Brittany (xobadrhymer03)
Chapter One:
Ellie Nash laid on her bed, her room filled with beams of brilliant light. It hit her face, causing the girl to groan in aggravation. It was this time of day that made her angry. It meant she had to go to school. She hated Degrassi Community school. Sure, It had it's up sides..But, never anything too first-rate. She eyed her digital alarm clock. She had five minutes. Five lousy minutes until she had to leave and go to her school. Well, It was better to get a early start, at least she could flee the morning "traffic".
Groaning, she rolled off of the bed, landing with a crash onto her book-bag. Gasping in pain, she slowly got onto her feet. Pulling the book-bag off of her bedroom floor, she slung it over her shoulder. Ready for the day? No..Absolutely not. But, she didn't have any choice, unless she skipped...No, she couldn't miss a day of school. Getting those good grades only pulled her closer to that day she graduated.
Walking out of the bedroom, Ellie realized it was even brighter out there. Using her hands to protect her eyes from the blinding light, she ran down the hallway and to her apartment's door, leading herself outside.
She was astounded by how cold it was, a frigid wave of frostyair crept up the back of her shirt, sending shivers through her body. Wrapping her arms around her chest, she ran down the narrow staircase leading to a newly paved road. It still smelt of new tar, making her stomach churn. She ignored the smell, starting to walk a little faster. But, it kept catching up to her..So, she started running.
"Oh my God..It's only a fricking stench, Ellie" Ellie told herself "Get a grip"
She shook her head and stopped running, only walking at a fast pace. Taking slow and deep breaths in, she could feel her lungs freezing, If that was even possible. Looking forward, she noticed the pack of bunched up pine trees separating herself and the school for one another. She lived in a small apartment community which basically housed old and brittle men and women over fifty. The only person around her age was a nineteen year old cocaine addict named Kanye.
Looking at her watch, she saw she was almost late. Everyone had to be into the school before eight-thirty or the door would be locked and you would be considered skipping. This rule had been enforced after the shooting. Ellie thought they were idiots. This wasn't going to stop anything, If they were so concerned why don't they give full cavity searches? But, that was a big no. They considered it a invasion of privacy. She rolled her eyes and started through the forested area.
It didn't take very long to get through it, about two or three minutes at the most. Ellie didn't care how long it too though, only more time to herself. That was a good thing, it gave her time to think about her life, the world and other important things. But, when she was facing the school...All those thoughts disappeared.
Everyone was divided into three different groups when it came to their liking of school. The ones who loved school, the ones who didn't give a damn or not and the ones like Ellie, who thought it was hell. That was the way she sorted it out, it was actually her way of sorting. Placing her boot clad feet onto the first staircase step, she sighed. On the second step, she growled. By the forth she was screaming...When Ellie stopped she eyed everyone around her. The dumbfound looks on their faces told her the same thing. Rolling her eyes, she walked into school.
The hallways were abuzz with teenagers from age twelve to eighteen. Not a very good comanation if you asked Ellie. Immature children with overachieving seniors...It was terrible. Walking down the hallway she saw many familiar faces. But, the person she was looking for was nowhere in sight.
"Where is she?" Ellie thought out loud
"Where is who?" A voice said from behind her
Ellie jumped around, started by the voice. Her fist were clenched together, ready for a punch at anytime. But, she let grip...It was just Ashley. Her best friend's baby blue eyes sparkled with laughter. Ashley smirked at Ellie, trying not to laugh out loud. Ellie grimaced and sighed again.
"Sorry about that. I didn't know you were in one of those moods today" Ashley said
"I'm not in any mood" Ellie said, placing her hands on her hips
"I see" Ashley said, sarcastically "Well, anyways...Craig told me he loves the group you both go to. It's really working for him. He's happy"
Ellie smiled, "That's good to hear. But, can we talk about anything other than Craig for once?" she asked
"I guess...If you're so irritated with him" Ashley said, frowning
"I'm not irritated with him. It just gets annoying and I'm kind of stressed today, so it would help out" Ellie said
"Not talking about Craig can help your stress?" Ashley asked, a confused expression on her face
"No..It's just..God!" Ellie said, pulling violently at a strand of her hair
"Maybe I should leave you alone of awhile. Let you cool off" Ashley said, backing away from Ellie
Ellie grimaced and walked away. All Ashley could ever think or talk about was Craig. Craig this, Craig that...It got annoying. Craig wasn't a friend to Ellie at all. Sure, she was happy he was going to group. But, that didn't mean Ashley couldn't talk about other things. Come on, there are a lot of subjects to endlessly babble about in this world. Couldn't she pick another one for at least one second? Craig isn't that perfect. She didn't consider someone with Bipolar Disorder to be perfect at all.
