True Colours

"Who's she?"

"What's she doing here?"

"Is she new?"

"Wow, she could've at least combed her hair."

I rushed through the corridor, doing my best to ignore the teasing comments, and hid behind my fringe. Just as I'd thought; this school was the same as all of the others. Horseshit. It was my first day at Dulaney High in Baltimore and I already hated the place. The slutty girls twisting their hair between their fingers while flirting with a guy before deciding that another boy was hotter and moving onto them, the comments thrown at me as I travelled nervously down the corridor, and finally the cliques I'd already picked out. I hated cliques. Tori'd already joined one by the looks of it, she'd quickly gotten in with the popular group by turning up at school in a short skirt and revealing tank top, ditching me for them.

I weaved through the crowds of people, holding my sketchbook extremely close to my chest, but failed to keep it there when I bumped into a brown haired guy. I bent down to grab my book but he'd already picked it up. I stood up properly and brushed myself down quickly, holding my hand out for my book with a pleading expression. He took a look at me, russet brown eyes gazing into mine for a second as a smile played on his lips. Damn, he was attractive. He passed me my book and grasped my hand in his at the same time causing an uncontrollable blush to invade my cheeks. He shook my hand and released it, running the same hand through his chocolate brown locks.

"I'm Alex." He smiled sweetly and I nodded, already choking on my words.

When I said I drew a blank, I meant it.

I gave him a quick, forced smile and hurried past him in search of the principal's office, my subconscious laughing and mocking me as I went. Well, on the bright side, today couldn't really get much worse. I'd already completely blanked a guy who seemed genuinely nice and scuffed up my sketchbook. I flattened down a picture of Billie Joe Armstrong that I'd stuck to the front and took a look around the hallway.

Principal's Office: Mr Marks.

Oh, thank God.

/ALEX/

"She's cute." I grinned, watching after the blonde girl who bumped into me and scrunched up my face when Jack, my best friend and lead guitarist of my band, ruffled my hair.

"She also just rejected you." Jack smirked and wrapped his arm around my shoulders as Rian, our other friend and the drummer of our band, waltzed over.

"How so?" I scoffed, folding my arms over my chest, my backpack hanging from one strap over my shoulder.

"She didn't even tell you her name, she just walked away." Rian chuckled, flicking the brown mop he called hair from his eyes.

I shrugged, "Maybe she's just nervous."

"Maybe you scared her by practically forcing her to shake your hand?" Jack suggested playfully.

"Or maybe she just isn't interested in you?" Rian nudged my ribs with his elbow and high fived Jack.

"Why am I friends with you guys?" I sighed as we began our walk to class.

"Because no one else wants to talk to any of us. We're losers, man." Jack notified me.

"The filth of the school." Rian continued, stepping forward dramatically and making hand gestures to that dirty locker no one wants to go near to since there's something on the front of it that looks scarily like shit. "The--"

"I get it, I get it. We're losers, okay?" I breathed a sigh and scratched the top of my head.

"At least Zack's popular." Rian shrugged.

Zack was our bassist and friend who went to another school in Baltimore. Due to how athletic and good looking he is, he can actually get friends, but settles with us since the guys on his school football team are all dickheads and he has no apparent social skills. He chokes whenever a girl's around and doesn't speak much at all unless he's around us. He's comfortable with us losers. Zack is the strong silent type, who tells us everyday that he envies our social status of 'loser'.

But that'd all change someday.

We were going to be a successful band. I wouldn't mind if we weren't, with a guitarist like Jack I wouldn't blame anyone for not signing us, but I had dreams. I wanted to get our music out there, the message we hoped to give to others through it, even if it was just to a few kids in Baltimore. At the moment, we were a cover band. A Blink 182 cover band, but we played a few Green Day and New Found Glory sometimes too. We just needed a name. I had lyrics and a few songs prepared in my mind, and we had practised a few that I'd written, but they weren't good enough yet. I needed inspiration, the right inspiration, and I was going to get it somehow.

"Dude, hello?" Jack awoke me from my thoughts, flicking my nose. I scrunched up my face and shoved him while Rian occupied himself by staring after the girl he'd wanted since she moved here.
Cassadee Pope.

She was a pretty girl, beautiful even, and Rian knew it more than anyone. He claimed to be in love with her but in reality he hadn't even spoken to her. I didn't like reality, it was too boring. But Rian insisted that he loved the brown-haired girl and had his fingers crossed that when he walked into class late one time that the only seat left would be next to Cassadee so he'd have a reason to talk to her. Ah, Rian, so full of hope. Hope for Pope.

"Ri, you're staring again." I said, pulling him along.

When we finally got to class and Rian stopped whining about how beautiful Cassadee was, I took my usual seat near the back with Jack, next to the table that was always empty in the back corner of the room-next to a window. It was dingy but, I guess, you could get the most privacy there.

The pros and cons of sitting in the lonely seat; written by Alex Gaskarth.

I smirked at the thought and pulled out my lyric book from my bag, slapping Jack's hand away when he went to pick it up. No one looked in my lyric book, and that meant no one. I chose when I wanted to share a song and, if I did, I'd write it out onto a separate piece of paper for them to read. That lyric book was the only private thing in my life, and it was going to stay that way.

