Dedicated to: Myself

Today is just like the others; boring, repetitive, cold, and stupid. I wake up before my alarm so i could leave early, the reason is mostly because I don’t like being at home. My long dark orange hair that I had recently died last week was caught in the zipper of my black jacket that I wore almost everywhere.

“Zena!” yelled my foster mom Mellanie, “get up and get out, i’m going on a date

with a wealthy man tonight and I don’t need little brats like you getting in my way.” and with that she slammed my door closed and left. Mellanie was always like this except for when she was going on dates with rich men that she said would change her life forever and then forever turns out to be 7 hours.

The little speech Mellanie gave me took longer than I thought. I scrambled to collect all of my things that I would need for today, including my locket of me and my parents, and with a final scan of the room I left dashing out the door hoping to make it in time for the bus.

I was running to the stop, not taking any breaks, I was panting heavily trying to keep my breath as a ran for the busses open doors. My lungs felt deflated, and my throat as if it was on fire. As I neared the bus doors I slowed down as not to make a fool of myself for breathing so loud. I walk up the stepps and I hear nothing, hearing nothing on this bus meant something, so I took caution with my movements. When I thought I was okay I looked over at the bus to find every student of Cathaway Highschool with a paper ball in each of their individual hands and a smile to fill their faces. Without much warning a paper ball hit my head, this set off other paper balls that also hit my head and other parts of my body. I waited for a long time; it almost felt like years, before the bus driver put a halt to the paper war. Not because I was in danger but because he didn’t want there to be a mess of his bus that he would eventually have to clean up later.

When I knew the coast was clear I stood up and swiftly walked to the back of the bus, where most kids don’t sit because of me, and I cried ever so lightly so others wouldn’t hear.

As we neared the school I saw heads go up so I took this as a sign that I had to get up as well, but i guess there are separate rules for me because I immediately got pushed back down to my Seat. I looked around to see who pushed me and I see the almighty Jin and Jay. To give you a minner explanation on the two, they are the bully twins, Jin is by far the worst though. Jay always treats him as though he is the wisest person in all of Ketsana only because he is a minute older than Jay. You have to give it to them though they are the smartest guys on the football team, which is kinda like being the tallest dwarf.

“Sit down Zena!” Jin yelled at me, soon followed by a more meek echo from his younger brother. With that they left with a small sashay from Jay. I got up and realized I am the last to get off, just like I’m the last to get picked in gym class.  

Walking to the school I notice boys and girls all hanging out in a group of people; there are the popular people who mostly consist of girls and one guy who they let in because he is gay and full of life, then the Jocks who have Jin and Jay so mostly boys without a brain, the nerds who have such a bright future, and then theres me. I don’t fit into any groups, I’m sort of what you would call an outcast.

I stop at my locker and grab all of the items and objects that I will need for my first class, which is by the way the worst class in my opinion, french class. Not because of the work but simply because of the teacher. Mrs. Jana is her name, she looks nice with her blonde hair and blue eyes but don’t let that fool you, she hates me with everything she has. There is way to much favoritism in this high school.

As I walk down the hall I notice things that no one ever bothers to take a long look at until they have the time, but me I have no one I must speak with so I have all the time I’m given to just look at the wall and see what's new and how well the janitors keep it clean.

This time I noticed a gum wad unter the window sill and a new crack in the wall that wasn’t there yesterday, the blue paint of the hall was peeling back after people stopped coming down this hall for reasons I have no idea of. I still come down here because there are no people and I can have a nice walk to my classes without being harassed for 2 minutes as I walk to and from classes. I was so lost in my train of thought I was absolutely oblivious to the bell and the time I had left to get to my first hour. I dashed down the hall to where I was supposed to be exactly 5.3 seconds ago.

I tried opening the door ever so slowly open as to not disrupt Mrs. Jana’s lesson but I failed miserably, I totally forgot about the small squeak the door made when it was being opened slowly. Mrs. Jana heard the noise and turned her head with a smile but faded quickly after seeing who it really was.

“Well well well” said Mrs. Jana in such a high pitched voice I swore I saw a small chip of her worlds best teacher cup fall off and onto her desk, “If it isn’t Miss Zena  Kennedy.” The way she said my full name was uncomfortable to me because i’m not use to teachers saying my full name.

