Flower Petals and a Knife

It was Ariana's first day of school. She really hoped she would make friends, and steer clear of making any enemies. Even though she knew that that, was, impossible. She had a few kids who disliked (actually a weak term) her. She had that feeling, the fluttering of butterflies in her tummy. Hopefully no one would notice the long, deep, self inflicted, scars on her wrists and knees. Yes, they were self inflicted. But that was a long time ago, and she promised herself she wouldn't think about those... times. Those strong memories. But in the corner of her eye she still noticed the gashes as she was approaching the school.

CHATSWORTH HIGH SCHOOL

The schools main entrance had 3, long steps to it, following by 2 series of 5 steps. On top she could she could see the name of the school. She thought that it was... peculiar... She pulled off her hoodie, and stepped inside, as the coolness of a September morning turned into a radiated, warm environment. Already, Ariana could see people standing by lockers. Same were chatting with their friends, some standing alone in a corner. She noticed the little groups and cliques some students had. And others, like her, were anti-social. No, she told herself. Don't judge people. That is your number one mistake you make. Maybe they just have a headache, or are bored. She was walking through the hallways, and occasionally a person would turn around, and notice her unfamiliar face. Even one kid, he looked really nice and sweet, asked her if she was new. He told her that he transferred in 9th grade to this school, and for her transferring in 10th, would be a lot easier, even though they both new that wasn't exactly true. His name was Larry. A nice name. She liked it. The bell suddenly rang; everyone quickly shifted to their classes. Ariana looked at her schedule. Geometry, Room 32B, 1st period. Well to geometry she would go.

As she walked into the classroom, a few heads turned. She wasn't exactly pretty though. But the two boys that were sitting in the back, knuckle touched. In Ariana's eyes, she wasn't pretty. She hated herself. She hated her body, and her face. But to other people, she was gorgeous. Ariana never understood why though. She sat in one of the empty seats in the back. The teacher was writing his name on the chalkboard. It read MR. JAMES. As he finished writing, Mr. James turned around and noticed Ariana. He then asked her to come up in front of the classroom, and introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Ariana Lowells. I transfered from my old school, Inuindo High School." She noticed that every boy was looking at her, and a girl even elbowed a guy, probably her boyfriend. Finally the lesson began, and Mr. James started teaching, but Ariana already learned the topics in her old school. So she pretended to listen, but was actually day-dreaming. This was how the whole day went by. She walks into a classroom. She introduces herself. Then she day-dreams while the teacher rants his/her monotonous lesson.

The last bell finally rang, and Ariana quickly ran out of the grey, ugly school building, with other kids doing the same.

As she finally got home after a 40 minute ride in the subway, she felt a sudden urge to... do that thing she promised herself not to do. But she knew she couldn't resist the temptation. She tried to find something sharp, and then grabbed a knife and started to saw away... at her wrist. She felt the bittersweet feeling again. Warm, crimson liquid gushed out from her wrist. Just like a dog who was set loose by his master, Ariana started to feel al the feelings being let out. She silently started to cry.

Suddenly, she heard the familiar noise of a key in the door snapped her back to reality. Her mom was home. She quickly grabbed some paper towels, and started cleaning up the mess on her wrist and the floor, and wiped up the knife. She also grabbed a couple band aids, and jumped up the stairs to her room and started putting he band aids on her wrist, right as Ariana's mom walked in.

She saw all the band aids, and noticed her wrist. "Oh my god, Ariana!" "Mom, it's nothing. I just came home, but outside i tripped and fell on piece of glass."

Ariana felt like a disgrace. She promised herself she wouldn't do things like that again. And this time she'll actually keep her promise, her resolution. Days, weeks, months passed by, as she went to Chatsworth 5 days a week for 7 hours. She had gotten herself a boyfriend, Jim, who was a really sweet guy, with shaggy brown hair and a funny, clumsy attitude. Ariana would open her locker every morning, and there were flowers, whose petals she always smelled, and enjoyed. She knew she was a different person since the beginning of the school year. 5 months have passed and she had a boyfriend, a best friend Larry, and many other simple friends. She also had only one enemy. Marissa. She was a really conceited... bitch. She would also always try to flirt with Jim, but he would always shoo her away.

Then one day everything changed.

Jim and Larry and a few other boys, went to the football game. She didn't want to go to the stadium; she just watched the game at home. But the next day, in school, Ariana noticed that she hadn't gotten the regular pile of flowers. Nor was Larry standing by his locker, right next to hers. Oh well, she thought. Maybe they would spend the day at home today from too much partying last night.

Ariana came home, her mom came home, everything was normal. But that all changed when she saw the news. It said that 6 teenagers had died in a car crash yesterday. Jim Hutley and Larry Todel had died, along with George and Bob Gorman, Harry Delway, and Eric Wedset. Ariana felt her body churn, her organs shriveling, her mouth getting dry. George Gorman had gotten drunk, but he was the driver, and crashed into another car. Both cars had burst into flames.

Ariana didnt want to live without Larry and Jim. The other four boys were some of her friends too.

She took one of Jim's flowers, a knife, and went to the river.

She layed on the bank of the river, and fiercely dug the knife into her stomach. She stabbed her abdomen again and again. The last stab, wasn't even painful. Ariana grabbed the knife, and dug it deep into her heart, deeper and deeper. She moved it around, and let go.

As she lay dying, she grabbed the rose and clutched it close to her chest.

Then Ariana's last breath came out, she shivered a little bit, and then she went still.