A Troubled Life

Chapter 1

A lonely girl walks down the street from her home, kicking rocks and smaller pebbles as she looks down to the pavement in front of her. He puts her headphones on and starts a playlist on her phone, an assortment of sad songs as she walks to her college campus. She arrives at her college within ten minutes, walking past multiple groups of students, large and small. She keeps her eyes locked on the cement path, avoiding eye contact as she goes inside the main building.

She turns left from the main office and walks down the hall to her locker. She tries to make herself small as other students walk behind her, laughing and having a good time. 'I could never be like them' she thought to herself, every day was a nightmare for her.

Since she was young and in middle school she could never make friends. She never knew what to say, and was incredibly shy her whole life. And any advancement to make a new friend always ended badly for her, rude comments or gestures about her as a person made her learn to keep her mouth shut. In her mind friends were nothing but a hassle, and that her life wasn't ever going to be good.

She reaches up and spins the combination lock and opens her locker door, looking at the different thick textbooks for her classes. She takes out two of them for her math and history classes and shuts her locker. She turns to leave down the hall, her hood of her sweater up over her headphones. She trips over her feet by accident, looking behind her only to see one of the popular girls has tripped her. She ignores the girl and her friend group and collects her books, standing up and rushing to class.

"Mia, you're late to class. Again." Her teacher says.

Mia apologizes quietly and rushes to the back of the room to her seat. She sets out a notebook from her bag and her computer on her desk. The teacher begins her lessons for that day, Mia focusing on writing down the most important details from each slide on her laptop. An hour later after the class ends she endures the trouble from other students. Teachers see how sad she is every day and they try to help her, but with not success in getting her to talk. At the end of the day Mia walks home alone, listening to her music as she takes the fastest path home.

"How were your classes today Mia?" her mother asks when she enters the home.

Mia replies in silence and goes straight to her room, locking the door behind her. Her mother has tried many times to speak with Mia, but can't get a word out of her. Her mom faces a lot of pressure each day. She has to work, clean, and do most of the cooking as she raises Mia on her own. Mia's father had been killed in the previous year, a hit and run incident on the freeway when he was going to work.

Mia quietly sits at her desk, finishing her homework for that day and reviewing her notes. She listens to her music with a portable speaker the rest of that night, skipping dinner for that day. The following morning Mia returns to college early, passing by everyone else as is her custom. However one girl who sits in the front of her math class taps her shoulder, waving 'hi' to her.

"Oh, hey there" Mia says quietly and greets her.

"I was wondering if you'd like to study for the coming exam together?" the student asks her. "That is if you want to, I don't want to force you."

"Thanks for the offer" Mia replies and walks past her.

The other student follows her to her first class, joining her as she sits at the back of the room.

"Can I ask you something?" she says. "Why do you not like people? I don't think you're a bad person, you seem really nice despite being the quietest person in the campus. I would like to be your friend Mia, but if you don't want to then I completely understand."

"What's your name?" Mia asks.

"My name is Sandra, Sandra Wilns. It's a bit weird of a name," she says with a laugh. "What's your last name?"