I slid off my bed and pulled on some random clothes, who cares how looked. I didn't know any of the people at my new school and I had no intention of getting to know them, so why should I dress up for them? Then I staggered down the stairs. My mom wasn't up yet.

Probably sulking in her room, I thought angrily.

I fell back into my chair and gulped down the cereal in my bowl. Every now and then while I ate a tear drop would slide down my face. Occasionally, I would let out a little sob, but I usually tried to suppress it, I didn't need my mom catching me like this.

When I was done, I grabbed my back pack and packed a quick bag lunch, I hated school lunches, they were never good. Before high school, I used to think mystery meat was just a myth to scare middle schoolers, apparently they weren't just stories. At least at my old school. My chest tightened at the thought of my old school

I stood waiting at the door for a while, checking the clock every now and then. Sure, I didn't like school, but I didn't like being late to school either.

Finally, when there were only 30 minutes until school started, I decided to wake my mom up since she obviously wasn't getting up on her own. When I was right outside her door, I hesitated. I swallowed my tears, made sure my nose and eyes weren't red any more, and straightened up my clothes and hair. My face was blank, almost bored, no hint of last night's traumas or this mornings emotions showed up on my face. I was ready.

I knocked on the door, confident and commanding, I was not going to be a little girl crying to her mother. I was just a person who needed a ride to school.

"A person who wants her permit and a car." I grumbled under my breath. Then I stopped mid-sentence as my mother opened the door.

She had not spent any time trying to clean up for me. Her hair was a tangled mess on top of her head. Her eyes were blood-shot, red, and had bags underneath. Her lips trembled as she took deep breaths. There was no attempt to stifle her sobs. Her clothes were a mangled mess, and I noticed she had bitten her usually neatly trimmed nails off into little, jagged stubs.

If I had not been so mad at her, I would've felt sorry for her pathetic figure. She looked frail and lost, very lost. For a second, I actually did feel sorry for her. I shook my head. I couldn't feel sorry for her. She brought this upon herself by making us move here. She got what was coming to her. She was off much worse than I was and it was all her fault. I wasn't the one who said those terrible things last night, she was. Now here was her punishment.

I could've felt triumphant at the moment, I could've rubbed victory in her face, but it didn't feel right. It wasn't right. I felt bad for her, and I wanted to tell her that I wasn't mad at her anymore, but, yet again, the words wouldn't come into my mouth.

All I could say as I stood over her wavering figure was, "I need a ride to school, could you drive me?"

"Honey," My mom's voice quavered and faltered, "I'm...I'm sorry..."

I acted like I didn't hear it and continued, "I'd really prefer not walking all the way to school, can't you just drive me?"

"Not today... How about we just stay home today, I don't think I can go anywhere. I need to rest today."

If there was one thing I wanted to do less than go to school, it was to stay home with my mom when she was like this. I couldn't bear, I wouldn't bear it.

"I really want to go to school today." I replied, trying to sound apologetic, though probably failing miserably," I want to," I paused, trying to think up some believable reason, "I want to get to know people before we get too far into the school year. I don't want to miss out anything, it's a new school, I want to get to know how things work around here."

"O...Okay, Ella." My mom said back shakily, "I...I understand, but I can't drive you, not like this...You're going to have to walk."

I nodded and uncomfortably walked away, not sure if I should say anything. Too late did I call back, "Uh...I love you." because my mom had already shut the door.

I sighed. Why was it that I never knew how to act in situations like these. Or really, in my case, in any situation. I couldn't flirt, I couldn't console. I wasn't witty, or charming, or clever. I wasn't interesting, eye-catching, or bright. I was just me, and just me had no idea how to act in a situation, so just me usually ended up acting awkward.

I started out the door, trying to push the thoughts away. Trying to push all my thoughts away. It was hard and took a lot of focus and concentration.

I was so busy doing this that at first I didn't notice the slowly approaching truck. Only until it stopped in front of me, did I look up distrustfully. It was a beat-up old truck, but it wasn't the truck that got my attention, it was the person who stepped out of the truck.

She came out of the passenger's side, and she was gorgeous.

There's another thing I 'm not, I'm not pretty, I thought bitterly, picturing the way I looked in the mirror this morning, with my old ripped jeans, my light blue T-shirt and the ugly, old sweater I wore when I needed comfort. I was slim and my legs were long and prettily tanned, but with my saggy jeans, and over-sized sweater, neither of those things were complemented. My wavy, brown hair, was thick and luscious, and would have been pretty if not for the fact that it had gotten messed up in the wind. My face was, well let's just say I forgot to put make-up on, so all my natural beauty was showing, including a zit on my forehead. My natural, thick eyelashes were probably the only thing going for me, or the only thing I considered pretty about me.

