The Beast Within

One

Flashback to 8 years ago...

Little Khiri was only 12 years old when she entered her new school in California. Grade 6, she heard from her older sister, was going to be difficult. Her older sister, Kora, has already graduated high school. She was in her second year of college.

Her mother dropped her off fifteen minutes late. Khiri remembered her mother's words before she drove off, make sure to go to the principal's office, she looked around until she spotted the glass window that had the OFFICE tab on it. She took a deep breath and walked inside.

"H-Hi," she muttered softly. She caught the attention of one person. He was tall, looked not too old - but not young either, and was dressed in a fancy suit. He flashed a friendly smile at Khiri.

"Hi, sweetheart," he greeted walking up to her. "What's your name?" He asked.

"K-Khiri Nia Smalls," Khiri introduced herself, using her full name. Whenever her mother introduces herself, she uses her full government name - so Khiri felt she should do the same.

"Nice to meet you, Khiri." He held his hand out for her to shake it, and so she did. "You must be our new student, right?" She had nodded her head. "I'm Principal Williams. I'll escort you to your first class. Sit down and I'll grab your schedule." Khiri nodded and walked to the comfy red looking chairs and sat down. The chairs were so comfortable, she could fall asleep in them.

Not even five minutes gone by before Principal Williams had walked back in the office with a piece of paper in his hand. He gestured with his hand for her to follow him, so she stood up and followed him out of the door.

The school she was attending was big. It was a 6th grade to 8th grade, with a high school from the 9th grade to 12th grade was right beside them. It's a conjoined school, just different buildings. Some classes for the middle schoolers are in the high school building, and some classes for the high schoolers are in the middle school building.

They walked for a while. Her first class, as she was informed, was in the back of the school. She had Social Studies class first, based on her schedule.

"Here's your first class," Principal Williams says, "your second class is in the media center, which is in the high school building. Good luck on your first day, and if you need anything, you can always come to my office." Khiri nodded and Principal Williams knocked on the door and walked off, leaving little Khiri alone.

The classroom door opened and a woman, mid-30's, bright smile and beautiful brown hair opened the door. "Are you our new student?" She asked Khiri, who nodded her head. "What's your name again?"

"Khiri," Khiri says, a little more comfortable than nervous.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Mrs. Parks, and I'm your first period teacher. Come in." Mrs. Parks stepped aside, letting Khiri through.

She felt shy as the whole class was staring at her. She doesn't like being stared at, it makes her feel uncomfortable. Mrs. Parks tried to get Khiri to introduce herself, but all that came out of her mouth were whimpers, which induced laughter from some people. Mrs. Parks introduced Khiri to the class herself and placed her in a seat next to a girl. She looked mean - Khiri didn't wanna sit next to her. But she couldn't complain.

As she walked through the class to sit in her seat, she could hear mutters from the other kids. She's so weird... Look at her clothes... She looks like she's gonna cry. They were so quiet that Mrs. Parks couldn't hear, but Khiri could - and she hated it.

She sat next to the girl who looked mean. "You're so weird," the girl sneered at her not even a minute after sitting down. Khiri felt tears stinging in her eyes, but didn't let the girl see her crying. She just wanted to go home at that moment.