The alarm clock blared in my ears, announcing that it was time to get ready for school. I groaned. School. Should be called hell with fluorescent lighting. And today was the first day back to that place, but this time, it wasn't sixth grade anymore. Seventh grade was going to suck, I could tell already.
I flicked it off to cease its insistent shrills. I closed my eyes again and tried to get back to sleep. But the moment was fleeting. I heard my mother scream at me to get up from downstairs. I sighed and reluctantly obliged, heading toward the bathroom to take one of my twenty-minute showers.
My attire for the day consisted of black skinny jeans, black converse shoes, a red-and-black striped t-shirt, and a simple black zip-up hoodie. It was my favorite outfit, so why not wear it on the first day of school to show it off? I made my way downstairs, and was greeted by my mom scolding me for taking too long. Great, I was going to miss the bus if I didn't hurry up and beat it out of there. So I grabbed my backpack containing my new binders and left without any breakfast. Oh well, it'd make me slimmer anyways.
The late-summer-early-fall air was cold as I stepped out the front door and jogged to the bus stop. The sky was a watery gray, the sun only one-quarter up into the sky. I halted in front of the sign and checked the time on my cell… 7:15... Not late.
The bus pulled up and I stepped in. I winced as the doors opened with an explosion of screams and giggling and swearing. As I walked up the steps, I scrunched up my nose as the musty smell of what seemed like urine hit my nostrils. I didn't even want to know how that got there. After telling the new bus driver my name, I found an empty seat in the back. I stared out the window at the houses passing by as the bus revved up and rumbled on down the street toward Sunset Ridge Middle School, where I'd be starting the new year as a seventh grader.
It was hard for me to think with everyone being so loud. How could they possibly be happy? School sucked bigtime. Then again, everyone has something to talk about when they're in school. God knows what. Maybe talking about a funny video they'd discovered on YouTube, or what their so-called "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" on Myspace had sent them that morning. I sure as hell didn't have anything to share. That just proved how boring I was. But I digress.
I pulled out my schedule front the front pouch of my backpack and read over it again. It stated which classrooms I'd be in, what my locker number was, and what my locker combination was. I sighed at the thought of walking down a new hall with new teachers and new lockers. Too much newness. I craved the simplicity of elementary school. It was all straightforward and easy. I remembered hating it so much when I was in first grade, so adolescent now, and thought that it was the most terrible thing in the world. I didn't think that middle school was any harder. I thought it'd be fun. I scoffed at my own rashness. Fun seemed like heaven in this godforsaken curfew.
My heart sunk when the bus arrived at the school. The front was bustling with energetic middle-schoolers, chatting relentlessly. I sighed, slung my backpack over my shoulder and got off the bus to go through hell again after three months of liberty.
The bell rang, and everyone scrambled for the doors. I stepped into the commons after squeezing through the horrendous crowd of teens, and smelled the fading scent of breakfast. My stomach growled. I ignored it and made my way to the seventh grade hall to find my locker and then head to first period.
After stuffing my math and science binder in my locker to save until later, I walked outside to go to the portables outside to go to my first period class, LA and Reading. I didn't feel that much scorn toward this class because I loved reading and writing, but I could tell it'd be boring anyways. Oh, I forgot to mention that I somehow managed to get my way into honors LA/Reading, so I'd be in class with a bunch of yuppies. Crap.
I opened the door and heard even more talking and giggling and swearing, just in lesser portions. Nobody really seemed that yuppie-ish, I mean, besides the entire class had on Abercrombie & Fitch clothes on. Either that or it was Aeropostale, American Eagle, or Hollister. I instantly felt inferior in my convenience-store-bought clothes, and felt my cheeks go red. I shook it off and tried to find an open seat. The only one left was the one next to Susie Derkins.
My heart fluttered at the sigh of her. She was hot. I truly meant that. Her wavy chestnut-colored hair sparkled and became streaked in red when it hit the sun, and she refused to wear clothes from all the mainstream stores. She'd taken a liking in vintage clothing. And not only was she excessively beautiful, her boobs were big. Big. I know that sounds perverted of me, but I just can't help but notice these things in a woman. But the one thing that irked me about her was that she was a little too feminine and preppy. But other than that, I had the hugest crush on her. I'd never admit it to anyone, though.
