Don't let fear or insecurity stop you from trying new things. Believe in yourself. Do what you love. And most importantly, be kind to others, even if you don't like them.

Walking to school over the plain concrete, Kenton had no sinister premonition about the day. It seemed like just another Tuesday, innocent but for its esstential Tuesdayness, not to mention Augustness--and the way it unbalanced him, making him think it should be Monday. It was hot, and it was bright--although in the dead of Fall the sun blazed like it was summer--relief washed over him in chilling air conditioning when he entered the school. It was plain like the outside. And covered in things Kenton's never seen before. As he walked to his locker in the lower left wing, he noted the differences between this school and his old one. The floors shined and the halls, well, the building in general was small. Examining it now he wasn't sure how he had gotten lost here looking for his classes at orientation.

Secondly, they HAVE lockers. At his middle school they didn't need them, so the school ripped them out of the walls. It always bothered him since he was so OCD. Kenton's own footsteps and the jingle of ice from his frap was drowned out from all the other kids here surprisingly early. Kids were looking at him weird, casting side-way glances. What was their problem? He sighed as he messed with the combo, thankful he didn't have to peer through a mop of black hair since he had gotten a trim.

A pang of heartache intruded, and there was no path to the roof. That's where he had done all his thinking in middle school, when he wanted to get away from everyone, feel like that Hell would all pass soon. And it did--eventually.



Guess what? He found out what the kids problems were. He held his iced coffee in one hand and clutched the shoulder strap of his black backpack in the other as he stepped into his first class--Biology--a flurry of giggles sounded like a roaring itch to him, then soon after the teacher asked in a sharp tongue,

"What's your name?"

He raised an eyebrow,
"Kenton."

"Kenton," she went to her desk and scribbled down something on a green piece of paper before handing it over to him, "Go the bathroom and wipe that make-up off your face." wow. WOW. The way she said it, it was as if she was disgusted.

"Why?" He simply stared at the paper.

"Boy's can't wear make-up here."

"That wasn't in the handbook. And what's wrong with it? It doesn't make me any less of a guy." some guy whispered gay in the back and suddenly Kenton decided he hated the school. Very...very much.



School had gone horribly after that. No one really talked to him, it was as if he was a ghost. For six months, he had been alone. He missed his friends from middle school. And how simple his schedule used to be.

Then his days changed, from ordinary days to interesting days. He noticed a girl with hair out of control in volume and waves, a tiny girl, doodling one morning. And then he found out she was in his Spanish but had never paid attention enough--too busy grumbling about how his life sucked here. He had a gut feeling she was different and talked to her. In defense if her, a bigger, more masculine girl with dirty blonde hair stepped in. She looked like she was about to fight, but stopped, pointing at him. He gaped, pointing back at her.

"AH!" they yelled in unison.

"You're that girl I--"

"met at shadow day." she finished. The artist looked back and forth between the two. "Dude, I've been looking for you!" she punched him in the shoulder and he laughed.

"Well, you suck at it then because I was here the entire time, Riley." this was the girl he'd met while touring the school. They had been touring in the science room when they met. He'd hardly said a word to her, but what he said must have strick a connection because she wouldn't shut up about science. He didn't mind though, it was intetesting.

"I didn't recognize you without your eyeliner," she said.

"I wouldn't either." Kenton grumbled.

"Didn't you have peircings?" she asked.

"Yes...but like the eyeliner, guys can't have either." he rolled his eyes.

"Lame."

"Agreed." he said.



When lunch came around, Riley threw an arm over his shoulder and guided him to their seating area outside. It was by a pole in front of the building to the right. There were three girls there. One was the artist from before, glaring at me for no reason. The second, a dark skinned girl with a cold face. And the other..........

Well, she was.......

really...really... adorable

"Hey guys! This is Kenton!" She sat down, dragging him down with her. He let the bossing around slide for now.

Taking off his backpack and pulling out some chips for lunch he said, "Hey." to everyone, but his eyes rested on the asian girl who was sitting on the opposite side of ColdTurkey--the dark skinned girl. Damn it.

By this time in the year I knew the school in the my life sucks, and now it sucks here to kinda way. My classes are advanced and the people I’m friends with aren't helping very much; some of them are hurting my cause. So much for the it’s high school I’ll have a fresh new start it’ll be the best. My life is a chaotic mess and a half with barely passing grades I did not plan it out for it to be this way. I gave a long sigh as I spun my locker combination to open my locker. I then pushed up on the button to open the locker grabbing the books and materials I needed for the next class.

“Hey Abree!” A girl with a deep voice hollered into my ear while crashing into my back for a “bear hug”, but it was more like a suffocation hold.

“Riley, Hi” My small voice strained with a slight irritation as I tried to escape her iron hold. Hugs were always uncomfortable for me, since growing up I never had much physical contact with other people. I hated people in my personal space.

“Guess what?” Riley shouted as she straightened up proudly as if she had accomplished the impossible.

“What?” I strained to say still bound within her hug.

“I found a new slash old friend today! I can’t wait for you to meet him. I invited him to have lunch with our group.” Riley beamed with her one million dollar smile.

“Who is he?” I questioned while continuing to try to slip from her hold.

“You’ll see!” Riley yelled as she finally had let me go only to push me into the direction of the hallway door with one hand and slamming my locker closed with the other. I cringed as I heard the magnets fall within my locker that was going to be a mess and a half.“Lets go. You can go ahead to the group and I’ll go find him.”

