Waking up had been terrible for Kori. Most days she would wake up with a headache and end up taking Tylenol. Other days she would wake up and feel like she hadn't gotten a second of sleep because she had tossed and turned in bed all night. The only way that she could wake up and get ready for school was because she would have to take a cold shower. But today, she was fine. Her head didn't hurt and she felt refreshed (in a sense) when she woke up. She didnt believe it so she rolled out of bed and got herself ready to topple to the floor from her knees being weak, but she didn't.

Kori was surprised by this. She got out of bed and for the first time in a long time, she took a hot shower that morning. It was nice and long. She scrubbed her hair and by the time she got out, her alarm clock rang. Wow. She hadn't even noticed that she had woken up a half an hour early. That means that she actually had time to make herself look really nice today. She had already planned put her day. She would wear the cutest outfit and have this gigantic smile on her face. When she would walk by, everyone would say 'Wow, Kori, you look... good' and she would grace them with a lovely 'Thank you!'

Once she was dry, Kori got out her hair dryer. She blow dried her hair and it was wavy when she was done. She walked to her closet and found a white vest with a black long sleeved shirt under it. She put on her favorite white jeans skirt and she wore black wedges in her feet. She decided to get out her curling iron today. She plugged it in and watched some tv while she did big beautiful curls in her hair. Kori was about to head downstairs when, wait... she finally had a reason to wear her new black purse that she had gotten about two weeks ago but it always stayed in her closet.

Kori had waited patiently for her pop tart to pop up. She was painting her nails at the kitchen table with WiteOut. She had seen one of her friends do it once. By the time it popped up, Kori was done with her nails. Since WiteOut dried so fast, she wasn't worried about being careful with her hands. She grabbed a paper towel and put the pop tart on it as she headed out the door.

Kori didn't have to wait for the bus. She had her own car but she was self conscious about using it most of the time. The first time that Kori took the bus, it was terrible. It was loud with laughter and things were being thrown everywhere. It was the first day of school and Kori promised her friend. Gar that she would take the bus with him but since that day she had hide behind a bush so Gar wouldn't see her so she wouldn't have to take the bus. After a few weeks, Gar stopped worrying about it and left the matter at that.

Once Kori got to the bus stop, she thought she had missed it but that couldn't be true because kids were starting to sit down on the bench beside her to wait for the bus. Once it got a little to crowded around the bus stop, Kori decided that she would walk. She excused herself as she got up from her seat, trying to avoid any feet that she might step on or trip over. She didn't need any attention, even though everyone seemed to be looking at her. What was wrong? It was probably just weird for everyone to see her here because this is only the second time she`s taken the bus.

Kori kept her eyes on the ground because she knew that everyone was staring at her. There was little noise and their eyes were glued to her as she walked to the far back of the bus, where there was an empty seat. Before she could she heard "Hey, Kori?"

Kori looked up. It was Justin McKinley, football fullback. He had on his football jersey but non of his protection. Kori smiled lightly at him and said a small "Hi." This was weird. He had never talked to her before and she didn't even know that he knew her name.

"You look... hot" Justin said. He laughed a little and his smile was cute. The rest of the football team, that was on the bus, and some other guys said comments in agree like, 'Yeah' and 'Totally' and one 'She's always been pretty hot.' Kori blushed at that last one.

"Thank you" Kori said in a small voice. What had happened to 'gracing them with a lovely, 'Thank you''? Kori was about to go sit down but she was stopped by Justins voice. He spoke before she could turn.

"Hey are you coming to the game tonight? It would be cool to see you there." Justin flashed her a brilliant smile. Kori almost blushed.

"Umm... yeah, I guess so. It would be fun" Kori spoke in a bigger voice that time and she was actually smiling. Being invited to the football game by the fullback was a big deal. Well, sort of invited.

"Great! You know what? You should try out for the cheerleading team. You look like a cheerleader." Justin said.

"What? Oh... um... I thought about trying out but I missed auditions. It stinks" Kori confessed. She really had missed auditions. She had forgotten all about it because she had to run to Rachels because she had thrown up and wasn't feeling well and her parents were so distant from her. She really wished she could try out.

"Well, Alice said that they were looking for someone light enough to throw" Justin was joking "You look pretty light. Jennifer, the old flyer, her parents pulled her out because her grades were getting bad. They sent her to a private school."

"Bummer. That must suck." Kori said with a sad face. She had noticed what a gentle man Justin was. When he said that she looked light he didnt trail his eyes up and down her body. His eyes stayed straight on her face.

"Yeah but I could put in a good word for you. Alice hasn't put up the audition sheet yet, so I could tell her to give you a try. You have any skills?"

"Well, I was a cheerleader once and I was flyer. But I dropped out after two years" Kori said. It was true. She stopped after her parents died.

"Cool" Justin grinned "so you're a shoe in. I`ll let Alice know and you could try after school if you want. If you get it, they`ll fit you for a uniform and everything. Maybe you could perform at tonights game. You most likely wont fly but they`re only doing the basic routine."