When I sat down next to her, she looked up from Twilight and glared at me. "Go sit somewhere else," she said.
I blinked in response.
"Go," she repeated, waving her hands at me, "shoo."
"I would if I could, but there aren't any seats left… just so you wouldn't notice," I replied in a tone that reflected a grown adult talking to a three-year-old.
Susie rolled her eyes and continued reading her book. I furtively grinned. She was so hot when she was ticked.
Class began shortly after that. The teacher introduced herself as Ms. Tailor, a middle-aged woman with curly blonde hair and glasses, and told us random things about herself. The lecture seemed to drag on forever. I ended up doodling on a piece of notebook paper (much to Susie's dismay.). Finally she ended and passed us out a worksheet . I looked over it. It was a questionnaire about ourselves. Damn, I hated these.
As I expected, just because the teacher assigned us work didn't mean everyone would shut up. I still heard plenty of giggling and snippets of hushed conversations. I clenched my jaw and tried to ignore it, but it was impossible. Once I was done, I closed my eyes and lay my head down on the desk, my head spinning. It was hard to believe it was only first period.
The periods seemed to drag on forever. I forgot to mention that LA/Reading was a double period. So, yes, I made period a plural intentionally. Finally the end of class bell rang, and I hurried back into the hall to grab my binder and head to my Math class back in the portables.
Now, Math is what I really hated. This year, it turns out I got put in Math Lab because my Math grades were too low last quarter. I was fuming when I found out. So, after that, I decided I was going to hate math with a passion that could smash boulders. So here I was, hating it with every fiber of my being. Not like it would help my grades any.
Again, the class had to go through the ritual of introductions again. But this time, we had to stand up in front of the whole class, tell everyone our name, age, and one thing we liked. Dammit, I hated school!
When the teacher, who was apparently Mr. Pitiño, another middle-aged teacher with short black hair, tan skin, and blue eyes, got to me, I reluctantly stood up and said, "My name's Calvin Merrill, I'm twelve years old, and I like… um… reading… whatever." With that I shrugged and sat back down.
"Nerd!" I heard a boy cry out from the back of the class. I recognized the voice as Tom Loraine, one of the many, many idiots in my classes. I winced as the class erupted in laughter. I rolled my eyes. Yeah, I've never heard that one before.
"Tom," Mr. Pitiño chided, "that was rude. Apologize to Calvin now. If you do that again, you're asking for a detention." Yeah, like he cared. Those big retards didn't care if they got in trouble.
"Sorry, Calvin," Tom "apologized" in a teasing voice. A bunch of his friends chuckled quietly.
"Apology accepted," I muttered, rolling my eyes again. Like he wasn't going to say it again.
Class continued on slowly. I was bored out of my mind fifteen minutes into class. I looked around the room and thought about last year. Sure, sixth grade wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be back in fifth grade, but it was still a whole lot harder. Besides, I got teased more. More people thought I was weird, and I basically had no friends. Well, Susie Derkins helped me through hard spots because she was so nice, but she mostly ignored me. I sat alone at lunch, and usually got a headache listening to people's conversations around me. My grades were pretty poor, but at least I didn't fail any classes. I also remembered last year, after third period (which was this period), we went to lunch. I missed those days. Now we had lunch when sixth graders were in fifth period. I was getting really hungry about then, and my stomach growled at the thought of lunch. I was having a hard time waiting already.
Finally, third period ended, and I made my way back into the hall to get my Science binder for fourth period. I attempted to squeeze past a pack of boys to get to my Science classroom, but one boy, I recognized him as Maurice Smithson (another big jerk bag that I unfortunately had to endure in my classes, if I have any say in this.), put his hand on my back and pushed me down, face-first, before I even had the chance the shout. I hit my head on the edge of my binder and yelped in pain, gripping the place where it throbbed. Him and his goonies all guffawed at my misfortune, along with many of the other kids in the hallway. I pushed myself up, blushing, and ran down the hall as quickly as possible to get to my next class.
