CHAPTER ONE
I woke up startled that morning and pulled my dark brown and black hair from the usual ponytail I wore when I slept. Grabbing a turquoise tee and a pair of dark wash shorts I headed off to the bathroom still half asleep and turned on the shower. The water was hot against my skin, and I ran my fingers through my hair with my eyes closed imagining it to be an exotic waterfall from somewhere like Brazil or Argentina. I have never even visited these places but I could imagine everything so vividly, I was really good when it came to creative things like this.
The water temperature was perfect for the next thirty minutes, never needing to be adjusted it was beautiful. I stepped out and got dressed studying today's outfit critically. "Ah they'll never let me wear it," I walked back to my room and put on a pair of black pants and an argyle sweater. My parents were against anything that made me act or look less academically inclined, I've always been smart, but they've really worked me over.
Last year I had the highest GPA in my school but it wasn't enough. "Strive for perfection, 100% only, etc," dad was the worst, he acted like this was everything in my life and he spent all his extra time running memorization methods through me and studying techniques. Although I already had a photographic memory, he wouldn't give up.
This morning mom and dad were standing at my bedroom door, his arm was around her shoulder and she had been looking like she was crying. "Oh hey family, Joan, Ted... what's wrong with Joan?" She preferred me to call her by her first name rather than mom, because she was born Joan, not mom and she really didn't feel like my mom anyways.
"Today's the last day of seventeen for you," she sniffed and looked up to Ted.
"Tomorrow you'll be eighteen and we have a pleasant surprise for you when you wake up tomorrow morning."
A smile crept across my face and I started bouncing where I was standing, "can I get a hint? I want to know a little bit of it?" I ran to him excited, they usually only gave me gift cards for my birthday.
"Get to school; you're going to be late. You already have a perfect attendance and if you wreck that you're grounded from your cell phone for another month."
I checked the mirror, slipped the glasses over my make up free eyes and pulled my hair up into a bun. God I looked like a librarian. Scary. I ran to the SUV and sped off to school arriving right when first bell rang. I reached class just in time for the second bell to ring, and took my seat at the front of the class room.
"Ms. Livingston what is the answer?" Mrs. Jones the art teacher asked, while pointing to this painting of a beautifully covered sky, stars, moon and buildings.
"Well it's impressionistic with a hint of abstract and looks to be painted by a psycho with one ear," I laughed and finished, "Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night."
"Well done," the teacher smiled.
"Nerd, geek, teacher's pet," I heard students behind me insulting, if only they knew why I have to do so well. I could picture dad yelling at me last year after finishing with a 97% average and cut off a foot of my hair for having such a low average. Currently I stood at 99 point something, and the parents were happy enough, but that also meant that people here at school weren't the biggest fans.
School was a chore, that I had to suffer through and the girls chose to make it a living hell for me for the past four years of my life. This one really fake blonde, I mean her roots were a couple inches visible and who knows how many times she's been knocked up; anyways it was her personal vendetta to wreck my life. Once in gym class she actually took my clothes after I showered and threw them in the boys' room, luckily I convinced this little grade nine girl to grab them for me.
