Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club

Chapter 1--

We called them Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club, after the Beatles song. They were the last people you wanted to be. Sure, you were a loser if you were a nerd or a band geek, but Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club is when you've hit rock bottom. I never expected to be one of them.

My name is Michelle. My parents say they named me that because it means "one who is like God". That very well may be true, but I don't think that it's coincidence that my name is also the name of a Beatles song. After all, Max and I didn't name our goldfish Doctor Robert because the name Robert means "bright fame", we named him after the Beatles song.

I love the Beatles. The morning of my first day of high school, I woke up, climbed out of bed, and turned the radio to my favorite station. All oldies, all the time. "Octopus's Garden" was playing, and I knew it was going to be a great year.

When I walked through those huge doors to Bewley High School about an hour later, I felt like I was on top of the world.

I was immediately tackled with a hug. "Rita!" I choked, winded by surprise and fur from her jacket sticking to my mouth.

"Michelle! I missed you so much! How was your summer? My summer was great. Such a shame that you couldn't go on vaca with us 'cause it was a blast..."

I usually tune out Rita when she starts to ramble. It may not be a surprise that the name Rita means "pearl". As much as I love Rita, she is as vain as they come.

Rita is perfect. She is thin and tall with perfect straight hair and expensive clothes. She's rich. I'm not.

That was the reason that I didn't go with her family on vacation this summer. We just couldn't afford to send me to Cancun. I would never tell Rita this, of course. I would never tell Rita anything, actually. She would tell everyone, and then my reputation as the second most popular girl in school would be ruined.

That was my worst fear. I had worked so hard to get to the top; I would die if it all went down the drain. And that's why I hung out with Rita. It's not that I didn't love her, because I did. She was my best friend. Well, beside Max. Being her friend made me look good, and it kept me on top. And I loved her for that. I knew that my reputation was the most important thing.

Rita giggled and gossiped to me as we walked through the halls, eventually stopping by the door of her first period class. "I'll see you later!" I called to her as she left me by myself in the hall.

I pulled my schedule out of my back pocket. Art class first period. I tried to recall where the art room was.

I hiked all the way up to the third floor and turned left, hoping that I was headed in the right direction. Bewley is so vast and spread out that it was a miracle that I finally made it to the right place.

I walked through the art room door and was greeted by a pretty young-looking woman in a cardigan and dress with adorable boots on. With a paint splotched apron to complete the look, she was the picture perfect art teacher. "Room 28?", I asked her.

"Yes! Come on in!" She was too friendly. She gave me a huge grin, as if I was some little kid who couldn't even fingerpaint, and she was just soooo ecstatic to teach me the basics of art. Still, it was the thought that counted. I returned her smile, and entered the room.

The immediate sight of a familiar face greeted me, and a rush of relief swept through me. "Max!" I was so happy to see him.

"Michelle, my belle!" he called out to me his usual greeting, referencing the Beatles song that I swear I'm named after.

I true grin spread across my face. I sat down next to him. "I'll be bringing Doctor Robert over today." I reminded him. "I'll feed him first, though."

Doctor Robert was a goldfish that Max and I got for a science project in the second grade where we were partners. After testing how goldfish react to loud music, and getting boring results, we named him Doctor Robert, after a Beatles song, put him in a clear, round fish bowl, and decided that we would share him as a pet. Every week one of us took care of Doctor Robert, and then gave him to the other for a week, along with his bowl and food. I'm not exactly sure what the average life span for a goldfish is, but Doctor Robert had been kicking for seven years, and was healthy as a horse (or, you know, a goldfish).

Doctor Robert was one of the things that held my friendship with Max together. Well, that and the fact that we'd grown up together and been next door neighbors since before I can remember. We were the type of friends that used to take baths together as babies. As toddlers we peed in the baby pool together. We used to draw with sidewalk chalk together. All throughout elementary school, we spent recesses swinging together. I would go to his piano recitals, and he would come to my dance recitals (while I still danced, anyway). As much as I said Rita was my best friend, Max was the real deal. He had always been the perfect friend to me, and I to him.

The name Max is short for Maxwell, which means " Maccus's stream". Strange, I know. The word "Maccus" means "great", and then the word "stream". Great stream. That's my Max. As odd and random as ever.

We were always best friends. It was around the fifth grade when things started to change. A few high schoolers had come to the elementary school trying to recruit fifth graders to join marching band when they got to middle school. Max jumped right in, deciding that he wanted to play trombone. So my best friend was about to willingly become a band geek. Alright, to each their own. It's your life, Max, not mine. I was worried though.

That was when I started caring about what people thought. That was when I realized that image is everything. I worked hard throughout middle school to become popular. I befriended Rita, and that was icing on the cake. Of course, I knew I would never be as popular as Rita, but being second to her was just as good. Max and I stayed friends through it all, and when I started high school, he was still my best friend in the entire world.

"Thanks!" Max replied. "Are you ready to draw some stuff?"

"Born ready." I answered jokingly.

"Good!" He handed me a blank piece of paper. "Let's get cracking!"