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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All morning, I endured the stares of my fellow students as I went to breakfast and then to the museum to work on my history of skateboarding project and then on the bus ride back to PCA. My skin wouldn't stop prickling everywhere I went, and I wasn't sure what was going on. Even when I would glance over at people who were whispering and chatting amongst themselves while looking at me, they wouldn't look away. I confronted a gaggle of girls on the bus who were in the walkway as I was trying to get to my favorite seat, but they wouldn't tell me what was going on.
The only way to block out the stares and the talk was to put in my headphones and blast my music, which was what I did. The familiar voice of Avril Lavigne calmed my racing heart, and I listened to music nonstop until we got back to PCA. My feet led me off of the bus, brushing past all of the other people who were bad students and had to prove themselves to be worthy of going here. I was proving that I belonged here, though I was sure that these people didn't think that I did. Their opinion didn't matter.
I pulled my bag closer to my body as I stepped up onto the sidewalk. All my research for the history of skateboarding project I was working on for the museum was situated nicely in my bag, and I definitely didn't want to lose it since it was nearing noon. I was hungry. Lunch was probably open by now, but it was the weekend, so I could be mistaken. Hopefully, I wasn't.
The hot sun shone down on me, but there was a pleasant breeze blowing through the campus that made everything a little sweeter. Or maybe it was the happy feeling that had started in the pits of my stomach when Logan and I ran away from the campus to go skateboarding. A small smile graced my face at the memory. Somehow, we made it past campus security without getting caught and walked all the way to the skate park, just talking about our past and other things that we thought about. We skateboarded a bit, sharing his since mine was broken.
Spending the day with Logan was amazing, even if we did get caught by Dean Rivers as we made our way back to the campus. Thankfully for us, Dean Rivers didn't really punish us. He only told Logan and me to stay on campus or else we would be expelled. Dean Rivers drove us back to campus after that, and though the ride was so awkward, I wouldn't have changed it for the world. My life was slowly turning out better than I had ever imagined it.
"Hey, Kesley!" I stopped walking when I saw Zoey Brooks heading my way. She had a sort of strange look on her face. The grin looked a little too wide, and her eyes shone too brightly in the sunshine. "Where have you been?"
"The museum. Like every Saturday. Where else would I be?" Her grin faltered slightly, but it returned bigger and brighter than ever. I totally didn't trust that look in her eyes, so I said, "Is the dining hall open for lunch yet? I'm hungry."
"No. It isn't." She touched my arm before I could walk away from her, making me frown. No one really had the right to touch me like that. "I have snacks in my room if you're hungry. That way, we could talk."
"About?"
"Things." Zoey's eyes went a little bit wide as she looked at something over my shoulder. I almost turned around, but she stopped me before I could. "Don't turn around, Kesley."
