Inside | Shane Harte

3 | Annoying

"Welcome. What do you wish for lunch?" the lady asks me, and I take a look at the options. Eventually I decide to pick a slice of pizza, my favourite.

"I'll go for pizza, please" I smile at her and she grabs a slice and put it on a plate.

"Here you go"

"Thank you" I say and start looking around me for my classmates from classical music. They are nowhere to be found, so I decide to just take a seat at a nearby table. But just before I'm able to sit down, someone is calling my name.

"Kayla! You can sit here" Crystal smiles and I move towards their table. And by 'their' I mean the rock-interested people. The punks, or whatever I shall call them. I have to admit, the thought of sitting with them is a little awkward but it's better than sitting alone.

When I reach the table the girl who's sitting closest to the edge moves in, making a place for me to sit. I put down my stuff and sit down.

"There you are, where are your classmates?" she asks and the others sitting around the table go silent.

"Uhm, I don't know. Maybe they don't eat here in the cafeteria or something"

She snorts and leans forward.

"Girl, I don't know much but I do know this: They are snobs. All of them. And I don't think that you deserve to be with them, okay?"

"Uhm, okay" I say and start eating my pizza.

"So, tell us more about yourself. Where do you come from?"

"I grew up in Owen Sound, about 4 hours from here. My parents have been supporting me with my goals my whole life. Going to this school was one of them"

"Wow, they sound great" Crystal smiles and takes a deep breath. "My parents didn't really care where I went for college, as long as I'm not at home causing problems"

Everybody around the table starts laughing and I follow the stream. It feels nice to not being judged for once in my life. I don't want to sound rude or anything but my parents have always been a bit... Judgemental, to say the least.

Later I'm standing in front of my locker to grab my books for next class, then I suddenly feel someone standing behind me.

"So, you're one of those boring classical chics" a guys voice say with a noticable smirk. I turn around to find a pair of green eyes staring into mine. Shane's green eyes.

"What do you mean by 'boring' classical girls?" I ask.

"You know, boring as in never goes to a party, or any other event other than school stuff. Listening to mozart on the weekends while eating fancy beef for lunch. A snob, basically" he says, his smirk growing even bigger than before.

"Are you kidding? Why are you throwing every person that's interested in classical music into one category?"

"I'm not throwing anyone into some category, just stating the obvious"

"Oh yeah? Well, you shouldn't be the one to say it since you look like either a drug dealer or a homeless person with all those tattoos. It ruins your body" I snap, but instantly regret what I said. How could I lower myself to his level?

He starts laughing, seemingly not caring the very least about my rude comment. My jaw instantly drops to the ground and he shakes his head and just walks away from me. Okay, what's the deal with him?!

After I've finished school I feel extremely tired, so I decide to do some homework before I call mother. It's incredible how today was my first day and I've already got a lot of homework to do. Stressful, but I guess that's the college life.

When it's been like 2 hours, Crystal (or anyone else for the matter) still haven't showed. I sigh and grab my phone to call mother.

"Hello sweetheart!" she says as she answers the phone. "How is everything going? Have you found any new friends?"

"Fine" I say. "Yeah, a few I guess. But mostly punks and rockers"

She stays silent for a few seconds before she continues.

"... Why is that?"

"Uhm, I don't know... I guess that my classmates don't like to hang out with me or something, they kind of just left me in the cafeteria today. The rockers welcomed me to their table, so... I sat with them"

"Okay honey but you should know that I don't really like you hanging out with them, they might drag you into things you don't really want to do"

"Stuff like what?" I ask, starting to feel a bit offended. I mean they might be a bit... Wild and all that but at least they let me sit with them instead of eating by myself.

"Like getting into trouble, or start doing drugs or-"

"Okay mother, stop it. I don't want to sound disrespectful but you don't need to drag all of them over the same edge. One of them is actually my roommate and she's really kind" I say, surprised by me defending them. I did call Shane a drugdealer and homeless person before...

"Fine, but don't do anything stupid Kayla"

"Mother, I would never. Good night"

"Good night"

I end the call and throw myself onto the bed. Today has been a long day and I really just want to go to sleep.