Liv

Chapter 2: New Car

Students scatter the hallway like every other normal day but everything feels different today. I never think I will say this, but I will miss this school if I decide to transfer. The feeling of going to a different school for a short amount of time gave me anxiety. I'm not sure which is worse. Stay or go. If only I could graduate early, all my worries would be gone.

Someone bumps into me from behind, and I take a few steps forward, almost dropping my math book.

"Ops, sorry." Caren says and approaches her group of friends. Caren is the captain of the cheerleader's team. She laces one arm with Jeff's.

My body tingles with goosebumps like always whenever he's around, and all I can do is try to rub the goosebumps away. I want to run in the opposite direction because there is still awkwardness between us after I broke up with him with no explanation at the beginning of Sophomore year. I thought by now, I would have gotten over it already, but sometimes, I catch a glance of him and he would be staring at me. The tingling sensation comes back every time.

"Hey girl!" Tassy taps my shoulder, shoving me a little harder than usual with her shoulder, or it could be that my lack of sleep is finally catching up to me. I lay in bed, tossing and turning all night. The last thing I remember is checking the time, and the clock blurs 3 o'clock. The next thing I knew, the sun was already out, shining through my window's curtain. I wake up with bags underneath my eyes.

"You better stop eying Jeff before Caren kills you." Tassy said.

"Did you finish your essay?" I asked.

"No, I'll do it tonight." We made our way to our lockers. It was right next to each other and has always been this way throughout our highschool years. That's where we met. At the beginning of Sophomore year, she tapped my shoulder and asked if I wanted to hang out with her because she was a new student and desperate for a friend. I didn't have a choice but to say yes because I had just broken up with Jeff and was pretty lonely myself. All my friends were his friends and the majority of them were boys. After I broke up with them, It seems like I also broke up with all those friends because none of them treated me the same. Other than greeting each other, we don't talk. All it takes is one weird look from Jeff and they will scatter like roaches. It must be a boy's code or something.

Tassy waves to someone off to the side. I turn to see Jessica waving back.

"Hi Jessica." Tassy's spirit lifts a beat more.

"I'll be back. I promise, I'm not ditching you." She says before striding off.

I hear Tassy and Jessica chatting by her locker, and I wish I can fit right in and not feel awkward being around other people so I can chat my problems away too. I debated on going over after exchanging my books. I decided to let them have their privacy. I have a gut feeling Jessica doesn't want me there all too much, because of my popularity which, on a scale of one to ten, is a one.

I walk to class. Yesterday's event replays in my head.

Last night, for the first time, my family left me alone. Mom usually would come talk to me by the end of the night and have me talk it out, but I was never much of a talker. Most of the time, I put on a fake smile until she believes me enough to leave me alone. Although I don't like to talk about my feelings, it always makes me feel better after Mom leaves.

"There you are. I was looking for you." Tassy sat down on the empty desk next to mine. "What's wrong? You look tired. Those bags under your eyes are the size of an orange."

I'm the type to lose concentration easily if I don't get enough sleep so I shrugged off her questions, not wanting to talk just yet, afraid I might become irate. Sleep deprivation and horrible news does not blend well together in my world.