My eyes moved back onto the girl. She had long blonde hair that had the slightest wave in it. The wave made it so that her hair curled around one side of her face. Her smile flashed bright white teeth under hot pink lips. Her skin was tannish, though not as tan as mine. She was curvy, and her clothes only accentuated it more. She wore a short pink skirt that revealed long, pretty legs, and a pink and white shirt that hugged her body. On her feet were bright pink boots that went up to her knees.

I was busy taking in her appearance when the driver got out. It was a boy, and he was oddly familiar. The girl walked over to him, her hands on her hips.

"Troy, why did you stop? You know I don't want to be late. Anyways, there are like puddles everywhere, I don't want to get my boots dirty, they are brand new." She stomped her brand new boot on the ground impatiently as she complained to him.

He replied vaguely, "Then get back in the car. I didn't ask you to come out."

"But why are we stopping?" She whined, in the prissiest voice I had ever heard. He had to get annoyed listening to that all the time. I had only been here for a few minutes and I was already annoyed.

Crap! That reminded me, I needed to get to school, I still had a ways to go. I started walking again, moving to the right of the truck. The boy came up to me as I attempted to pass his truck without being noticed. Apparently it didn't work.

"Hey, wait!" He called. I stopped walking, but didn't look back. "Are you heading to school too?"

I slowly turned around, "Yeah, so... Why are you asking?"

"Well, we," He pointed to himself and the pouting pink girl," Are heading to school too. I could give you a ride if you want."

"What!" Shouted the girl indignantly.

He cut her off, "Don't be a brat Sharpay." She crossed her arms and went back inside the truck.

The boy stayed out, waiting for my answer. I was waiting for my answer too. I didn't usually go in a stranger's car, but he seemed familiar, and I had to admit that walking was no fun. Then again, he could be waiting to take me away and kill me. That sounded far-fetched, though, even for my imaginative mind. My mom would never have allowed me, yet what was my mom doing now? She was wallowing in self-pity, she would never know. She could assume I walked to school, and neither of us would have been the worst for it.

The boy seemed kind enough, so I finally gave my answer, "Okay, I guess I'll go with you...Unless, she doesn't want me to." I motioned toward the truck where Sharpay was glaring at me.

"Naw, she won't mind. Come on in." He walked towards the truck, leading the way. I followed uneasily behind.

The trunk was cramped, hardly enough room for the three of us in the front. I got stuck in the middle, with Troy on my left and Sharpay on my right. Already I could tell I made the wrong choice by choosing to accept the boy's offer. This car ride was not going to be fun.

The whole drive, Troy chatted away, trying to break the ice. I tried to listen, but I found out that it's pretty hard to do that when somebody's giving you the death glare the whole time.

When the car ride was finally over, I was about ready to jump out of the car just to get away from the dirty looks Sharpay was giving me.

Troy got out first. I would've been able to get out myself, but Troy insisted on helping me. As I took his hand and climbed out, I suddenly recognized him. He was the boy from yesterday who had helped me clean up my books.

Now, If I had been a charming and romantic person, I could've made that moment mean something. As he helped me out of his truck, I could've said something like, "Thank you once again," or 'Don't leave yet, I might need you for something else." or "I don't know how to thank you, if you keep on helping me I'll never be able to repay you."

Instead, I said, "Thanks for the ride. Uh, yeah, thanks." Then I started walking away.

He called me back, "Wait!" I turned around, hiding the surprise I felt at being called back by him. I mean, who was this kid? Did he do this to all the new kids? What was with all the kindness?

"Yes?" I asked nonchalantly, with a hint of impatience, acting as if I needed to get somewhere. (In truth, I wasn't going anywhere, cause I didn't exactly know where to go.)

"I was wondering if you wanted a ride back after school, cause I would be pleased to give you one."

"Seriously/" I asked. I intended it to be a happy surprise, but it turned out more disdainful.

"Well, you don't have to if you don't want to.' He remarked a bit coldly.

"No, wait, I didn't mean it like that." I said, beginning to panic, "I'm honored just really surprised."

"So is that a yes?" Troy asked, smiling.

"It, well...actually...Is." I leaned closer to him so just he would hear, "Is Sharpay going to ride with you again?"

He saw the worried expression on my face and laughed, "No, don't worry. I usually don't pick her up anyways. This is the first and only time I'll be driving her any where. She will not be with us."

"Then yes," I said. His face brightened and I wondered why. If it were me, I'd be upset. Just one more stop on the way home.

Then, again, maybe it's best he's not like me. I walked to my locker, a little happy, and a little uneasy.

Why was he being so nice to me?