Chapter One- Loner
You know what I really hate? Loners. Mainly when you are one.
It’s nearly the end of November. I’m sitting on the steps that lead down to the field at school. I’m listening to Emilie Autumn on my iPod and reading Harry Potter. It’s raining- but I don’t care. It’s not like there’s anywhere else I can go.
I mean, after getting disowned by my ‘friends’ and being dumped by my boyfriend, it kind of limits the number of places I can hang out.
So how did I end up like this? Well, I guess it all began earlier in the year, at the start of Year 10.
*****
“Serena!!! Oh my God, you look amazing!” My friends screech as I come into school on the first day of Year 10. “How was your summer?”
“It was good,” I replied. “How was yours?”
“It was great, I went to Italy and-”
“…the hair salon thought that this colour would look good, so-”
“Working there was such a bore, but now I have money for-”
I looked around the group at all my friends, the Music Group, Danny, Sara, Allie, Rachel and Erik. We’d been hanging out for years, always in the music rooms. We weren’t exceptionally popular, but it was ok.
Someone hugs me from behind. “Hey babe,” he whispers. I smile.
I’d been going out with Paul since April. I was so happy to be with him, he was a great guy. He was so sweet and funny and a very good kisser. We probably looked like an odd couple though, me with long messy black hair, a bit short for my age and not extremely pretty and him, perfect blond hair, stylish clothes and one of the most popular guys in the year above me. But I really liked him.
It soon became October and I was really enjoying being at school with my friends and my new classes which we’d picked for our GCSEs. Even my parents were really proud of how well I was doing.
*****
It was Wednesday. I was in my Art class and listening to my teacher, Miss West, talk about a project we were doing. Art was the only class I had without any of the Music Group.
“You will be pairing up and researching a famous artist of your choice.” She explained. “Then you will create a presentation to show to the rest of the class. Remember to include one piece of your own art! This project will be a good way to show what you know about different artists and styles.”
She read out the pairs from a list. “Ok, so Kimberly Thayer?” A tall girl at the back stood up. Her dark hair covered her face. “You will be working with Chelsea King.” She pointed to the front, where a chavvy looking girl sat. I smirked. This was going to be a strange project.
After a while, she finally read out my name. “Serena Harden… you’re with Katrina Hart.”
Katrina Hart had dark curly hair and a bag covered with badges and key rings. She was sitting with a weird looking red-head girl who was already drawing. I looked over and saw she what she was drawing. Japanese animation. Anime. Whatever.
I forced a smile on my face. “Hi. I’m Serena.” I said.
“Hi, I’m Kat, this is Jane.” Katrina Hart said as she introduced herself and Anime Girl.
“Hi,” Jane said and then went to join her partner, Harry Somebody. I sat down in her seat.
“So, do you have any ideas for which artist to do?” Katrina Hart asked. “I was thinking Bridget Riley or maybe someone like…”
She carried on listing her favourite artists, Natalia something, some Ukrainian dude and Fernando De La blah-blah-blah. Katrina Hart was chatty. And oblivious to the fact that I was bored by her list of artists. I liked Art; but mainly the drawing part. Research sounded boring.
“Yes, that one sounds good,” I randomly said, stopping her list abruptly.
She looked at me. “Frida Kahlo? Yeah, ok. She’s really-”
“Ok, so how are we going to organise this?” I interrupted her before she started a long and boring talk again. “We could do the research at home and then put it together during lessons, does that sound ok?”
“Yeah, sure.” She nodded. The bell rang for lunchtime. “We have three weeks to do this, if there’s not enough time in lesson, maybe we could work together at lunchtimes or after school or something.”
“Yeah sure!” I said with a warm smile. Yeah, sure, I thought sarcastically.
*****
As usual, I was hanging out in the music room. I didn’t feel like eating lunch, so I went straight there and found that Allie was there too. Allie had been my best friend since Year 7 and she was a really good listener and so understanding when we talked, just the two of us.
“I can’t believe there were no places left in our Music class for you.” She sympathised. “How’s Art?”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s not terrible, but I have to work with this annoying girl! Katrina Hart, she’s so talkative and weird.”
“Yeah, I heard she’s such a loser. Spends all her time in the library…” Then the door opened and the rest of our group walked in, including Paul.
I grinned and walked over to him for a hug. But before I could, he turned to Danny and said, “Hey, I think I left my Linkin Park CD at your place last week, can you give it back tomorrow?” Danny nodded.
“Last week?” said Sara. “Oh, that was so jokes at your house, Dan, remember the pineapple?” Everyone started laughing.
I was confused. Last week? What happened last week? I went over to Paul. “What are they talking about?” I asked, with a puzzled smile. “What happened last week?”
He looked at me. “Don’t worry, it was nothing,” he said, and leaned in for a kiss. I forgot about the whole thing. Paul said it was nothing to worry about, I trusted him.