"I'm not a very nice person at all, am I?" Ellie asked herself
"Hun...You are a nice person. You just need to think nice that is" Paige said, smiling at her
Oh my God, another pep talk. Ellie was really get ticked off. Everytime she asked herself one simple question, someone random answered it for her. She faced Paige and put on a plastic smile. The girl looked like an Abercrombie and Fitch model. Everything was pink. Ellie didn't hate that color. Just how Paige wore it. But, that didn't mean she hated "Miss Perfect". She actually had grown a liking of her since the year before.
"Don't put on the fake smile of yours. It's pretty obvious" Paige said
"Thanks for telling" Ellie said, sarcastically
"Anytime for a friend" Paige said, smiling
Ellie turned the opposite direction of her "friend" and smirked. She felt sorry for Paige. Ever since that jerk, Spinner, had broken up with her she was...Ellie really couldn't explain it. Maybe she was more secretive. It was like she was hiding something from everyone.
Ellie shrugged this off and continued to walk, the hall seemed to expand with every step she took. It looked miles long as if she would never reach her destination. She ignored this and looked around. Everyone looked so happy, there were only a few people who were not as excited about their lives. Ellie could see four of them standing near each other right then.
Emma Nelson...She was one person that Ellie really felt sorry for. The girl had been through a lot. She stopped and smiled at her, not getting a way or smile or anything in return. She didn't really expect Emma to say "Hi" to her. They had never been on good terms. After Sean and Ellie had gotten together, Ellie had seen the looks she would give her. That is why she had been cautious. She didn't want to loose Sean. But, guess what? She did anyways.
Emma looked over at Ellie and frowned, pulling at a strand of her long, golden blond hair. She didn't want to talk to anyone today. Ellie caught the frown and cringed. Maybe she should stay away from her for now. Never mess with a girl in pain, you'll get nothing nice in return for it.
Ellie looked away from Emma. Jay, Alex, and Amy were the other three people who weren't enjoying life so much. Jay and Alex weren't very close anyone. They hadn't been for the last two weeks. They were usually the ones who would show love and affection whenever they were together. Hugging and kissing in the hallways, skipping class to make-out in the janitors closet. Nothing stopped those two. Until Jay made his huge mistake.
Ellie didn't even want to think about it. She didn't want to think about them. When Sean had left, she stopped speaking to their group. She wanted to be ridded of their "evil". It only made her life worse. Stealing, drinking, smoking...She didn't do those things. Ellie didn't really want to break any laws.
This was getting really boring to her. Thinking about other people's lives. Ellie laughed, she was pathetic. It was time for class anyways. Maybe she would actually learn something useful today or at least something remotely interesting.She picked up her pace and cut through the thinning crowd of teens.
Her first class was Media Immersion, otherwise know as M.I. Mr. Archibald "Snake" Simpson taught the class. M.I. was her favorite class. One: Because you weren't required to do a lot of actual work and Two: Because she loved computers. Ellie didn't have one at her home, so she looked forward to this class when she went to school. It was a "highlight" of her day. As pathetic as that sounds.
She came upon the door to the M.I. lab and smiled. Opening it up, she walked inside to see many familiar faces. Not faces she were happy to see, but they were sure as hell familiar. Sitting down in her usual seat next to Ashley, she waited for the teacher to speak.
Mr. Simpson was sitting at the edge of his desk, eying the teens. He smiled, standing up. Walking across the room, he sat at an empty computer. "Okay, class. Today you can all update your journals. We haven't for awhile, so I think it's the right time" Mr. Simpson said "But, first...We obviously have to watch the morning announcements"
Ellie sighed. The announcements were annoying. It was always Liberty and Manny. They would say the same thing everyday, just in a different format. She looked over at the clock and started to count. Ten..Nine..Eight..Seven...It always started on time. And as soon as she reached "zero," it did.
