Chapter 1

          Heart beating rapidly, we walked down the long hallway that filled us with hatred and memories that will scar us forever. It sounded like a herd of elephants as we shoved our way through clumps of people reuniting with their friends.  Welcome to Washington Middle School. That was the banner they always put up on the first day of school. Two years ago this sign gave me hope for a new start and a fun year. But today, it made me want to rip it down and say, “Screw this stupid school!” But I didn't, I kept my thoughts to myself, like always. As we walked down the hall the feeling was lurking in the air. It seemed like nobody wanted to be here at all, and it wasn't just me.

“Andy...Andy!” Amber exclaimed, trying to get my attention.

“Yes, Amber?” I asked while shaking out of the exhaustion.

“You need to get out of your head and watch where you’re walking! You almost just ran into Mr. Scott,” Amber said, annoyed. 

“Sorry, sorry, I’m just a little distracted,” I was still waking up from the early 7am alarm that I wasn't used to yet.

“Yeah, whatever, just keep on the lookout for Marissa and her posse,” Amber hinted, crossing her arms. She was annoyed.  I knew she was right. The plan today was just to avoid them, and if we saw them just ignore. Amber wanted this first day to be perfect, but I already knew something would go wrong…  it always does.

“Who do you have for first period?” Amber shouted over the ongoing noise of the boisterous hallway.

“Mr. Anderson, what about you?” I replied.

“Ugh, why do you always get the nice teachers? I got Mrs. Harris,” Amber answered while rolling her eyes.

“Good luck, I think Mr. Anderson is left from here,” I observed.

“Yep. Meet up at the hideout for study hall?” Amber inquired.

“Sure.” I turned away with my head down, speed walking down the hallway. I looked around and noticed the smell of strong perfume, and the worst, axe cologne. Everyone walked with their heads down; they had their faces in their phones. I didn't have a nice new outfit for the first day like the other kids. My family always struggled during the summer. My mother worked as a lunch monitor for the elementary school and a waitress at the local café. Also, my dad wasn’t in the picture. He left when I was three. Never saw him again. Amber and I had been together practically this whole summer, like brother and sister. Amber’s family helped mine out and vice versa. Amber and I had known each other since we were born. Our moms went to the same college and turned out to be best friends.

I turned into room 452 and I felt delirius, stomach churning as I saw her. There she was, right in front of me. With beaded eyes, all the kids surrounding her like she was their Queen. I tried to make myself invisible, turning my head while looking for my blue name card on all of the desks. Then it hit me, my seat was right next to “Queen Marissa.”  I was so scared that I walked up to Mr. Anderson’s strange standing desk and asked to use the restroom. He checked off my name for attendance and let me go. I knew that I had to get out of their before she saw me.

 I walked so quickly to the boys’ bathroom; I didn’t want Marissa to follow me. The less time around her the better chance she would torment me. How was I supposed to ignore her if she sat next to me for the next hour? I knew I had to go back in there for morning announcements and of course class. But could I survive her bedevilment the whole class? Who knows, maybe Amber was right. Maybe this year could be better; maybe she changed.

I slowly walked back to Mr. Anderson's room to find everyone finally in their assigned seats. I walked nonchalantly to my seat until Marissa called me over.

“Andy, your seat is over here!” Her smile was so fake, but I walked right over and put my books down. Shaking like a leaf, I braced myself for what I was about to endure.

“I missed you and your girlfriend Amber the whole summer,” she hissed sarcastically.

“Amber and I are just friends, Marissa,” I replied, trying to contend myself without getting her worked up.

“Defensive much? Jeez, how could she even like you anyway;  you're so… ew,” Marissa scolded.

All of her worshiping admirers snickered like they had never heard anything funnier in their lives. I detested when she talked to me like this. It made me feel so discouraged. It was like a tightrope walk around her. I just tried to ignore her snarky comments for the rest of class, but she was pushing all of my buttons.

“Bye, Andy, see you later,” Marissa said with a smirk on her face. But I got out of there as fast as I could, borderline sprinting to the hideout. It was our old English teacher’s room from last year. He got laid off, but they didn’t give the room to a new teacher. Last year he let us come whenever we wanted to blow off steam, but for us it felt like safety in an intense game of tag.

Amber was already sitting in the blue bean bag chair in the back corner when I got there. The room was so cozy, and last year Amber and I would sneak in extra pillows from our houses. I remember last year when Amber even managed to smuggle her little sister’s green lava lamp. Today it smelled like walking past Bath and Body Works. Amber was going through this phase where she sprayed perfume everywhere.

“It’s about time...we only have 15 minutes until we have second block; we can’t be showing up late yet. It’s only the first day,” Amber commented.

“You won't believe my luck, Amber, my seat was next to Marissa. She harassed me the whole time,” I mumbled. I felt like I was going to break down and cry. But I couldn't ruin Amber’s first day.

“Well sit down and recoup; I can’t believe she would do this on the first day. Gosh, she makes me so enraged, she’s a nuisance.” I could see the fiery anger in her eyes.

