• I walked carefully down the stairs, praying I wouldn’t lose my balance. Being injured in general, let alone on an important day like today, was something I was known for. This year, I’m hoping for a new beginning. Last year, I was a nobody. The kid who sits at the back of the cafeteria at lunch, and finds it daring to sit near one of the kids who actually have friends. But, that was last year. Starting today, I’m an ninth grader, a high schooler, and a new year means a clean slate.
    Pushing my luck, I jumped of the last step, ran down the narrow hallway, and slung my backpack over my shoulder. I smiled at my hazardous stunt. I outstretched my hand toward the doorknob when I heard a light thud coming from the staircase. I turned around to see my mother, her deep green eyes filled to the brim with tears.
    “Aw, mom. It’s okay.” I patted her back. “It’s only high school.” She smiled and wiped her tears.
    “I know, but—” She looked at me smiled, pulling my dull, black hair behind my ears. “I’m being silly aren’t I?”
    “Nah.” I took my hair from behind my ears and put it back in my face. “Your just being mom.” Her smile got wider and I smiled back. She kissed my forehead.
    “Have a good day, sweetheart. And, um, dear?”
    ”Yeah, mom?”
    “Try to make some friends this year. Okay?” I looked at her, and let out a long groan.
    “Aw, mom. I have friends.” She looked at me, and the expression on her face meant she really didn’t feel like arguing about this again. I hate it when she tries to get all sympathetic on me.
    “All right then, better get off to school. You don’t want to be late on the first day.”
    “Okay mom. Bye.” I gave her a quick peck on the cheek, and opened the door. Before stepping out, I looked in the mirror that hung beside me. I never looked in that mirror, especially on the way to school. I always thought if I found something wrong with me right before I left, would be constantly fixing myself during school hours. That would probably make me look even more stupid than usual. But hey, if I’m going to start a new beginning, I got to at least take some risks.
    My tedious black hair looked even worse than usual under the dim light of the lamp above me. I ran my fingers through it in an attempt to make it seem less lifeless. No such luck. My lips were thin and unappealing, and I wondered if I should sneak some of mom’s lip-gloss in my backpack before school. I decided not to. My skin showed signs of breaking out, which would stand out even more considering I didn’t even have freckles to pass it off as. My huge ears stuck outward, practically growing out through my hair to make it stand out even more.
    I looked at the only likeable feature about my face: my eyes. I’ve gotten compliments about them over the years, and only now have I come to appreciate them. My irises were a deep intense green that shouted both attractive and intimidating. My eyeballs themselves were perfectly centered, and just a little bit bigger than normal. A gave myself a quick smile, my lopsided teeth bearing, and headed out the door.
    I slammed the door behind me once I was exposed to the late summer air. I looked up. The sky was dark, with no evidence that the sun had ever lived here. I shivered, my teeth rattling. It felt to be about 60 degrees— much to cold for early September. I shivered once more, and took my jacket from around my waist and put it on. The fabric was light and airy, not enough to keep me warm, but was better than just the hair on my arms.
    A gust of wind blew as I started down the crooked path, not knocking me over, but allowing me to stumble backward. I tried again, but this time both my balance and the wind had not betrayed me. I smiled and took a deep breath. Time for school.
    The walk from my house to Cloverdale High only took about fifteen minutes, but on terribly dreadful mornings like these, it seemed like a lifetime. I started walking down the uneven sidewalk of Wilson Street attentively, paying attention to all the tree-roots that have grown into the pavement in the past couple of years. I knew that even though I survived my dare devil stunt I attempted earlier this morning, a sprained ankle wasn’t that hard to receive if I didn’t watch my footing. In case you haven’t guessed, I’m what people call “accident prone”.
    I quickened my pace after a couple minutes of avoiding a face-plant. Like mom had said, I didn’t want to be late on the first day. Coming in the classroom after everyone else will not only receive a glance from the teachers, but from the students as well. If I was going to be noticed, I wanted to be noticed in a good way.
    When I arrived at the corner, I started to see some familiar faces. I saw Chuck, from my science class last year, Jackie, from music, and Amaya, from Spanish. I waved at them awkwardly, but put my hand back down when they rolled their eyes at me, their expressions reading Is this loser talking to me? I closed my eyes and took in a breath.
