This Time I'll Win

Miss Mina

Hello - I'm Janella Mina. I'm one of the smartest kids in my school. Of course, that leads to bullying. This girl called Simone Karowski likes to do that to me. I don't know why - if she's jealous, she needs to get her priorities straight. Seriously, jealous? Anyway, today was a normal day. I wore a nice lime green dress, a tribal necklace and a bunch of bracelets Alex, my only friend, gave to me. My makeup was thick, but not as thick as Simones'. God, she thinks her face is a freaking canvas!

I grab my leather sling bag and pull on some blue heels. This was going to be a long, aching day if I were going to wear these heels. As soon as I arrived from walking to school, Simone immediately sneered at me, shoving me and making fun of my shoes. "Hey there Janelle!" she exaggerated my name. "Have you seen my blue heels? They look just like yours! Oh wait - I threw them away 'cause they were hideous! Just like you!" Sadie laughed, her red hair just as fiery as her soul. Paris just kept quiet. She was nice, she really was. She just..didn't show it in front of Simone.

I quickly make a run for it, but Simone's grip on my arm was tight. She shoved me so I was on the ground. "Oh, poor you!" My eyes burned. She sipped her coffee delightfully then threw it on me, the last drops stinging my arm. "Hah. Let's go girls." They all stalked off. I stood up, shaking off the drops of hot coffee. They left red marks on my wrists. Mum's going to go bonkers if she saw this - she'd think I'd been cutting! My dress was stained with the coffee. It was one of my favourites. Whatever. It didn't matter, they're just clothes. I rushed to the toilet and changed into my change of clothes. It was a nice checkered blue dress. It matched the heels and makeup well.

I quickly left the toilet, the bell ringing just before I reached the door. I pushed at it, sighing. "Miss Mina, you are late. Again." Professor rolled his eyes at me as I slid into my seat.

"If I wasn't burned with coffee and shoved onto the floor so I had to change my clothes, maybe I wouldn't be so late, Professor." I retorted back, taking out my notebook and pen.

"Alright then class. Today we'll be talking about how to portray a love story." I rolled my eyes. He is so in love. My phone buzzed with a text message. Silently and skillfully, I tapped in my pass code and read the message.

From: Unknown Number

Hey there. Wanna meet tonight?

I looked around. No one was playing with their phones. Could this person be in another class?

From: Me

Who are you?

"Ah, Miss Mina. Caught on the phone again. Thank you Simone." Simone gave me a smirk. Agh! Busted again. I dropped my phone into my bag and sighed. "Alright. Continuing, for the rest of this week we will see how to show emotion in writing, and the expression through mere paper." Professor scanned his eye amongst us all. "And those who participate in Drama, will be paired up boy and girl to preform a love story act." Murmurs of excitement were heard. I sighed for the fifth time today. I was in Drama.

"Class dismissed. Drama students, off you go to Drama first." We all scurried off. It was a matter of minutes when Miss Jones told us to line up in a straight line.

"Okay. Simone, Jack." I smirked - Jack was the most nerdiest of us all. Simone just groaned, standing five inches away from him. "Paris, Max. Sadie, John. Tina, Jacob. And lastly, Janelle and Tom." My heart just dropped. Tom? Tom Parkson? He was the hottest guy in the entire school, and SImone's crush as well as to-be boyfriend.

"Hey." He gave a half smile at me.

"Hi." I half whisper, smiling back.

He grabbed my hand and when our skim touched tingles and sparks ignited. I wonder if he felt the same too?