My Art Freak

Chapter Four

(y/n)'s POV

Today was my first day of attending North Shore High, and the bus would be here in about ten minutes. I was examining my outfit one last time.

I wore a black hoodie with the three Heathers silhouetted in their signature colors in the end pose for Candy Store and light-wash jean shorts with shiny black combat boots. I looked pretty decent, I'd say.

I would have gone down for breakfast now, but food too early in the morning always made me nauseous, so instead I double checked that I had everything I needed in my backpack, including a lunch I made last night because long lines made me nervous and school food tasted like ass.

"(y/n)! The bus is gonna be here any minute! Get down here!" Mom called. I quickly put my backpack on and clambered down the stairs.

"You look lovely sweetie. Good luck today." She gave a big smile and kissed my forehead. I nodded once she pulled away and went to go to the bus stop.

"Love ya, mom!" I called and opened the door only to be struck with nice, warm air hitting me straight in the face. It was very pleasant, especially in contrast to the swampy heat that you could expect in the afternoon around here.

The flowers that naturally grew around here didn't look completely dead and the birds were chirping their little melody.

I hoped that a day that started off less horrible than the others wouldn't turn into a complete shit-show by lunch.

I just had to seek out Janis and Damien.

After all, I'd hung out with them a couple times since meeting them and they always greeted me with open arms. Once I met some of their friends, including three boys and one girl introduced as the "mathletes". One of them was their other best friend, Cady. She seemed sweet, and the boys came off pretty okay. Hopefully they'd recognize me and talk to me. I really didn't wanna be alone here.

The bus came up to my stop and I climbed in, examining the sparse students seated, since my neighborhood was luckily one of the first on the route. I chose a seat towards the front, but not too close to the front, and set my bag down to look out the window, that was, before Damien got in and sat right next to me, pushing my bag against me.

"Hey! Janis doesn't live close so she's not on the bus, so I figured we'd sit together!" He smiled wide and I nodded.

"The summer ended too quick. I hope my classes don't suck."

"At least you weren't here during the Social Revolution (trademark) that took place last year. Before that, things were horrible. But now, we're seniors and the student body sucks way less." Damien stated dramatically.

"What 'social revolution'?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I questioned the boy.

"There were these three girls called the Plastics, shiny fake and hard. They were huge bullies and master manipulators. But now, they've been thrown off their throne and are on equal ground with us." He explained. I felt like I'd heard Janis mention the Plastics before, so this made some sense now.

"Ah. Care to go further in depth?"

"Not really, as much as I love spilling tea, that should be left to people closer to the Plastics. Maybe Cady can explain at lunch!" I nodded in response. I do that a lot, maybe that's not a great thing. I probably ought to be less quiet.

"Nice outfit, by the way." I complimented. He wore a baby pink t-shirt with a green flannel and khaki pants. He had a weird fashion sense that only he could actually pull off. I seriously wondered why he didn't have a boyfriend by now.

"Thanks, I love yours too. What musical is that?"

"It's this revolutionary musical called 'Heathers' about this girl who leaves her best friend, joins the three popular girls and gets a boyfriend who kills one of them and these two boys. Then he attempts to kill her and blow up the school. But the songs are beautiful."I gushed, and he nodded along.

"It certainly doesn't sound boring."

"If it was boring, why would I wear merch for it?"

"Fair."

The bus rolled up to the school and stopped, so we got up and awkwardly stood there before getting off.

"Now, welcome to the horrid home of many students now dead. Just kidding about the dead thing, this place was founded in the nineties. But it gets scary." Damien dramatically made jazz hands. I chuckled at his introduction.

"Before school starts, we get like 10 minutes to chill in the commons so come on, you can meet our group again and get acquainted." He grabbed my wrist and dragged me up some stairs, into the building, and to the cafeteria. Somehow, with neither of us managed to trip.

"Now, prepare to meet the best people on this planet." He turned before dragging me up to a table with many faces I recognized. Janis, Cady, those three boys called the Mathletes, I think. There were also two blonde girls and a brunette.

"The three you don't know are called the Plastics. The one in the middle is Regina George. The one obsessing over her is Gretchen Weiners. Her hair's so big 'cuz it's full of secrets. Then there's Karen. She's not good at math. Or English. Or history. Or science. Or most things. But she's stunning." He introduced and I smiled. Everyone was looking at us now, which made me feel really awkward under their intense, almost bored stares.

"Hello. The name's (y/n), I just moved here this summer." I awkwardly sputtered.

"Oh nice! Where you from?" Gretchen asked. She seemed very sweet.

"(h/t). Otherwise known as hell on heart. I prefer ugh for short." I laughed, still standing uncomfortably.

"Now, there, you can sit next to Janis. The bell will ring in a couple minutes." I nodded and did so, and she seemed uncomfortable which made my mood sink a little bit. I turned to smile at her and she smiled back.

But the question is, was it fake? Did she hate me?

(1048 words)