Surviving Year 15

Ch 1.

Why must we be plagued with the desperate desire to be wanted and accepted? Why can’t we just be perfectly happy being who we are? The truth is that we shouldn’t worry about it too much, but from one who knows, that’s rather unrealistic, isn’t it? In middle school, in high school, there is no escaping it. There is no way to completely shut it out. So the real question is, how do you deal with it? What can I do to manage the frustration? Well I wish that I could tell you that I could help you, that I have a plan with a 100% success rate, but if that was true, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

Hi, my name is Kali O'Brien and I have a life full of frustration, anxiety, and everything else that a typical freshman might have, but not to say my life totally sucks. I have a best friend named Gwen who makes this crazy emotional rollercoaster called life a little easier. I also have my guitar and my lucky pick that I always wear around my neck. And then there is always Kam. Kam moved here in about seventh grade. I honestly never thought that we would be friends because one: he’s a guy, two: he was a pretty good looking guy,  and three: I was not the kind of girl that attracted most boys, but I’m not ashamed of that. The girls that did attract guys were all about being fake. Five coats of makeup and endless amounts of desperate flirtation,.. ya not my style. Anyway, all the girls were instantly trying to get his attention and all the “cool” guys wanted to befriend him. Then I knew that there was no chance, but I was proven wrong. Despite everyone wanting to be his friend, he seemed to like being alone. That intrigued me.

11:30am. 7th grade, 5th period.

Around fifth hour I walked into the art room to take my seat at the always vacant back table, but today it wasn’t vacant. The new boy was given the seat next to mine. Dang. I knew I’d have to speak to him. I set my stuff on the floor by the table and sat down. I was about to say something when I noticed his shirt. The emblem was all too familiar. “You like Expectrum?! I exclaimed. He looked up at me in surprise. “You know Expectrum?” he asked. “Um, only every word to every song!” I said. He smiled. “Well you’re the first person I’ve met here that seems to have any real taste.” “My name’s Kali.” I told him. “I’m Kameron, but you can call me Kam if ya want to. That’s what my friends call me. I couldn’t help but smile because I knew that I was going to like this guy.

“And at the last concert when Gram just wailed on his guitar solo!” I exclaimed. “Yeah, that was awesome.” he said, laughing. “GET ON TASK!” Ms. Aimes ordered. We snickered and went back to shaping random stuff out of clay. “What are we even supposed to be doing?” Kam asked. “I don’t remember.” I said laughing. “Here, one sec,” I crawled over to one of my nerdier acquaintances and asked. "We're supposed to have finished making a pot in like, two minutes." I say, a little concerned. "Don't worry, that's no problem." He said, smiling. He took all the clay, and in what it seemed like just a few seconds, he had completed making two beautiful pots. I looked up in awe. "Dude, that's frickin awesome." I exclaim. He said nothing, but winked and flashed a smile that a moviestar would be jealous of. Gosh, I like this guy.

        Ten minutes later I was walking out of the art room with a number on my arm, a smile on my face, and the glaring eyes of the populars on my back.