Almost everyone was already there, and I made it to an open seat just as the bell rang. Whew! Thank God, I didn't want a detention already! Class began as per usual, the teacher introduced themselves. My Science teacher as of today was Mrs. Cleaver, a somewhat elderly woman. During her introduction, she caught two girls talking (Clerrissa Mayer and Jordan Mackenzie, if you really want to know, two annoying blonde-wads who wore too much makeup and were basically future strippers.), and ratted them out good. My stomach clenched as I watched. Note to self: Don't screw with the teachers this year!
The period didn't go along too slow, but it felt like it had been more than an hour as the bell rang. Finally, it was lunch. My stomach growled loudly as I filed out, and I got a few curious glances, but I ignored it and went back to my locker to put my binder back.
As I slipped my binder in, grabbed my lunch money, and closed my locker, someone pushed my head into the door of my locker, making me hit the spot I'd scraped on the edge of my binder earlier. I yelped in pain and grabbed my head as I heard twittering and giggling emanate from behind me. I whirled around to see a group more sluts behind me, which consisted of Annabelle Fanning (a short girl with stick-straight black hair with a too-tight Hollister shirt on and too-short shorts squeezing her thighs.), Carina O'Malley (she had short brown hair and bright green eyes, I had to admit she did look pretty, but she was a bitch.), Martina Ellis (brown hair with pink streaks in it, also a siren-like creature.), and Aileen Irving (a huge blonde-wad with sparkling blue eyes, a perfect face and body, microscopic breasts, and Hollister clothing. Probably the biggest bitch of all of them.). Aileen giggled and waggled her fingers at me in a fleeting wave, signifying she had done it and wasn't ashamed, then meandered off with the rest of her slut army.
"That bitch!" I hissed, rubbing my forehead and clenching my fists. When I lowered my hand, I noticed a tiny drop of blood on my finger. I cussed, kicked at the locker below mine, and stormed off to the commons.
After I'd paid for my food and gotten everything I needed, I made my way over to an empty table emotionlessly, still fuming inside at Aileen's exploit. I was completely caught off guard as I felt a foreign leg push against my ankles and trip me, sending me falling face-first to the floor, and sending my lunch flying forward in the process. I whacked my forehead against the floor yet again, and I cried out in pain, grabbing the hurt spot on my head for the third time. I saw my lunch splattered out on the floor in front of me, and everyone was pointing and laughing at me, amused that I'd been hurt and that my lunch was now all over the floor. How cold-hearted could you possibly get?! I felt like crying, but I didn't want to humiliate myself even further. Fortunately, one of the janitors cleaned up the mess and walked me to the nurse's office, where the nurse gently dabbed at the blood oozing slowly from my cut.
The janitor said that I could get another lunch, but I declined and told him I wasn't hungry. I don't know why I said that, though, I was starving. But I couldn't really change my mind then, so I just made my way back to the empty table, rubbing my head and blushing under everyone's gaze. I spotted the guy who tripped me, it was Tom again. He sneered at me and guffawed, and I felt like strangling him.
I sat down and rested my cheek against my fist, my elbow against the table. My stomach yowled as I stared at everyone eating their lunches, and saliva gushed into my mouth. At the same time, anger boiled in the pit of my belly, rising up like bile the more I thought about the last few periods. Why did everyone have to be so cruel? What kind of people like to push innocent people over, and slam their heads into their own locker doors? Apparently, most people did. I wanted to gag at this quality of human nature. Why was it that mankind was such a violent species?
I was broken from my thoughts when I received a tap on the shoulder. I turned around to see just the person I didn't want to see, Aileen Irving. She had a sweet smile on her face, and she batted her eyelashes seductively. "Hi, Calvin," she said in a sickly sweet tone.
"Uh… hi," I muttered, looking the other way. Why the heck did she want to talk to me after she'd slammed my head against my locker? There was a reason for her sudden appearance, but I couldn't see it right then.
