Thread:MsEraserCollector/@comment-4816103-20130616050941

''Chapter 1- The outcast ''



Outside of the school, the world was cold and snowy, with a certain chill that not even a flame could warm up.

Inside, it was basically the same story, just with more slush in the halls than snow, and the chill came from the people themselves.

Piper walked to her locker casually, metal music blasting through her headphones, pretending not to notice the various groups gathered around the hallway, chatting and gossiping about literally anything they could think of- what the cafeteria would serve that day, someone’s hopeless crush, a party over the weekend, and most of all, school outcasts, such as herself.

Not that she really heard anything that was being said, though she didn’t have to. Every day it was the same deal. The same people gossiping or teasing the same victims, and she was always one of them. She was beyond caring now.

Oh, and there was some learning going on sometimes. Like it mattered in this place. It was basically a giant verbal tabloid with classrooms.

Her biker boots splashed in the dirty water flooding the hallway, but she didn’t notice because she was already wet from the snow outside. Her hair was still thawing out, making her brown hair look like black, and blurred the white and blue streaks. Piper didn’t care though; it still looked fine, at least to her.

Then again, she was apparently ‘fashionless and a bit of a freak,’ so maybe it looked horrible. Or maybe, by some strange miracle, it looked great. It still didn’t matter.

Walking down the final hallway, Piper froze, turning off her music and facing the crowd standing directly by her locker with a huff.

Of course it had to be the popular crowd, lying in wait for her to come. They ruled the school with their looks, money and non-existent charms, and they were in turn ruled by Alex White and Kristy Waters, the ‘king and queen’ of the school. The whole group, apparently, had perfect skin, perfect hair, perfect clothes and perfect lives, and they made her sick.

She hated them, with an intense passion. They hated her too, only unlike her they didn’t want to keep their distance. It was the opposite, in fact. They never left her alone.

Piper walked to her locker, trying to pretend they weren’t there. She kept her headphones in her ears even though the music was turned off- if they said anything about her, she wanted to be ready to fight back if she had to, but didn’t want to seem as if she really cared.

“Hey, Kent,” Alex, who only ever called her by her last name, called out as she walked by the crowd. “You know costumes are only meant to be worn on Halloween. Oh, wait...”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Piper ignored him and worked on opening her ugly green locker while the others giggled at perfect King Popular’s comment.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">The only things he had going for him, were, in her opinion, admitably good looks and the fact that he was the richest kid in the school. His grades on the other hand were atrocious, and he was rumored to have cheated on one or two of his girlfriends, probably including Kristy, who he happened to be dating currently.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">So, of course, she hated him, just as much as she hated the others. He wasn’t as mean and sometimes did play nice but he was a popular, and that made him an enemy in her eyes.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt"> Just a few more minutes, Piper…It will be over soon…Except for the fact that she and Alex had homeroom together. That was difficult to get around, but she knew she could do it. The only other time she had to see this crowd was lunch, which was thankfully when they were too focused on other things besides her.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Just as she managed to get her locker open, Kristy moved around to the other side and slammed it shut, making her jump and step back. Kristy took a drink of the coffee in her hands and looked at her curiously.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Kristy was even more popular than Alex, and she knew it. She also had the perfect looks like her boyfriend had, but she had something he didn’t- Minions, and lots of them. But she hardly needed them- she still managed to torment the lower class students all on her own, and loved doing it, too.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">“Uh…Hey, Kristy…”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">“What’s that?” She asked, tilting her head and taking a step forward, making her awkwardly step back. “Scared, Piper?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">“Of course not.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">“So why are you trying to get away?” Kristy moved in closer, making her back away even farther.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">“So I don’t get sick from being near you.” Piper snapped. But even she had to admit, to herself, that this was making her nervous.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">She took one more step and again, Piper stepped backwards, but this time bumped into someone. She spun around and saw Alex. Piper started awkwardly moving away from him as he laughed.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">“What do you want, worm?” She asked.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">He grinned arrogantly, brushing his fingers through his blonde hair. “You just can’t keep away from me, can you, Kent?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Before she could argue, his smile turned to a frown. “Uh…you might want to turn back around.” In the background his friends were giggling.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Confused, she did as he suggested, partially because she didn’t want to look at him and Kristy was somehow a better alternative. Alex had also seemed a bit worried, which made her trust him a little bit.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">But that was a mistake.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">When she turned she didn’t have time to see or react to what was happening. All she knew was that one minute she was looking at Alex, then the next minute, hot coffee was in her eyes and face.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Piper let out a cry of pain and tried to wipe the coffee away with her sleeve. It burned, her eyes and cheeks skinning. The rest of the world was a blur but she could hear people laughing. Someone grabbed her arm.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">“Kent-“

