Not Everyone Gets Prince Charming

I walked down the hall, sure to keep my head down.

Getting noticed isn't something I exactly want right now. You see, I'm new in town. Again. My mother has a compulsion to uproot me every so often, and only being fifteen I have no right to object. Three more years. Six more moves (give or take). I can do this. I learned a while back that you don't make friends, you don't date, you don't socialize. You stay quiet, do your homework, and just try to fade into the background. I've met too many people and gotten too attached just to have it all ripped away from me. No more. I glanced up for a moment to see I had stepped in front of the main office. I walked in and greeted the secretary.

"Hi dear." she greeted me

"Hello." I smiled my awkward smile and pushed my glasses up higher on my nose.

"What's your name dear?" she asked, her smile growing a bit. She seemed sweet. Mid-fifties, graying hair, and a bit over weight. She had her hair pulled up tight and glasses perched on the tip of her nose. Sorry, but when you don't talk much you take notice of things normal people wouldn't.

"I'm Laura." I said. "McFaulen." I added as an after thought. She nodded at me and typed away on her computer. I took this as a chance to take in my surroundings. There was a huge glass window along one side of the office, which allowed people to look out and see the hallway. I glanced out at all the kids walking through the hallway. Some were smiling, and joking around. Others looked stressed, some had blank expressions, but they were all different from me in the same way.

They were aive in the world around them.

"Here you go hun." The woman said, handing me a schedule. I thanked her. "If you would like, I can find someone to walk you around campus and show you all of your classes." she offered me

"No thank you. I like to do it on my own." I smiled at her

"I get the feeling you do this a lot." she commented

"Yeah. My mom has a job as a permanent nomad. I'm like a piece of furniture, I get packed up and shipped like everything else." I laughed, but there was a lot of truth in that statement. The lady smiled and waved me off. I walked out the office and glanced left and right. I went left and strolled along the rows of lockers until I found mine. I put in the combination and struggled to get it open. After a swift kick to the bottom of it and a few more yanks I gave up.

"Need some help?" Someone asked, I whirled around to find a girl standing behind me. The halls had long since emptied out.

"Uh, yeah. Thank you." I muttered awkwardly, stepping away. I read the numbers off to her and she got it open without problem.

"Don't feel bad. These things are tricky." she smiled warmly at me and I thanked her again before waving her off. She seemed nice enough.

"My name is Saskia by the way." she called after walkig away. I didn't give her my name, she was too far away, and I wasn't about to yell. I threw my newly aquired books into the locker before shutting it. I made sure I had the pass the secretary gave me, along with my schedule. I walked down hall after hall before finding my first class. I smiled. Math. My favorite.
I walked in, being as quiet as possible. As soon as I stepped in all eyes were on me. It was unsettling.

"Hi. My name is Laura, I'm new." I said lamely, closing the door behind me. The teacher grinned and everyone else began to talk as the teacher walked me over to his desk. I wasn't special enough to be looked at for more than ten seconds. When kids look at me they see another highschool transfer. Nothing about me is special. I'm incredibly average. My height, weight, everything. My wavy brown hair is nothing to write home about, the only thing relatively special about me is my blue-grey eyes. But those weren't even that impressive since I hid them behind a pair of black rimmed glasses.

"Hello Laura, I'm Mr. Jamison. I'll be your Geometry teacher for the remainder of your sophomore year." he told me. I nodded along as he caught me up to what they were working on. He gave me the homework, and then the bell rang. I thanked him and left. The rest of the day went on that way, meeting, talking, teaching, catching up, it was the same old same old. Nothing special happened.

Then lunch came.

Always the challenger, lunch is. One of the most awkward time of the day. I didn't bring lunch, or money that day. I wanted to take the time to scope where I would spend these awkward fourty five minutes everyday for the rest of the school year. I found a fountain on the back patio, it was fairly pretty for a highschool. No one was anywhere near it, so I deemed it my spot. I sat down on the egde and took out my notebook, beginning to write. I was told I was pretty good from plenty of teachers, and my mom complimented me endlessly too, but I was too humble to actually believe any of them. I wrote the entire time, then when the bell rang I packed up and headed inside. I headed to my English class and it went smoothly. That was the last period of the day, so afterwards I went to my locker and took out the books that were needed and put up the ones that weren't. I closed it and headed out the building. I sat on one of the benches and waited for my mom.

She was usually late, so I pulled out my notebook and began writing.

An hour passed. And then two. Then three. I looked at the sky and the sun was setting, it had to of been at least six o'clock. I took out my phone and confirmed my suspicion. 6:03 to be exact. And a text.

