Chapter One
I sit amongst the world, alone and cold, on a tiny wooden bench. My mind is as blank and dreary as the weather that surrounds me, allowing me to gain the sort of peace needed to adjust to my new horizon. No one knows me here, so I am transparent like the rain falling from the sky, but I like it that way.
As I brainstorm a new alias, I realize I don't even know my real self anymore. But that makes starting a new life so much easier because I don't have to remember what happened. I now have the chance to rewrite that story, from the bad beginning to the dark ending I left behind. I am no longer Gabriella Anna-Maria Montez.
A bell rings and my brief time alone is cut short. A sea of students flood towards the building behind me. I notice that as I become increasingly drenched, the dry refuge of the high school becomes ever more appealing. Hurriedly I stand and walk in the direction of the building labeled: East High; with my head down and shoulders squared, I blend into the crowd. Everything I own is on my back. Some knickknacks and a few articles of clothing are the only remnants of my previous life that I dare to take with me.
As I walk the crowded corridors of East High, I feel strangely alone. I pull my wet hoodie tighter but am provided no more warmth than the occasional brush of shoulders with the student to my left and to my right. Instinctively, I search for friends, a familiar face. Then, the realization hits me smack in the face: My friends are not in this school, this town, city, or state. I ran away from the people I love the most—when they were hurting the most.