"Two words," Paine groaned, looking at her sister from the corner of her eye. "High school, and drama."
Lulu, Paine's older sister, was just looking at her with less than what may be considered an actual expression.
"Technically, that's three," she corrected.
Paine and Lulu looked a lot alike. They both had porcelain-like, pale skin and bright, reddish-brown eyes. Paine was only slightly shorter than her sister and had short, metallic-y brown-black hair. It was so shiny that it looked silver in most types of lighting. On countless occasions, Lulu tried to duplicate the effect with her own black locks, but it never turned out quite the same.
"Actually, you know what..." Paine decided to elaborate. "It would be even better with a 'fuck' somewhere in there. Fucking high school drama. Yes, that sounds about right. That's exactly what's going through my mind at this moment. Four words."
"I don't care how many words it takes, this place is absolute bullshit. You'll learn to respect it less and less as you approach my age," Lulu sighed, looking around at the chaos that was her and Paine's high school.
"Lucky you, getting to graduate this year," Paine punched her sister playfully in the arm.
"And lucky you, you're only just about to experience the magnificence that is Spira High. Wait until you witness your first pep rally."
Lulu slapped her sister on the back and made her way down main hall, where she'd have to duck and weave through the crowds of confused Freshman just to find her new locker.
"See you after school, Paine!" she called out before the waves of students washed her away.
And then Paine was alone. Which she was used to, considering she'd rather be by herself than pretend to be something she wasn't just to fit in with the other students. Apparently, that was what you had to do for things to go smoothly through middle and high school. She was sure it was the same in grade school as well, but who really remembers those years, anyway?
I can't wait until college, Paine thought as she readjusted her bag and strode down main hall after her sister. Despite being a Freshman, Paine had already been inside of the high school plenty of times when she came to hang out with Lulu. Her sister had always been her best and closest friend. She was the only one who really understood Paine, after spending so many years growing up with her.
And honestly, Lulu was really the only friend Paine had ever had. Paine just didn't have the skill required to approach people and make nice. It wasn't something that came natural to her. And apparently, no one ever wanted to approach her, either.
Paine fought the urge to jab the other students in their sides as she tried to make way through the sea of screaming, mindlessly babbling teens, all so excited to be in high school, all so excited to see each other after a long summer break. The hall was a long, narrow battle field, and if one didn't know how to navigate it, well, they'd just end up getting trampled. Which, by the way, had already happened to some poor fool.
Paine frowned at the girl as she passed by. She had shoulder-length, light brown hair that'd be flipped out almost like curling spikes, probably with the use of a flat iron. She also had two different-colored eyes: one green and one blue. She looked like some sort of little doll, all made up nice in her pretty blue jeans and white polo shirt. She looked rather frightened under the mass of students who paid her no attention as she scrambled for her fallen books and tried stuffing them back into her bag.
Then Paine stopped in the middle of the hall and, fighting to keep her balance as the other students barged into her, turned to look at the girl once more. She frowned again.
She didn't dare try to pull out her phone to check what time it was--the other kids would probably purposefully knock it out of her hand to steal it. But she knew class was about to start. That's the only reason the other students would be in such a frenzy in the middle of the halls.
But then, she couldn't just leave the girl cringing on the floor. She was sure to get trampled. And if Paine continued to stand there and debate with herself about it, she really would be squashed.
Paine sighed, then shifted against her bag, which was starting to feel really heavy. There were a couple of nerdy-looking kids brandishing Nintendo DSes and PSPs in each other's faces right in between her and the fallen girl, and she decided she'd have to bulldoze through them in order to help.
"Yeah? Tell me how great the graphics are on that stupid thing, you Nintendo fan boy--HEY! Watch where you're going!"
"Shut the hell up," Paine shot back at the boy, then leaned down and finished scooping the girl's books into her bag for her.
She was nearly thrown down on the floor with her at that point, but her balance was a little more fine-tuned than the poor sap lying on the floor in front of her.
"Thank you so much!" the girl smiled up at Paine, wobbling as she rose to her feet. "I didn't know how I was going to get out of that mess."
"No problem," Paine said, figuring she'd done her good deed for the day and could be on her way once more. But the girl grabbed her shoulder as she turned away.
"Wait up! Where you off to?"
"Sixth hall," Paine answered dully.
"Oh! Oh my gosh! Me too!"
This girl is sort of a ditz, Paine thought. Then again, she was lying on the floor. What should I have expected?
"How long have you been coming here?" the girl shouted as they fought through the mass of students. It was hard to speak like normal human beings in this environment.
A clock came into view: the one Paine had been scoping for. She squinted up at it.
"Haven't started yet," Paine answered. The hall was finally beginning to clear; students were racing into classrooms in the same way roaches ran for cover when the lights came on. It was an amusing sight to behold. Funnier even, were the couples who were attempting to suck face for just a moment longer before the bell rang.
"Oh! You're a Freshman too! You seem so much older."
"Yes, well, I'm afraid we're going to have to cut our conversation short...bell's about to ring." Paine explained.
The girl nearly shot through the roof.
"OH MY GOSH, I'm going to be late!"
Paine wanted to laugh as she watched the girl race down the hall, her bag flailing behind her. Then she brushed her silver bangs away from her eyes and headed toward her English class. Her locker would have to wait; she was already going to be late. It couldn't be avoided.
