Chapter 1

Every morning I had to look at that ugly freak staring back at me in the mirror. But hello my friend, you're all I've got!

I splashed some water carelessly on my face and wiped it dry. Refreshing. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of the clock. 6.37 am! Oh crap!

I cut my usual dillydallying, slid quickly into the uniform, grabbed a sandwich and rushed out of the house in record time.

Phew. 6.41. I was safe. Sure didn't wanna be late on the first day of school!

What a fine day. It was such a tranquil morning. I bit into my delicious homemade......soggy......squishy......tasted like......mouldy bread! YUCK! I coughed everything out into the bag and eyed the slimy green mess with suspicion.

Sheesh, my eyes searched for a trash can. I spied one about 5 metres away. Then I paused and made a feeble attempt to "shoot" it into the bin. Oh crap! It sailed way over and landed onto the road. I winced as a car ran over it.

I looked around cautiously to see if anyone had witnessed my humiliation and heaved a sigh of relief. Good, there was only a little boy sipping at his packet drink peacefully. So much for panicking.

Maybe not. He threw his packet drink at 10 metres and it landed perfectly in the bin. He then showed me the "LOSER" sign and ran away laughing! Oh man. That was so embarrassing.

I spun around and walked to the bus stop. Ahh! My bus! It was leaving! I dashed forward. Hey! Hello? I waved my arms frantically at the bus driver. Stop! Stop! Stop! It took me awhile to realise that I was still flagging even though the bus had stopped.

I got onto the bus, face red with embarrassment. I wished the aliens would come and abduct me to divert attention. As if that wasn't enough, the driver stared at me with amusement and said, "Young lady, I may be old but certainly not blind, you know." I gave a little nod and with my head down I hurried to the most inconspicuous part of the bus, wishing people would stop staring.

I gazed out of the window at the passing scenery.

Here goes the first day of high school...

******

I peered from underneath of my cap at that ridiculous girl sitting one seat away from me. I couldn't help feeling embarrassed for her. Some people are just so sad.

Weird. She's wearing Shohoku's uniform. Fancy going to the same school as a maniac.

Yawn... Mum had to make me take the bus. Just because I destroyed my 11th bike? Now, I have to work for a new bike.

It was impossible to sleep on the bus. You had to make sure you got off at the right stop. On a bike it was so much easier! You see, I had practised taking the route to Shohoku a lot of times over the holidays. I could sleep all the way until the bike hit the Shohoku gate, at 10 minutes 36 seconds. Then I would have just enough time to get to class. Maximum sleeping time! I had it planned to the most precise detail.

But the ice cream man had to come along and smash into my precious bike! What's more? He insisted that it was I that had crashed into his trolley! Now what type of logic is that? I was angry all right.

I can't wait to get to class and sleep. Yawn...

******

Damn. I had to forget my watch. I was practically pouring out the contents of my bag into my arms, looking for it. Okay, I really didn't br...... WHAM! I smashed right smack into the pillar. My stuff scattered to the floor. That really made my day. A couple of girls were giggling their heads off at my misfortune. I shot them a look of disgust and gathered the stuff I had dropped on the ground.

"Hey Rika!" I heard a familiar voice call out. Oh great, this was the best time to meet an old classmate.

I turned around and stood up, "Kento! Hey, what's up?"

"It has been quite long, eh?" he said.

"Yeah sure. 4 years is like 1460 days! What's with the spiked hair?"

"Not bad, eh?" He touched his jet-black hair. "What's your class?"

"1-10. You?" I replied, trying to balance everything in my hands.

"1-9, one class away," he smiled. "Too bad. Need some help, don't you?"

"Nah, I'm doing just fine, don't worr..." PLOP! My stuff scattered onto the floor. Darn.

"You haven't changed," he laughed. Both of us bent down, picking up my stuff. Bio file, hole-puncher, notebook, watch... Hey! I found my watch! Cool man... CONK! Our heads collided, while I was getting too excited. And I fell onto the floor as I lost my balance. Funny, I felt 2 thick poles behind me and tried to grab one of them to get up but it moved!

"Asshole." I jumped up and spun around.

A guy was standing there, looking at me incredulously.

******

I really wonder how many times one can make a fool of herself in one day. Sigh. Sigh. And she said "Shit" in my face.

I ignored her and prepared to walk on when Kento called out, "Kaede! You going to work at Tadano's this weekend?"

I gave a faint nod, without turning around and then strolled on, hands in my pockets.

Behind me I heard that girl say, "Who's that? He's so cocky!"

******

Man, that guy was so damn cocky! Can't stand that sort of people. They ought to be shot! I rolled my eyes, ah well. There are always black sheep in the herd.

If I could fall into the sky, do you think time will pass us by... That's such a nice song... Put the morning's events behind.

1st session of the day: Biology. Not bad.

I stepped into the classroom and was greeted by a bunch of "Hey"s and "Hi"s by ex-schoolmates. It was really great to see them again.

But something else had caught my attention. What a comical spectacle! A bunch of bimbotic girls were trying desperately to get into a pyramid formation. Are they okay? First it was that weird guy, now it was a cheerleading session. Hurray!

I hope one of them falls.

"Aaaaah!" BAM! Bimbo 1 (how about B1 for easy reference?) had fallen......onto the desk of some sleeping guy. Maybe I did possess some supernatural talent that I'd never discovered.

He woke up with a start. His back was towards me but I could have imagined his facial expression. Poor guy. Fancy being disturbed in your sleep like that!

What's more, B1 did not budge! Instead, she lay there giving him seductive looks (or at least trying to). She looked like a robotic doll with malfunctional eyelids that couldn't stop fluttering. My goodness.

The guy stood up and said, "Get off asshole." Whoa, I've got to get to know this guy. Good for him.

B1 looked at him with watery eyes and tugged at his hand whining, "Kaede-kun..." What? You mean he's that guy?

"Stick to Rukawa, miss," he replied coldly. With that he flung off her hand. He sauntered to the back , where I was sitting, sat down and slept. Geez.

It was him all right.

******