I sat there, hiding my face as best I could, even though that boy, Sean, was sitting right behind me. Degrassi's it a lot different from my other school; the people here are way more… accommodating. Except, for Sean Cameron, I thought as I glared at him from the corner of my eye. This coincidentally, gave me a headache, so I turned away, feeling sick to my stomach out of both embarrassment and anger.
"Ok guys, settle down, we have a new student here today all the way from Colorado." My heart skipped a beat, No! No, please, don't make me stand up, don't make me stand up…. "Kari, if you would introduce yourself to the class please? Come on up here." The science teacher moved so that I could stand straight in front of everyone. I caught my composer before it flew out of my hands, and straightened my hair. As I walked towards the front of the class, I could feel his eyes on me, watching my every move. I wasn't quite sure what to think about Sean Cameron yet, but I knew that because of what had happened that morning, we would be "running into each other" a lot this year.
"My name is Kari Archer, and I moved here from a small town in Colorado because my dad got a job offer here." I smiled, waiting to catch a few sets of eyes; there were none. "So… um, I'm really into Japanese animation and manga. I pretty much read it all the time!" I laughed, yes, it was a forced, stupid laugh, but I did notice that one pair of eyes was on me, more interested than it had been before. "I really like dinosaurs too, and I'm pretty much a punk at heart, even though I don't always dress like it. I'm happy to be here at Degrassi!" I smiled, waved for some reason and took my seat next to the boy who was watching me, and in front of Sean.
"You like manga?" The boy asked tentatively. "Because I really like it…"
"Yeah, I love manga and anime! What's your name, maybe would could trade manga sometime!" I was so relieved; not only was there a kinda cute boy next to me who liked what I did, but he was also helping me to take my mind off of Sean. Wait, dam! I was thinking about him again.! That's it, I decide to never speak to Sean Cameron as long as I lived.
"Uh… hello, Kari?" It was the boy, "Uh, I said my name's Toby."
"Oh great! Nice to meet you!" I smiled, trying to make up for zoning out right in the middle of our conversation. We went back to work, and I boy did I work. I refused to let myself think about Sean, I have to focus on my school work. I have to get good grades and not let my parents be disappointed in me, and make lots of new friends so I won't be a loser, and talk to Sean so that he will li---- NO! Aah, stop! You hate Sean! You hate Sean, you hate Sean, you hate Sean…. And so continued my little mantra until the bell rang out, signaling that I could leave this god-forsaken class and get as far away from -it- as possible!
I rushed towards the door and down the hall to my new locker. I opened it and began organizing it and rearranging it and things of that general nature. I was just starting to feel at peace, like I had found my center, when I heard my name mentioned. I looked around, pretending not to actually look around, and saw Sean with this group of what appeared to be gangsters standing behind me. They hadn't noticed me there yet, and I turned back to my locker, ears perked to their conversation.
"Dude, who was that chick that smashed into you this morning? She looked like an idiot."
"I don't know, some new girl from out of the country."
"I bet she's a tramp, with that haircut of hers and those pants. What was she thinking?"
Following this remark, they burst out laughing. My heart jumped into my throat, did I look like a tramp? I felt hot, angry tears well up in my eyes as I closed my locker. I ran off to my next class, accidentally brushing the shoulder of the 'ring leader' of Sean's little posse.
"Watch where you're going!" He snapped at me, grabbing my shoulder to bring me back. He recognized my face and smirked, pushing me into the middle of his friends so that I couldn't get away. They started circling, like a shark circles a struggling fish on it's last ounce of life. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? The little tramp that messed up my boy's morning… What do you got to say for yourself, tramp?" I bit back my tears and spat in his face.
BAD IDEA! My head screamed at me; but he was in just as much shock as I was. "Who do you think you are?" He roared, and shoved me backwards, into a locker. "You better watch your back tramp, because you just made five new enemies." He raised his fist, but it was stopped by someone. I opened my eyes, Sean's hand was gripping the ring leader's arm tightly. "Leave her alone Jay, it's no big deal."
"Maybe not for you, Cameron, but I gotta score to settle with this little bitch." He yanked his arm free and stalked off with the others. I just sat there, dumbfounded and afraid. I felt a hand on my shoulder and followed it up to Sean's face.
"Don't… don't let them get to you alright? Jay's just in a bad mood… Just, just watch out…" He turned away and followed after them. Was he trying to be nice just then? I thought as I walked off to my class. Maybe Sean Cameron wasn't as bad as I thought he was…. But then again….