She Wears Toms, He Wears Converse

Chapter 1

"Nothing gold can stay."

Astrid's P.O.V

Chatter filled my third-period math class. The plain white bricks seemed to do an excellent job of holding the sound in our classroom. Of course, the class hadn't started yet and, the teacher wasn't here, so that sent a message to all the kids to talk as loudly as possible. Everyone in the room was talking except for me. None of my friends are in this class. You may ask why not speak to someone who is in your class? Well, my classmates don't like me, and I enjoy the time to myself. I'm probably one of the only people who enjoy being alone. I'm weird. On a typical day, I have five classes and, two of them I have friends in so, I'm not entirely alone. The room seemed to grow louder by the second. I desperately wanted to tell the 'popular' girls to shut up but, I'd only get glares before they would talk even louder, so I remained quiet. By popular, I don't mean what you're thinking. As soon as someone says popular, it's easy to picture a blonde in a skimpy cheerleading outfit who was chewing gum and twirling her hair but, that isn't what I mean. Our school doesn't even have a cheerleading team. Anyways, back to the point, by popular, I mean a large group of girls that talk, know a lot of people, cause a lot of drama, and are entirely boy crazy. They can be nice if you stay on their good side but, if you get on their bad side, they'll show you a whole new level of 'outcast.'

Mrs. Martin marched through the door with a stack of books and papers in her hands. She quickly threw them onto her desk and made her way to the front of the class. Students now sat in their desks. Mrs. Martin was only lovely when her orders were being obeyed, which, with the people in my class, doesn't happen very often.

"Class, we will be copying notes today, but I have an announcement first." Mrs. Martin started. Her subject didn't catch my interest, so I looked down at my notebook and began to re-read the lyrics I wrote earlier.

"A new student is attending this school!" She continued with enthusiasm. This caught most of the classrooms' attention. However, I mentally laughed. Good luck to whomever the new kid is. I heard Victoria (the center of attention in our school) ask if the new kid was a boy or a girl.

"Good question, Victoria. The new student is male. His name is Carter Daniels, and I'd like you all to give him a warm welcome." She answered. Great, a new toy for the girls at our school to obsess over. I heard whispers from the girls such as, 'I wonder if he's hot.' I rolled my eyes a kept them glued to my notebook. How can people care so much about looks? It's personality that counts.

"Carter, come in." The teacher ordered in a polite tone. I heard the sound of feet against the tile floor but, I didn't bother to look up because, honestly, I didn't care.

"Pick any seat that is free so, we can begin copying notes." Mrs. Martin told him nicely. There are two free seats in the class; one in the front and the other next to me. I knew this 'Carter' kid wouldn't sit next to me for two reasons, the first being that I'm more invisible than air particles and, the second reason was that I sit in the back of the class. From where I'm sitting, you can barely see the board.  Mrs. Martin put me back here because I don't talk or disturb the class and, I'm the person who understands math the most. Not to sound cocky because I have no self-esteem or confidence but, the people in my class don't pay attention. They could all get good marks if they tried. I like sitting alone, anyways. It gives me privacy and, sharing a table sucks. I was broken out of my train of thought by the sound of a chair scraping against the floor. My eyes remained glued to my notebook. No. No. NO. I gazed at my right to see the new boy, Carter.

"Hi, I'm Carter." He told me in a deep voice as he gave me one of his smiles. Oh, this boy would be one of Vicki's toys.

"Astrid," I muttered before gazing back at my notebook. Everyone in the class was staring at us, some of them glared at me, others wanted to be me, and some looked at me as if I was the new kid. Rage filled every inch of my body. Why can't I sit alone? I heard whispers shoot across the classroom. Most of them were along the lines of 'Why her?' or 'Ew, I would never sit with her.' Great. The teacher began to prepare the lesson.