Manny and Liberty were sitting at a rounded table, both of them smiling idiotically. Manny's happiness is what stuck out the most. Which is why everyone payed most attention to her or at least that is what Ellie wanted to think was the reason.
"Hi! Manny Santos here!" Manny exclaimed
"And I'm Liberty Van Zandt. We'll start off the announcements with an announcement by Paige Michalchuk" Liberty said, straightening her back
Ellie looked around the room to see that indeed Paige was gone. She sighed and brought her attention back to the television. Paige smiled at everyone for a few seconds before uttering one single word.
"Hey everyone. I know how all of you just love the dances we throw here. Especially our themed ones. So, I came to say that this Friday...The school will be hosting another one of those dances!" Paige said, over excitedly
Ellie laughed. That made no sense at all. Everyone else started to chatter excitedly about the dance, not even listening to Paige's little speech.
"...And because of that the theme for this dance will be: "Costumes Galore"! It will be so much fun. Dressing up is required if you want to come" Paige said, smiling wide "So, find the perfect costume and I hope to see you there!"
Ellie shook her head and looked at her computer screen. She was waiting for Mr. Simpson to say it was alright to log in. She looked over at the balded teacher, he nodded. She quickly typed in her user name and password.
"Any mail?" Ellie asked herself
Ellie clicked to see if she had gotten a "d-mail" from anybody. She usually got a couple each week, but from the same people. Ashley and Marco. She eyed the list of already read and new "d-mail". There were three new messages. One from Ashley, one from Marco and one from..Craig. She raised her eyebrow and started to read his message first.
To: NOLabels
From: overXposed
Hey...I know, It's weird that I'm writing to you. But, I was just wondering if you're going to group tonight? I think I am..I mean if you are..
Craig
Ellie smirked. It was cool that Craig wanted to go to group. He didn't excatly say he wanted to, but Ellie could tell. From one nutcase to another, that's a message. She looked over at Craig. He was half asleep over his keyboard, staring at the computer screen. Was he waiting for a response? Maybe. She sighed and started writing her reply.
To: overXposed
From: NOLabels
Yeah, it is kind of weird, but I don't care. Yes, I am going to group. Why wouldn't I? So, I guess I'll see you there
Ellie
Ellie looked over at Craig, who was practically drooling on his keyboard. A couple minutes later, he finally looked checked his e-mail to see Ellie's message. Craig looked over at her and smiled, nodding his head. Ellie rolled her eyes and went back to her business.
The group was really helping her out. Everyone one going to it was equally messed-up. Some were actually worse than herself. Jerry was the name of the group leader, he was really nice to her. Alway trying to help Ellie and everyone else in the group out.
Nigel was the name of a manic-depressive in the group. He was always so complicated. One second he was easy to read and the next he was a complete mystery to everyone. Nancy was anorexic. Ellie felt sorry for her, but was very annoyed sometimes. She always said she was better. Once she had told about eating a whole bar of chocolate and feeling so proud of herself. But, Ellie found her crying in the bathrooms. All because of a stupid bar of chocolate.
Ellie shook her head and sighed. Looking back to her computer screen, she noticed that her journal hadn't been updated in awhile. Smiling, she decided to. She actually liked spilling her feelings out. It helped her deal with life. Who cares if people could read it? Everyone finds out about your problems somehow anyways, right?
Topic Title: My thoughts on...
My group. I don't think I've written about it yet! Well, to make a very long story short: It's cool. I can actually get the help I need without someone clawing at my back all the time.
Being in the group has gotten me to think about things other than my own problems. Like..Anorexia. A girl in my group is anorexic. She is as thin as a twig. It looks as if anything could make her snap at any moment. Any time. It's scary to think about...Being that way. I would never starve myself or not eat for that long...But, I also thought I would never do anything that was related to self mutilation. I was wrong.
This reminds me of something that happened at my old school..A girl was starving herself. She never ate lunch. The most she ever drank was a couple sips of water from the rancid fountains we had there. But...Someone went to our guidance consular and told her about the girl not eating. This let to the consular telling social security and the girl being sent to a group home..But, does that have anything to do with this? No..I don't think.
Ellie
Ellie sighed, posting what she had just written into her journal. It was just as the bell rang. Next class: English. She quickly logged off of her user-name and stood up, thinking about the day. Group was the next thing she was looking forward to. She hoped that Craig would come, he really needed too.