When Alina crosses paths with two rival movie stars, her life morphs into a crazy reality series dialed up to eleven.
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Being a nobody is no fun at all. Which is why high school sophomore Alina Davies is bent on claiming a spot...
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The last period bell hadn't rung early enough, I thought, as I pushed my way through the body of students spilling out of the classroom and dashing in various directions like Patient zero was amongst us.
I couldn't blame them. Having Maths class with Mr Paul thrice a week was bad as it was, add double calculus on Mondays and Thursdays to that mix and you've got our brains sizzling in hell. I wouldn't be surprised if you opened the brains of these kids and saw nothing but shrunken masses of fat. At least one good thing came out of this— no zombie would waste his time hunting brainless teenagers like us.
Jamie and Ashley suddenly appeared at my sides. "Hey, there's something you should see," Jamie's voice was laced in excitement as she tapped my shoulder.
My eyebrows squished together. "What's that?"
"No time to explain." Ashley grabbed my arm, "just come with me."
I tossed Jamie a helpless look over my shoulder and she shrugged, wearing an amused expression. Only God knows what these girls are planning now, I sighed in defeat, carefully keeping up with Ashley's pace so I didn't stumble and land face first on the floor. Someone needed to tell her to stop dragging people—which mostly include me— around. But just to be clear, that someone wasn't going to be me.
We finally arrived at the Chemistry laboratory; which was almost empty except for Dwayne and Cole who were bunched over the storage shelves at the end of the room. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Priya and Bianca holding a rope while hiding behind the door.
"Why are you there?" I mouthed, worry etched on my face. Unlike me, they weren't bothered. With fingers placed on their lips, they motioned above their heads.
My eyes widened when I saw what they were pointing at. Somehow, these girls had balanced a pail right on the doorframe.
"What's in that?" I asked them as Kaylee sauntered out of the storage room, typing feverishly on her phone. These days, she was always touching her phone; during classes, while walking down the hallways, in between conversations, and sometimes, even while driving. I'm just glad she's never done that when I'm in her car. I'd hate to die because Kay was text-driving.
I watched Kaylee climb up a workbench, eyes still glued to her phone as she bounced her feet like a little kid. "Is she coming yet?" She asked with a bored-out-of-my-mind tone.
"Is who coming yet?" I prompted, seeing this as an opportunity.
Probably stunned to hear my voice, Kay glanced up from her phone—finally—and her warm amber eyes met mine. "Oh, hey! I didn't see you there," she admitted, voice cheery.
I refrained from attacking her about her phone-screen obsession, instead crossing my arms over my chest. "Who's the new victim?" I inquired.
Every time they all ganged up after school in this manner, some poor kid was going to get bullied. Sometimes I felt sorry for their victims, but I never spoke about it. I never told Bianca that maybe laying mouse traps in someone's locker because she said she didn't like the colours of your shoes was too extreme. And the day Jamie slipped peanut into the food of someone who had a peanut allergy, I didn't say a word against it.
