The Division

38

The next week arrived and, Monday came again, crashing into me like all the  others do. I listened to the morning birds outside as I got ready for another week of education. Simone was in the kitchen, making a mess as she prepared our breakfast while humming a Hannah Montana tune from one of those annoying episodes. I've always hated the show but, Simone can't live without it much to my dismay.

I laced up my high tops, trying to focus on the song of the birds outside and, not my cousin's horrid nasal humming. The winged creatures flew about without a single care in the world singing to the rising golden sun. I envy their freedom, I wish I were just like them.

After breakfast, Jay, Simone and I walked to school since we had gotten up early ( A rare occurrence), leaving our bikes to rest for the day. Jay and Simone talked briefly while I stayed silent with my head down, ambling beside them. We arrived at school some minutes to eight and noticed a crowd gathered around a red sports car. Upon closer inspection, we realized Arielle was in the car, Lisa next to her in the passenger's.

"Woah! Arielle I adore your new car!" Someone called from the growing swarm of people.

"You got a license!?"

"Love the color!"

"How much was it?"

"Looks like Arielle got a new ride." Commented Simone as we joined the horde. She eyed the vehicle, a frown slowly forming on her lips as she assessed the car in front of her. "I don't know what all the fuss is about, it's just a stupid car." Her words dripped with envy as she spoke, brown eyes briefly giving off a green glint.

"Don't be so jealous Simone." Jay called her out with a smirk.

She scoffed, "I'm not jealous!" Simone faked a smile and stopped crossing her arms, walking towards him with her eyes still focused on the shiny red car.

"Sure."

Eventually, Simone left to meet up with her friends after some others parted from the crowd. Jay and I stayed and, Michelle met up with us after arriving in her black SUV. We moved closer to the vehicle when more people left, leaving some ninth and eleventh graders behind. Jay ran his finger along the paint work in amazement. It was as if he was already imagining himself driving it.

"Cool car Arielle." He complimented repeating the action.

"Thank you." Arielle gave a polite smile before going back to her phone.

"Hey!" Lisa snapped slapping Jay's hand away along with another ninth grader's, "What do you idiots think you're doing!? You're going to scratch the car!"

"You slag!" Jay retorted rubbing his hand with a glower. "I barely touched it! The car isn't even yours!"

Lisa turned the music up, mocking Jay by making a talking action with her hand. I could tell he wanted to hit her by the look in his eyes but, stopped himself from doing so when Michelle held his hand and started walking with him to the school's entrance. Like most boys in Narviven, Jay isn't afraid to hit a girl when it calls for it because for unknown reasons, the 'Men don't hit ladies' rule is ignored in this town. 

The first six periods of the day passed by faster than usual. I spent them writing recent events and happenings in my journal, away from the eyes of anyone who would want to look for my trouble. It was easy though, since lately everyone has been avoiding me. I'm overlooked more often and, for some reason, I think it is intentional. During lunch, I stayed in the  janitor' closest with my food, eating in silence as a listened to the chatter and noise of random passers by. It may seem odd but, this is my comfort zone now. Whenever I'm here, it feels like Avien is with me even though I am sure he's not.