You know what I really hate? Rain at inappropriate times. Next week, something very, very unfortunate happened. I’d spent a lot of the night before researching Frida Kahlo. I’d come to find she was an amazing historic figure. She suffered many injuries but she still carried on painting. No wonder Katrina Hart admired her. I walked to school and it was very windy. But then it started raining. I ran, but then slipped on some mud. I fell, my bag slid across the pavement and all my pages of research blew off into different directions, some across the road, some, into the mud and some just flying away in the air. I couldn’t believe it. In another Art lesson, we’d discussed that it would be a good idea if one person researched pictures and the other researched background information. I decided to research Frida Kahlo’s background information, where she was born and all that. But now, it was all gone or covered in mud. What could I do? I had to speak to Katrina about it. I found her standing by the lockers, with Anime Girl Jane and some boy with headphones. He smiled at me. I ignored him. I explained to Katrina about what had happened. She took it well, considering the project was due next week. But then she said: “We’ll have to do the rest of the work in the library. Can you meet me there today at lunchtime?” Well, I suppose it was a good idea. But still, I preferred hanging out in the music room with my friends.
*****
I was in the music room again. It was just me, Allie and Paul. Paul had his arm around me and Allie was playing the guitar. I felt really happy; I was in the music room with two people I loved the most. Then the door opened and Katrina Hart ruined it all. “Serena, come on!” she said. “We need to go to the library!” I groaned. I’d hoped she would have forgotten. “Yeah, just one second,” I said to her. I turned to the other two. “I’m really sorry, but I have a lot of work to do and I have to go.” “Wait,” Paul grabbed my hand. He kissed me softly and then broke away. “Love you.” He said, and squeezed my hand. I smiled. “Love you too,” I began to say, but then I found myself being pulled out of the music room and towards the library by Katrina Hart. Angry, I pulled my arm out of her grasp. We went into the library and sat down at a computer. Katrina Hart seemed to know everyone in the library. Anime Girl Jane was there, and the boy with headphones. There was also a group who sat with us (Katrina Hart had friends apparently), talking and laughing. I did my research and printed it out. “Ugh, the library is so geeky and weirdly silent!” Sara had once said. But it really wasn’t. It was actually a bit loud and noisy. Katrina suggested that for our own piece of art, we’d do a collage of Frida Kahlo. I agreed that it was a good idea. But how long would it take?
*****
That night, I was talking to Rachel on MSN. “Hey, guess what?” I typed. “I have to finish the rest of my Art project at school with Katrina Hart, in the library.” “Well, that just sucks.” She replied. “Yeah, I’m really sorry I won’t be hanging out with you guys so much in the music rooms. But it’ll be over soon.” I said. “Ok. Oh, by the way, are you coming to the park this Friday? Danny suggested it today, and Erik said he’s bringing his friend, you know the cute one who I really liked?” she said. Once again, I was confused. I was in Maths with today with Danny, Erik AND Sara and neither of them had mentioned anything about it to me. “I’m not sure,” I typed. I looked at the clock. 10:54pm. “I’ve got to go, I’m really tired. Bye!” I signed off. I really was tired. I crawled into bed and had a weird dream about painting Frida Kahlo on the music room walls while Rachel and the others just stared.
*****
I spent the next week in the library with Katrina and the library group. The first few days were horrible; I missed hanging out with the Music group. But then it was weird, I got to know Katrina better and I found that I almost…liked her. I guess she wasn’t such a stupid freaky weirdo. Maybe just a regular weirdo. It was strange. I got to know the rest of the library group as well, and they were really friendly. I knew some of them from my other classes, but I’d never really talked to them much. Partly because I’d thought they were boring losers. But they weren’t, they were really funny and cool. I didn’t really think about the Music group so much anymore. I missed them a bit, but not as much I suppose. I still talked to them, but it seemed like all they’d be talking about was what happened at lunchtime. I felt really left out. But at times, it was like they purposely made me feel left out. Which was ridiculous. They were my friends. Paul seemed a bit distant too. We went out to the cinema over the weekend and he seemed to want to be somewhere else instead of with me. Or was I being really paranoid? “Paul, are you ok?” I asked him, after we’d watched the film. He looked at me, bewildered. “Yeah, of course.” He said, smiling. He offered to walk me home afterwards and he was so adorable. Guess I was just being paranoid about everything. But as I was walking with him, I looked across the street and thought I saw Danny, Rachel and the others at the bus stop, laughing at something that was obviously hilarious. But then we turned a corner and I forgot about it. It probably wasn’t them. Was it…?