Andrea
Andrea woke up, her spiky black hair in her face, her eerily perceptive eyes clouded by sleep. She had been up late last
night, working on a comic. This one was about Queen Hecuba, Andrea's Medeval alter-ego. Her parents called her down
for breakfast, so she reluctantly put on her usual Gothic attire and slouched downstairs. Her mother was bitching about
her dark lipstick. That was good. Andrea enjoyed pissing off her parents, who found it hard to believe that they had an
artist and an outcast, and were always pushing her to do things. Like take jobs. Either way, she loved her lipstick. It was
a part of her, just like Queen Hecuba. Andrea walked to school by herself, the other people ignoring her. She was just a
figure clothed in black, a piece of the scenery. She laughed a some what bitter laugh. I'm turning into a shadow, she thought.
Two familiar flashes of red and green passed her by. It was Daria and Jane. Andrea kind of admired them, Jane for her
artistic talent, Daria for her intelligence and defiance toward authority. Yet, like her mother, they liked to complain about
nonexistent problems. They weren't really outcasts. Pseudo-oucasts. Would-be outcasts. People payed attention to them,
which was more than one could say about Andrea. It wasn't envy. It was more like a certain curiosity, as in should I get
to know them? Maybe. It was always maybe. She had never had a friend before, except her room and all things Weird and
Gothic. It was partly her fault. She was more antisocial than Daria, and had never said much. To anyone. But then it was
also other people. They thought she was a Satanist. She was an Atheist. They thought she would shoot up the school. Her
violence existed only in her comics. Andrea looked up. She was having English with Mr. O'Neil. Mr. Sensitivity. Mr. Boneless
Chicken. She liked writing, but Mr. O'Neil made her brain shut down, slowly eating away at itself from annoyance. Science
was next. She got paired up with Daria to do a lab project fungus reproduction. Mrs. Barch was really into it, because there
aren't any male fungi. Nor are there female, but she ommited that minor deatail. As the day dragged on, Andrea grew
increasingly desperate to leave. The last bell sounded, and it was all Queen Hecuba after that. Queen Hecuba had just finished
flogging the gym teacher when two women who looked quite a bit like Daria and Jane entered the torture chamber. Andrea
was slightly freaked out by how she unconciously drew them. And she didn't freak easily. This was totally unfamiliar to her, the
idea that people, or more that she, could interact with others. The safe distance she had maintained from social life was slowly
growing smaller with curiosity. Andrea hated that. As much as she was strong and open to new things, she didn't want people
screwing up her life. She flopped down on her bed, wondering if it was possible to acquire narcolepsy. The black walls were
her friends. Queen Hecuba was her friend. She drifted off to sleep until she heard the phone ring. "Hello?" she said, somewhat
apprehensive. The last time someone called was for her comic book subcription renewal. "Hi," said the person on the other end.
"It's Daria. We have to work on the science project..."
Andrea woke up, her spiky black hair in her face, her eerily perceptive eyes clouded by sleep. She had been up late last
night, working on a comic. This one was about Queen Hecuba, Andrea's Medeval alter-ego. Her parents called her down
for breakfast, so she reluctantly put on her usual Gothic attire and slouched downstairs. Her mother was bitching about
her dark lipstick. That was good. Andrea enjoyed pissing off her parents, who found it hard to believe that they had an
artist and an outcast, and were always pushing her to do things. Like take jobs. Either way, she loved her lipstick. It was
a part of her, just like Queen Hecuba. Andrea walked to school by herself, the other people ignoring her. She was just a
figure clothed in black, a piece of the scenery. She laughed a some what bitter laugh. I'm turning into a shadow, she thought.
Two familiar flashes of red and green passed her by. It was Daria and Jane. Andrea kind of admired them, Jane for her
artistic talent, Daria for her intelligence and defiance toward authority. Yet, like her mother, they liked to complain about
nonexistent problems. They weren't really outcasts. Pseudo-oucasts. Would-be outcasts. People payed attention to them,
which was more than one could say about Andrea. It wasn't envy. It was more like a certain curiosity, as in should I get
to know them? Maybe. It was always maybe. She had never had a friend before, except her room and all things Weird and
Gothic. It was partly her fault. She was more antisocial than Daria, and had never said much. To anyone. But then it was
also other people. They thought she was a Satanist. She was an Atheist. They thought she would shoot up the school. Her
violence existed only in her comics. Andrea looked up. She was having English with Mr. O'Neil. Mr. Sensitivity. Mr. Boneless
Chicken. She liked writing, but Mr. O'Neil made her brain shut down, slowly eating away at itself from annoyance. Science
was next. She got paired up with Daria to do a lab project fungus reproduction. Mrs. Barch was really into it, because there
aren't any male fungi. Nor are there female, but she ommited that minor deatail. As the day dragged on, Andrea grew
increasingly desperate to leave. The last bell sounded, and it was all Queen Hecuba after that. Queen Hecuba had just finished
flogging the gym teacher when two women who looked quite a bit like Daria and Jane entered the torture chamber. Andrea
was slightly freaked out by how she unconciously drew them. And she didn't freak easily. This was totally unfamiliar to her, the
idea that people, or more that she, could interact with others. The safe distance she had maintained from social life was slowly
growing smaller with curiosity. Andrea hated that. As much as she was strong and open to new things, she didn't want people
screwing up her life. She flopped down on her bed, wondering if it was possible to acquire narcolepsy. The black walls were
her friends. Queen Hecuba was her friend. She drifted off to sleep until she heard the phone ring. "Hello?" she said, somewhat
apprehensive. The last time someone called was for her comic book subcription renewal. "Hi," said the person on the other end.
"It's Daria. We have to work on the science project..."