Star

24

"Uh, ye-yeah. Sure!" I stammer, looking up at the blonde beauty called Lucy. She must be the girl from this morning.
"Cool! See you then!" She spins around and hurries out of the class. Everything here moves so fast, so fast when I feel as if I am moving through molasses. I stand up to find my next class, art. I would call myself an artistic person, not that I'm very good. I took art in my last school too; Tyler and I always sat side by side and created masterpieces together. I always kept a private sketchbook on hand for personal use, at least until she found it. And when she found that sketchbook everything came crumbling down.
"Pick a seat, any seat!" Ms. Buford calls, a voice coated in sickly sweet honey. Unfortunately, due to being the lost new kid, I am the final person to arrive and only one seat remains. It is next to a girl wearing dark framed glasses, short dark hair hanging down to her chin. She looks normal and I fail to understand why anyone isn't sitting by her. I hesitantly sit beside her, waiting for her innocent facade to crack, revealing a darker inner truth. But this never happens and the class is given its first assignment. We are to create collages with our table partners using the magazines in front of us.
"Oh, I love collages! I do collages in my free time whenever I can, so I hope you can keep up with my cut and pasting skills," the girl rambles excitedly, snatching the first magazine eagerly.
"I've never really d-done a collage before," I say truthfully. She turns towards me and widens her squinty eyes.
"Really? Well then this will be extraordinarily fun for you. I can teach you everything I know."
I merely nod in response, my mouth becoming dry in the presence of such an extroverted being. I pick up a magazine and start flipping through the pages, looking over cars, celebrities, and food. I stop when I reach the page presenting a large dog picture and the girl notices my pause.
"Aw, that dog is so cute! We can make it the center of our fabulous collage." She takes the scissors and begins to cut around the shape of the dog before finishing and using a glue stick to paste the glossy photo onto a piece of construction paper. "Perfecto!" I smile, revealing the small indents on either side of my lips. Stop smiling, she can see your crooked teeth and your ugly dented dimples. I hastily drop the smile and hide my face behind the magazine, pretending to search for more photos.
"So where did you come from? I certainly haven't seen you in this class before," she says whilst scanning a magazine page.
"I just mo-moved here. It's my first day today."
"Ah, so you're unfamiliar with the hell hole referred to as Riverside High."
"Yeah, I guess."
"Any questions on the people here? The classes? Teachers?"
"Um, well, what is Lucy like? She asked me to sit with her at lunch today."
"Mm, she's nice. She's also pretty popular around here, so don't expect to be invited to her table again. If you want, you can sit with me tomorrow when she denies you entrance to her royal court."
"Yeah, thanks. That would be great."
"Any more questions?"
"What about that guy, Aidan?"
"Oh, Aidan is the most popular guy in school. He's super overly confident, but not in a egotistical way. Not to mention that he was born very attractive and with a great sense of style too. It's no wonder that most people in this school are obsessed with him."
"Has he ever dated anyone?"
"Developed a crush already?" My face heats at this statement. "Well, sorry to stomp all over your feelings, but you might as well give up now. So many people have asked him out, most have lost count, and he has denied every single one. No one knows why, it's like he leads people on a string, but when they get too close, he cuts it off completely. The only one with a chance would be Lucy, seeing she's practically his best friend and closer to him than anyone else."
"Has anyone ever thought that he might be asexual or aromantic?" I ask curiously.
"We probably would all think that if he hadn't come out as bisexual about a year ago. When he first came out, people started to think that anyone could have a chance at being with that stunning boy, but to no avail. It's like he's waiting for the right person, even if he has to crush every heart that crosses his path to get to that person."
"Hm. So I guess it's a hit or miss."
"Yeah, everyone always thinks that maybe it could be them, maybe they could be the chosen one that will capture Aidan's heart, but no. I'm just warning you now, even if you think it could be you, it's not and he'll just break your heart like the rest of them."
"Thanks for the heads up."
"No problem, I'm always here to look out for the newbies." She smiles brightly, her face glowing with youth. She's so optimistic and kind, so why are people treating her like a piece of debris among the stars?
—————
hi.