Before and After

Chapter One

I turn on my side and throw my arm over my eyes shielding the early morning sun I groan as I heave my body out of bed. I sigh, and rake my fingers thorugh my disheveled hair and think about the last first day of my life. I keep my eyes closed so that I don't actually feel like I'm awake I can pretend for a while that I'm still asleep. High school wasn't that bad I wasn't bullied nobody beat me up or teased me I'm invisible really, that should make me sad but really I prefer it that way. I had one best friend Shairce but she moved at the end of the year last year to Cancun with her brother and his pregnant wife, so it's just me this year.

"Perci!" My dad sheriks from downstairs I wince and slowly peak open one eye.

"You better damn well be up!" I sigh and stand in front of the mirror I cringe a little at the sight, I'm not that bad to look at but in the morning I look like a troll doll minus the green hair, my hairs light blond I open the bathroom door and slam it once Im inside to let him know that I'm up, I undress and let the hot water run over me I almost fall asleep but when the water gets colder I shut it off and dry off.

I stand in front of the mirror and comb my hair I hum Pretty Recklesses Follow Me Down when someone knocks on the door, I sigh and I openthe door slightly it's my dad just looking at me, we used to get along, before mom got sick, it's a cliche really but when she died everythign really did change. They didn't have a great marriage hell they didn't even have a good marriage I think sometimes he just wanted an excuse to be an asshole. He rakes his eyes over my appearance and I cringe. Now don't freak out he's never tried to take his solace in me he always looks at me with such disgust no matter what I look like. BUt he does have one hell of a right swing he's not perfect but he's all I have, I guess I'd rather have him and his insults than no one at all. I close the door and sigh as I lean my head against it. I finsih in the bathroom and head downstairs. I hope that he's still in his room so that he doesn't yell at me before I leave. I quickly grab an apple when I hear his footsteps.

"Perci!" He yells but I slam the door and take off running to school, when I get far enough I stop and try to catch my breath, when I hear laughing. There are two popular girls laughing over something on their phones I try to get the heat out of my face that I know is there. They look at me and the skinnier one smiles at me but they go back to their phones, like I said, invisible. I make my way to school and it's crowded people clustered together on the lawn laughing over the summer people in the school itself teasing each other, I miss Shairce we weren't really laughing freinds but at least we talked about movies and music it wasn't much but it was what I wanted.

Someone ran into me knocking me into a locker I ran into someone holding a stack of papers and I curse myself.

"Sorry." I look at him and he's probably in his thirties he has black hair and he's quite attractive not my type but attrractive nonthe lease he looks at me with cutting eyes and I can feel my face heat.

"I don't need you to be sorry." I'm shocked by his, words who says that? I almost drop the papers in my hands but I don't he looks at me closely and I hope that he can't see the bruise on my cheek I tried to cover but if he does he doesn't say anything, it felt as if for a moment time stopped until someone ran into my back almost making me land on my face but I caught myself he was still looking at me and i knew my face was red he grabbed the papers and disappeared leaving me hunched on the floor. I blew out a breath and went to the office to get my schedule.

There was a line all the way out to Mississippi I was at the back so I got my iPod out and turned on the tunes hoping to pass some time. I kept thinking about that guy he was odd, like he was afraid of something high school is scary and it would take someoen with guts to teach at a high school but it looked like more than that, something deeper but I couldn't put my finger on it. THe line was finally moving and after twenty minutes I finally made my way to the front of it.