Dark, gloomy and horrible. It wasn't just Sarrah McMillan's wardrobe, or her bedroom, or the music on her phone.
It was the most accurate way to describe her day, too.
It started with first period gym, where every other girl seemed to be looking at her as she struggled to complete a lap. "She's thinner than a stick," she heard one girl whisper to another.
In second period, someone noticed the occult symbol on her arm when she held up a flask in a science lab. "What a freak," he muttered.
And in third period photography, she got a bad grade on a portfolio because the teacher found the material too macabre for a class assignment.
For a girl who once coasted through school on her social skills and good looks, she now was up a rough creek without a paddle. Everyone hated her for who she was. She thought of the way things were before.
I had a boyfriend. I had friends. I had fame. I had it all. Now I'm a nobody. That fucker Nicole got her way, alright. She was jarred by the fact that she cursed in her thoughts. Do I do that when I talk?
She stopped at her locker to change out books on the way to her fourth period when she saw a shadow cross her locker.
"You, Freak! Look at me." She turned to see who was growling at her. She did not recognize her, given that she didn't attend the basketball game last night, but had she, she would have known her as Kyla Leeson.
"What do you want?" she said, with some disdain, not caring who it was specifically.
"You've been trying to stir trouble all because you found out just one wrong thing about me?"
"I don't know what the fuck you are talking about." Maybe she was supposed to know, but she didn't now.
"How can you not know!?"
"I... I..." Sarrah stumbled. How could she explain that she witnessed a major change in the world that the other girl didn't remember? She wasn't stupid. She knew how crazy it sounded.
"You're not getting out of this!"
"I'm not trying to," Sarrah muttered. "Just either explain it to me, or leave me the fuck alone."
The other girl paused, looking at her suspiciously, considering she might actually not know and wondering how that was possible. Yeah, no way, she thought to herself.
"Nice try, but that doesn't work."
"Just leave me alone." She looked up again at Kyla, who easily towered over her. She couldn't handle being around her any longer. She suddenly grabbed her bag and bolted, leaving the locker wide open.
If I'm gonna try and reconstruct my fucking life, I have to start by taking back what is mine.
