Hamilton glanced down at his watch, "Woah, um I have to go. See you tomorrow!" He said as he starts to sprint for home.
I start to run for home when I meet up Charlotte again.
"Hey Sinead, can you believe your luck? We ran into you twice today!
Yeah, lucky me. I turned around and started to walk away, when Charlotte grabbed my shoulder.
This pushed me over the edge. "Get your hand off of me."
"Why, what are you going to do about it?" I still hadn't turned around, but I knew she was smiling.
I lift her hand off my shoulder and start to walk away. This time she and her goons surround me.
"Let me just cut to the problem, you are either going to resign from being the head at the next game or we'll make sure school turns into a complete nightmare for you." Charlotte smiles and her little buddies all have these smug expressions on their faces.
"I'm not going to resign." I try to shoulder my way through them, but they have formed such a tight circle around me that I can't escape it.
"Well then Starling, your life is going to be miserable." Charlotte and her goons walked off and started giggling and laughing.
I shrugged off her threats and started to jog home. When I got home, I collapsed on the couch. I looked around and realized my brothers were updating some blue prints on the kitchen table. After several minutes of just staring at the ceiling, I got up and took another shower. I was disgusted at how much dirt was in my hair, and all over my arms and legs. Well I rode a dirt bike on a dirt path for half an hour, so I wasn't expecting to sparkle. After I had washed away all the dirt and grime, I turned the water off and dried off. I put on my pajamas and started to study for tomorrow's science test. Then one very strange word popped up in my head. Prom, it was all the girls at school ever talked about. I would never have the guts to go, so I have no idea why I even thought about it. Then I started to think about what I would wear if I went. I would probably have Amy come down and help me pick something. Then I thought about how all the cheerleaders thought I was ugly. I got up and looked in the mirror. I wasn't ugly, but I wasn't exactly beautiful. Well not as beautiful as Charlotte with her dyed hair and perfect manicure. My auburn hair was long and straight, my eyes were a bright blue, and I had some freckles on my nose. Just then I decided to turn on the radio and read a book. I grabbed a collage science textbook and pushed the button on top of the radio. All that came on was static so I decided to just go to bed. I snuggled under the covers and fell asleep.
