I wake up to my mother shaking me and saying that I'm going to be late to my first day of school. "You're gonna be late Riyah" "Ok Mom" I mutter, wiping the sleep from my eyes. I grab a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I take a quick shower and get changed. I stand in the bathroom staring at myself in the mirror as I comb through my long brown hair. I then put it into a braid. My step-father, Brent, appears in the doorway, giving me a sad look. "You haven't forgotten have you Ariah?" Great. He's still mad about the detention. He only uses my full name when he's mad. "No Brent. I haven't forgotten about my detention" I reply, gritting my teeth. "Try not to be late home, okay? And try not to get into any more trouble today, alright?" "I'll try father" I say. He gives me a kiss on the top of my head and leaves for work. There's a knock at the door and my mother goes to open it. I see my best friend standing in the door, smiling at me. His name is Lewis. I met him at the beginning of the year this year and we've been friends ever since. He's my best friend and he's the closest friend I've ever had. "Hey Lewis!" I say, smiling at him. "Bye Mom!" I say, kissing her on the cheek and heading out of the door with Lewis for school. We bound down the stairs and walk out of the door. He stops me by grabbing my elbow. "Wait" What?" I ask. I look at him and see that he looks scared. "We'd better go the other way today Riyah. It's not very safe that way." He says, pointing in the direction we usually go. "Why? We always go that way Lewis. We've never had any troubles" I say. He gives me a serious look. "Fine. We'll go the other way." I sigh. We head the other way and get to school within minutes. We hurry to class and once everyone is in there we get started. The day goes by quickly and I don't get into trouble at all... until the last class. We were in math class and the teacher asked to talk to me. I look at Lewis. "Want me to come with you?" He mouthed. I shake my head. "There's no reason for it Lewis" I mouth back. I get up and exit the room. The teacher stands there, looking at me as if I'm her next meal. I saw the way she ate the hamburgers at lunch. I don't want to be her next meal. "Ariah Gray" she says my name with a look of disgust on her face. "Yes Ms.Iovis" I say. Even her name scares me. I searched it online and apparently it mean masculine in Latin. Which is kinda creepy. She keeps her eyes trained on me, barely blinking, as if I'm going to grow wings and fly off.
