Crowded hallways. Cramped like a small closet filled with black-colored clothing. The stares of hundreds and the tall creatures walking beside me. It felt like I was on stage and I was surrounded by giant monsters.
That's how school felt like.
It was 3rd hour and I walked in as swiftly as possible. I practically ran to my seat so that nobody would stare at me if I came late. I try to avoid as many difficult situations as much as possible.
"Always the one to show up early, huh," my best friend, Dahlia, said.
"I can't afford to be late to class, you know that."
"Yeah, yeah."
She sat down with a thump and slouched over her desk, complaining about how much she hates math. She had always told me that she was lucky that she had me in her class, so I can "help" her. More like cheat, but that's a secret.
The hour ended with our teacher passing out the new homework that looked like hieroglyphics. I may seem intelligent to some people, but math was never my favorite subject nor was I good at it.
"I'm gonna dropout. I hate math and all the homework we get," Dahlia complained as she shoved the sheet into her backpack and waited for the bell to ring.
She always seemed like the "genius that never does work" type of person to me, but sometimes she always seems to prove me wrong.
The bell rang as everyone got out of their seats and ran outside for lunch. The heat outside was scorching and I barely go outside when I'm not at school. Home was my only haven. The only place where I could truly be myself and not have to stress about the trivial things that happen in school. Although, homework wasn't trivial to me. School, for me, was a workplace that I had to get through in order to get to the real job. I hated school as much as the next kid, but I sure as hell worked my ass off.
The hallways were cramped with people wanting to go get food from the front gate or the cafeteria and god forbid that I ever get school food. Now that I had to pay for my food, I decided not to waste my time and money.
We stood by a wall that connected the band and choir room together. This was our usual spot for a while. Everyone at the school had a spot to stand or sit at. Certain "cliques" sat in certain places, far from the other one. Then, there would be the football players that played football in the school's front lawn for the whole school year. Who knows if any of them ever had any food during lunch?
The "band geeks" always stayed inside of the band room, unless their teacher wasn't there then they would sit right in front of it.
The popular group of people sat on a brick wall by the cafeteria, intimidating all of the other cliques that passed by. It was almost impossible not to be stared at by them if you passed by. Every single insecurity and flaw you had almost felt like a sign that said "Stare at me" to them. High school was tough.
Dahlia and I talked for a little while until I noticed her friends coming towards us. I had always secretly felt a little uncomfortable around them since they were boys. I only had one guy friend and he had a dedicated 9 month relationship with a cute band girl that was too tall and too sweet for him, but I still considered them as a great couple. I was always branded the "quiet, shy girl." I would always do my work and not talk to anyone in my classes unless one of my friends were in it. Most of my friends were girls and boys were not part of my list since I always viewed them as "sex hungry, unfaithful, and lousy" pieces of human meat. It was wrong to think of them like that, but my experiences with men weren't so great in the first place.
Her friends names were Brandyn and Jake. They always talked to us during lunch after they fooled around in the off-limits building probably walking around and yelling. Jake was the Caucasian skater boy who always seemed to hassle Dahlia for money that he claimed was his lunch money. Those three always seemed like they exchanged money with each other various times before. Brandyn was the skinny Asian kid who would only ever ask for small amounts that she owed him. He also owed money to his "Master." His "Master" would take money from him and expect more money in return. They would act as friends, but his "Master" was the jerky football jock who liked picking on guys who were the same demeanor as Brandyn. "Master" was actually named Julian. Julian was always bossing Brandyn around like a slave asking for money, making jokes about him and his race, and even alienating him during class. He was a school bully ever since kindergarten and I had to be the lucky one to be related to him. No one in our family liked him except for his family of course. He was known to be rude and bossy to everyone, always lying and spewing hateful words left and right. He was my cousin on a far side of the family, but I still dreaded that fact ever since I found out a long time ago.
Yet, Dahlia happened to like Julian. Surprise, surprise.
After Brandyn and Jake left towards the off-limits building, we stood at our usual spot and watched people pass by and talked until the bell rang.
The end of the school day had been here and it happened all too fast. I didn't even realize it until I looked at the clock in my last hour class.
Dahlia always gave me rides to my house after school and I was extremely grateful for it. I was indebted to her for all the trouble she has gone through.
I walked towards my front door and unlocked it with my skull decorated house key. It was cold and empty with no one in sight. I called my mother to ask where she had been, "Where are you? I'm already home."
"I'll be there in a few. Just came to pay one of my bills. Bye," she said before she hung up, leaving me with words on my tongue that had yet to been said.
I went into my room and took off my black vans to get comfortable and put my slippers on. I took off my required school shirt and put on a comfy oversized shirt to spend the rest of my day in. I headed towards the living room and plopped onto one of the couches. The house was empty and echoey almost like a horror movie. I was the only living thing inside of the house. I sighed and grabbed the black controller that was sitting on one of the coffee tables. Now the tv was the only other thing alive in the house.
Day 107 of school, complete.
