Love Me Tender

Chapter 3: Hell High

Nicole jumped out of the car and gracefully picked up her book bag. She was halfway across the parking lot before I even had the chance to get out of the car. It was obvious how excited she was for the weekend and she knew that after just a few classes today and a few classes tomorrow, her dear brother would return to her after so many long months apart. I tried to retrieve my book bag with the same level of grace and ease that Nicole had, but... Let's just say grace is not something I possess much of.

As a child, I was enrolled in a number of different classes at our local dance and gymnastics arena - ballet, tap, jazz, tumbling, ribbons, and floor routine - all of which I had been released from due to my utter lack of grace and magnitude of clumsiness. My mom said that the teachers "wouldn't know true talent if it landed on their noses." But seriously, that wasn't true. I had absolutely no talent whatsoever.

I jogged after Nicole, but her legs were so much longer than mine and she had no trouble staying ahead of me.

"Nic! Slow down!" I said loudly from about ten feet behind her. She paused for a moment, letting me get just a couple of steps behind her rather than ten.

Her long red-orange hair blew behind her with the speed of her walk, and her easy, graceful steps were envied by everyone under 5 foot 4 inches tall. At five foot eight, her legs seems to be 70% of her height. I could hear all of the girls groan as she walked by, capturing the attention of the boys around them.

Oh, how we envied her tall, skinny frame and easy step. Everyone wanted to look like her and be able to carry them self in her sophisticated way. Including Rachael.

Since the beginning of time, evil has plagued our planet, forcing the innocent to bend to its will. And at Morro Bay High School, that evil came in the form of Rachael Parkins. Standing five feet and five inches tall and weighing 110lbs, she was the epitome of evil. If you looked evil up in the dictionary, her picture would be listed as a definition.

Her muddy, brown braids were probably just snakes in disguise. And even the shape of her eyes suggested pure evil lurked within her soul. Not to mention the twin girls she had brainwashed.
Alice and Allisa Timmerman used to be beautiful. Alice's hair was a beautiful brown and Allisa's was a beaming blonde, both cut into short bobs above their slim shoulders. Other than their hair, they were nearly identical. Everyday, they wore similar outfits in different colors. Stereotypical twins. But when Rachael took them under wings, she changed them into pure evil.

Now there once kind eyes seemed to be filled with anger and menace.

"Hey, nobodies! Are you lost? The mental hospital is on the other side of town!"

Speak of the devil. The crowd of Populars standing behind her laughed like what she'd said we witty and genius. But honestly, she just sounded like an idiot.

"If I needed directions to your house, Rachael," I said, surprisingly calm since I wanted to ring her neck, "I would ask."

"Oooohhh," they howled, like I had just wounded her. But how could you hurt someone who didn't even have a soul? She rolled her eyes at me and I walked away with Nicole trailing a few step behind. Now I was the one who was walking fast.

I had never been one to long for the coveted spotlight; I liked to blend in with my surroundings, to not draw attention to the flaws that I hid under a layer of makeup and sarcasm.

But in a school of 600 people, blending in is hard to do. Especially when 90% of the school is the exact opposite of you.
I tended to stick out at Morro Bay High. I just wasn't like everyone else. And I was okay with that. Having Nicole made it all easier. She knew things I would never tell other people, she understood me. I guess I could thank Rachael for bringing us together. If Nicole hadn't been boxed out of the Populars, who knows what she would be like now...

She laid a hand on my shoulder and tugged gently, trying to turn me around. I grunted and turned to face her.

"Take a breath. She's a bitch, Lily," Nicole echoed the words that were already playing in my head like a CD on repeat. I nodded a frustrated, two-bobs-of-the-head nod.

"I know. I just hate her!" I could feel my cheeks getting red hot with rage.

"Everyone does," Nicole said, rolling her emerald green eyes.

"Come on, we have to get to class

"Fine." I crossed my arms over my chest and proceed to walk to my first period class. I waved to Nicole when we had to split up. "See you at lunch!"

"Have fun in geography!" She sarcastically yelled back from halfway down the hall.

Let the torture begin, I said quietly to myself.