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Alex, with a slight chuckle in his voice. She shoved him away and ran down the hall, still hardly able to see. It wasn’t that she was scared; she just had to get away, and fast, before this got worse.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">On the way she slipped on some of the dirty water in the hall and crashed into someone else, causing the laughter to increase. She tried to see but now there was too much head rush- everything was a sparkly blur.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Piper picked herself up and shook her head quickly.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">The minute she could see again she scanned for a bathroom. When she spotted one she scrambled off to reach it, the laugher in the background not dying down.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Once in the bathroom she started to splash water in her face from the sink, and then stared at her reflection in the smudged mirror. Her cheeks were red and burnt, and her shirt had a huge brown coffee stain on it.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Piper looked herself over for a while, then drew a long, deep breath, slamming the side of the sink with her fist.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">She hated the way she acted back there, as if she was too afraid to fight back. Well, she’d have to prove she wasn’t afraid of anyone or anything. Especially not the populars.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">This sort of thing happened everyday so she couldn’t be surprised. It was always the same. Every day they played some cruel trick and every day she ran to escape, just to come back out of hiding promising herself it’d be different the next time. Then she brushed off the pain, put up a fight, and probably ended up making the situation worse.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">She turned on her music and drew another breath, closing her eyes and relaxing for a moment, letting the powerful, angry beat calm her down.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Ready to face the world again, she strode out of the bathroom, head held high.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">-

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Mr. Levi’s class was almost full by the time she got there. Only a few seats remained.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">She picked a random one up front, flopped down into the chair and threw her iPod back into her bag.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Some people gave her some odd looks but didn’t bother asking what had happened. Either they already knew, didn’t care, or thought it was funny. Luckily, though, everything else seemed normal. Sarah and Katrina, the twin pranksters, were laughing about something they did the day before. The jocks were tossing around a paper ball like it was sport. The nerds were reading. It was active for a homeroom but she knew that the minute class started everyone would suddenly become zombies.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Piper had to notice, though, that Alex wasn’t around. That was unusual. He was a bad student, but usually always on time.  

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">''Maybe the laughing held him up. ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">She dug into her bag to get her History book, when the bell rang. Piper looked up as Mr. Levi started to scribble a map of Europe on the board.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Alex strode casually into the class and paused at her desk. He leaned over and said, “You know, this is a good look for you. The coffee really brings out you hair streaks. And it bet it warms you up in this cold weather.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Piper glared at him. “Go away, pig.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">“What’d I do?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">“You made me turn around.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">“She’d have poured it down your shirt.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">“It’s better than my face.” Piper snapped, not realizing the rest of the class had started listening in on their bickering. “I have burns, no thanks to you.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">“Whatever, Kent.” Alex muttered, and looked around for a seat. There was only one desk left. Up front, next to her.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Shrugging, he slid into the seat and casted her a glance, as if to say, “This could be fun.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">She just glared, “Leave me alone and there won’t be a problem”, and he just chuckled and looked away with a shake of his head.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">Piper sighed and drummed the desk. As if this day couldn’t get any worse, she now had to sit next to Mr. Popularity.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">''Is it too late to go home? ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%;tab-stops:397.5pt">''

'' <ac_metadata title="CHAPTER ONE. PREPARE TO BE AMAZED."> </ac_metadata>