The Changes

Part 1

   Hi guys, Veronica here. So after we finished making fun of Marissa and the bell rang, we all went to class. I had homeroom with Amber and she's the only reason why I even survive class. Though we don't sit next to each other, whenever we do an activity in class (though I'd hardly call any thing in class an activity) we can get up and talk to each other. Amber is awesome. She's funny and we share lots of dark humor. Sometimes we make fun of our classmates to keep us occupied.

   Anyway, our teacher is Mr. Hoang. He's a pretty nice guy besides the fact that he becomes a flesh- eating gorgon when you don't finish your assignment on time. But that's beside the point. When he came into class, everyone went quiet. He kind of has that effect on everyone. Beside me, my classmate Brad was reading a book. He always does that. I find it funny how everyone in the entire class can see that he's reading except the teacher. Teachers are weird.

   Once Mr. Hoang was done telling us today's agenda, he left us to finish out writing assignments. We had to write about the political situation in our country. How dumb is that? I mean we already know what's going on, so why should we write about it? Is this a way for the teacher to get info without any research?

   Though I'm not a terrible writer, I was stuck. I took all of the time we had trying to think about what to write. I only finished one paragraph before the bell rang for break. 

  I waited for Amber to get her snacks and we sprinted out of the classroom.

  "Where do you think they are?" she asked.

   "I dunno," I responded. 

   We finally found them crowded around the bulletin board. Amber and I pushed around the wild herd of kids and finally saw what they were looking at. On the board, I spotted a bright pink sheet of paper that hurt my eyes. It displayed the names of the people that passed the auditions and were allowed into the talent show. I saw Leyna's name. 

   After my friends and I had escaped from the stampede of hostile middle schoolers, we all congratulated Leyna.

  "I can't believe it!" exclaimed Leyna, her face bright with joy.

   "Well ya should," responded Amber. "Because you made it!"

  We all patted her on the back. Just then, I realized Marissa was being extremely quiet.

  "Hey Marissa, what's up?" I asked carefully, trying not to hit a nerve. She got angry a lot.

  She muttered something under her breath.

  "Is something wrong?" Barry cautiously asked her.

  "Oh, nothing's wrong. Nothing at all! Besides the fact that you guys are always laughing at me. Leyna got into the talent show and I didn't. And, I know you guys were talking about me behind my back before school. What's wrong with you guys? I didn't do anything to you! Why are you so mean to me?"

  We all stared at her in stunned silence.

"Wow, we didn't know you felt that way," Leyna said gently.

  "Well, now you do!" Marissa yelled as she stomped away, burying her face in her hands.

    Barry shuffled nervously on his feet. "What now?"

   "I don't know, but I kind of feel guilty," I responded. "We do make fun of her a lot."

   "Yeah, we should go apologize," Amber suggested.

   We agreed and walked in the direction that Marissa had marched away. We arrived in front of the girl's bathroom. 

   "I think I'll go check," I proposed.

   We looked at each other in silent agreement and I walked inside. I didn't hear a sound. 

  " Marissa?" I called. "You there?"

  I only heard silence in response.

  "Dude, we're sorry, okay? We didn't mean to hurt you." 

   Still nothing. I glanced around and suddenly I saw something purple on the ground. Right outside of a bathroom stall. I bent down to look at it carefully. It was the scarf Marissa had around her neck this morning. I tried to push the door. It was open, but no one was in there. I checked the other stalls. No one was in the bathroom besides me. I tightly gripped Marissa's purple scarf. The gears in my head started to turn, Marissa could've left the bathroom, but we didn't see her. The way out of the bathroom had to pass where my friends and I were earlier. Besides, if Marissa's scarf dropped, she would've definitely noticed.

  "Everything okay in there?" I heard Barry's muffled voice from the other side of the door.

  "Um.. not exactly," I said. Trying to calm my breathing, I opened the girls' bathroom door. 

  "She's gone."