All Because of You

Chapter 1

The soft white clouds float freely across the sky. I wish I could be like them. Free. Instead, the chains of peer pressure and hate hold me back. The grass tickles my arms and a rock is wedged under my back. I don't move the rock. I learned to get used to the pain. Just like the pain of daily life. The soft early morning breeze blows my hair which is now tangled with grass after laying here for so long. My back is now aching so I decide to leave the peace of the outdoors and return to my miserable life.

I lazily walk back to my house and open the door. My mom stands by the stove humming and cooking an egg. I quickly check my reflection in a mirror and my ugly reflection stares back at me. My ordinary long brown hair is super boring and my eyes have nothing special about them. I am probably the most boring girl in Colorado.

"Where do you disappear to every morning before school?" My mom asks me as I grab my book bag.

"Nowhere," I reply while walking out of the house. My mom doesn't like driving me to school because driving cars apparently hurt the environment. I have to walk four blocks to get to my school. I count off the blocks as I walk. When I reach the school doors I can see my best friend waiting for me. She is also my only friend. Her long red hair blows with the wind and her freckles stand out against her pale skin.

"Where've you been, Olivia?" My best friend asks. "I've been waiting here forever."

"I'm sorry Cassie. It took longer than I thought to walk here," I reply.

"It's okay, but you should just ride the bus," Cassie tells me.

"I know but my mom won't let me," I say for the tenth time this week.

"Let's go before we're late for class," Cassie laughs.

We walk into the school and everyone ignores me. Cassie isn't too popular but she isn't invisible like me. She knows a ton of people and is super nice. We have been best friends since third grade which was six years ago. We are freshmen in high school and we are still inseparable. As we walk down the hall everyone says hi to Cassie but they all ignore me. No one bothers to even acknowledge that I'm standing right in front of them. Courtney bumps into my shoulder intentionally causing me to drop all of my books.

"Oh I'm sorry," Courtney lies, "I didn't mean to do that. Maybe you should pick up your books."

"You bi-" Cassie starts to say before I punch her in the shoulder.

"It's okay. I know you didn't mean to do it," I say faking a smile.

"Of course," Courtney walks off with her clique and laughs that annoying laugh of hers.

I just stare at her and then bend down to pick up my books. Cassie kneels down next to me and helps. Then another person kneels down next to me to help. It was Jason. Jason is very popular but nice. He is also very quiet and humble for the quarter back of the football team. He puts his hand on my shoulder and I realize how attractive he is.

"Why don't you ever tell her off," Jason questions me.

"She can defeat me easily," I say, "It wouldn't be smart of me."

"Maybe you should try some time. It might teach her a lesson," Jason stands up and hands me one of my books.

I also stand up and Cassie gives me some more books that I dropped. "Thanks," I mumble. I make my way through the halls ignoring whatever Cassie is saying. I still can't believe Jason. I would've thought that he would be on Courtney's side. She's a cheerleader, and he's a football player. It all makes sense. I fumble with the lock on my locker for a few seconds before I opened it. Cassie crosses the hall to her locker. I get everything I need for homeroom and my first period class. When I'm finished at my locker Cassie walks to homeroom with me.

"So would it be okay?" Cassie asks me.

"Would what be okay?" I ask confused.

"Were you listening to me on the way to our lockers?" Before I can say anything, Cassie says, "Of course not."

"I'm sorry. What were you telling me?" I apologize.

"I might be transferring to a different high school," Cassie smiles sadly at me.

"Nice one," I laugh.

"I'm not joking," Cassie says with annoyance in her voice.

"What? No. You can't leave me," I reply in disbelief.

"I said that I might be transferring. I never said it was definite," Cassie replies.

"Why would you transfer?" I ask Cassie.

"My mom likes the other school better. She said that it also has a really good athletic program," Cassie explains.

Cassie is a hardcore soccer player but our school doesn't have a very good athletic program. I understand why she would want to transfer but I can't help but to be selfish. We are silent for the rest of the walk to homeroom. I sit down in my seat and Jason decides to sit next to me. I roll my eyes subtly and try to ignore him. I don't really know why I decide to ignore him. I guess I'm just scared of getting to know people.

"It's rude to ignore people," Jason whispers as the teacher takes attendance.

"Trust me when I say that I know what rude is," I say annoyed.

"Sorry Olivia, I just don't understand why you're ignoring me," Jason tells me.

"I don't understand why you're being nice to me all of the sudden," I say when the bell rings. I stand up quickly and try to avoid Jason. I arrive at my social studies classroom and realize that it'll be hard to avoid Jason when we have so many classes together. I sit down at an empty seat and two seconds later someone sits beside me. I look over at the seat next to me and see Jason. What does he want from me?

"I think we could be good friends if you didn't ignore me," Jason laughs. "We have lots of things in common."

"How?" I ask. "You're popular and I'm not. You have tons of friends and I only have one friend. You're funny and nice and I'm probably the last person who anyone would want to hang out with."

"You're just afraid," Jason smiles without looking at me.

"Of what," I ask throwing my hands up into the air.

"Life," Jason whispers.