Katie Matlin took her place in her first period English class, sitting at her usual spot in the corner of the 5th row. She didn't really like her desk; it had a wobbly leg that annoyed her and the mid-October chills that seeped through the fogged windows hit her head on. The only reason she sat in this seat every day, and had gradually became accustomed to sitting in such a seat, was because it was adjacent to Marisol's desk, and the two never sat apart. It was only 8:20 on a Monday morning, so almost everyone in the room was either half asleep or passed out, but Marisol seemed unaffected by the Monday morning gloom. She was already wide awake, and updating Katie on the latest Degrassi gossip. Her friend had a knack for telling stories (mostly true ones), and they never failed to grab her attention. With all the stuff Marisol knew, she could have made a great edition to the Degrassi Daily, if her writing skills weren't so poor.

Their English teacher, a vibrant elderly woman that wore bright pink lipstick every day, was currently handing back their in-class essays from the day before. Her bracelets clattered and her wedged heels clonked on the floor as she moved around the room.

"This isn't your best work, Marisol. Keep practicing! Essay writing isn't a skill you learn over night!" said the English teacher, promptly placing a face down paper on her desk before moving on to the next student. Marisol flipped over her paper to see a red "69%" circled on the top of her page.

"Damn. That's not good," said Marisol. "Whatever. I heard everyone got a bad mark on this one."

Katie flipped hers over. 98%.

"Whew, everyone except Katie Matlin, of course. How could I forget the talent of my amazing genius best friend?" said Marisol, who had just leaned in her chair to sneak a peek at Katie's paper.

Katie smiled rather meekly at her friends comment and casually but swiftly slipped the paper into her binder without giving it a second glance. She didn't like to brag about her marks. "I'm not that great, really, Mare."

"Sure, Katie", Marisol said in a sarcastic tone. "Anyways; me, you, the Dot after school for some lattes? Watcha say?" She gave her friend a playful elbow nudge and a full toothed grin.

"Can't tonight, I've got to stay after school to plan for the upcoming dance. I want to make sure everything is just perfect. And then I have to finish reading through the unpublished edition of next week's Degrassi Daily, and go to soccer practice." She huffed. She had spoken her words with confidence, but her face was laced with the slight trace of worry and doubt. Could she do it all?

Marisol seemed to have sensed the uneasiness in her tone. They had that sort of best-friend telepathy going on. It's what happens when you've known someone since kindergarten. She tried to lighten up the mood;

"Don't sweat it; we could always go another day," she said with an enthusiastic smile, to show that she was not mad at her friend. "And Katie," she continued, placing one hand firmly on Katie's shoulder, "all the dances and events you've organized have always turned out perfect. It's pretty hard for anything you do to NOT be perfect. You never lose. You're Katie-freaking-Matlin for Christ's sake!-, right!"

Katie had known that her best friend's words were in an attempt to cheer her up, a positive reinforcement. Unfortunately, it had applied just the opposite effect. In reaction to this, her stomach instantly went into knots and her breathing became slightly constricted, as if someone had cut down her oxygen, or was stepping on her chest.

You see, on the outside, some would say Katie Matlin was the split image of perfection. Honour-roll, student president, head of the Degrassi Daily, Soccer Captain, with a pretty porcelain complexion encased with wavy ringlets of strawberry blonde hair to top it all off. The student body counts on her. People look up to her. She is respected and admired by many. On the outside, Katie Matlin was unstoppable, confident, fiery and flawless. At least, that was how it appeared to be. That's how she wanted to seem.

But what no one knew, and what she didn't want to world to know, was that on the inside…she was anything but perfect. She wasn't confident, she was nowhere near flawless, and she wasn't great. On the inside, she was hurting.

She forced her lips into a smile. "Yup, that's me."

In reality, Katie Matlin was not perfect. She was falling apart.

Hope you enjoyed reading! This is just an intro, the real plot will unfold in the next chapter. Stick around until then? :)

PS- Title based off the song by The Wreckers.