The Shade of Water

Chapter 1

I never understood why someone would want to ruin another person's reputation. Sure, it might make them feel high and mighty for a few moments, but what your left with after is bad. Something that can take down all that high and mighty-ness and leave you with nothing but shame.

It's called guilt.

It doesn't make sense to me how they have a smile when they do it, like they're proud of it. There's nothing to be proud about.

I still remember the first time. I was walking to the house when some girls cornered me. Their leader was the one and only Leah Hall, one of the most popular girls at my school. They all called me some names, I didn't take it harshly. She didn't hit me or anything, why should I have cared?

But then there was one day, they crossed the line.

We were in the locker room after gym when Leah and some of her 'followers' came up to me. I had just finished changing and was putting away my stuff.

"Your such a slut," one of the girls snarled at me. It was Jeana Howards. Her father was some designer for a clothing company.

I could feel the cold lockers behind me, a lock digging into my back. They were taking steps forwards, almost as if they were about to pounce. All except Leah, who calmly sat on the bench parallel to me.

"Well of course she is, that's probably why her dad's in jail," Leah said from behind, filing her nails. She said it so calmly, so care-free. The remark made my blood boil, and tears came to my eyes. No one knew about my dad. The words echoed in my head, by breath quickening.

"Yeah, I heard he killed her mom or something," Another girl laughed.

"Shut up," I said, my voice wavering. 

"What? Did the little skank say something?" She laughed.

I looked her dead in the eye. Her laughing stopped and she almost seemed to challenge me. "I said shut up."

She looked taken aback when I said that."Don't you dare say that to me," Leah growled, getting up. She was preparing to hit me, or slap me for that matter. Before I even realized what I was doing, I punched her square in the nose.

Everything seemed like it was in slow motion from there on out. Leah's file dropped on the ground, and her hands went up to her nose. The girls crowded around her, forming a circle. And I did the only reasonable thing that I could.

I ran.

All the way out of the school, into town. I didn't stop. Not once to catch a breath, not until I reached the building. It was my old apartment building, where I use to live before the service found me. I ran up the stairs, up to the fourth floor. No one lived there anymore, they're all gone now.

I opened up the door, the lock had never worked in there. The room was empty, dust collecting in the corners. I walked to where my mattress had been, where I use to sit for hours a day.

For the first time in years, I did something I had never done. I cried.

-------------------------------------------------

"Hello?" A voice called out.

I looked up, wiping away the tears that drenched my face, hoping my crying wasn't noticable.

"Yes?" I asked in a small voice. My usually strong voice had dissolved into an almost inaudiable one.

A boy stepped into the door frame. He wasn't just any guy though, it was Landon Parker. "Are you alright?" He asked me, concern clear in his voice.