Bittersweet Revenge //a.i.//

Chapter One

The gray smoke of the cigarette curled around my fingers and face as I blew the sour smoke out of my body. My back rested against the cool bricks of the high hell. Sorry. High school.

One more year until I graduate and leave this hell. Sorry. School. Today was the first day of my junior year and quite honestly I already hate it. The busses began to empty and everyone hurried inside. Hopeless freshmen scurried around trying to find their friends in upper classes to help them get to homeroom. Everyone else buzzed around looking for their little group so that they can discuss what pointless things they did that summer.

I put my cigarette out and walked inside. Everyone's sticky bodies from the sweat that clung to them stenched the room. Jesus Christ people get some body spray or deodorant. A group of girls wearing very high skirts and very plunging neck lines giggled in the corner, probably discussing who banged who last week. Which again, totally pointless.

That's when I felt a tap on my shoulder causing me to spin around quickly. No one even notices me who could b... ugh. Freshman.

"Excuse me?" She asked politely in a very quiet tone.

"May I help you?" I snapped.

"Where's Room 221?"

"Go up this staircase, turn left, it's in the science wing."

"Thank you. I'm Hailey by the way."

"Nice to meet you." I fake smiled and walked away. Ugh. If she wasn't so nice I would've ignored her. Whatever. I can tell she's a loner like me. Nothing wrong with it. Some of us would just rather work alone. Especially if you've lost someone.

I went up to my homeroom which is only for the first day of school to see that I was the first person there. The teacher who's name I forget waved at me and gave me a friendly nod. I returned the nod and sat down. I sat uncomfortably as an awkward silence filled the room. Part of me wanted to start a conversation and the other half of me knew that was a bad idea.

Other students flew in laughing and talking too loudly once the bell rang. I knew everyone, no one knew me though. That sounds creepy but it's only like that because I just don't get noticed.

For example, the guy in the football jersey and thick black glasses was Marcus Smith. He dated Erin Andrews for 3 months until she banged the rest of the varsity team last year. He's nice and all but just lets everyone walk all over him. He was also my friend in elementary school until we got into middle school where I was suddenly invisible. That's when it first happened. Someone shut me out. If only I could go back and tell 11 year old me how he was just the first of the hundreds who would no longer notice my existence.

The teacher handed out our schedules and our planners for the year before the bell rang and everyone flooded out the room.

The day was a blur of everyone pretending to like each other and playing games to know each other's names until I finally got to my place of true joy. Seventh period chorus. This was where I was home. Corny I know but this was where everything made sense. Where all I had to do was sing my little heart out and go home. It's what makes high school worth it.

"YO KIDS TAKE A SEAT! ALTOS LEFT, TENORS NEXT, THEN BASSES AND BARITONES, AND THEN MY SOPRANOS LETS GOOOO." Mr Brown screamed as he went back to talking to the head of the music department that always felt the need to interrupt rehearsals.

I pulled out my pre calculus textbook and began to work on the homework as I sat in the back corner of the altos.

"May I sit next to you?" A tiny voice squeaked. I looked up to see Hailey standing in front of me with her giant freshman backpack slung against one shoulder. I moved my backpack to the ground beside me and motioned for her to sit then went back to work. "You seemed lonely."