Catch Me

Ariel: An Eventful First Period

I walked to 1st period with Winter, my cousin. She was in the vocal category like me. Boys turned their heads whenever they saw me and girls gave me glares. Especially those with boyfriends.

"Um, is everyone usually like that?" I asked Winter as I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

"No," Winter chuckled, "They're surprised because your hawt, cuz."

I grinned. I wasn't exactly comfortable with all the attention, but I couldn't say I didn't like it. Especially after him. I internally shuddered. Remember, he won't find you here.

"You even surprised Alex and that's hard to do," Winter joked.

"Whos's Alex?" I asked.

"Alex is short for Alexandria. She's super friendly and nice but hangs out with snobs like Celia, or CeCe, and Faith. She's in the Dance category and when I say she's good, I mean it. She was the skinny Asian in the maroon crop-top," Winter said.

I flashed back to this morning when I had just gotten out of the car. People were staring and whispering about me and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. They wouldn't be treating me like Taylor Swift when they knew my arrival could very much end their lives.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a girl who wasn't looking at me with stares of awes or glares. She was super skinny, like a twig, and her black with blonde tips was ramrod straight. She was obviously Asian, I could tell, but it wasn't her looks that caught my eyes, although she was pretty. It was her expression. It was curious, her face was flooded with questions, but her eyes had a fiercely protective look. Like she was either trying to protect me or trying to protect something from me. A boy had his arm wrapped around her waist. From her body language, I could tell she was slightly uncomfortable, but I couldn't examine her more because Winter had called my name.

"Yeah, I remember. How do you know so much about her?" I asked.

"We used to be close. Anyways, we're here," Winter said as we arrived at my first period: Math. I groaned. Math was not my subject.

"See you later," Winter said cheerfully and walked to her class which was just a few doors away. Yeah, when all of my brain cells are dead.

I walked to the teacher's desk and talked to the Math teacher, who introduced herself as Mrs. Crackle. I stifled a laugh. Mrs. Crackle! Hah!

"So I see you transferred from Mulberry High School?" she said as she pushed her glasses up her thin nose.

"Yes ma'am. From California," I replied.

"Shirkingston is quite different from California, isn't it?" Mrs. Crackle asked. You have no idea, I wanted to say. Everything is so old! But I just nodded my head politely.

"Well then, you can have a seat right next to Alexandria. I'm sure you'll get along just fine," the teacher announced. Somebody snickered.

Alexandria (or Alex, whatever) looked up from her notebook with a look of surprise and slight panic. Again, her eyes had a protective look in them, but the ferocity was gone. She looked at me with a slightly raised eyebrow.

Yeah, we'll get along just great. I made my way to the end of the second row. I internally groaned. Alex was my only partner. By the time I had got to my seat, Alex had already pushed her books on to her desk and politely took her legs off my chair.

"Hi, I'm Alex," she said as I sat down with a huff.

"Hey. I'm Ariel," I mumbled. She looked at me like I did something unexpected.

People are looking at us, I wanted to scream, but the girl didn't even turn around.

"Don't mind the stares. The majority of the guys are jerks and the majority of the girls are jealous, possessive witches who are trying to ensure that their boyfriends don't look at other girls. And the jerks and witches think they can get what they want by staring," she said loud enough that the majority of the class could hear her. It did the trick. People looked in every other direction besides us.

I took a closer look at Alexandria. She was obviously popular by the way she dressed and the fact people listened to her. It surprised me a little. She didn't exactly stand out, but when she talked, she talked authority. Interesting.

"Your welcome," she said. Her face was blank with a hint of regret. I wondered why.

"Mhm," I mumbled again and mentally kicked myself. Stop the mumbling Ariel!

"So are you going to try out for a Produce Group?" she asked.

"I guess," I shrugged.

"Hm," she replied. Before I could reply, the teacher ordered everyone to get out their notebooks.

About halfway in, I feel my bladder acting up (probably from nerves), so I raised my hand and asked if I could go to the bathroom. The teacher grudgingly let me go.

As soon as I was about to flush, I heard loud, angry footsteps that accompanied a loud, angry voice.

"Who do you think you are?" a feminine voice growled. I froze.

"Aisha, I'm sorry!" another voice pleaded. A slam. The walls vibrated.

"YOUR SORRY?!" the voice called Aisha snarled.

"I-" the voice was cut off by a slapping sound. I finally recognized the voice. No way.

"YOUR UGLY, FAT, AND A WANNABE," Aisha yelled. No voice answered back. Only a whimper.

"How. Dare. You. How dare you embarrass me!" Aisha yelled.

"Aisha, I'm sorry! I just wanted people to stop staring!" the voice whimpered. That confirmed it. I flushed the toilet and stepped out faster than you could say "STOP!"

Sure enough, Alex was crushed against the wall by a slightly round, brown-haired, and brown-eyed girl. Aisha.