"Hey, I'm sorry about last period," she told me, flipping her silky blonde hair. I might as well tell you this right now: I did think she was very pretty, but I'm not all for looks in a girl, I want a personality. And this girl just so happened to have the personality of a cucumber. Not only that, she was mean and was constantly dumping boyfriends. Besides, I wasn't into girls that much just yet. "It was totally an accident," she continued.
Yeah, right, I thought.
"And I really want to make it up to you somehow." She looked really guilty about then, and all I can say about that is: She was one hell of an actress. I had no idea ditzy preps like her could even form such sentences. I guess they all learned it from reading Twilight.
"Um… y-yeah." My head was spinning, and I slurred out the sentence involuntarily. She smiled then, and I knew that she was glad she was getting into my head. She suddenly draped one arm around my shoulders, and I instantly tensed, beginning to blush. I desperately looked around for an adult to tell her to stop, but I just saw a cafeteria full of kids. She then placed her other hand on the right side of my chest and teased at my shirt, tugging on the collar as if she wanted to put her hand down my shirt and stroke my chest. I just blushed savagely.
"You're cute," she crooned. My heart raced in my chest. No girl had ever told me I was cute. Ever. Most girls just thought I was a weirdo and avoided me like I had a disease.
I was about to say something stupid back, but suddenly, to my great embarrassment, my stomach growled loudly. I'd forgotten I was hungry when Aileen put on her perverted act. I don't think I'd ever blushed so hard in my life just then. Aileen took something out of her hoodie pocket. It was a small bag of sugar cookies, from the snack bar.
At first I was puzzled, but in a split second I was elated. "Thank you!" I exclaimed, tearing at the plastic wrapping and beginning to gorge down on the cookies. She continued pulling at my shirt, but I was too hungry to care. "You know, Annabelle, Carina, and Martina think you're cute, too. Kara Fox told me last year you went out with her. Did you?"
"Huh? No," I mumbled.
"Really? You don't think she's hot?"
I didn't really know how to answer that question, so I just stayed silent. Aileen snorted, apparently impatient, and continued. "I saw you staring at Susie Derkins in Math."
I almost gagged on the cookie. She'd better not have! I didn't want anyone to spread rumors about me and Susie! Well… it was true, but I'd pop her the question when the time was right! As if I needed teasing even more! Aileen laughed. 'I'm just kidding!" I could smell that lie coming. Crap! Crap, crap, crap!
She stared at me for a moment. "You have something…" She tapped her upper lip.
"Hm?" Aileen rolled her eyes, licked her thumb, and reached toward my face. I panicked for a second. "Hey, what're you—?!" She dabbed her thumb at my lip until the said "something" was off my face.
We stared eye-to-eye for what seemed like several minutes before I managed to say, "Um… I'll be right back… got to get a drink of water…"
I got out of that cafeteria as quick as I could, and ran into the bathroom. I ran into a stall and leant over the toilet bowl, but I didn't feel sick any more. Just getting out of the musky air of Aileen's perfume, out of that damned cafeteria, made me feel better.
I walked up to one of the mirrors and stared at my reflection, and I didn't like what I saw. I saw a pallid, lean boy with sky blue eyes and messy blonde hair with hand-me-down clothes and bruises under his eyes. Though he was lean in terms of his arms and face, it seemed his stomach bulged out unpleasantly. His eyelashes were too long, giving him a feminine appearance. His eyes were too wide, and his lips were a repulsive, unhealthy shade of gray, though he wasn't sick. He was ugly. I found it hard to believe that disgusting creature I was staring at was me.
I heard the muffled sound of the bell ringing to go to fifth period, and I shuffled out of the bathroom, head down, to my locker, wherein after I'd endure the rest of the day.
As I expected, Math Lab sucked. I had Mr. Pitiño again, and he treated everyone like we were three instead of twelve. I had the feeling that my grades were decent enough to still have Exploratory, but my mom thought I needed the knowledge. I was probably right. I'd ask my mom later if she wasn't at work before I got home. Also, I recognized a whole bunch of idiots from the hallways in this class, also I saw a lot of bimbos.
