In 7 Days [Book 1]

Chapter 1 - New Girl

Deep breath, in and out. Stay calm. This year is going to be great for you. The kid's at school will not make fun of you. Your eating disorder will not come back. Everything will be perfectly fine. 

I stepped out of the house into the warm September air and planted my feet on the concrete steps. I turned back to the open door and stared straight at my mom in the doorway. "Bye." I said to my mom, my nervousness evident in my voice. I forced a smile so she wouldn't be worried.

"Goodbye, sweetie. I'll see you at lunch." Mom said, kissing my forehead and closing the door behind me. I turned away from the door and looked out over the road. The butterflies filled my stomach and I wondered if I really should have been going to school today. I could have very well just stayed home...

At least I'd be seeing my mom at lunch, and then maybe I could sneak into the back room and sit with her. Knowing that I would be seeing my mom at lunchtime made me feel the slightest bit better - even if I did have to keep her a secret from everyone. The kids at the last few schools I attended bullied my mom because of her weight, and when they found out that she was my mom the bullies moved onto me. It had been hell, but this year was going to be better! 

As I was walking down the pavement, I suddenly lost my footing and went falling to the ground. I pulled myself off the ground as fast as I could and dusted off my hands, praying that no one had seen me fall. I then heard giggling behind me. I turned around to see a girl, way shorter than me, with blonde hair in a ponytail and a cheerleading outfit on. "Aw, did Little Miss Zero fall over? What a shame." She said in a baby voice, walking past me and giving me a hard shove. I fell into the grass on the side of the path. 

I rolled my eyes at her and went to stand up, but before I could, a tanned boy stepped in front of me, grinning down at me on the ground. "This is the path the bitches take." He held his hand out to me and helped me off of the ground. The butterflies in my stomach did another lap as soon as I touched the boy's hand. 

"Thank you." I smiled softly, brushing the grass off of my bottom.

"You're welcome." He said quietly, still smiling. He held his hand out to me again. "I'm Jake."

I shook his hand. The butterflies did that thing again. "Marley. Marley Rose." 

"Well, Marley, if I were you, I'd take the right back there and go up the hill then turn right again. You'd avoid Kitty that way." He nodded over at the blonde cheerleader who had pushed me over.

"Well, why are you walking here, Jake?" 

Jake opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by the blonde girl, Kitty, standing a few metres ahead of us. "Come on, babe. Don't you want to walk to school with your girlfriend?" She made sure to make an emphasis on the cutesy couple-y words. She smirked at me, and I took a step backwards. She was intimidating.

"That's why..." Jake laughed slightly (the laugh sounded forced and fake) and ran over to Kitty. "See you at school, Marls!" He put his arm around Kitty's shoulder.

The butterflies stopped. But a different feeling welled up inside of me, and it felt like jealously. But I shook it off, becaue I was not going to be developing a crush on the very first day at a new school. That was for the second day back. 

"Move!" I heard someone shout, and then I realised I had been standing in the middle of the path. A cyclist sped past me, almost knocking me off of my feet again. I then turned around and ran to the hill, just like Jake told me. I didn't want to be late for my first day at McKinley, did I?

*** 

The way that Jake had told me to take was probably only longer by two minutes, and after a few minutes of nonstop running, I finally saw it. William McKinley High School. It looked a lot smaller when I walked past it the other day. There were big groups of students standing in the parking lot and senior jocks throwing a football to each other right in front of the stairs leading up to the doors. I snuck past the big boys, my heart pounding in fear and sweat dripping down my neck. I fumbled with the door handles a bit, because of my nervousness and my sweaty hands, but I eventually got the heavy metal thing open.