Centered

Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

I am stuck in a place where people put the fear of god into you daily. Where smiling clowns hide around every corner, just waiting to jump out and get you. A place where you are lucky if only a few people hate you. Ironically enough, I am talking about high school. The fear of god happens to be caused by mean girls, claustrophobia, and presentations. The clowns on the other hand are practical jokers, waiting for you to slip up so they can crack a joke. They could also be a girl who doesn't know how to apply lipstick, but I am so not going there.

I happen to be wandering aimlessly through the halls of my high school, searching for my new class. I got switched out of Art and put into Folklore and Mythology. There's nothing like getting switched out of a class in the middle of the trimester. Unfortunately, a new class meant I was utterly and completely lost. No sense of direction has haunted me for the past three years of high school. I walk these halls five days a week, and still get lost. It all looks the same to me. Identical halls, lined with identical lockers, and the same snotty girls, wearing the same style of jeans, in every class. I was pondering a GPS when I ran into something hard.

"Ouch!" I rubbed my nose where it had gotten hit. Looking up I realized I had run into a wall. Classy, Eleanor, just classy. I had been looking up at the room numbers and not paying attention to where I was walking. The bell signaling I had one minute to get to class rang, and I sighed. There really wasn't a point in worrying now, because I was going to be late no matter what. I couldn't find the class in Five minutes let alone one.

"Need some help, Ellie?" Nick asked, sounding amused that I had found myself lost yet again.

"Yes, please." I sighed. He took my schedule out of my hands and studied it closely.

"Alright, come on." He offered me his arm and I looped mine through it. We started walking at a leisurely pace. The final bell had rung a few seconds ago, and I was no longer concerned about the scolding I was so obviously going to get for being late.

I had met Nick about a year ago when he transferred to this hell hole. I thank god every day that he did. If I would have had to navigate this high school on my own much longer I would have gone nuts. Nick is only a few inches taller than me, has dirty blonde hair that falls across his forehead, and is decently muscular. In other words, he looks like he should be modeling for Hollister. He is cute to say the least, and girls used to chase after him constantly. He always declined, so they just stopped trying. They couldn't seem to fathom how he hung out with a girl like me, but wouldn't go out with them. Maybe they will explain it to me when they figure it out, because I'm clueless. I wear blue jeans and t-shirts, and don't even do my hair. Most of the time, it just hangs down my back in blonde, frizzy waves.

"Here you are, my lady." Nick said. He walked me up to the door, but I hesitated before going in. "What's wrong, Ellie?" he placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a reassuring smile. I have always been able to talk to Nick, but for some reason, I felt like this was something I shouldn't share. I felt like I was alone in a sea of people. I had been feeling off for the past few days, and nothing has been able to turn my mood around. Not even Nick. My stomach has been in knots and I have felt on edge, like something monumental was about to happen. But this sounded crazy, even to me. I wasn't some crazy psychic. I was probably just imagining things. I hadn't noticed my eyes start to water but Nick apparently had.

"Hey, Ellie, I got you to class, you don't have to cry." He gave me a smile and pulled me in for a hug. I smiled back but pushed him away after a short hug.

"I'm not crying. And even if I were, it would be because I did have to go to class, not because you found it for me." He just kept waiting for me to continue. He knew something really was bothering me. "Oh, alright," I sighed. "I have just been feeling a little off lately. Sort of like something big is about to happen, is that crazy?" I asked.