"Really? That would be awesome. I would love to! Thank you so much!" Kori said excitedly.

"Great! I`ll tell Alice" Justin said.

"Thank you!" Kori said and he grinned at her. She sat in the back of the bus with a smile. Justin was so nice. He had gone out with Kitten at first. She was on the cheerleading squad. She was mean and blonde and her make up was her everything. Now he was going out with Alice, the cheerleading captain. Alice was nice and Kori was happy that Justin was with her instead. Kitten dumped him when she started having eyes for Richard. Alice and Justin looked cute together and Alice was nice. They were lab partners one year. Hey, they were Alistin. That's a cute name.

Kori had only been sitting for about 5 minutes before the bus had entered the school parking lot. She got up and tugged on her skirt and then grabbed her purse. She was walking up to the front of the bus near the exit when a foot came out a tripped her. Kori didnt have time to make a sound because she fell into Justins back. She almost fell to the ground but Justin caught her. "You okay?" he asked. Kori nodded. He let her go and turned to the person that had tripped her. It was Kitten Moth. She always sat near the front ever since Justin and her broke up.

"Awww, Jussy Wussy, why didn't you let her fall?" Kitten asked in a fake pouty voice.

Justin grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him and stared her sraight in the eye. "Knock it off." he said through gritted teeth. With that, he pushed her back into her seat. The girl next to her gasped. Before Kitten could say anything, Justin lightly pushed Kori in front of him and hurried her off the bus. Once the were off, he pulled her away from the line of kids getting off board. "Sorry... about Kitten, I mean."

"Its okay" Kori smiled brightly "I`m kind of used to it. Kitten is always out to get me."

"Right" Justin laughed "Hey Kori?"

"Yeah?" Kori asked. \

"Well, you know Richards my buddy right?" Kori nodded. "Goos. So, do you know what happened to him. I mean since you live next door to him. He`s the best quarter back we have and i`m just worried about him. He didnt answer any of my calls."

Kori smiled at Justins concern and an idea she had. "How about this? If I make the cheerleading squad, then I`ll take you to see Richard. But on one condition" Kori put up her pointer finger.

"What?" Justin asked.

"You cant tell anyone where he is or anything about his condition unless he says that its okay. Okay?" Kori asked.

"Right. I swear" Justin said, crossing his pointer and middle fingers together.

Kori held out her thin pinky "Pinky swear?"

Justin brought out his and it looked more like a pointer finger with how big it was. Well, he was a football star. He interlocked his with hers. "Pinky swear" he promised.

Before they let go Kori said "And if you break that swear, I`m going to break your pinky"

"Really?" Justin laughed, not believing her. "Look at me then look at you. You would hurt yourself more then you would hurt me."

Kori laughed along with him. "Yeah you right but..." Kori was cut off by the morning announcer.

"Welcome, students. Today is a special morning because..." blah blah blah. Kori didn't listen to the morning announcements. After the announcements, Kori and Justin split their separate ways. Kori headed to English while Justin went to Math. Once Kori got into the classroom, almost all the seats were taken. It was a good thing that her usual seat was still open. Hers was right next to Karens. Karen was on of Koris best friends. Karen was very beautiful. Her light chocolate skin went beautifully with her almond colored eyes and medium dark brown hair that went right under her collarbone and was curled inward, just a little bit.

Today, Karen wore a black tank top and a gray, mid ribcage cardigan. She wore black shorts and black high heeled boots that came up to her ankles. Karen was always stylish. Style was one of her best friend and she always seemed to be on the schedule for the next hottest thing.

"Hey Kori" Karen said with a bright smile as Kori sat down.

"Hey Karen, guess what?" Kori said playfully.

"You got asked to join the cheerleading team by Alices boyfriend?" Karen asked pointing a finger at Kori.

"How'd you know?" Kori said shocked.

"I have my ways" Karen smirked as she pulled out a file and started to file her nails. She then put it down and said "Naw, I`m just kidding. I heard some girls talking about it in the hallway. It didn't really sound like a rumor."

"So, what do you think?" Kori asked. She was always up for someone elses opinion.

"What do I think? Kori, I think that it would be super fun and you should try it" Karen said with a large smile. Kori had figured her to say something like that, that was upbeat and cheerful because that was just who Karen was. But, just because she was nice and sweet, doesn't mean that she is just a cotton ball. Karen is tough. Last year, she beat up a kid for tripping her in the hallway and then told him off. She was left with a sprained ankle and he was left with a bruised noise and a black eye. He was just lucky that she decided not to break his nose.

"Yeah, but I was hoping that this year, you, me and Rachel could all do something together, like we said but we still haven't gotten around to it." Kori whined.

"Don't worry about it. You should totally do this cheerleading thing. It would be fun right? So you should try it. We`ll still be best friends. Its just cheerleading. That cant step in between a friendship." Karen said.

"Swear?" Kori asked poking her pinky out.

Karen looked at her pinky and smiled before locking her pinky with Koris. "Swear."