Elle.

Before I had even noticed the bell ringing everyone was head out of the door to their next class. I slung my bag across my shoulders and head to my locker. I spun the code in two times again before it opened and I shoved my still empty English binder inside. I gazed down the hall looking at the crowd pushing and shoving trying to get to where they were going.

"Hi!" A short girl with spiky black hair popped up from the locker beneath mine. "I'm McKenzie. You're new here, right?" I nodded and she smiled, probably able to tell I was slightly scared about walking through the hallway clueless. "What class do you have next? I'll help you find it."

I felt sick think about where I was going. "Gym... I have gym next."

McKenzie beamed with joy. "So do I!" I smiled a little as she grabbed my arm and practically skipped down the jammed hallway. "So, you never told me your name." McKenzie asked once we were in a less crowded area.

"Oh right...My name is Elle." I pleaded that she wouldn't know my last name.

"You're Elle Ross?" I sheepishly nodded. "Have you seen the gym yet?" I grimly shook my head no. It seemed as if with that McKenzie sped up.

"Whoa! Slow down, your going to make me trip. I have to left feet thanks to Ryan." McKenzie just laughed and went back to a normal pace.

-

"You go in first." McKenzie and I were standing outside of the double doors to the gym.

"No, I don't want to." I said dreading pushing the doors open.

"But its really cool! Trust me." I planted my feet to the floor. "Your going to have to go in for class."

"I am not going in there."

"I don't see why...your dad is a really great artist. Don't you want to see it?" McKenzie shook her head at me and looked down gloomily.

"My dad? Am artist?" I pushed open the door and looked around for anything out of ordinary and spotted a giant mural on the back wall of the gym. "Wow." I stood mouth gaped open as I admired the graffiti my dad had made so many years ago. The mural consisted of different colorful flowers and lyrics from songs Ryan wrote. "Ryan did this?" I thought to myself.

"Now do you know why your dad was so popular here?" McKenzie asked cheerfully.

I released a breathy "Yeah." and walked closer to the painting. "How did he do this?" I extended my hand to run my fingers along a line from the song now know as 'Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks.'

"He broke into the school at night with the help of his friend Spencer." McKenzie stopped in the middle of telling me the story and gave me a puzzling look. "Has he never told you?"

I shook my head angrily. "No, he has never told me about this." I ran my fingers across the stem of a giant sunflower.

I pictured myself here back when Ryan was painting this and finally felt peaceful at my new school.