Katerina Shay

Chapter 1

I wake up to the steady beeping of my alarm clock. Great. It's the first day of school. I moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the beginning of summer, and the rest of it was spent on my computer, so I have no friends to start the 7th grade with. I quickly realize I had spent an entire 10 minutes contemplating my problems, so I jump out of my bed. I run over to my closet and look through. It seems like I have nothing to wear that will meet the school's dress code: shoulders have to be covered, no V-Necks, no bra straps showing, skirts must be to the knees, shorts can only be up to 4 inches above the knee. Almost all of the clothes I own are useless, because my old school was a very relaxed all-girls school. And it wasn't Catholic or Christian, like most all-girls schools. Anyways, i finally find the outfit that is perfect: a red T-Shirt and a black skirt. As I get ready to put the outfit on, I see myself in the mirror out of the corner of my eye. Looking at myself, all I can see is my stomach. I'm not fat, but not skinny either. I'm just that awkward middle where most clothes are either too tight or too loose. It makes me feel very out of place. Then I just think to myself: you have a good life. You live in a nice place where you don't have to walk through a minefield to get water from a bacteria infested well. You may be a bit socially inept, but that's fine. You are perfect just the way you are. I take a deep breath and put my outfit on. I take a look at my clock. Judging by how long it takes me to eat breakfast and walk to school, I don't have time to put on makeup. It's not like it would've made a difference anyway. I'm so bad at makeup that if I tried, I would look like a raccoon. So maybe my being late is a blessing in disguise. I run out of my room and down the stairs into the kitchen. I grab a granola bar from the pantry. No time for a real breakfast, so this will have to do. I run over to my dad and kiss him on the cheek. "Bye dad" I say. "Bye Kat" he replies. "Oh, and Skylar's coming over later, okay?" I smile and nod. Skylar is my dad's girlfriend, and according to my dad, she might soon be my stepmom. My real mom left me with my dad when I was little. But I never knew her. Skylar has been like a mom to me these past few years. Anyways, I run out the door and head to Jefferson Middle School.