“I’m sorry miss,” I said in a low voice hoping she would let me sit down, “I will never be late again.” With the final words out of my mouth she nodded at me and let me sit down so she could continue her lesson without me being too much of a distraction.

The class was slow and Mrs. Jana continued to glare at me in between note taking time, until we heard a sudden knock on the classroom door. Mrs. Jana looked upset but straightened herself out and zoomed to the door, making loud clicks with her high heels.

Before Mrs. Jana reached the door in stepped a tall man wearing a grey pant suit with neatly polished black shoes, stepped in through the door. He looked around and pushed up his glasses, then looked over to Mrs. Jana.

“Good morning Mrs. Jana.” He said in a deep voice looking as sharp as ever.

“Good morning principle Ness.” replied Mrs. Jana with a tight smile stretching from ear to ear. Principle Ness took another step into the room, his black hair shining because of all the hair gel he used. He cleared his throat indicating he had something like a speech that he was preparing for so I got comfortable, I don’t much care for long speeches or talks especially lectures for something I didn’t do or had no part to play in.

“Some of you may have heard and some of you may have never payed mind to the biggest gossip around school about a new student joining your class,” Said principal Ness loudly, “and I am here to confirm and let you know that the gossip you have

heard is true and I have brought her in with me today so you may get acquainted with your new classmate.” He looked over at me and brought his glasses a tad bit down, “And hopefully some of you can make her your new friend.” I looked down knowing he wanted me to make friends as bad as I didn’t want to make friends.

“Without further or do 8th grade, welcome your new classmate Zera.” He left the stage with a bow and stepped to the side. What stepped in was something that burned my eyes to look at, she was so bright. Her hair was golden and shiny, the dress she wore was a sky blue, her hair was done in a ponytail with a pink scrunchy holding it up, and on her legs where dark blue leggings along with white boots and ocean colored leg warmers, and don’t get me started on her smile, her teeth as white as paper and beautiful.

As our new classmate stood there looking at us she looked mostly at me, I began to wonder if there was anything wrong with my facial features that drew her attention to me.

“Hello,” she said in a clear beautiful voice, “my name is Zera and I come from a city called Mariana and before the wonderful Cathaway High school I was homeschooled.” I looked over at all of the others to see what their reaction is to this new girl, the boys are like dogs with a bone put in front of them, and girls are just disgusted with the boys behavior. I mean who wouldn’t drool over her she’s perfect from head to toe.

After the principal left the room Mrs. Jana told her to sit in the back row right next to me, that is how I know Mrs. Jana hates me to the bone is because she could have picked about ten other seats yet she chooses to put the blue light bulb right next to me. She would fit into the populare puzzle not the outcast puzzle. She

smelled of blossom trees and fresh meadow air, and it was distracting from the normal smoke and trash smell i’m use to, but i’ll get over it.

“Hey,” said a voice right beside me, “I don’t know why but I trust you very much, so would you like to be my friend?” I was in a panic no one had ever asked me to be their friend in a long time. I didn’t know what to say to her so I just looked away and nodded. She took it as a yes and looked back at Mrs. Jana to jot down what was on the board. I finally had a friend, maybe my life will get better, or maybe she will betray me after she finds out i’m not popular and then rat out all of my secrets to everyone in school. She may look nice but i’ll be cautious just in case she isn’t all she’s put up to be.

The last hour of the day was finally here and luckily it’s one of my best subjects, science. We were doing something with mixing chemicals so we all had to wear the proper gear and such, and of course we were put in pairs. Except we got to choose

our partners, everyone as I guessed was surrounding Zera and asking her to be their partner but she denied every one of the requests and walked over to where my current location was.

“Hey Zena,” she said in her cheerful voice, “I would like to be your partner for this class.”

Everyone's mouths dropped to the floor when she asked not for me to be her partner but if she could be my partner, even the teachers mouth was open. The room fell silent but that silence was soon broken by my acception to her request. Everyone started to murmur and whisper to each other about the current event but soon forgot about it and went on choosing and rejecting.

The final bell rang letting teachers know to let their students go so they could live their lives outside of school. Except for me, all but me actually, since Melanie isn’t exactly the best of the best foster moms in Ketsana. So I was stuck with nothing in

the world to do, or at least until Zera came up to me and tapped on my arm.

“Zena,” she said with that same smile she always had on her bright face, “I was wondering if you would like to come over to my house and spend the night since it is the weekend now.” I looked at her then smiled.

