Thin Lines

Druggie

Xela

I wake up exhausted, but somewhat excited for the first day of school. I've already been staring at my closet for fifteen minutes debating on what to wear. I finally decided on black jean shorts with a black spaghetti strapped cropped tank top. I put my hair into Dutch braids then made sure my bruises were well covered.

Once I was satisfied, I made myself a bagel with cream cheese, this time actually being able to eat it.

My mom was passed out on the couch where I left her last night, and Paul was nowhere to be seen. I sighed and tossed a blanket over my mom on my way out.

Why is it so hard to hate her.

After everything she has done to me, why can't I not care about her?

It's a long walk to school which takes my mind off of things. Despite the warm weather, the sky is a dangerous grey making me suspicious of how long the ground will stay dry.

When I get to school I start to look for Max until I luckily spot him next to an Asian girl with long straight black hair and the most beautiful dress on, making me feel underdressed in my shorts and tank top.

Max spots me before I can come over on my own, "Xela!" He waves his hand so I can see him. I smile and walk over to the two in front of a row of lockers. The girl smiles at me, "Hi! I'm Annie, Max's girlfriend."

I return her smile but don't say anything, "Can I see your schedule?" She asks. I pull the piece of paper from my pocket and hand it to her. She tells me we have several classes together, one of them being first so she tells me she will walk me to class.

The first four classes go by perfectly, and all of my teachers seemed nice. Even if they pronounced my name wrong every time.

Since I had fourth period alone, I was trying to find the cafeteria where Annie and Max told me they would meet me at.

I look to my little map of the school crumpled in my hands, when I suddenly slam into somebody, falling backwards onto my butt.

"Watch where you are fucking going" a harsh but familiar voice snaps at me. I look up and am met with the same man from the alley that night.

He stared at me with recognition in his eyes as I got onto my feet, "Asshole." I mumble, dusting off my Jean shorts.

"That's big talk for an addict like yourself." He chuckles. It's just now I look around and notice the crowd that had formed, everyone eager to see what was happening.

"I don't know what you mean." I respond, trying to walk away, "I'll give you a break since you are new here, but watch your mouth." He hissed, walking past me and hitting my shoulder.

————————

"Ignore him, he's an ass." Annie tells me as I watch her and Max eat. I didn't pack a lunch, but I don't mind. I've grown used to the feeling of emptiness in my stomach.

"I know it's gonna be hard, but it's easier to not talk back to him. He's dangerous." Max explains, "There are rumors that he runs a gang." Annie whispers, leaning into the table like she is scared someone will hear her.

"What's he going to do?" I roll my eyes.

"Spread rumors that he saw you with drugs last night." Annie says. Max's eyes go wide, "He told everyone that?"

Annie nods, "I'm sure nobody will buy it, don't worry. I'll be right back." Annie says before getting up to go to the bathroom.

"You did not buy drugs last night." Max says accusingly.

I shrug, "They weren't for me."

"Xela he saw you there, that's bad enough already. Who knows what he is going to—

"Just like Annie said, nobody will believe him. And I would prefer if you kept this to yourself."

Max sighs but eventually agrees. "Just stay away from him."

I roll my eyes again, "I wasn't planning on getting close with the guy."

Annie sits down right as I finish, "What did I miss?"

I shrug, "Just Max telling me how awful this guy is."

"Ryder, his name is Ryder." Annie corrects me. I shake my head, "I don't care what his name is."

Annie's face falls at my tone and I instantly feel bad. With Aliza we were harsh with each other all the time, we grew up like that and we knew we loved each other. I guess I forgot not everyone is used to being talked to like that. "I'm sorry, I'm just frustrated." I apologized, making her look somewhat happier.

After that, we talked about what things were like here and I told them non detailed parts of my old town. I told them about Aliza and Penny, just not stuff like they were on the verge of homelessness and none of us had gone to school. From there I went off to class, alone, since neither Max or Annie had sixth period with me.

I managed to find the class just fine, but when I noticed a familiar black haired boy sitting in the room, it made we want to turn and run far away from the classroom.

"You must be Xela!" A woman approached me and pulled me into a hug, making me wince at the bruise she just accidentally hit into. She didn't notice, but pulled away and fixed her glasses, "I am Ms. Carter, your psychology teacher!" I gave her a weak smile, and was thankful barely anyone was in the class yet.

I found my way to the back of the classroom and sat my stuff down, feeling Ryder's eyes on me. Once I sat down, I still had a few minutes until the class officially started, so I started scribbling down the homework I had to do into a journal. Suddenly I felt someone sit next to me, and looked up to see Ryder. I barely gave him a glance, finishing writing then closing the journal.

"You don't seem like a type of girl who does drugs." He says with his eyebrows furrowed as he leaned onto the table. I looked up to see just three other people, all engrossed in conversations. Ms. Carter was out of the room doing God knows what.

"Shut your damn mouth up about that." I snapped.

"I take that back, you definitely have the anger of a druggie. Or maybe you got that from your parents."

I've never been a violent person. The closest I've got was when a homeless man approached and started hassling Penny one day when we went to the beach. But after seeing blood drizzle from Ryder's nose after punching him in the face, I actually kind of like it.

Everyone's heads snapped towards us as I rubbed my knuckles, not knowing it hurt that bad to punch someone. Ryder looked at me with disbelief, wiping the trickle of blood away with his sleeve. "You will regret that." Ryder whispers in a bone chilling voice before storming out of the classroom. By now more people have filed in, everyone looking shocked that I had just punched Ryder. I gave them a smile before sitting back into my chair.