Love Is So Cliché

Chapter One: Trips, Petty Shoes and Leo Tolstoy

In high school, everyone has their groups, their squads, or, for the vainer people, their very own entourages. As expected, those with the same interests, beliefs, and ideologies hang out with each other. The unruly jocks with the some-are-civil-some-are-majorly-mean-spirited cheerleaders, the unique nerds with the quirky dorks, and the edgy rockstars with the cute and cool popstars. Of course, Crimson High was no exception to these cliches, and everyone kept to their specific groups. Despite their differences, everyone at Aquamarine High was excited for their Final Year Sweethearts Dance, well everyone, that is except Laura Diamond.

Laura Diamond hated EVERYTHING to do with love. No one, absolutely no one knew why, and quite frankly, they did not seem to care either. Alone she sat in the back of the cafeteria, she was pretty average, -based on people's dumb beauty standards these days-, but then again you could never really see her face because most of the time her head was bent over a book, and her hoodie and baggy track pants hid her features. Laura was a mystery. Was she one that desired to be solved? To be quite frank, no, she was not.

At that particular moment, in the very center of the cafeteria, where the jocks and the cheerleaders sat, Melissa Sapphires, the head of the cheer squad, was "GG-ing" (Giggling and Gossiping) When someone mentioned Laura. "Who?" Melissa asked. "You know, the quiet girl who always wears hoodies and baggy sweatpants or whatever those are." Carol Chrissy, also known as CC and Melissa's best friend, responded whilst rudely pointing at Laura. "Ew! Baggy sweatpants? Why are we talking about someone as tacky as that?" Melissa grimaced as she flipped her strawberry-blonde hair to the side. Everyone at the table laughed and exchanged mischievous glances as Laura got up to empty her lunch tray and get to the library before the bell rang for some peace. As she passed the J and C's table, she tripped on something, stumbled, and then fell.

Everything went quiet for ten full seconds, which is extremely rare in a cafeteria full of crazy teenagers. "Oops! Sorry. Are you okay? Melissa inquired, smirking and batting her eyelashes innocently. Laura stood up, brushed herself off, and turned to stare at the one who addressed her. "You know you're supposed to put your feet UNDER the table, right? Someone could step on those petty shoes you wasted $200 on, and we wouldn't want that now, would we? Good day to you Miss Melissa." She responded, making sure her words hung in the air like smoke. Everybody sat agape as Laura walked out unharmed. Now unharmed may seem a bit of an exaggerated term to use, however, it is painfully accurate in this case because normally when you messed with Melissa you would get beaten to a pulp, or verbally insulted beyond the point of humiliation right there and then, regardless of your gender, age or position.

"She. Is. Dead. So damn dead." Melissa sneered. After a moment's silence, everything in the cafeteria went back to normal, that is except Melissa's naturally pale face which was getting redder and redder by the minute. 'War.' She thought to herself, 'This means war. I'll make sure Baggy Pants' final year in Crimson High is a horror show. She won't even be able to get a date to the Sweethearts Dance amongst the trashiest students here. I know EVERYTHING about everyone in this school. I'll be sure to have some dirt on her.' Melissa smirked, flipping her long strawberry-blonde hair to the side. CC knew she was up to something as she observed the rapid changes in her best friend's face. They caught each other's gaze, grinned mischievously, and began GG-ing again as if nothing ever happened.

Meanwhile, Laura had reached the library and was already knee-deep in "War and Peace" by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. She had no idea she was in for a wild high school drama ride. It is moments like these one wishes to not trouble their characters so, but Laura must enjoy her peace while it lasts.

She may have won the battle, but the war had just begun.

Half an hour later, just as Laura was about to conclude the second chapter of the book, the librarian, Miss Rosalia, came up to Laura and smiled. "Is it almost time up already?" Laura asked looking up from her book. "I'm sorry my little diamond. The fifth period is about to start, and I don't want you to be late for dear Mr. Roberts's class." Replied Miss Rosalia. Laura thanked her, checked out the book, and rushed off to class. She could never be late for one of her most favorite subjects, Literature. As usual, she was the first one in class, even Mr. Roberts was late. She heard the bell ring, and that is when the scramble for Africa 2.0 began. People were shoving, kicking, screaming, and some "accidentally" falling on top of each other. They were all seated and almost quiet as Mr. Roberts walked in. Now the thing about Mr. Roberts is he was quite timid, and that made him more open to teasing than a substitute teacher on a closing day.

"Good afternoon children, before we open our books to the last chapter we read, who can tell me what information Iago used to spark interest in his plan to discredit Cassio?" The class clown, head of the football team, and Melissa's boyfriend raised his hand slowly, and deliberately. Mr. Roberts hesitated, but still chose to listen to his answer, "Y-yes Mr. Jake Phillipes would you like to give it a try?" Jake's friends snickered in unison as Jake smirked and replied, "So, have you gone on any dates recently Mr. Roberts? 'Cause I heard you hooked up with Miss Rosalia last night... True or false?" Mr. Roberts' face flushed, he was a very handsome and approachable guy but at that moment his face twisted into an ugly expression. Melissa's third best friend, the social media "enthusiast", (to be put in polite terms), had already got out her phone and was videotaping everything.

"Miss Hazel Quinton, put that phone down before I send you to detention with Mr. Phillipes over here." Hazel quickly put her phone down and shrugged, "Worth a try." She muttered. "If somebody does not tell me the answer, everyone in this room is getting detention, plus an extra twenty minutes from the usual time, just because I can!" Mr. Roberts had conveniently forgotten his timidity and become a truly ruthless mentor. Everyone was silent, for the first time in Mr. Robert's class, you could hear a pin drop. Melissa raised her hand smiling wickedly. ''Yes, Miss Sapphires?" Mr. Roberts asked slowly. Melissa put on her sweetest, softest voice and said, "Pardon me, sir, but Miss Diamond over in the back is a bit timid, I'm sure you must understand what she's going through. So, if you would kindly let her answer the question, it would help her break out of her shell." Mr. Roberts' expression softened, and he smiled a small smile. None of the students knew how much Laura was loved by all her teachers, not even Laura herself. "Alright then, Miss Diamond, would you kindly answer the question?" He asked. Everyone, -literally everyone-, turned around to see how this would turn out. Some glared, some stared blankly and some nervously glanced. The entire fate of the class was on Laura's shoulders, no thanks to Melissa. 'This sucks!' Laura thought ruefully. If there was one thing Laura Diamond hated, public speaking was most definitely it.

Will she manage to save her class or not?