'Hey baby. Running really late, tough day at work. Catch a ride? Walk?' I rolled my eyes and glanced around. The parking lot was completely empty except for a few cars I'm sure belonged to teachers and janitors. And of course a rowdy group of boys smoking by the dumpster and swearing up a storm. I rolled my eyes and packed up my notebook. I slung my bag over my shoulder and began walking. My new apartment was about a fourty-five minute walk. Did I mention I didn't eat all day? My stomach growled loudly as I passed the group of boys.

"Woah, hungry there?" one of them joked. His hair was dark brown and shoulder legnth. His eyes were coco brown and rimmed with black kohl. He had on black skinnies and a Rob Zombie shirt. He also had a tattoo peeking out the collar of his shirt. He voice was also deep and raspy.

"Knock it off Radke." another piped up. I looked at him, he was a Slash look alike, only his hair was MUCH poofier.

"Do you talk?" another asked, inhaling his cigarrette and looking at me. His hair was a little shorter than the first guys. and his voice was a tad bit more nasal. His nose was pierced, as was both sides of his mouth. But what really got me was his eyes. They were a ridioculously gorgeous shade of green. He too had a tattoo on his neck, as well as a purple star on his forearm. His pants were very tight, and his Iron Maiden shirt had the sleeves cut out.

"Hi." I said simply, averting my eyes to the ground.

"What's your name?" another piped up, I glanced at him. He was small and cute. He looked Mexican and Hispanic, his cheeks were round and adorable, and his hair was blonde.

"I'm Laura." I said.

"Pretty name." the last guy spoke. He was taller than the rest, with brown and blonde hair.

"Thanks. Well I should go." I said, turning to leave.

"Wait!" Someone called, I turned to see the green eyed boy.

"Yes?" I asked

"Need a ride?" he offered

"No." was all I said before walking away from them. I already said too much, I should have left after he asked my name. I hope they don't try to talk to me. I don't do well with people. Maybe they were just being friendly? I shook off the thoughts as I walked along. After a while I got bored and put in my headphones. I finally walked up to my apartment complex.

"Mom?" I called. No answer. I sighed. I slung my bag off and rummaged the kitchen. I pulled out chicken nuggets and threw them in the microwave. After I ate I went upstairs and finished all my homeowork. After that I unpacked the rest of my boxes and put everything in the right place. I checked the time: 10:49. And my mom still wasn't home. I shook my head and walked down the stairs. I turned on the TV and then saw I got a text. I checked it

'Hey baby. Won't be home. Crashing at friend's. Closer. Night, behave.' my mom sent. I rolled my eyes and threw my phone before sliding on my shoes and grabbing a hoodie.

If she's going to have fun, then so will I. I left my apartment, sure to lock the door behind me. I walked down the stairs and out to the parking lot. I glanced around and decided to walk left. I walked for a few blocks before I stumbled upon a park. I smiled and sat on a swing. I closed my eyes as I swung slowly back and forth. The wind began to blow and I shivered a bit, but continued to swing.

My heart did a backflip when I felt a pair of hands on my back, pushing me forward. I yelped a bit before jumping off the swing, and turning to see who it was. It was the boy from earlier, with the brown eyes.

"Sorry, didn't mean to alert you." he chuckled. I glanced behind him and noticed all the boys from earlier were there, excluding the Slash look alike and the one with blonde hair.

"Hi." I said, looking at the boys

"Why you out so late?" The tall one asked. I shrugged

"Wondering." I stated simply. They nodded. The brown eyed one pulled out a cigarrette and lit it. He handed one to each of the other guys and then looked at me. A glint of humor showed in his eyes before he held the pack out to me. I surprised him when I actually took one and lit it, inhaling deeply.

"You smoke?" the green eyed one asked, looking at me like I had a second head.

'Yes." was all I answered before taking another deep breath. When I finished my cancer stick I threw it down and stomped it out.

"I'm Ronnie." the brown eyed one greeted, breaking the silence that suddenly fell over the group.

"Hello." I replied. The green eyed one rolled his eyes.

"Are you capable of more than one-worded answers?" he practically growled at me. I stared at him in disbelief. Is he really being this rude?

"Excuse that douche. He's grumpy 'cause you turned down his ride earlier." The one that introduced himself as Ronnie spoke. I nodded.

"Cool." I shrugged. I turned to leave, but felt someone spin me around. Ronnie was really close.

"That's Omar." he pointed to the tall one with brown and blonde hair. I waved and he returned it with a smile and a nod. He turned and glared at the rude boy who cleared his throat before saying

"Max." and nodding at me. I waved at him also.

"Bye." I said, before shrugging Ronnie's hands off my shoulders and turning away from them. I took two steps before turning back and saying

"Thanks for the cig, Ronnie." He looked surprised but told me it was no problem. I nodded again and walked back home. I climbed the stairs quickly and threw off my shoes once I was safely inside. I turned off the TV and grabbed my phone off the couch before walking to my room and plugging it in. I changed into some pajamas and checked the time one last time before passing out. 1:07.

Tomorrow morning should be fun.