“I would love to go over to your house and spend the night, just let me go get my things.” I replied to her former question.

I grabbed her arm and led her to my house, I didn’t bother taking the bus this time since I had a friend to accompany me.

As we neared my house I heard yelling from Melanie and a new guy it sounded like, so I told Zera to stay outside. Walking in on Melanie when she’s just had another break up is like asking for a death sentence but I did it anyway.

“Hey Melanie,” I said in a meek voice, “can I go to a friends house this weekend?” She looked up at me with mascara running down her face do to the tears she was currently shedding.

“I don’t care,” she said standing up, “just get out!” she yelled as she fell down on the sofa crying again over a man she knew for only 7 hours.

I grabbed my pajamas, and extra clothing then I left the unstable Melanie alone to drown in her own tears.

When I came out Zera had a look on her face that asked exactly what she was thinking, “what was that all about” she didn’t even have to say it for me to answer the obvious question.

“I know what you’re going to ask so i’ll answer it,” I began, “My foster mom Melanie likes to go out with guys she thinks will change her life forever and they find out what kind of life she lives and how unhappy and unstable she really is and they leave her in the first few hours. Sometimes she’s lucky if they last a few days.” The look on her face told me that wasn't the question she had in mind.

“I was going to ask if you are okay, she yelled at you very loud and it didn’t sound like she really loves you.” Zera said with concern in her voice and sadness in her eyes.

“Well,” I started, “she doesn’t really love me just wanted me because her boyfriend at the time wanted kids but she didn’t have any, so that's where I came into play.” Zera’s face was sad, then without warning she upping hugged me out of nowhere but I relented and hugged her back.

“Let’s get to your house shall we,” I said breaking the hug, “it’s getting chilly.” We laughed it off and started heading to Zera’s house.

As we neared Zera’s house I looked at the giant home with a wide open mouth almost catching a fly buzzing by me. Her house was two stories high with a beautiful design, I felt like I was poor just looking at it, then again I kinda was but thats Melanie’s fault not mine.

“I was going to ask if you are okay, she yelled at you very loud and it didn’t sound like she really loves you.” Zera said with concern in her voice and sadness in her eyes.

“Well,” I started, “she doesn’t really love me just wanted me because her boyfriend at the time wanted kids but she didn’t have any, so that's where I came into play.” Zera’s face was sad, then without warning she upping hugged me out of nowhere but I relented and hugged her back.

“Let’s get to your house shall we,” I said breaking the hug, “it’s getting chilly.” We laughed it off and started heading to Zena’s house.

As we neared Zena’s house I looked at the giant home with a wide open mouth almost catching a fly buzzing by me. Her house was two stories high with a beautiful design, I felt like I was poor just looking at it, then again I kinda was but thats Melanie’s fault not mine.

“You live here?” I asked still taking in the sight I saw. Looking over to find Zera I realized she wasn’t next to me, but she was already starting up the long walkway to her door step. There was a brick fence then two water fountains on each side of the front yard. I caught up with Zera and repeated my question on if this was really where she lived.

“Yes I do live here,” she said with a small bit of disappointment, “but don’t be my friend just because I live in a nice home, be my friend because you want to.” I looked at her with full honesty, “You are my friend not because of your really nice house but because of your really nice personality.” Then I made the scouts honor simple along with the famous scouts honor saying telling her I told her the honest truth.

We opened the front door, the first thing that caught my eye was the large living room that could fit my house and the shed in it and still have a small bit of extra room. I smelled the blossom tree and fresh meadow air aroma that Zera carried

around with her all the time, along with the smell of a loaf of fresh baked bread. I heard a soft humming coming from the same place I smelt the bread.

“I’m home mom!” yelled Zera. “I’m in the kitchen!” Replied a sweat voice, so i’m only

assuming that the person in the kitchen is Zera’s mom.

I was then led to Zera’s room, where she showed me her gaming collection. Her room was clean and well organized, unlike my room which had so many things on the floor you could lose your foot trying to get to the bed.

“So make yourself at home.” said Zera putting down her bags and homework, “Dinner should be ready now, let’s go eat.”

After dinner we decided that we’d get ready for bed then head in for the night, of course our plan didn’t go as we wanted and we stayed up for a little while just talking about random things that friends talked about. We talked about crushes and past experiences even a few secrets, I even told her one of my darkest secrets that i’ve never told anyone before. How my parents died.