    “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” I mumbled under my breath, hoping no one else would hear. I looked at them again, let out a sigh, and continued walking.
    I stopped at the crosswalk, waiting impatiently for the crossing guard to let us go. I always hated that the board of education thinks that we’re not capable of crossing the street by ourselves. It made me feel like a second-grader.
    When the crossing-guard turned around to signal us to cross the street, I broke into a fast walk. I did not want her to see me. I was almost half way to the other corner when I heard that shrill voice that made me go insane.
    “Christy!” The crossing guard yelled. I ducked my head and continued walking. This was not part of my “clean slate” plan.
    “Hey Christy, over here!” she continued. I groaned softly and turned around, giving up to her ear-piercing voice. “I knew it was you, Christy!”
    “Uh, yeah.” I said, using my very best false-enthusiasm voice. “Hi, um crossing guard. You’re, uh, doing a great job of… uh… crossing.” I continued walking, hoping my miserable plan worked. It didn’t.
    “Oh, silly Christy, you remember me! It’s Linda!”
    “I’m sorry,” I continued. “I don’t know any Linda. And, I’m, uh not allowed to talk to strangers. I’m just going to… uh… get to class now.” I continued walking to the corner—this time even faster than before—and didn’t rest until that nightmare of a crossing guard was out of my sight.

    * * * * *


    I let out a slow, even breath once I arrived at school.
    I didn’t fall, I didn’t trip, and I only got mildly embarrassed on the way here. Considering all the horrible things that happened to me over the past recent years, accomplishing that was equal to climbing Mt. Everest.
    I walked towards the main building, staring at the maroon bricks that kept it together. I looked around me. I’ve driven past the high school before, but I didn’t remember it being this big. I gulped. If the school was this large on the outside, I could only imagine what it entailed on the inside. With so many people, it’s going to be hard to get noticed.
    I looked around for people I knew so I could start up a conversation, but every time I would walk up to them, they would walk away, pretending not to notice. It wouldn’t have been too pathetic if it hadn’t happened about eight times… but I’m not that lucky. But, I put on a smiling face and kept on trying, but that’s when people started to stare… and when I gave up. I sat down against the wall.
    I was staring at the clock that hung against the school wall restlessly, when I saw Olivia. I smiled.
    Olivia Envie is my only friend here in Cloverdale, but I have to admit, she deserves better. Olivia is tall, beautiful, with streaks of gold in her chocolate brown hair. It now shining as if they were being lit by the sun. Her big blue eyes were so pretty they make the waters of the Caribbean seem like some polluted lake in Chicago. I’m surprised she even talks to me at all, let alone tell everyone she’s my friend. She has way more popular friends that she could hang out with, and yet she chooses me: the clumsy average-looking outcast that no one seems to notice. Sometimes I wonder if the only reason she ever was caught dead hanging out with me was to make herself look even better. At least that would be a reasonable explanation.
    Olivia must’ve noticed me sitting alone, so she started towards me, a huge smile on her face. I waved and smiled back.
    “Hey Christy!” she exclaimed, her smile bigger than before. I stood up and she caught me in a tight embrace.
    “Hey Liv. It’s great to see you.” I looked at Olivia. It wasn’t until now that I realized how much I missed her… not that much has really changed. She was about the same height from the last time I saw her, maybe an inch taller than the five foot five I was used to. Her skin was well tanned, and her hair was cropped short for the summer. Other than that, it was the same old Olivia.
    “You too. I tried to call you over the summer, but you were never home.”
    “Oh yeah. I was... uh… in New York all summer.” I lied. “Visiting family, you know?”
    “Yeah, I figured. But New York? Wow, so far away! Was it nice there? I hear the city is much busier than boring ole Cloverdale.”
    “Oh, yeah. It was… uh… pretty nice I guess.” I looked at the ground, then at the sky. What a stupid lie. My family hates traveling., and Olivia knows it. They couldn’t stand driving to Pacific City, let alone flying half way across the country.
    “Well, we have so much to catch up on. You’re in Mrs. Robinson’s homeroom, right?”
    “Yeah.” I let out a low groan. Being in the honor’s homeroom made me think of all the studying I’m going to have to do if I want to maintain my B average this year.
    “Great. See you there!” As she walked away, I couldn’t help but smile.