Focus

1

High school was a scary place for some people. It includes drama and losing friends on top of cliques and cliches. Nothing was exciting about high school except for the parties. Why did we even have to go to high school? Brylee looked up from her phone as her dad pulled into the parking lot to her new school. Brylee hated starting over, especially when it was in the middle of the year. Her family had to move around a lot due to her dad's job. Brynlee's dad was never too upfront about what he did for work or how they made as much money as they did, but she never questioned it. She thought that "ignorance is bliss' was the route to go with this one.

Brynlee was never a popular girl. She was in her sophomore year and she only ever had a group of three friends, and that was three schools ago. She never had a boyfriend until she was in eighth grade and didn't even have her first kiss until last Christmas. Brynlee was considerably shy and didn't care for the social interaction that going to high school comes with. Her dad came to a stop and sighed, looking over to Brynlee knowing she didn't want to get out of the car. Brynlee looked back at her dad and sighed in response. "I hope this doesn't blow," she said as she began to get out of the car.

"I hope so too, sugarplum," her dad responded. She sighed again heavily and pushed the car door open and stepped out of the vehicle. She shoved her phone in her pocket and felt in her bag to make sure she wasn't forgetting her headphones or charger. She offered a weak smile to her dad,

"I love you, dad, see you later."

Brynlee closed the car door and made her way across the front of it to the sidewalk that led to the entrance of her 2nd school this year. It was the middle of the term and Brynlee didn't know what to expect from the school. In the past she has had to deal with being bullied and picked on, she's dealt with not having any friends at all, not even a partner to work with in class. Brynlee didn't know what was wrong with her but as she got older, she kept trying to convince herself that she did.

By time Brynlee was 14 she had been admitted twice, arrested once. Her mom was always disappointed in her after the first time they found out she was hurting herself. Eventually Brynlee's mom started to drink more than a glass of wine at dinner every night, it was one at dinner, three before bed. Brynlee's dad started to sleep in the guest bedroom and it has been like that ever since. Brynlee was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder when she first turned 15 and was put on the strongest medication they had, per her moms recommendation. Brynlee's dad at this point was her closest friend, and she was okay with that. Her mom was not.

Brynlee followed the sidewalk leading up to a pair of large, tall black twin doors. Brynlee thought that this must have been an old school and didn't read into it too much. The doors were held open by a mechanism at the top. She walked through the doors and entered a wide hallway with lockers lining the walls with occasional gaps in between them for the doors to what Brynlee assumed were classrooms. She walked down the hall a little further to find the hallway breaking off into two more hallways, across from each other. She looked up at the celling to search for a sign pointing her in the correct direction to the front office so she could get her classes.

Brynlee's phone buzzed and she looked down to find a text from her dad.

How is it going? The text read. Brynlee sighed and went to reply when the bell rung and a tall skinny girl bumped into her shoulder, knocking her phone out of her hand. The girl kept running to her class can Brynlee bent down to pick up her phone. All she noticed of the girl from behind was her fiery red hair and her bright pink biker jacket. She didn't bother calling after the girl but it didn't change how irritated she was about almost breaking her phone. Its going, Brynlee texted back to her father. She clicked the power button on her phone and shoved it in her coat pocket.