Butternut

Chapter 1

Maria's POV~
I snatched open my locker and pulled out my geometry textbook, groaning at the thought of math. My day had already been stressful enough, but now I had an geometry test I didn't prepare for at all. I slammed my locker shut and slung my nearly empty book bag over my shoulder and trudged down the hall, my earbuds playing sweet songs about blissful love and happiness. Sounds nice. I let out a sigh and felt the panic set in. Here came the huge wave of angsty teens.
"Hey watch it, whore!" A kid I'd never seen grunted. I winced at the words inwardly, but I was completely blank on the outside. Many other hateful words were thrown around, some at me, some at other misfortunate souls. My heart raced and I felt my blank posture begin to waver. I quickly darted through the crowd and made my way to the bathroom, rushing to an unused stall and locked the bolt. I took shallow, panicked breaths. The tears welling in my eyes. I looked up at the ceiling and fanned my eyes a little, not wishing to ruin my make up. My heart hammered against my chest. Words fluttered through my mind and I snatched out my earbuds, staring desperately at the mirror, wishing I could see something different. I pulled a pill bottle out of my jacket pocket with shaky hands, dumping out two or three and swallowing them dry. They slid down my throat with a coppery taste and I swore to myself. I hate my mental issues. I took a deep breath and looked at myself in the mirror.
"Today is going to be a great day. I'm going to do great. Everyone loves you and will see your worth. Today is going to be a great day." I muttered to myself. I pushed away from the dirty sink and unlocked the door and headed to geometry.
    I sat my text book on my desk and dumped my book bag on the floor and slid into my desk. I sighed inwardly and then paused my music and snatched my earbuds out of my ears. I turned and smiled at Jessica, one of my close friends.
"Hey Jess." I greeted. She was staring down at a paper, scribbling something down quickly. She held up a finger signaling me to wait. We sat in silence as she finished what she was writing, then she looked up at me.
"Hey Maria." She eyed me up and down as she spoke. "I like that too, where'd you get it?"
I looked down at my simple black and rose pattern crop top.
"Oh, um, Rue 21 I think?" I spoke with an insecure tone. Jessica analyzed my words as if they were physical, then she nodded. Jessica was pretty cold and analytical, but she was popular and showed me the way to being pretty and popular, so she was my one hope of making my mark, also she was pretty awesome too.
"So did you study?" She asked, her eyes returning to her paper, her pencil scratching against the paper furiously.
"Um, no. What are you writing?" I said, quickly changing the topic.
"A note. You didn't study?" Her tone went from casual to concerned mom.
"No. I didn't have time. A note for what?" I eyed her note the whole time, questioning what in the world she was writing. Jessica put her pencil down with a gentle ease. Jessica raised her beautiful face and looked at me with her gorgeous green-brown eyes. Raising an arched eyebrow, she gave me an exasperated look.
"How do you not know?" Jessica asked, dragging out each word as if it was painfully obvious. I scrunched my brows together and thought hard, racking my brain for a single idea. Jessica sighed in disbelief and shook her head.
"Have you not heard?" She put an emphasis on not. "Everybody is writing notes to the new guy in school."
"The new guy?" I asked, perplexed. I hadn't heard of a new guy.
"Well he just transferred today, but word is he's super hot and used to be a model at his old school in England. And yeah he came from England and has a super hot English accent, but it's all just gossip. He won't actually talk to anyone and all anyone actually knows is he joined the soccer team and he's super hot."
I mulled over this information and considered what was true and what wasn't as the teacher walked in and handed out test papers.