The Death of Me

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

It was Wednesday morning, and the first morning of my first semester of my junior year at Twin Bluff High School. Gabby had picked my outfit out for me, since she says I don’t dress up enough. But why would you dress up for school? Gabby’s always dressing to impress. Which meant dressing like she was 25.

I wore a Forever 21 dress----- I made Gabby straighten my hair since it had been unusually wild this morning, and now it hung in a side ponytail over my right shoulder. I wore just enough foundation to cover my blemishes, and not enough eyeliner to look like a slut, but enough to make my blue eyes stand out. Gabby went more towards the slut tactic. I decided not to say anything. If she wanted to degrade herself, then it wasn’t any of my business. Besides, she has a boyfriend, I thought bitterly.

Despite my blinding hatred and loneliness I felt around my sister and her boyfriend, I had managed to come to school prepared and somewhat attractive. My school map was color coded to my schedule, so I knew where to be and what teacher I had for each class. Our school was small, with only 2,000 students in the whole school. There were two stories, with most of my classes on the second floor, excluding 2.

Right once Gabby and I entered the front doors of the school, my sister spotted her group of friends and ran over, ditching me. I had no idea where my friends were, what classes they had, or if they were even here yet. I hadn’t talked much with any one of my friends the whole summer besides Holly, since they had all been shipped off to summer camps.

I knew Michelle had gone to band camp (she played the cello), Sasha had signed up for summer school (for fun), and Eva had gone to church camp. Holly and I had been left here in Twin Bluff, Arkansas for three months with nothing to do. Holly withdrew to partying, and I had later gotten into the mix of befriending my little sister’s boyfriend.

I decided not to linger the halls looking for my friends. I headed straight to class, first period pre-calculus. Like the good little teacher’s pet I was, I went straight up to the teacher and introduced myself. She already seemed approving, I decided with satisfaction.

“Sit wherever,” Mrs. Pine said kindly, and I smiled in fake enthusiasm and took a seat near the back. The actions kind of negated each other.

Barely anyone had even entered the classroom yet, so I didn’t bother to look around for my friends. And I waited. Ten minutes later, when the bell finally rang, I concluded that none of my friends were in this class. Not even Isaac. I sat sadly, feeling my gloom deepen as Mrs. Pine turned out to be a strict, stiff teacher. She laid out the rules with rigid severity, and glared at the class as if we had all failed her already.

By the time lunch rolled around, I was practically groaning in annoyance that no one had one class with me. And even worse… right once I entered the cafeteria with my sack lunch, I heard a familiar voice calling my name.

“Hilly! Hilly, wait!”

I began to pick up my pace, hoping he would lose me in the crowd and give up. But before I could even find a table that only had one seat left, someone’s hand grabbed mine. I turned in surprise, coming face to face with Isaac.

“Hey, Isaac,” I said, trying to sound polite. Two guys stood next to him on either side, and I immediately recognized them. They were those types of guys that never really acknowledged you, but only their specific group of elites— the football playing guys that they deemed worthy of their scummy companionship, and then girls who flirted shamelessly and wore tight shirts and owned Juicy couture handbags. This was why I was surprised that he was even hanging out with them, especially since it was his first day.

“Do you know Connor and Mike?” he asked, pointing to the right of him and then to the left. To the right was Connor; he had acne scars on his cheeks and bright blue eyes to go with his sandy hair, much like me. To his left was Mike, who was really tall and good-looking, with tan skin and shaggy, dark hair.