Evergreen

One

The sun is shining, a bright contrast against my so far terrible day. It's Wednesday, a hot, dry Wednesday that did nothing to lighten my mood. Being at the worst school possible didn't help either. It's lunch and the field is my best way to escape from all the people I hate, and that is pretty much everyone at this dump of a school.

I sat under a shady tree, the furthest one away from everything, with my sketchbook on my lap and pencil in hand; I vented the only way I knew how: drawing.

Shading in darkly and making all the lines extra dark to elicit my mood, I put all my emotions into the picture. After a while, it started to look like a rose with its petals falling and pooling around on the ground around it. The thorns looked more like spikes; the rose looked fierce. I loved it because I was feeling fierce. Sharp and... dangerous.

Just as I was about to darken one of the falling petals, my only pencil broke.

Of course this happens, now of all times.

Letting out a groan of frustration, I threw the pencil on the grass beside me. I started putting my sketchbook into my backpack but stopped when I heard someone clear their throat in front of me.

I looked up, finding myself staring into the most beautiful pair of green eyes I'd ever seen. I just about stopped myself from dropping my jaw like an idiot; poking at my lip ring with my tongue instead.

The girl smiled shyly, wringing her fingers nervously. A dimple chiseled itself into her left cheek and I couldn't help but stare at it. "Are you okay?"

I was until you asked. I thought bitterly, ignoring her question. I finished putting my sketchbook into my backpack, and zipped it up angrily.

When I didn't answer, she quickly said, "I'm sorry, it's none of my business. I shouldn't have asked." I just looked up at her. "I just wanted to tell you that the bell is going to ring any minute, so you wouldn't be late to your next class,"

What a nice stranger, I thought, the start of a smile tugging at the corner of my lips, but I stopped it before she could notice.

When she turned to leave, the bell rang and I scrambled up clumsily, snatching my broken pencil up off the ground before jogging to catch up with her.

"What's your name?" I asked as we walked off the field.

The girl smiled and looked at me, showing off both of her dimples. "Ah, so she does speak," I narrowed my eyes at her but she just laughed. "Claire."

"Claire, what?"

"Taylor."

"Claire Taylor. Pretty."

Claire Taylor smiled at me again. "Thanks. What's your name, angry lady?"

I glared the side of her head and ground my teeth as we walked into the halls of Berksview High, aka, the dump of a school. "Sarah McFall."

Claire raised her eyebrows at me. "See? You even say your name angrily!"

"That's because you called me angry lady! Do you expect me to be happy about that?"

She shrugged. "No."

I shook my head at her. "Why did you walk all the way up to the field just to tell me the bell was going to ring? How did you even know I was up there in the first place?"

Claire looked at me sideways. "I already told you, I didn't want you to be late. And I was on the bleachers; I saw you when I was about to walk to class. I thought I was being helpful, but I guess you don't need my help."