Angel of Fire - the Breath of Immortality - Book One #Wattys2014

The Elegance of Revenge

Chapter 9 - The Elegance of Revenge

Every time I passed someone in the hall on the way to class, I felt rather than saw their curious stares. It became clear to me that everyone in school had been expecting a girl fight to break out.

They shouldn't have.

I was raised with the belief that the best victory is one that requires no battle. Besides, all I've ever wanted was to be left alone. Hopefully Mindee would think twice before confronting me again.

Lucky for me first hour English was right around the corner. I had already taken my usual seat in the back of the classroom when twenty or so kids, now tardy, poured in to find their desks. I pretended not to notice their gawking stares that always made me feel like the main attraction in a carnival of oddities.

I used to hate all of the attention. But after dealing with it every single day since Kindergarten, eventually I got used to it. With no true sense of belonging, my way of dealing with the pain of rejection was to put up walls and not let anyone get close enough to hurt me. That didn't mean I wasn't affected by all the haters.

Being a loner doesn't make you bulletproof.

"Good Morning, class," Mrs. Long began in a bright voice. "We have a new student with us today. Carmen, would you please come up to the front of the class?"

My head snapped up. As if newbies didn't feel out of place enough, some teachers felt the urge to make things worse. I watched as Carmen calmly took her place beside our teacher.

"Class, say hello to Carmen Montgomery." Everyone mumbled a pathetic hello. Mrs. Long smiled encouragingly. "Go ahead, tell us a little about yourself."

When she spoke, her voice was surprisingly clear and strong. "Hi, my name is Carmen. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. This is my first time living in a small town." I had to give her props for being so supremely confident, even though she obviously hated it here. Meeting my eyes across the room, she forced a smile. "Things have been...interesting so far."

A couple students turned around in their seats to look at me. I glared back until they stopped.

"Thank you Carmen," Mrs. Long said, waiting for her to take her seat. "Please turn to chapter twenty-four in your English books."

I wasn't listening as she explained the homework assignment. I was too busy thinking about Carmen. I have a secret talent for predicting which social class newbies will eventually fit into. Sure, some newbies were way more obvious than others. Take Goths for instance. Easy. But some, like Carmen, were harder.

More of a challenge.

I'd say, for her, it was going to be a choice between Preps, Scene, Stoners, Geeks, Jocks and Farmies. The last two cliques were mostly for guys. Of course, there was always the Loners. But out of an entire school, there was only room in that click for one. Yes. I was in a class all by myself.

As for Carmen, I predicted that she would fit in with the Preps because of the way she dressed. However, her personal style wasn't very straight forward. It had more of a twist. Carmen combined Preppy with Beachy. The look was snobby yet casual, which totally worked for her. And you didn't need to be psychic to predict that all the girls in school were going to go home and copy her look.

I heaved a sigh. Tomorrow there would be Carmen clones all over the freaking school.

Wasn't one bad enough?

My only relief of the day came when fifth hour finally rolled around. Personal Computing – my favorite. Not simply because it was the last class of the day, but also because I had the entire back of the huge room all to myself. It was the one time I could truly relax at school without sensing the emotional garbage of others.