"Morning class." Mr Jacobs smiled as he entered. "Ready for some Romeo And Juliet?"

I liked Mr Jacobs, he was a great English teacher, but he really did like that fucking play.
Everyone groaned.

"Aw, come on guys, we're halfway through Act 2, we may as well try and finish it today." He grinned optimistically. "Gaskarth, can you read Romeo's parts again?"

I sighed annoyedly but nodded anyway, Jack laughing at me. I elbowed his ribs and looked over to see if Lisa, who usually recited Juliet's lines, was here but she wasn't. Her seat was empty. Shit. Oh God, that eager girl, Kelsey, would end up saying them. Fuck. I couldn't stand her fucking voice. Ugh.

"Lis-- oh, no Lisa, huh?" Mr Jacobs pouted and scratched his chin as Kelsey bounced around in his seat, holding her hand in the air. "Cassadee, could you take the part of Lady Capulet, please?" I smirked as he ignored the part of Juliet for a while since Kelsey was so fucking annoying. Her voice was the worst.

"Sure." Cassadee smiled confidently, flicking a few hairs behind her shoulder while Rian watched intently.

"Max, Capulet?" Max nodded. "Brendon, you can be Friar Lawrence, if you like?"

"Yep." Brendon grinned.

"Anyone up for Juliet?" He scanned the room, trying his best to ignore Kelsey's annoying squeaks.

"Anyone? Okay then, K--"

"Come in." Mr Jacobs sighed in relief at the abrupt knocking that sounded from behind the door.

The cute blonde from earlier stumbled in nervously, clutching a book covered in pictures of practically all of my favourite bands to her chest, a crooked yet adorable smile spread across her lips. She walked straight up to Mr Jacobs and passed him a note, shyly shuffling from foot to foot while he read it. She was wearing a Fall Out Boy shirt and ripped skinny jeans, her hair tumbling over her shoulders. I felt like Rian, staring at her like this, but she was gorgeous. It was cute how shy she was, dammit.

"Alex, stop staring." Jack grumbled, nudging my shoulder.

"She's so cute." I muttered.

"You said that earlier, man, get over it." Jack laughed. "C'mon, Romeo, pull yourself together."

"Shut up." I smirked, shoving him.

"Oh, alright then." Mr Jacobs smiled at cute girl, as I'll call her now. She gave him a weak smile and eyed 'the lonely seat' like it was the best thing to have ever graced the planet. "Welcome to the school, is it alright if I call you Oli?" She nodded. "Well, everyone, say 'hello' to Oli Brooke, she'll be joining us for the rest of the year. Want to tell us about yourself?" Oli shook her head.

Dammit, I'd like to know a bit about her.

"I bet you she won't talk for the length of the lesson." Tay bet, leaning back to Jack and I without turning her head so Mr Jacobs wouldn't tell her off.

"You're on, everyone speaks." I smirked and we shook hands.

"You're wrong." Tay stated, a sly smile appearing on her lips. "Rumour has it she hasn't spoken to anyone but her dad and sister since this massive incident that changed her life. Something to do with her mom or something."

"Bullshit." Jack scoffed.

"No no, it's true. Her sister's the one who told everyone." Tay stated and sat forward again, shoving Jordan as he'd been reading through her organiser.

Her sister told everyone that? Wow.

"Her sister sounds like a complete bitch." Jack mumbled as Mr Jacobs tried to get something out of her with comments like 'don't be shy' and 'no one will tease you here'.
He was wrong.

Most students here would tease her, the only ones nice enough not to were probably; me, Jack, Jordan, Rian, Max Helyer and Tay. Maybe Brendon since he was definitely eyeing her up.

"It's probably bullshit, they're family- why would you tell people secrets like that when it's your own family?" I pondered and Jack shrugged.

"Maybe she's just a bitchy big sister."

"Hmm." I hummed, not yet agreeing. I picked up my pen and bit at the end of it in thought, my eyes wandering to Oli again. She just stood there blushing as Mr Jacobs continued to force her into speaking. She was so quiet and, well, mysterious. Most girls here would love to catch the limelight of being new.

"N'aw, you really are shy, aren't you?" Mr Jacobs giggled and patted Oli's shoulder lightly. He'd never acted like that around a student before. He was so... Caring. "Go sit down."
She raised an eyebrow to him.

"Wherever you like, go sit." Mr Jacobs shrugged making over the top hand gestures.

She shook her head lightly and hurried to the back, taking the lonely seat straight away. I watched as she pulled her legs up onto her chair, tucking them under her thighs so she was sat cross-legged, and quickly brushed her hair behind her shoulders before opening the sketchbook she obviously treasured, that she'd put on the desk when she sat there. She looked up for a second and caught me staring at her to which I practically choked on my pen and dropped it onto the Romeo And Juliet book in front of me. I coughed loudly and thumped my chest, but my head snapped up at the sound of a giggle. A sweet, silky-smooth giggle. If honey was a sound; that'd be it. I turned my head towards Oli to catch her blushing softly, her giggles just as soft.

I gave her a quick, warm smile and looked back to the front of the class to find that Mr Jacobs had finally given in and gave Kelsey the Juliet part she oh-so wanted.

Great, this was going to be a long lesson.