“It’s fine, it will all be fine,” I muttered, unsure of my own words. I knew it was a lie, but it would make us both feel better.

“We have second period together, right?” Amber inquired. I could hear the optimism in her voice.

“Yeah, Mrs. Johnston? I answered, trying to sound as hopeful as her. Amber had always been tough as nails.

“Yes, that's good, she's a difficult History teacher.”

“So fun,” I said, the irony flowing out of my mouth. Then we sat in silence for the next five minutes of peace. I held my head between my knees, for I didn’t want to show my face. Both of us were probably contemplating the rest of the year and thinking of possibly trying to convince our parents to let us do online school.

Second and third period passed by fast; we didn't run into Marissa again. We both had early lunch, so we decided to eat in the hideout to avoid interaction with the “Queen.” However, we had to go get our lunch from the school lunch line. We walked the crowded hallway, and everyone was hustling to get their food. Our eyes searching the room, we got in the lunch line; it smelled like kids who needed deodorant and your grandma's pasta sauce. Our options were the famous meatloaf or the world’s best soggy pizza. We both got the pizza, disgusted at what we were going to allow into our bodies. Then we headed back to the hideout. I wasn't paying attention until Amber grabbed my shirt and dragged me down the seventh grade hallway.

“What was that?!” I exclaimed.

“Andy, I saw Marissa coming down the hallway, and I panicked.” Amber looked pale. She had it the worst last year went it came to Marissa's targets. She would harass Amber online everyday. It was on email and blog posts. It seemed like Marissa had nothing better to do than bully us.

“Ummm,” I looked around, and the closest place for us to hide was the library. “Come on, we’ll eat in the library. Marissa would probably drop dead if she walked in there.” I tried to be funny to calm her down. But what I was saying was true. Marissa’s parents basically bought her good grades and reputation in the school. It’s not like she did any actual work.

“Okay, sure. I’m sorry, I really am, but I just can’t deal with her today,” Amber told me as we were finding a seat in the basically deserted library. No one really went in there unless their teacher forced them to read a book for class. Also, the library was kind of gross; the shelves were dusty, and the study tables looked like they could use a good wipedown. It felt like Grandma's house.

Amber and I talked quietly for the rest of lunch. Even though the food was bad, we still ate. This was the closest thing to a home cooked meal we had for a while. Our parents were usually at work, so we made our own food.

Once we finished we dropped our trays off at the cafeteria and walked back to our classes. I had band, but Amber had choir, so we walked together to the music hallway. Unfortunately, Marissa played the flute, so she was in band; however, I played trombone, so we sat across the room. A class without torture felt like a breath of fresh air. Band was actually my favorite class. My stand partner was Randy, and he was probably the only kid in this school that acknowledged me as a person (other than Amber). Also, the music this year was actually difficult, unlike other years. It was forty minutes of peace, even with the squeaking clarinets and an extremely loud tuba a couple chairs down.

After band I waited patiently outside the choir room for Amber. We always tried to walk together places. It was worse when we encountered Marissa on our own. We wanted to go to our lockers before our last class of the day. So we walked toward our hallway, right, left, straight, then stairs. We were walking at a normal pace, not too slow, not too fast. But I didn’t realize who was following us until I felt a cold hand on my back and a powerful shove that made me roll down the staircase. I heard the muffled gasps of students at the bottom of the steps, and I felt Amber’s hand on my shoulder.

“Andy! Andy! Are you ok? Are you hurt? Oh my gosh, I can’t believe her!”

“Amber?” I said dazedly. Everything in my blurry vision was spinning. I couldn't make out who was whom. Then I heard quiet footsteps coming toward me down the stairs.

Then from the devil herself, “Watch your step next time, Andy.”  Then I heard Amber start wailing and whimpering at the sight of me barely conscious. She was furious, and I wasn’t able to comfort her. Slowly my head started to clear up.

 The nurse got a call from a teacher nearby and came with a wheelchair. Amber and the nurse lifted me into the uncomfortably shaped chair, and I was rolled to the nurses’ office. I felt exhausted; maybe it was from the fall, or the whole day coming to me now. She told Amber to go to class, but she refused to leave my side. Besides, Amber wasn’t in great shape herself. I looked around only to see the uncomfortable red cots identical to the one I was laying on, and the smell of bleach and antiseptic sprays floating in the air. I observed the other kids, one with a bloody nose and another who just puked in the toilet down the hall on their way here. I was slowly coming out of shock, and I could feel an excruciating stabbing pain in my left arm.

“Ahhh, oh my gosh.” The pain rattled through me. The nurse came right over to help me.

“Okay dear, where does it hurt?” she said while looking me up and down.

“My arm,” I winced, recalling everything that happened that day. It was only the first day of school, and these horrible things were already happening.

“I’m going to get some ice for your arm. Do you remember what happened?” I looked at Amber, and she just nodded, wiping away her dried up tears.

-Makenna Fahsel