Next period I had P.E., which I hated nearly as much as Math. Fortunately, we didn't have to dress down until Thursday, which was awesome. We played some boring games until the end of the period, and again, I recognized way too many people. Oh, when we were playing some dumb-ass variation of dodge ball, I got nailed about five times by the same person (Garret Brien, a hulking guy with a microscopic brain.), two in the stomach, three in the face, and I seriously think it was intentional.
Finally seventh period rolled around, the last period of the day. In this particular period, I had Ancient History, which wasn't even Ancient History. We would learn about anything ancient until the last quarter of the year, so I don't see why they called it that. So let's just call it Social Studies for now. You know the drill by now. About five minutes into class someone kept throwing wads of paper at the back of my head. I turned around to see Jim "Jimbo" Harrison, who was (unsurprisingly) yet another gorilla-like retard. I asked him (nicely, I might add) to knock it off, but did you seriously think anyone listens to me?
At last, school was out. I expected the hallways to be packed, but I didn't expect to be nearly bowled over by people apparently more eager than me to get out of this hellhole. I finally managed to get my stuff out of my locker and get out the doors, but believe me, it was a challenge.
The bus ride home was the same as it was this morning, albeit a little louder, which gave me a slight headache. Soon I reached the bus stop close to my house and walked slowly home. The driveway was empty, as was the garage, so I unlocked the door myself and walked inside.
I was greeted warmly by my cat, a three-year-old female Bombay cat named Cora. She rubbed against my leg and purred, to which I bent down and stroked her soft black fur. She followed me wherever I went, and I could tell that I was her most favorite person in the whole world.
She padded after me upstairs to my room. When I entered, I immediately flopped down onto my bed and sighed, squeezing my eyes shut. Cora crawled over my stomach and curled up onto my chest, meowing worriedly. I scratched her behind her ears and chuckled when she began to lap at the air. "You're such a good girl," I crooned. "I'm so glad you're here. Today was one tough day." I swear on my life that Cora understood every word I was saying when I talked to her, because she began licking at my finger affectionately, as if to comfort me.
After loving Cora for a few minutes I turned on my computer and got online to see if anyone was online in a chatroom. I clicked one… you won't laugh when I tell you this, will you? I clicked on the one that said "Emo Kids' Chatroom"…please don't judge me.
I logged in and read what people had posted so far. It was as follows:
xlifelessxtearsx: hey wats up mandy?
OvErThErAiNbOw: nt much becca how r u?
xlifelessxtearsx: same. anything new 2day?
OvErThErAiNbOw: nt rly. well, chase gave me my bday present.
xlifelessxtearsx: omg srsly?!
OvErThErAiNbOw: ya srsly. he got me an awesome paramore shirt from hot topic. :) ilu chase! 3
xlifelessxtearsx: lol dat's awesome! tell him i said hi if i don't see him tomorrow, k?
OvErThErAiNbOw: kk
Typical. Apparently I'd be talking with two girls, but that was okay, just so long as they were nice.
Into_the_Fire21 has logged on.
The girls reacted quickly.
xlifelessxtearsx: hi dude!
OvErThErAiNbOw: hey! who r u? nice username, btw! ~
I smiled. Cora leapt up onto my desk and flicked her tail periodically as she watched me type my response.
Into_the_Fire21: Hi! I'm Calvin. Thanks. Who's Chase?
OvErThErAiNbOw: nice 2 meet u. ;D chase is my bf, and he roxx my soxx! lol
Into_the_Fire21: Cool! Oh, Happy Birthday! :)
OvErThErAiNbOw: omg thanx! :D 3
xlifelessxtearsx: lol ur cool, man. do u go to skool w/ us? i have black curly hair w/ green streaks in it, and i wear emo glasses lol.
OvErThErAiNbOw: and i have blond hair w/ black streaks. i have green eyes, tho!
They seemed okay so far. Very nice girls, too, not like those future sluts I met today. Had I seen them before? Yeah… I think when I was looking around at lunch I saw two girls that fit that description. I typed back.
Into_the_Fire21: I think I might have seen you two once or twice... aren't you in Mrs. Owens' class?
