Break

Chapter Four

People notice the new me, but they don't say anything. I even saw HIM in the hall this morning. He looked shocked to see me, like I had become a completely different person overnight. Everyone looks just as shocked as he does, but they all seem too scared to mention the fact that I have drastically changed such a major part of my appearance. I just want the silence to disappear. I want someone to say something, anything. But no one does. Everyone is treating me like a fragile piece of glass; like the wrong word could shatter me. I'm sick of it.

I walk into my fourth period classroom, ready for the day to be over. I dread the next hour and a half of pre-calculus.

A girl i have never seen before is sitting in the back of the classroom, in the desk next to mine. She sits in silence as I take my seat, her eyes looking me up and down.

She is tall, and appears to be close to my height. Long, blue hair falls gracefully from her head and rests on her black leather jacket. Steely, grey eyes peer out from under long lashes. The bottom of her lacey black dress ends mid-thigh over destroyed black tights. Maroon knee-highs come up over the top of heavy, buckled combat boots. Her dark clothing makes the blue of her hair seem as if it is glowing.

"Nice hair," she looks at me with a flirtatious half-smile. A complete stranger is the first to say anything.

"Thank you! Your blue hair looks amazing with your eyes."

She leans back, looking me up and down some more. Something about her is quite intriguing. "I'm Alice," she says, looking me straight in the eyes, "I'm assuming you're Claire."

"Oh.. Yeah. That's me. How did you know?"

"I've heard people whispering about you all day. Lots of gossip about the new hair. I think it suits you," she winks and starts scribbling on a notecard. She folds it up and tosses it onto my desk; on it, is her number.

I shove the notecard in my bag and pull out my notebook just before the bell rings. The high-pitched squeal gives me a headache.