I walked out the front doors of the school towards my usual lunch group. I sat in my usual spot taking my backpack from my back placing it into my lap hugging it close to me. I gave a slight nod to a dark skinned girl named Stacy who gave a grunt in return before diverting her attention back to her food. I then turned to my right to peer at the picture a curly haired girl named Rose was sketching. Rose was a true artist who devoted as much time to her craft as she possibly could and I had admired her for it for quite some time. It hadn't been long until I saw Riley approach with the person she told me about just minutes before.

“Guys this is Kenton.” Riley said while gesturing to the boy. “Kenton, this is our group. This girl you met earlier is Rose, that over there is Stacy, and this person right here is Abree.”

The moment my name was said was when I waved with a small smile gracing my lips. He was kinda cute to be perfectly honest, but I shouldn't think of those things now. The longer I looked at him the more I wanted to try and find out who he was. My thoughts were cut short when my stomach gave a loud growl of hunger. My face turned completely red from embarrassment, so I ducked behind my backpack hoping no one would notice.

Don't let fear or insecurity stop you from trying new things. Believe in yourself. Do what you love. And most importantly, be kind to others, even if you don't like them.

The girls stared at me as if I was a two-headed alien sitting with them. I wasn't sure if I should feel like a celebrity or an escaped mental patient. I gave a slight nod to Riley's introductions, and the girls snapped their heads back to their prevous tasks. Hmm, let's go with escaped mental patient. No one spoke to me. I hastily averted my eyes to my backpack, rummaging around in it for my wallet. Maybe I could escape and get something to eat. This was just too awkward.

I heard someones stomach growl. Looking up, I saw Abree hide behind her backpack. Was it her? I glanced down at my sandy wallet, designed with a swirling leaf from one of my favorite animes, then back to her, to my wallet, and back to Abree again. Excitement and dread warred inside of me. She had no lunch. I couldn't just sit around and do nothing. Swaying my wallet in the air, I chuckled softly.

"Want something to eat?" I flashed her a lop-sided smile. Riley had stopped talking to Rose and stared at me with open-mouthed.

"You have MONEY?" She exclaimed.

"Always. Is there something like a snack shack here?" I asked. She shook her head.

"No, but there's a CVS close by, it's down the street." she leaned back on her arms, spreading her legs out wide.

"That's dumb. What about the students who can't pack a lunch? " I shook my head, "Back where I went we had one and it was called the Wolf's den."
Her eyes widened as I stood.

"Wait, don't tell me --" she said. Everyone looked up at me again and I fidgeted; shifting my backpack from one shoulder to the other, I ran my fingers through my touseled thick hair, letting it fall back in front of my forehead. My khaki jeans hung low on my hips, so when I had lifted my arm a row of porcelain skin flashed. I wouldn't have noticed it if ColdTurkey's eyes had not dropped down to stare far to obviously. Yeah, going now sounded good.

"You can't go there! We aren't allowed to leave the school!" Riley leaned forward and sat Indian style. I shrugged.

"So? As long as they don't see me it's fine. I did it all the time at my old school." I nodded towards Abree who still cowered behind her backpack. Was she even ok? "So do you want something?"

I looked up at Kenton deciding whether or not to accept the gesture. I’m not one to accept favors from other people in general because I felt as if I owed them. The feeling I hated most was being in debt to somebody else, so I resolved myself to reject the offer.

“Um, no thank you.” I softly responded only to have my stomach growl for the third time. I blushed again hugging my backpack even closer hoping for it to stifle the offending noise somehow.

“Abree if you’re hungry just say so. Kenton, you should just get her something, or she’ll starve herself until who knows when.” Riley advised while pointing a thumb in my direction.

I glared at the back of Riley’s head in protest to what she had said. I don’t starve myself, but I may skip a few meals here or there out of convenience. There was no reason for people to fuss over it.

“Riley. I’ll just eat later don’t worry about it.” I spoke while pouting dropping my backpack from my lap to cross my arms just below my chest.

“But you haven’t eaten since yesterday! You didn’t even go home and Alice is out of town right now! I know you’re low on cash. You should take him up on his offer.” Riley argued

I furiously shook my head no and moved to get up grabbing my backpack. “I’m going to study for Pre-AP Biology.” I announced before completely walking away from the group. Why couldn't Riley mind her own business?

I walked into the school building, took the middle set of stairs to the second floor, made a left at the top, and knocked on the first classroom door to my left. I stood there and waited for the teacher to answer the door while shifting my weight from one leg to the other. The classroom door opened and I was greeted with Mrs. Haley’s smiling face. I smiled back and entered the classroom.

“What brings you here today? I thought you were having lunch with your friends today?” Mrs. Haley questioned.

“I wanted a place to study for a bit.” I answered guiltily. I wasn’t lying, but I wasn’t exactly telling the truth either.

“If you say so.” Mrs. Haley responded with a raised eyebrow as she sat at her desk. She pulled a tupperware from her bag next to her desk and began to eat.

I sat at the desk nearest to the teachers desk and pulled out my Pre-AP Bio homework that I had failed to finish the night before in favor of some much needed, but fitful sleep. I pulled a pencil from my school jacket pocket and tried to finish the challenging homework in time for the next class.