KNOCKOUT

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I smacked my snooze button and rolled back over. With how many times I've hit that alarm, I am surprised that it's not broken. I glare at the tiny box from one squinted eye, the numbers all a blur. Closing my eye again, I snuggled my head back into the pillow and slid my limbs across my warm sheets. Shivering when I hit a cold spot, I readjusted my position before succumbing to the temptation of sweet slumber once again.

When five minutes passed, I heard the protest of my alarm ring out. I rolled over rubbed my tired eyes to be able to read the blurry numbers on the clock. 6:15. So much for snoozing it again.

Standing up, a chill shot through my feet when they left the warmth of my comforter and ran up my legs. I quickly ripped the entire blanket off my lap like a bandage and made my way over to my dresser. I popped in my contacts carefully and blinked a couple times until they adjusted.

Moving over to my walk-in closet, I grabbed a pair of black skinny jeans and a bright blue t-shirt. Walking past my beaten alarm, I quickly switched it on to the radio and made my way over to the attached bathroom. It was crammed and narrow but it beat having to share a bathroom.

My eyes closed in pure bliss as I slipped into the shower, and the hot water hit my back before rotating and making sure to cover my entire body in the blissful heat. I quickly ran my hands through my hair, lathering it with shampoo, knowing I would be out of hot water soon since I was always the last to use it each morning.

"Julie!" My sister barked at me out from behind the bathroom door causing me to jolt out of my half-conscious state.

"What Lana?" I growled through gritted teeth, applying some conditioner into my hair.

"Get your ass out here right now!” I rinsed as fast as I could and got out. It took me less than a minute to dry my body and have clothes on, most of the way, and burst out of the bathroom looking for my sister.

"What is it?" I knew there was a panicked edge to my voice, but I highly doubt she heard it.

"I can't find your really cute black tank top with the purple bow on the boob! I'm going to wear it today!" I heard something in my closet move, and I took my time fixing my clothes and grabbing my towel to dry my hair with it. I walked into my closet doorway and saw her looking at all of my clothes, groaning when she saw clothes she didn't like - which was most of them. "You have so much crap! I don't know why you wear shit like that." She pointed to the outfit I had on and gave it a dirty look.

Most people say that the youngest is the one to get babied. That wasn’t the case in my house. As Lana was the oldest, I had to do what she said. If I argued, I was always the one that got in trouble for starting the fight and she got away unpunished.

"I like my outfit." I looked down at it and smiled. I picked up my brand new pair of converse and began walking out of my closet. It had taken me a while to save up for them, and I was excited to finally wear them.

"Wait! Where do you think you're going with those? You smudged mine when you stepped on me yesterday. I’m going to be wear those today. Wear your old ones or something." I sighed and handed her my new converse, grabbing my old faded and ripped ones.

It was a amazing that she felt the need to wear any of my clothes when her closet was full of high end labels, but I knew she did it just to spite me. Most of the time she would take something to wear it, end up wearing something else, and I would never get my stuff back.

I walked back out of my closet as she continued to sort through my clothes, searching for one of the only cute tops I owned. A glance in the mirror on my dresser reflected a stranger looking back at me. She had black hair that fell just below my shoulder blades and bright green eyes. A glaringly obvious fake smile was painted on her face, and the empty look in her eyes made her look dead inside. I grimaced at the sight of the unimpressive girl before me, and she mimicked the movement.

I was never the type of person to wear a ton of make-up or who dressed in revealing clothes. I had my own style. It was basic and plain, according to Lana. I pulled the brush through my lightly damp hair. The gentle waves looked okay, but the slight frizz made me wrinkle my nose in annoyance. I didn’t other to try and tame the beast, it was just going to be set free after gym anyway.

A glance at the clock let me know that I needed to hurry, so I sat on the edge of my bed and pulled on my old converse.

"Lana, we should go, or we might be late," I said, trying to bite back the irritation that she caused first thing that morning.

Lana was already in a bad mood, and I didn't want to fight with her so early. I bent down to pick up my book bag and rolled my eyes at her when my hair fell forward to block Lana from being able to see it.

"Quit bossing me around, damn! You’re so lucky that I am in a good mood today and will let your little attitude problem slide, just this once." She glared at me as I walked out of my room and down the stairs to wait for her so we could go.

How the hell was she able to justify today as a good mood?

Just like I thought, we arrived at school late. I didn't have time to go to my locker, so I ran down the hall, up the stairs, and into my English class. I quietly opened the door and slid in. My seat was right by the door, but just my luck... so was the teacher.

"Ms. Sanders! Why are you late?" The teacher stared me down coldly. I didn't answer. I had never been good at talking in front of people and felt myself clam up. "Are you going to say something, or just stand there like a mute?" God, this teacher was always so mean. "Just sit down!"

I did as she ordered and heard a girl next to me mutter, "What a fucking loser!" I sank down in my seat. From the corner of my eye, I saw her friend lean over and whisper something in the girl's ear. Suddenly, they both broke out laughing. I sank down farther.

The clock ticked slowly, almost laughing at how slowly the class was crawling by.

Like the diligent student that I was, I pushed aside my humiliation and vigorously wrote down everything the teacher was saying. The better my grades were the easier and cheaper it would be to get away from this shit hole.

Each passing second had my humiliation turning into a burning rage within me. My pencil pressed down against my paper, causing the led to snap. As I pushed the top of the eraser to get more out, I gritted my teeth.

Nothing seemed to be going in my favor today. I was so sick of everything.

When the bell rang, I jumped from my seat and ran out of the class, heading for my locker.

I threw my bag in it, feeling a small pinch of satisfaction when it slammed against the back metal and fell to the bottom with a thud. I pulled out some paper, a calculator, a pencil, and my math book.

"Jules!" I would recognize that nickname anywhere. My best friend gave it to me. My only friend.

"Chrissie!" We both ignored the stares from people as we made our way to each other. She was almost to me when a door swung open fast and hard, hitting her right in the face. Her papers and books fell down to the ground where they were ignored by everyone walking by and were trampled. I ran to her, and a dark figure walked out of the doorway.