Ciana carefully parked her bicycle beside one of the picnic tables near her school. She felt a strange sensation of sudden detachment but quickly shook it off. She turned to look for her friends, who had formed a small circle and were all talking. She smiled brightly and ran to them. "Hey guys!" she called as she neared them. One of the girls in the group, Kimberly, turned to look at her and gave her a slight wave. Ciana waved back, delighted to see them. She ran to them, her attitude bubbly and highly expressive. "Hi!" she exclaimed cheerfully as soon as she caught up to them. Alodie, one of her friends, smiled without expression in return. Ciana grew confused but kept her smile.
"Hi," Ellette, another girl, responded. Alodie began whispering something in her ear, causing Ellette to giggle. Curiosity got the best of Ciana and she was forced to ask.
"What are you talking about?" Alodie backed away from the already laughing Ellette and smiled.
"Something I heard yesterday," she explained calmly. Ciana felt that something really wasn't right. Her friends were keeping something from her and it bugged her from that moment on.
"Can you tell me?" she asked. Just then, the bell rang to go to homeroom.
"Sorry, I can't. Gotta go. Bye!" she exclaimed, calmly walking away from the girls. Ciana eyed Ellette mysteriously as she tried to contain her laughter. Once she managed to stop laughing, she caught Ciana's curious stare.
"I'll tell you later, I promise," she said walking away. "Catch you two later," she called back at them, waving at Kimberly and another girl, Bree. Ciana continued staring at her, more heartbroken than curious this time. Her best friend had just ignored her. What did I do? Ciana thought to herself, looking down.
"I have to go. I'll be late. Bye, Kim," Bree finally said, leaving Ciana out yet again. Ciana faced Kimberly, who had been waving at Bree.
"Can you tell me?" Ciana asked her. Kimberly looked at her, confused.
"Tell you what?" Kimberly asked.
"What Alodie told everyone else," Ciana demanded. Kimberly looked around, not daring to meet Ciana's gaze.
"I don't know what she told everyone else," she lied. Ciana crossed her arms in disbelief.
"Really?" she asked. Kimberly nodded, looking at her straight in the eye. Ciana sighed, dropping her arms. "I just feel like you guys are ignoring me," she said sadly. Kimberly looked down, feeling bad about keeping the secret from her. "I'll see you in first period, I guess." With that, Ciana left to her homeroom class, leaving Kimberly by herself.
~~~
As she set her bag beside her desk, Ciana noticed Alodie occasionally glancing at her. Ciana sighed, thoughts rushing through her mind. What did I ever do to them? She sat down on her seat and pulled out her book, a biography of her favorite actress.
"What are you reading?" Alodie asked, walking to her. Ciana looked up for a split second, then continued reading.
"A biography," she answered, not taking a pause from reading. Alodie gave her a look of slight disgust.
"Why are you reading that?" she asked, placing her hand on the page Ciana was reading, causing her to lose her concentration.
Ciana looked up at her and replied, "Because I want to."
Alodie rolled her eyes and said, "How could you choose something so boring?" Ciana felt deeply offended by Alodie's remark and felt anger rushing through her, growing stronger and stronger the more she saw Alodie's face.
"How could you say it's boring? It is the life of an actual person!" she replied. Alodie looked at the title page of the book and figured out who she was reading about.
"Really, Ciana? Idina Menzel? Really? God, you are addicted," she murmured, going back to her desk.
"I am not addicted!" Ciana yelled, slamming her palms against her desk. Alodie smirked as she sat at her desk. Suddenly, Mrs. Amador, her homeroom teacher