OvErThErAiNbOw: omg yes! :DDD
OvErThErAiNbOw: how bout u?
xlifelessxtearsx: what do u look like? r u cute? ;D 3
I remember seeing them walk into that classroom fourth period. I started blushing when I read xlifelessxtearsx's question. Was I cute? I didn't think so. But I typed back this anyways:
Into_the_Fire21: Heh. I'm not sure if I'm cute or not. *blushes* lol!
xlifelessxtearsx: lol
I kind of expected that response.
OvErThErAiNbOw: so what do u look like?
Let's see… what did I look like? I didn't want to type something negative about myself, like when I described my reflection in the bathroom at school, in front of these girls in a public chatroom, so…
Into_the_Fire21: Um... I'm kinda pale... tall-ish... really messy blonde hair, blue eyes, the whole deal.
xlifelessxtearsx: o ive seen u b4! u are cute! lol ~ calvin merrill, rite?
Into_the_Fire21: *blushes* Aw, thanks! Yep. :)
xlifelessxtearsx: omg i know u! i think u were in my class last year... w/ mr mclyles and stuff?
Oh, Becca! Right… she had brown hair last year, but I remember her having a punk-like sense of style, so it was only logical she'd go one step farther.
Into_the_Fire21: Oh, right! I remember! You're Rebecca Pine, right?
xlifelessxtearsx: lol yes! dats so kewl! :D ~
Yeah, it was pretty cool when I thought about it. I remembered Becca last year… curly, medium-length brown hair, gray eyes, square-rimmed glasses… she was pretty. I remember it. I was broken from my thoughts when OvErThErAiNbOw typed something.
OvErThErAiNbOw: didnt aileen irving smack ur head into ur locker 2day?
Dang, I didn't want them to bring that up! Too late now.
Into_the_Fire21: Yes. :( It sucked.
xlifelessxtearsx: omg! what a bitch! D: /3
Into_the_Fire21: I know!
OvErThErAiNbOw: i also saw tom trip you at lunch. big bully. :( AND maurice pushed you over at 4th per.
xlifelessxtearsx: u poor guy! r u ok?
Wow, it was like these girls were stalking me! I felt my heartbeat quicken just a smidgen as I typed my response. Cora seemed unimpressed, but continued to watch me.
Into_the_Fire21: Yeah, I'm fine. I still have a cut on my head, but it's not bleeding anymore. Hey, do you two wanna meet me somewhere tomorrow after school?
xlifelessxtearsx: sure!
OvErThErAiNbOw: sounds awesome. ;P
xlifelessxtearsx: where at?
Where to meet two emo girls after school…?
Into_the_Fire21: Um... how about near the benches at the football field?
xlifelessxtearsx: ok!
Sounded good enough. Just then, I heard the garage door slam and I heard my mom's voice shout, "Calvin!" Cora leapt down from the desk and crawled under my bed. She didn't like Mom. I stiffened and typed in my message hastily.
Into_the_Fire21: Oh noes, my mom's home! Gotta go. See you tomorrow!
xlifelessxtearsx: k! :)
OvErThErAiNbOw: see ya! ~
Into_the_Fire21 has logged out.
I quickly turned off the computer and headed downstairs. Mom was waiting for me. "Where were you?"
"In my room," I said simply, shrugging.
"Do you have any homework?" she asked suspiciously.
I narrowed my eyes. "Mom, it was the first day of school. Since when do teachers give you homework on the first day?"
"Watch your tone," she warned. I scrunched up my nose and stared at my feet. "Speaking of which, how was your day?"
"Stupid," I replied, heading up to my room.
"Why? What happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it," I murmured, reaching the last step and walking toward my bedroom door. Not that my Mom would help at all. She'd just tell me to buck up and give me a lecture on self-esteem. All I really wanted right now was to listen to music until I was tired.
And so that's what I did. Well, I did love Cora some more, but basically I just turned on my iPod on jammed for about… oh, a few hours. Then I surfed around on the internet some more, looking at pictures of cats and sunsets on Google, doing a lot of boring things (or things you may consider boring) until it was nearly midnight. Then I pulled my sheets over my body, lay my head down, Cora curled up into a black ball on my stomach, and fell asleep. Do I lead a boring life, or what?
