Beep beep beep beep! I groan and slam my fist down on my alarm clock, making it shut up. I hadn't even opened my eyes yet and I already knew what was going to happen today. Just like the last month of my junior year, I will walk down the halls, and nobody will talk to me. I will eat lunch alone, and nobody will look at me during class. If I try to talk to Clare, she will just turn up her nose and walk away.

Sighing, I dragged myself out of bed and stumbled over to my dresser, grabbing random articles of clothing and then taking them into the bathroom to change. Without looking at myself in the mirror, I got dressed, brushed my hair, and got ready for my first day of senior year. I went back into my room and grabbed the same back pack that I've been using for 5 years. It's a faded, dusty green, but it's mine, and I love it. I knew that Heather, the maid, had already packed it full of new notebooks, pens, and pencils. No doubt they were pink and had flowers all over them, but I didn't care. I'd just draw all over them in black sharpie anyway. I slung my bag over my shoulder and glanced at my window. I grimaced when I looked into the sun, which was peeking through the space between the heavy, black curtains. I quickly went over to the window and pulled the curtains even closer together, eliminating any light that was left in my room. I looked around my room, checking to make sure I didn't forget anything. Satisfied, I grabbed my car keys and iPod, slipped on my grubby Chuck Taylors, and walked out of my room, closing and locking the door.

"Lauren! Lauren, please come here!" Heather called. I shoved my keys deep in my pocket and slowly went down the stairs towards the kitchen. When I walked into the kitchen the first thing I saw was a camera, and then a flash. I covered my face with my hand, protecting my eyes from the blinding flash. Before I could do anything about it, Heather swept me up into a big hug, squeezing the breath out of me.
"My my my! Ohh, you're a beautiful young woman now. My Lauren, off to her last first day of high school." Heather wailed, still hugging me. When she finally let me go, she took a good look at me. She took in my wrinkled, dark shirt and jeans. Sighing, she shook her head, "Why do you do this to yourself, Lauren? You are such a pretty girl, but you scare people. You could have so many friends."
"I don't need friends anymore, Heather. Nobody cares about me anymore, so I don't care about anybody else." I said.
She shook her head, "I care about you, dear." She smiled, "Go on to school. Go and make new friends. I will make you your favorites for dinner tonight." I looked down at my shoes and nodded my head, wanting to please the little maid. When my parents died, she had taken care of me. She was the only family I had and I loved her.
I looked into her bright green eyes and smiled weakly, "I know you care about me, Heather. I'll see you tonight." I quickly kissed her soft, wrinkled cheek then dashed out of the kitchen, grabbing a muffin with me.

The first thing I did when I got into my car was turn on the AC. Even though it was early September, it was still fairly warm. I then sighed and slouched into my seat. I really wasn't looking forward to this year, and I wanted to delay it as much as possible. I turned on my stereo and let the music envelope me.


I walked into the gym to get my schedule and smiled on the inside; it had finally dawned on  me that this would be the last year that I would have to do this. I walked up to the H line and waited for my turn. I groaned when I saw Clare, in her uniform, handing out the schedules for my line. When I finally got to the front of the line, I mumbled out my last name, as if she didn't already know it. I avoided eye contact as she handed me my schedule from the pile. When I try to pull the paper from her hand, she doesn't let go.
"Lay low, Lauren." She says, looking right at me, "For your own good."
Something inside of me snapped and I rip the paper from her grasp. "You can't tell me what to do, Clare." I spit out her name as if it were poison, "You chose not to help me so I'm choosing to ignore your feeble attempts of 'advice'." I then spun around on my heels and stomped out of the gym, leaving the blonde glaring at my back.

I'm sitting in the back of my first period, listening to the physiology teacher drone on about classroom rules and what we'll be learning in the class this year. Listening to the teacher, I'm already regretting signing up for this glass. I was going out on a limb when I wrote AP Physiology on my preferred schedule paper. I was hoping that I could learn about how people think, and why people do what they do, but the teacher sounds like he's reading his lecture from self help books.
I lazily look around at the other students. Not even half look like they want to be here, and the rest look like they're hear for the hopes of easy credit and social time. The teacher tells the class to get out a notebook and write down the class name, our name, and the period on the front and to use it as the class notebook. I have to mentally prepare myself for the visual attack of pink, flowery notebooks and pens, which Heather was bound to have put in my backpack. I slowly open it up and I'm pleasantly surprised to find only 1 black notebook and a few blue and black pens. I gratefully take them out and start writing.

When class gets out I file in behind the other students and walk out into the halls to get to my second period. On my way I notice people watching me and I try to ignore them, but I know something is up. I quicken my pace and avoid all eye contact, keeping my head up high. When I finally reach my second period, which is empty, I let out a large sigh. Get ready for a year of hell.

By fourth period, I know what's going on: Clare. During lunch I saw a group of little freshmen girls looking at me, so I demanded to know what their problem was.
"Don't hurt us!" One of them squeaked.
"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked.
"You put a curse on someone. Everybody knows!"
I groaned. Did they honestly believe something as stupid as that?
Then I smiled, "You better run, piggies! Lest I give you the evil!" They scattered like roaches, most likely happy about the story they now had to tell their friends. Let them talk.