The Destined

Chapter Four: Anna

    Anna    

The bell rings.

"I have social studies next. What do you have, Avani?" I ask.

Avani rolls her eyes. "...Social studies." I smile nicely. It's kind of hard since Avani is so rude to us already. Meredith keeps asking me why I want to hang out with her, but my mother used to always tell me to see the good in people. But maybe it's just the first day. Maybe she won't act like this all year long. I find out Meredith isn't going to social studies and instead to international language, which leaves me kind of disappointed since she is the only friend I have made today.

"I am sure you will be fine," Meredith says nicely, pulling her hair behind her ears. I immediately notice they are a bit off. They are very large and pointy and look as if they are sticking out of her head.

"Whoa!" I gasp as a first reaction.

"What?" she asks, smiling. Then her eyes get big and she quickly smoothes the hair back over her ears until I could no longer see them. "I'm sorry. I have to go," she says quickly and then turns around and darts away. I want to call after her but she has already disappeared into the sea of girls in the tiny, cramped hallway.

I follow Avani to social studies. Despite all the people running around and swarming across the room, I see a girl sitting alone at a table, reading a book. Avani gets excited when she sees her friends and leaves me alone, so I go decide to sit next to the girl. Other kids are either on their desks, running around, or talking loudly, clearly trying to make a statement.

"Hi, I'm Anna!" I say to the girl. She smiles at me as she looks up and she places a bookmark on the page she was at, closing it quickly afterwards. I notice how striking her eyes are. They are brown, which is usually a dull color, but they are so bold, and they are so bold and focused. Her face is made up of sharp, striking angles, and her hair frames her face until it stops at her shoulders. It is curly and a little unruly, but it suits her.

"I'm Melissa," she says. Avani's table stops talking as soon as they hear her name. I could hear giggling and whispers among them, especially from Avani. "What losers..." I could hear her say.

"Do you know them or something?" I ask Melissa. She nods. She bites her lip nervously, exposing her perfect teeth. I don't know what could possibly be wrong with her.

"I've been here as long as them, and they kind of know me as a dork, or a quiet girl, or a..."

One of the girls at the popular table interrupts her. They all begin saying stuff like "Oh look, I've never heard her talk so much!" or "Oh my god, Captain Shyness made a new friend!" Melissa looks down, biting her lip again. I reach over and hold her hand. She looks at me, startled.

"Sorry! Look, don't listen to what they say," I comfort her. "Who cares what they think?"

Melissa nods. "I guess," she sighs. She pulls her hand away and tugs on her sleeves like she's cold. She tries to ignore my looks, but I don't turn away. I have never seen somebody get bullied, or be so affected by it. She looked striking just a minuet ago, now she looks so vulnerable and young. Her eyes look sad, though she tries to keep her face placid.

"Do you want to talk or something," I ask. She looks up at me for a second and then back at the popular table. When she turns to look at me again, she smiles and nods.

We start to talk and I could notice she starts relaxing a little, maybe because she potentially starts seeing me as a friend, and not a threat. I could see us being friends, I guess. We kept talking until the teacher came in. According to the name on the board, he was Mr. Mitchell. "Hey guys! Welcome, or welcome back for some of you, to Brookfield!"