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My school schedule: 1 hour math 2 hour LA 3 hour social studies 4 hour science 5 hour literature 6 hour world culture studies (basically religion)
On red days we have the first 3 hours, and on blue days we have the last 3 hours. This week, Monday is the red day, so that means that Wednesday and Friday are also red days, and Tuesday and Thursday are blue days. Simple enough, right? So tomorrow is a red day, also Monday, so I have to sit by Sam tomorrow. My game plan to get through this semester with him right across from me: ignore him.
The next day . . .
"Carter! If you don't get down right now and make me a smoothie, your grounded!" yelled Mom, waking me up. Honestly, I felt like sobbing. I hated school. Fake friends telling me that I'm popular. Even though I am a nerd, people still try to act like my friends because I'm rich. I try to avoid them but they always seem to find me. I know what you're thinking, hey, at least your popular! No. Not at all. When you are popular, the school revolves around you. Someone gets in trouble, everyone starts saying: hmm, let'sseewhatCarterthinks. It can get annoying. Everyone knows your name and you don't know theirs'.
So, I go through my normal morning routine, eat an apple, and start walking to school. I'm about halfway there when a tan SUV pulls up next to me on the side of the road. The passenger window rolls down but I keep looking forward.
"Hey Carty, need a ride?" says a familiar voice. I stopped walking and turned my head to see Sam in the passenger's seat, smirking hopefully. His beautiful brown eyes were even warmer today. Totally irrelevant.
I was about to decline his offer when his mom said cheerfully from the driver's seat,"Hello, honey! Come on, get in so that you aren't late!" and started opening the backseat door. I smiled politely and climbed in, knowing that it was too late to say no now.
"I feel like it's been so long since I've seen you!" Mrs. Jones said, trying to start a conversation.
"Yeah, it's been a while," I answered.
"So how are your parents?"
"Good for the most part."
"Oh, that's . . . nice!"
After that we just kind if sat in the car in silence. Sam looked back at me once and gave me that look that friends give each other when a cute guy walks in the room. I just rolled my eyes and looked out the window. All of the awkward tension from 3 years ago started building up in that car, and I was more than relieved when Mrs. Jones finally pulled up at the school.
"You kids have a good day now!" she said and we climbed out if the car. Right when I step out of car, the popular group crowds around me. Did I forget to mention that Kayla is one of the members of the group?
"Carter! How are you?!" she asks in a perky voice.
"What do you guys want?" I ask all of them. And now I'm sure you guys are thinking that I should be nicer to them, but I have ever right to be mean to them. They bully, hurt, and try to change people. I have one true friend, Maya, and she helps convince people that I am a source within the popular group, trying to take them down. And it's true. If any one of those girls ever hurt anyone, I'm always ready to start throwing punches. Just like right now.
Trin, the 'nice one' of the group (honestly, I sometimes hate her more than Kayla), is criticizing a little fifth grade girl for her hair (it was in a half ponytail, but a lot of it fell out so it was just a ponytail randomly on the back of her head), and the little girl was almost crying. I swiftly walk over to Trin and push her down on the hard tiled floor.
"Lay off, Trin," I say and turn to the little fifth grader, who, of course, knew who I was.
"Don't worry, you look beautiful. Do you want me to walk you to class?" I asked. She nodded and gave me a grin.
"Ahem! Carter, what are you doing?! Why did you push me down?!" Trin asked, still sprawled on the ground dramatically.
I answered unemotionally with my honest opinion: "Because I don't like you." She scoffed and rolled her eyes, along with everyone else in the group. Just wait until they all come crawling back to me at lunch.
"Listen, she's going to be late if I don't leave now," I said, gesturing to the little girl. The girl grabbed a hold of my hand and we walked to her classroom together. We were about halfway there when the bell rang, and her class had already started when we got there. But I stopped her right when she opened the door.
"Wait, what's your name?" I asked.
"Lucie," she replied quietly and blushed.
"Nice to meet you Lucie, I'm Carter. Now, can you do my hair for me, exactly like yours? I like it," I asked with a smile. She grinned and got right to work, putting my hair in a little random ponytail on the back of my head.
"Thank you very much, Lucie!" I said. By now she was grinning ear to ear. I opened the door for her to go into her classroom. She walked in and I sprinted down the hall to first hour math. The rest of the day went by pretty fast: negotiate my way out of a tardy slip in math, suffer through language arts for another 90 minutes, ignore the popular group in lunch as they try to get me to take out the ponytail, dominate in P.E. (dodgeball style), and then finally social studies.
