"Korinne Anders?"

School. Every time I heard that word, it was like getting a shot. Homeroom was already something to dread, most of the students whispering sympathetic words. Couldn't they understand that I wanted to be left alone?

"Here."

"Oh, I'm so sorry for your loss, Korinne."

Here we go again.

"It's okay," I mumbled, mentally adding a 'Leave me alone'. She proceeded with the role call, and the bell rang after a few monotonous minutes. I was the first to leave, rushing out of the classroom as if there was a fire in it.

As I exited, Kimberly Moth, known to the public as Kitten, walked over and shoved the books out of my arms. I looked at her curiously. 'Wasn't she my best friend just last week?'

"Since your parents are gone, Anders, you're officially a geek." She spun on her heel and trotted off to first period, followed by wanna-bees Tara Markov, Karen Beecher, and surprisingly the semi-gothic, formerly non-popular Rachel Roth.

'Rachel and Kitten are friends? This can't be good; Rachel's hated me since fourth grade when I accidentally sprayed frog guts on her shirt when we were dissecting… That was fun. Then again, it's not fun, since they're going to do anything and everything to take me down.'

I smiled grimly, shaking my head solemnly. "At least they're not in many of my classes." I knelt to the floor to pick up some books, and found myself getting them handed to me. "Thank you," I said shyly, tucking a lock of unruly red hair behind my ear.

"You're welcome." I glanced up and managed to get a good look at him.

He was hot. With spiked ebony hair with sunglass-covered eyes, he was the very definition of hot.

"Want to sit with me at lunch?" I nodded, blushing slightly. I recognized him from a few of my classes, namely my AP classes. "Kori, right?"

"Yes. Richard Grayson?"

"Yeah. Well, see you at lunch!" He left, making me wish desperately for English class.

The rest of the morning passed uneventfully. I luckily avoided Kitten and her Wanna-Bee Kitten Club, which let me breath a sigh of relief.

I wandered into the cafeteria, scanning the cliques for Richard. I spotted him sitting at a lone table, next to an odd teen with greenish hair and a mischievous atmosphere around him. Walking over, all eyes unluckily on me, I took a seat next to him.

"Hi, I'm Kori."

"Garfield Logan, nice to meet you. Meat is a waste of time. Up with tofu and soy. Animals rule."

"Those are his mottos," Richard told me, shooting a look at Garfield.

I suppressed a snicker. "Catty much, hey Gar?"

"Hey! Despite all of your thinkings, I'm NOT a cat! Plus, I like dogs way better."

Richard eyed Garfield. "Despite is a big word, are you sure we have the right Garfield here?"

I raised my eyebrow. "Thinkings is not a word…"

"Dude, I am so Gar, and it so is!"

"Look it up in the dictionary."

"It's not like I carry one around with me! Who does?"

I produced a pocket-sized dictionary from my purse.

Garfield groaned. "Great, now I'm stuck with two smart people!" Richard and I hid smiles. I caught his eye and he flashed me a thumbs-up.

They finally allowed us to get our lunches, Richard a pizza, me a simple salad. As Richard and I progressed slowly back to our table, Victor Stone, big man on campus and major jock, stuck his foot out and promptly tripped him.

The whole tenth grade burst into laughter.

I helped Richard up. 'Stupid imbeciles. They seemed to worship me on Friday, a new week and I'm old news.'

Fortunately his lunch hadn't spilled, and we ate in peace. That is, until someone started a food fight by chucking some macaroni at Emma Darwin's head.

Garfield joined in enthusiastically, and was throwing a carrot as the principal walked in. Two other boys besides him got a morning detention for a month. He looked dejectedly at me, like a wounded puppy. "Garfield, I'm not doing your detention for you, and neither is Richard."

"Fine, wusses."

Lunch ended and the periods after it flew by. However, I wasn't so blessed at the end of the day.

I entered Foreign History, a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Mr. Molder, the teacher, greeted me (a first for any student) and I rolled my eyes. We called him Old Moldy because he annoyed everyone so much, especially with truckloads of homework every night. As I sat down, I remembered something that made me cringe and feel like throwing up.

Kitten and Tara just had to be in this class, didn't they?

"Nice clothes Anders, going Goth?" Tara giggled, her laugh high-pitched and irritating. I looked down at my black attire and sighed.

"It's called mourning, Kitten."

"And why would you need to mourn? Your good-for-nothing- " I punched her in the nose. "OW! YOU LITTLE BITCH!"

"Serves you right," I muttered.

"MISS ANDERS!" I turned around to be faced with a very irked history teacher. "Detention, after school!" Old Moldy was all red in the face, resembling a wrinkled, rotten tomato.

Yes, my life was going perfectly. "She insulted-"

"TAKE YOUR SEAT, MISS ANDERS, SO WE CAN CONTINUE WITH THE LESSON!" I mentally stuck my tongue out at him and sat down as Kitten rushed from the room, accompanied by a hysterical Tara. Blood poured freely from Kitten's nose and they were screaming something about calling 911. I rolled my eyes.

The blood… the same type that had covered my living room… my eyes grew wide, and I was thankful when the bell rang for the end of the day. I ran home, not bothering to wait for the buses, and into the bathroom, beginning to scream. I was grateful that Kami wasn't home yet.

I guess school isn't everything, but up until now, most of my life had revolved around it.

A/N: Kinda odd chapter, but I hope it was okay. Please review! (Thanks to all that already have.) Catch ya later! (Red X ROCKS.) –StarletOfTheForest