Kelsey Rivera hates being a new student. She hates school. And most importantly, she hates people.
Growing up, she had a terrible life. Her mother would force her to go to different schools until she got herself kicked out for being bad. She didn't...
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A snore rocked my bed, coming from the other side of the room. It's the kind of snore that could wake the dead. It's the kind of snore that could cause a crash because it scared someone. It's the kind of snore that would leave someone dead. That someone would be Quinn Pensky, my annoying roommate.
Since she didn't stay in the room with me the first night, I didn't know that she was a snore-a-holic. Zoey didn't bother telling me, either, and I thought that they were good friends. She must have known about it. None of the other girls told me, though I wasn't sure if they were as close to Quinn as Zoey was. Honestly, it seemed like Zoey and the other girls weren't very fond of Quinn, which made me feel very conflicted. I didn't like her, but I didn't want her to be hated on by everyone else.
Quinn went quiet, and I let out a sigh. I glanced over at her side of the room to see some of her gadgets lit up above her. There was a slight hum in the room, probably coming from her inventions. I couldn't find it in myself to be angry with her, though. Science was her passion (you could obviously tell by the way our room was littered with her things) just like skateboarding was mine. I may be a rude person, but I wasn't one who would purposefully stop someone from doing things that they're passionate about. I wasn't that mean.
You know who was that mean, though? Logan Reese. Okay, so he wasn't exactly mean, per se, but he got on my nerves. He was the reason why I got into trouble earlier today. He was the reason why I had a terrible day. He was the reason why . . . I didn't have another reason, but he still made me angry. He thought he was this really hot, special guy (he wasn't). He was a classic California white boy, one that I wouldn't fall for in a million years.
Another snore hit the air, making me jump ten feet into the air. Not literally, but still, it was that scary. My hands moved on their own, hitting the table next to my bed. My MP3 player and headphones were sitting there, so I grabbed them and stuffed the headphones into my ears. My music blasted super loudly, but it still didn't drown out the sound of Quinn snoring.
An Avril Lavigne song started playing, but I couldn't hear it over Quinn's snores. A flash of anger hit me in the stomach, and I sat up in bed, throwing my blankets to the side. Our room was on the warmer side, so I was wearing a nightgown instead of my regular pajamas. It fell to my knees as I stood up, ripping my headphones out of my ears. Quinn snored yet again, which solidified my decision.
Earlier, I said that I felt bad for Quinn, and I still did, but I really needed my sleep. I was more of a grump if I didn't get at least eight hours of sleep, and how this was going told me that I wasn't going to sleep at all, unless Quinn woke up. I was half tempted to throw something at her, but I held myself back. It wasn't worth it.
Instead, I headed over to the door, quietly opening it. I stepped out into the hallway, gently shutting the door behind me. My bare feet slid across the carpeted floor. There wasn't much light in the hallway, though there were a couple of nightlights here and there. I knew where I was going, though. I was trying to find Coco, the dorm adviser for us girls. Zoey told me that it depended on where she was, but she was most likely camping out in the common area.
As I rounded the corner, I heard some sniffling. There was some lights from a TV, the colors bouncing around the small space. The only noise was sniffling, which was weird. I figured that there would be some noises from the TV, but apparently Coco had a different thought.
I entered the common room and saw Coco sprawled out on one of the couches. She was holding a can of ravioli and a fork in her hands, and tears were gathered in her eyes as she stared at the TV. I stopped in my tracks at the sight in front of me. Zoey did warn me that Coco was a little weird, but that was an understatement. She was super weird. This school was a breeding group for weird people, I guessed.
"Uh, Coco?"
Speaking was a mistake. Coco let out a strangled scream, her can of ravioli flying into the air. I cringed inwardly as the ravioli fell onto her head, the can rolling away from her. Coco had wild eyes as she looked at me. "Who are you and what do you want?" she asked, hopping up from the couch.
"Um, I'm Kelsey Rivera, and I was wondering if I could get a new roommate."
Coco plucked a ravioli off of her shirt, sticking it into her mouth. She sniffled, saying, "Ah, you're the newbie. I heard about your Strike One, missy, which means that you won't be getting a new roommate anytime soon. Sorry, not sorry."
"Why not?"
"Because you got into trouble." She glared at me, but I could still see the tears in her eyes. "Now, leave me be. I want to be alone while I cry about my awful boyfriend!"
She whined a bit, so I spun on my heel, quickly walking away. Coco said something about my Strike One, making my heart drop slightly. When I talked to Dean Rivers, he told me he made a new system for new students. It was the Strike Three system, which was basically how it sounded. If the new students got in trouble three times (hence the title Strike Three), they would be sent home at the end of the semester. I got my first strike earlier in the day, which was a bad sign. Thankfully, though, they didn't call my mom. That would've been worse. Now that I had gotten my first strike, I needed to lay low for a bit. It was going to be hard, but I had to do it if I wanted to stay here.
