Firecracker

As soon as I came out of the office the bell rang. Oh good, now I'll be late for my first class and I haven't found my locker yet. I looked at my schedule to go through my classes.

English, Mathematics, Spanish, break, Biology Arts, lunch....

My eyes were woozy as I went through the whole schedule and I immediately mastered them by heart. What can you say? Not meaning to brag but I've got a photographic memory and it has helped me a lot of times. I slowly searched for my locker, not that I had anything important to keep in it. I wasn't looking up since I was trying to avoid the stares and glances thrown my way by the students in the hallway but I bumped into someone causing loud gasps to reverberate followed by a pin drop silence.

Panic immediately filled my mind, I was too scared to look up, to look into the eyes of who I bumped into.

"Are you okay?" A soft voice asked me, making me look up a bit and nod immediately before mouthing

"I'm sorry"

She chuckled "No it's my fault, I wasn't looking at where I was going. You seem new. I'm prin-- Luciana"she immediately corrected "Have we met, you look familiar."

I look at her properly, she had delicate features, she was so beautiful, clean and spotless compared to me.

I shook my head immediately, I don't know her, we have never met and even if we have, there's no way I can associate myself with someone as delicate and beautiful as she was. I was not allowed to have friends.... 'There are consequences'.

My father doesn't want to risk anyone finding out what he does to me or the government taking away his punching bag.

I wonder what's he's more scared of... losing his punching bag or the government finding out which could cause him to be in jail charged with child abuse. I took time to look at her clean brand new clothes and tried hard to imagine how disgusting I looked in my faded ones.

Feeling self conscious, I start to resume the search for my locker but....

"Wait! I didn't get your name" Luciana rushed towards me in excitement resulting to more gasps of suprise from the students. What's with them and the suprised looks on their faces.... haven't they seen a rich kid trying to make friends with a poor kid.

That had never happened to me before, everyone I meant just had this snobby, brat attitude to me, They pretend to be nice at first but are infact going to bully you in the end.

I stared at Luciana warily "I'm Renée" I was about to walk away when she grabs the paper containing my schedule from me

"Oh we have English, Mathematics and Spanish together then lunch!" She looked hyper active and was giggling, I smiled slightly amused by her over excitement....at least she was friendly. Then a phone rang, I tried not to stare as she took out the latest iPhone with a very eye catching purple phone case from her pockets. "Wait here, don't move, I have to answer this"

I inwardly rolled my eyes as she left, where else does she expect me to go when she had practically disrupted by movement and drawn all attention to me.

"Well, well, look what we have here, a new bitch in school" A shrill voice said loudly and a group of three girls are walking over, the girl in the middle obviously the leader.

Oh no, not again. I shuddered at the thought of being bullied... again, I never planned this, not on my first day.

"Hello bitch, I'm Keisha (kee-sha), the leader of the cheerleading group" She twirls one loose strand of her hair as she tries to push out her chest full of fake silicone boobs while trying to look domineering. I could easily guess that she's the queen bee of the school, she looked so beautiful with her slim figure and straight hair which brought out the nice shape of her face but her face was caked with too much make up unlike my fat, disfigured looks. I instantly felt envious of her because of her confidence but felt grossed out.

"I'm Re-"

"Why do I need to know the name of a lowlife like you".

Ouch! that stung, I felt the need to retaliate but that boldness was doused out.

"Take a good look at yourself and everyone around. Even our lowest ranked is dressed better"

The words caused fits of laughter in the hallway but brought tears in my eyes.

I didn't want the tears to fall,

I didn't want her to be happy over the fact that she caused me to cry,

I didn't want to look weak in front of so many people.

I wanted them to respect me,

I was tired of being bullied,

I wanted them to look at me with fear and respect rather than the looks of adoration they were currently giving to keisha.

I wanted to make everyone pay for every single pain they caused. I clenched my fist tightly and looked down at my age strickened sneakers.

A loud resounding slap was heard and I looked up to see a very angry Luciana

"How dare-"

Another slap was heard.

"Uppity bitch say what?!" Luciana said in a rushed tone but

"What?!" Keisha replied

Luciana started giggling wildly and not before long, everyone was laughing, I couldn't help but laugh too.

"Stay away from my friend or I won't hesitate to punish you" she spat out warningly. "I'm warning everyone that has thoughts of hurt renée, if I find out any ploy you have planned, you would regret it. Understood! Now get lost!"

She growled- what?! She didn't just growl like a dog. It's just my mind playing tricks on me. If I had been really watching, I would have noticed how her pale blue colored eyes has glowed brightly. Everyone had left including Keisha who sent a death glare to my direction before walking off with her two maids- I guess.

"So, let's find your locker. I'm dying to get to know you" she clapped lightly in excitement, gone was the totally angry 'im going to kill you' looking girl and is now replaced with the over excited girl. I swear that this girl gets me sometimes and she had this energy, this vibe and aura of 'i don't give a damn' written all over her. She was delicate buy somewhat reckless.

"We could skip classes if you want, I'm sure-" she must have seen the strange and confused look on my face. School was supposed to be a save haven from everyone, from my dad. I couldn't just skip school or he'll be notified and that would cause another round of punishment. "You don't have to look at me that way. I was only pulling your legs. That means I'm joking- so you understand English right?" She was looking for any hint of expression on my indifferent face. "I'm sorry if you think I'm talking too much-"

Girl you're right on that one!

"- it's just that I have not really met anyone like you and I'm so excited to know you more. Here, there's a little smudge in your mascara and your foundation is uneven"

She drew near and tried to touch my face but I backed away instinctively from her advancing hands. I immediately regretted it as a look of sadness flashed across her face. After the showdown, I was a little scared of hurting her in anyway or it'll be me that would be at the receiving end of her sharp tongue.

"No,it's fine" I gave her a reassuring smile. "We'll fix it during lunch. Agreed?" I was lying, underneath the layers of uneven foundation are my bruises and I wouldn't want her finding out. What she doesn't know won't hurt.

"Makeover?! Yes! I'm an expert at that" True to her words, she was. Her lips were glossed. Her sparkly eyes were highlighted with dark mascara, her face was so smooth and it didn't look like she wore make up. "Hey don't stare at me that way, I wear makeup but I'm an expert at not showing it!"

I nodded, happy that I had convinced her but I had to look for another excuse at lunch.

"-We'll go shopping, have sleepovers at my place or your place if you want"

Sleepovers? Shopping? Definitely not going to happen. The moment my dad finds out, he'll kill me completely. What do I do?

"Uhm, can we look for my locker now and we are supposed to get to class" I interrupted her singsong daydream.

"I've got an unlimited hall pass so we can even start hanging out right now".

Woah, I've never met a persistent person like her. "I'll rather attend classes today and I have this form that the teachers have to sign"

"Fine" she huffed and led me to my locker "What a surprise! Our lockers are side by side" she grinned happily.

Well can things get any worse.

Maybe it can