graffiti (completed)

Three.

I woke up, obviously, shooting out of bed as though I was waking up from a terrible nightmare. It wasn't a nightmare. It was more of a sad, sad dream. The same one, every once in a while. Especially when I'd wake up at midnight.

"Casey, you awake?" Melodie yelled from downstairs, but I pretended not to hear, and went to take my shower.

The dream I had was the one where I meet my family again. 

My mother would be there, and I would see her, with my father. Even though he left me, he came back, and was a better man. They were happy. And I was happy to see them. But, when I ran to them, and hugged them, they pushed away in confusion, asking who I was. They didn't remember me. Once again, a benefit to being alone. No one can forget you. You can't forget yourself.

 I slipped on the school's burgundy sweatshirt, and the gray skirt I had to wear, along with a gray beanie and gray high-top Converses to balance it out. It was perfect, especially if this town was going to change. Grabbing my backpack and longboard, I quickly went downstairs, finding that Melodie had already cooked and was about to go and see if I was awake.

"Excited?" she chirped, me bobbing my head and quickly downing my breakfast. "Don't want to rush."

" Well, I want to be there early."

"What? You don't like spending time with me?" she joked. I didn't answer, instead finishing up and opening the door. before she could say anything more, I closed it and started to ride toward the bus stop.

They looked at me, as soon as I came.  It was as though they were trying their very best not to stare, but the pure difference between me and the rest of them at the stop was so immense that they couldn't help it. New toy.

"Can I help you?" I snapped, causing them to immediately look away.

Rich kids, arrogant kids, were sort of like fish in a tank. You disturb their balance, and they'll swim away from you in fear. I stayed behind them, being the last one to step onto the bus. As soon as I did, I could hear the hushed tones of people talking about me slowly fill the bus. Doing pretty good so far. 

I slowly walked to the back of the bus, plopping down. There were two girls sitting in front of me that had started a conversation. Instead of taking out my iPod, which was the plan, I decided to stop and listen.

"Do you know who that girl is?" The first one said, with blonde hair and brown eyes, her hair obviously died. No, not dyed, died. It looked like it would soon be beyond repair. It had maybe been brown, or red before. I never understood why switchting natural colors of your hair was so popular.

"No, why would I? She's got weird vibes," the second one replied, with brown hair and blue eyes. She looked like an average person, just really pretty. Unlike the first, who looked more popular than she was.

"I don't think you understand what 'vibes' actually means," I added, leaning on the back of their seat. They both shot me and angry glance, but continued to talk at the quietest tone they could find. Like fish in a tank, all of them. The bus stopped to pick up more people, but I barely noticed as I sat sideways, unraveled my headphones, and put my iPod on shuffle.

"Hey."

I looked up to see a boy with a gray sweater and burgundy colored jeans. Going with the uniform, but not exactly. His brown hair was slightly messy, as though he woke up, patted it down, and walked out of the house, and his eyes were almost hazel, as though they wanted to be but hadn't fully made it. 

"You're obviously new, due to the fact you didn't know, but that's my seat." he said, pointing a thumb to himself. 

"That's nice. Good to know." I said, and suddenly noticed that the entire bus had gone silent.

"Get out of it." he ordered.

"And why should I? It's a free country, last time I checked," I said, looking at my nails. This kid was amusing.

"Like I said before," he stated, "It's my seat."

"I didn't see any 'Reserved For Prick' sign on it."

He was completely silent for a moment, as though he was utterly shocked about what I had said. Then he gave a light chuckle. "Oh, so you think you're funny, huh?"

He suddenly leaned in, his face barely inches away from mine, eyes swirling with irritation.

"I am Derek Wentworth. I have enough money to engrave my name on this seat," he whispered harshly, hot breath smelling of mint, " I also have enough money to bribe you out of this town. This is my seat and only I am allowed to sit in it, do you understand me?"

I quickly regained my composure, looking him in the eyes and smirking. "Why yes, Your Majesty." I mocked, pushing him away, and getting out of the seat, "I didn't know you were going to get pissy about it."

"Watch yourself, New Girl. You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

I didn't respond, due to both having nothing to say, and the bus arriving at the school. It looked extremely similar to ones you see on TV, and could easily be one that one of those movies filmed at, with a huge campus and a giant building. The sea of kids was flowing towards what seemed like the center of it all, causing me to follow. 

Sometimes, when I go to a school, I look around at all of the students, to see if Drew is there. He never is, of course, but I still found myself looking around at each person's face in the crowd. To see if, maybe, we had caught up to each other. If he even remembered me. Or, I'll look at the teachers, and wonder if they know my parents at all. Then I remember that I'm alone, and that I want to be alone. And that Drew, or my parents, would mess that up.

I never understood why there was always that last little snippet of hope that stayed with you, no matter what. That people had died waiting years for something, and had still hoped it would come, without stop. Even if you tried to lose hope, you find it all coming back to you in the end.

They opened the doors, and we all started to flood in. I had to go straight to the headmaster's office, to get myself situated. Once everyone gets a bit used to me, I'll run away. If I leave too early, this town will revert back to normal, but if I leave too late, Melodie, and any friends I make might get too attached. 

I took a breath as I walked in front of the door. I stayed still for a moment. Then reached my hand over the doorknob and opened it.

"Let's see what VP can do," I whispered to myself as I walked in.