Kathryn brushed her long red hair.
"Ouch!!" a piece of hair had become knotted in the brush. She tried to untangle it, until she realised that she should just brush it out. Suddenly, her alarm clock blared. It vibrated and fell off the nightstand, lying on her bedroom floor, wiggling.
"Dammit!" she had pressed the snooze button instead of the off button for the third time that morning. She quickly turned it off to stop the dreadful noise, and then ran downstairs to grab her breakfast. She put an English muffin in the toaster, and tapped her foot impatiently while waiting for it to pop up again.
"Hello darling!" Kathryn's parents swanned into the room. They believed their daughter was perfect. Perfectly responsible, reliable. Always handed assignments in on time, never got into trouble at school. Kathryn knew that these little traits were really glaring faults. She was too responsible, too reliable. In other words, boring. But maybe all that would change, now that she was in the Orange County, California. "Ready for your first day at Harbor High?" her mom sang. She was always singing.
"Yes, I'm ready mom!" she was glad when her muffin popped, so she could butter it, then run upstairs and eat it.
As the crumbs spilled onto her bedroom floor, Kathryn looked at herself in the mirror, again doubting her choice of outfit for her first day of school. She has opted for a pale pink mini, with little flares at the bottom of the skirt, white flip-flops that she had bought from a shop called "FCUK" in England, and a white vest top with tiny butterflies on the straps. 'I look okay,' she thought, but she was still unsure. She picked up her little bag – she could barely fit all her things in it, but she couldn't be seen with a huge rucksack! She ran the straighteners over her hair one last time, and headed down the stairs.
"Bye Mom! Bye Dad!" she ran out of the house before her mother could come and sing to the whole street about how happy she was that her daughter was going to Harbor High.
She started to walk up the path when she saw a black SUV pull up towards her. The window slid down and a girl leaned out of the window.
"Hey! Are you going to Harbor?" she asked Kathryn.
"Yeah...I gather that you are, too."
"Yeah, listen, do you want a ride?" Kathryn was just about to respond, when another girl poked her head between the two front seats.
"What's the hold up?" she saw Kathryn. "Oh."
"Yes, I would love a ride. Thanks!"
"Great! The back door should be open," she turned to look at the girl sitting behind her, "Summer."
"Sure, whatever Coop." the girl now known as Summer opened the for Kathryn to get in, and smiled.
"So what's your name?" she asked Kathryn.
"I'm Kathryn. I just moved here from New York." She added, hoping it would make her sound cooler than she actually was.
"I'm Summer. And this is Coop, otherwise known as Marissa."
"Hello?" Kathryn had failed to notice the blonde girl sitting on the other side of Summer. "I'm Holly. It'll be so great to have you at Harbor with us!" Kathryn laughed – Holly's enthusiasm was infectious.
"I'm the social chair at Harbor." Marissa started speaking again, "I organize all the dances, parties, everything like that. Summer and Holly are cheerleaders, but right now they're on hiatus, because it's water polo season, and they don't really have cheerleaders. When you show up at school with us, you'll become instantly popular..."
Kathryn tuned out while Marissa talked about the rules and regulations of being popular.
It was an odd word
Popular.
It meant so many things. It meant playing your cards right. It meant always having friends. Living in a bubble. Safety.
Kathryn was never popular in her old school. She had concentrated on her studies, only hanging out with her best friend Liz, and her boyfriend Alex. Liz had never had a boyfriend. Maybe it was that that made them unpopular. Kathryn had broken up with Alex as soon as she found out that she was moving. It had been awkward – he didn't understand why they couldn't have a long-distance relationship – but he did understand that she didn't want to see him anymore. He hadn't called her since she'd left.
"Kathryn? Hello?" Summer was waving her hand frantically in front of Kathryn's face.
"Sorry, you guys. I was just wondering what it's going to be like at Harbor."
"Oh, well you don't have to wonder any more – we're here!" Marissa cried.
Kathryn opened the door of the car and stepped out, and almost instantly, she felt the eyes of the entire student body upon her. She became aware of Summer and Marissa on either side of her, shielding her from the gaze of the dorks, nerds, losers and everyone that was deemed unworthy to be the friends of cheerleaders. She knew exactly who they were – she used to be one of them.
She walked to class with the three girls, and sat down in an empty space in between Holly and a guy she didn't know. She touched him on the shoulder –
"Hi." But before he could respond, she was prodded by Holly:
"No." It was only a shake of the head, but it's message was clear and loud. She couldn't talk to this guy.
"Oh," Kathryn looked back at the guy. "Sorry," she mouthed. He nodded and smiled, and then looked back down at his comic book.