My Cyber Friend

SUMMARY:  Veronica Campbell has never been popular. She's very isolated in the small high school of Olsen Murray, and only has a few friends. Online, there is a chat site for kids at her school, and a certain boy takes interest in her. He has no profile picture, and Ronnie's never even seen him before, so why is she so attracted to him?

Chapter 1:

*AN: Veronica's nickname is Ronnie.*

(ginafitzy: hey)

(ronnie1996: hiiiiii) I smiled as I chatted with my best friend, Gina Fitzgerald. Facebook chatting had been our favorite pastime since we were 13.

(ginafitzy: did u see rachel's latest update?)

(ronnie1996: nope. lemme check.) I minimized my chat with Gina and clicked on the picture of Rachel Goodall, the school slut. She was the most popular, and prettiest girl in school.

(ginafitzy: yeah well her dad bought her a new car.)

(ronnie1996: oommgg she's such a bitch. does she have to brag?) I scoffed at Rachel's update that blatantly stated she got a new car from her father, and was going to cart around her quarterback boyfriend around in it.

(ginafitzy: I hate her friggin guts)

(ronnie1996: uh oh. my mom's coming. cya at school tomoro.) I closed my old Dell laptop and shoved in under my bed. My mom appeared in the doorway, her eyes full of suspicion.

"Are you doing your homework?" she questioned, her brown eyes full of accusation.

     I wracked my brain for a good answer. "I was about to," I began with a hopeful smile. Though, I knew how this conversation would end.

    She folded her arns over her chest. "Veronica Lucynda Campbell," she began, her voice growing in a crescendo. "You told me you'd dump the procastination this year," she said menacingly, bursting into my room.

     I bit my lip. "I'm trying," I whined. My eyes searched hers for any signs of compassion. None. I'm doomed.

     She shook her head, disappointed. "Try harder, Veronica. You can be so much smarter than this. You have the ability. You just have to apply it to your work," she pleaded, practicallly wringing her hands.

      I gave her an absentminded look. I didn't know what to tell her. I couldn't work any harder than I already was. I gave her a look that said, 'I'll try harder, even though I already am.'

      She nodded, but her eyes were full of distrust. I was just about as mature as a baby monkey, and she didn't think she could ever trust me. Honestly, I didn't blame her.

       "So what were you doing just now?" she asked, her arms still folded over her chest.

        My eyes darted to the bed. "Uhm, thinking." My reply was feeble, but she might just believe it. I spent a lot of time by myself. It actually kind of worried my parents.

        She threw me a disparaging look. "Really? Because if I'm not mistaken, you were online, chatting with Gina." Her face was grim, but her lips were curved into a triumphant smirk.

        I scowled. "How did you know?" I demanded. My mother went long lengths just to invade my space. I always did my best to be impervious, but somehow, she beat me every time.

        She furrowed her eyebrows. "I was on Facebook, and some bar off to the side of the page alerted me that you were online."

         I clenched my teeth. "You got a Facebook?" I asked, horror penetrating my voice. My mother could be potentially dangerous to me online, as well as my friends. If anything, she'd try to make friends with my friends just to see what they were saying.

        "Yes," she replied, her voice stiff. "And I have the ability to terminate your online activity. You should be studying. You should try to be more like Angeline," she said, her eyebrows arched.

         My mouth curved into a tight frown. "Stop." My voice was a growl.

         "Stop what?" she asked innocently.

         "Stop comparing me to Angeline, or Darlene," I warned, my eyes flaring with red hot anger. "I'm not like them, and so you should stop forcing me to be like them."

         "They're so successful though, honey!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. "Angeline is in Yale, and Darlene is in Brown, for goodness sakes!" she said with exasperation. "I just don't believe that you don't have any aspirations to be like them! Emmaline is already growing up to be like Darlene."

           I growled. "Emma's only 5. You don't know what she's growing up to be like," I said, referring to my younger sister, Emmaline Campbell.

           My mother shrugged. "Emmaline is smart," she said flatly, and walked to my bedroom door, her back turned. "Finish your homework," she commanded quietly, and left the room.

           I breathed out a sigh of frustration and took some papers out of my backpack. I slid the homework out onto my wooden desk and bent over. My dirty blonde hair fell in a halo around my face, and my pale hands curved around the short, stubby pencil that I had sharpened too many times. My stick thin figure curved over the desk, eager to finish the algebra as quickly as possible.

           I was smart, too. She didn't have to pretend like I was dirt. I had all A's, and my teachers liked me well enough. I didn't do extra-curricular activites, though. I didn't play soccer, like Angeline, and I didn't play basketball, like Darlene. I certainly wasn't popular like they had been.

           Angeline had been tall, tan-skinned, and all smiles. She'd had a good figure, and all of the boys worshipped her. Darlene had had an athletic figure, and she'd had pale skin, like me, but was a beauty of course.

            And then there's me, Veronica Lucynda Campbell, the girl who hides behind her biology textbook just so she doesn't have to the poor carcass of the dissected frog. I was super pale, with big eyes, and long, blonde hair. It didn't seem to me like I was too different from them. I wasn't good at sports, obviously. My long legs were too clumsy, and my hands fumbled with everything. I was a nothing in my class, and I went unnoticed. I wasn't popular, and I wasn't despised. Either way, nobody gave a shit about me.       

            Even little Emmaline was more successful than I. She played soccer, and did gymnastics. All in all, she was smarter than me, more athletic than me, and way prettier than me. Everybody knew it, too. Her blonde hair fell in curly locks around her shoulders, and her perfect little smile lit up the whole room. She was a joy, yeah, but on a frequent basis I found myself jealous of her little charm.

            Anyways, I was sort of in the middle. I was the ugly duckling. If my mother had to choose between me and Angeline, she would without hesitation, choose Angeline.

           So there's my story. I suppose the rest of my life is gonna look like this: hidden behind the shadow of better sisters. Nobody'd pay attention to me, and the rest of my life, I'd just be the girl that grew up with wonderful girls.

            The story is over.

            Wait...no, actually, my story isn't over!

            It's FAR from over. My life will change in the following chapters, and probably in the worst ways. So please enjoy the story of my pitiful life! :)