AN: Soooo I did a thing... It's a very short first chapter but it's like 5am and I wrote it in 20 minutes. Hoping to get all the characters in this story at one point but will mainly revolve around Gwen. No idea where I'll go with this but we'll see. Enjoy.


"I swear, it's like she's never seen the sun," one of the more obnoxious girls whispered not-so-quietly as I walked by her in the halls. I couldn't exactly remember her name, I think it started with an S. I didn't even save her a second glance, I was going to be late if I didn't hurry up to my locker and onto first period English.

The girl had her reasons for saying that mean comment, I was pretty pale. I never tanned, I only burned and the was I saw it, why should I subject myself to that pain to try and look good for everyone else? I knew my body wouldn't tan so I shouldn't even try. And there was no way I would get a fake tan. Just the thought of looking like that snob Anna Marie gave me a shiver down my spine and I rolled my eyes.

I started on my locker combination just as a waft of some old celebrity's newest fragrance hit my nose. I knew who it was even before they hurled insults at me. Heather. The queen bee.

"Nice tan, gothy," she sneered as she walked by.

"Nice fake diamond earrings, Heather," I hurled back, not glancing back from my locker as I found the right book.

I heard an annoyed gasp from Heather and her stomping off. Nice start to my morning. I hurried off to English, walking in third to last and taking a seat next to one of my friends, Zoey. Before I even completely sat down she started going off. She was quite a talker.

"Oh my gosh, Gwen! It's been such a long summer, I haven't heard much from you, how have you been? Did you get any of my texts? I have so much to tell you! You absolutely have to find me at lunch, okay?" Zoey had a hard time shutting up and I accepted it, sometimes it was nice to have a little chatter. I also knew she didn't get much attention at home due to her parents' divorce and her mother traveling a lot. Her father wasn't really in the picture either and she had no siblings. She basically saw me as her sister, and I did too.

I laughed a little and motioned for her to slow down, "of course!" In truth, I had a lot to talk about with her too. But I wouldn't spill all my secrets just yet. Summer had been very eventful, I was at a camp this year, and so was someone else from my school. It was too crazy and I wouldn't subject myself to think about it and stress myself out. Today was going to be a good day, I wouldn't think about it at all.

The image of his strong arms around me, his tattoos, the little matching one I got on my thigh... I shook my head and blinked a few times. Lack of sleep, I decided. I needed more sleep tonight and everything would be normal again.

Zoey's voice had me floating back down to Earth. "Are you alright, Gwen?"

"I'm great!" I lied. It wasn't a big lie, I was just stressing out a little. I hoped to God that this day and year would pass uneventfully. I hated drama. I know I should have said that during summer, but I honestly didn't know it would catch up to me so quickly. I started regretting it. My face must have gave me away because Zoey didn't believe me.

"Hey," she said softly, "you know you can tell me anything, right? We're best friends," she reminded. And we were, we had been since fourth grade when I wasn't such a pacifist and stressed out. I would stand up for her anytime the boys picked on her. These days, we were both ignored altogether but if anyone tried to bully her again, they'd have more than just me to face. I was happy that I had my friends, but some things I needed to keep to myself and think about for awhile. I hoped Zoey would understand.

I nodded and was about to reassure her, but our instructor rose from his desk and started going over this year's lesson plan. A very boring notes session included, of course. Even though I ended up with about five sentences worth of notes. What a waste of paper.


Before I knew it, the class was already over and Zoey and I were ushered off to our next period, History.

"What do you think of dying my hair?" She asked absently, twirling a strand of her naturally red locks.

I shrugged, mine was dyed, I saw no harm in it. "Do whatever you want, Zoey. I can help you if you want," I offered.

"Maybe," she said, drifting off into thought. "Do you think Mike would like it a different color?"

I laughed, "Mike would like you even if you were dressed up in a gorilla costume!" And it wasn't far from the truth, everyone could tell that Mike was crazy about her. And crazy literally. But that was another story for another day.

We neared the doorway to history and I took a moment to glance at the class roster that was taped on the doorway.

Zoey Franklin

Trent Jackson

Anna Marie Solis

Courtney Nickelson

Sadie Parker

Katie Lee

Duncan Evans

Gwen Young

Mike Dixon

Heather White

The last name on the list had me wishing I had reorganized my class schedule at the end of last year instead of ignoring it. I was about to take a seat next to Zoey in the back when I noticed something on the projector in the front of the class.

Unfortunately, this class had assigned seats and Zoey was sitting between Anna Marie and Mike a few rows ahead of me. Although I could tell it didn't bother her at all, I was left awkwardly sitting next to the two people I never wanted to sit by.