Silverlighters (revised version as I edit)

6

      6

I hate that moment when you walk into a room for the first time and find yourself an object of scrutiny. When all eyes turn your way, some with welcoming smiles. Others looking you up and down. Checking you out. The girls are far worse than the boys. I never know where to look. If I should smile, say hello. Run.

By third period it wasn’t so bad. By then most people had already seen me around the school, or in one of their classes. I even said hello to a few familiar faces as I walked in.

Until I saw them. Every single one of them was in that class. In fact, they ended up being in all of my science classes.

But this time, none of them were paying me the slightest bit of attention. If anything, they seemed to be making a point of not noticing me.

They really did stand out. Everything they did, even something as simple as the order they sat in – tallest in the middle, then going down on each side – seemed as though it had been choreographed.

Morgan sat in the middle, his rich, dark skin and short hair complimenting the flawless complexions of Jonathon and Lanita, a girl with dark hair, who sat on either side of him. Madison and Andrew – a blond with piercing blue eyes – sat on the outside edges.

They faced the front of the room, their expressions flat and bored. As though they were trying not to draw attention to themselves – at least that was the feeling I got – it was what I did.

To look down was to show weakness. To look at someone directly attracted attention.

It was eerie. As though they were posing for a photo shoot. Even their clothing complimented each other.

The chem teacher, Mr. Jones, barely even glanced up when I stopped in front of his desk.

He pointed to a table at the front where a dark-haired boy with an unfortunate complexion was frantically scribbling down notes even though the lesson hadn’t started yet. “You can sit next to Donald,” he grunted.

Jenifer scowled at her father, but Mr. Jones had already turned away, a shiny bald patch showing through the back of his thick, dark hair.

Jenifer’s scowl turned to me.

I shrugged. It wasn’t like I had a choice. It was the only empty seat in the room.

Donald, who looked remarkably like Jenifer – with the same black-framed glasses and shiny black hair – looked up as I approached.

His face turned beet red. He cleared his throat loudly, and opened his mouth.

A soft, ringing laugh from behind us made him snap his mouth shut and return to his notes.

I was pretty sure it was Madison.

Donald was clutching his pen so tightly his knuckles had turned white.

I felt bad for him. I knew what it was like to be him – I had spent most of my life keeping a low profile, but that also made me the target of people like Madison.

Bianca had been my first real friend – and only because she was so stubborn. She decided she wanted to be my friend, and that was that. At first it had been easier to ignore her than avoid her. I didn’t want to make friends. It only made it harder when I had to leave.

I had never completed an entire year at the same school.

But somewhere along the way something changed, and Bianca became my person.

And it was kind of hard to ignore her after she came to my rescue when the super-bitches – Andrea and Kelly – decided it was time to show me some love with their fists when the boy Andrea liked dared pay me a little too much attention.