That Stupid Little L-Word:

Chapter Ten:

The rest of the day passes in a blur. 

My last class of the day is another elective, and Blue-Eyes isn't in it --so nothing worth sharing really happens. It's a movie-class, where we get to sit around and watch movies and write reports about what we see. The teacher is nice, and the other students seem like losers. I made sure to keep my distance. Now I stand in front of the school at the parent-pick-up lot, waiting for my mother to drive up in the turd-mobile. I don't know anybody here, so I'm kind of squished up against a corner. It's a struggle to keep the boredom out of my expression. I seriously regret not driving my truck to school this morning. My mom wanted to be here to send me away on my first day, and all that jazz.

But I should have known better.

She's always late. 

"Hey," a vaguely familiar voice sounds from behind me, and I turn. Amanda smiles at me, surrounded by an array of punk-goth-looking kids. "I know you." 

I smile at her, "I know you too." I push my way around a loser kid who stands beside me and make my way toward her and my new parent-pick-up buddies for the afternoon. They have clustered around one of the many trashcans that dot the front of the school, and one kid actually sits on top of the metal lump. I have to fight the urge to push him in. 

"Guys," Amanda nods toward me, eyes locked on Trash-Can, "This is Alice. She's in my art class. Wicked sense of humor." 

Trash-Can's eyes flick up and down as he glances me over, and I mock bow. The corners of his lips twitch up into a crooked smile and he lifts a hand, running his fingers through his straightened hair. Its been dyed black, and most of it sweeps over his forehead, just barely hanging into his eyes. "Nice," his voice is deeper than I thought it would be. 

I roll my eyes. One of the other kids, a skinny little fellow sporting a Pikachu sweatshirt --even though it's like ninety degrees out here, pokes my shoulder. "Meow." 

"Stop trying to weird her out, Tobi," Amanda snorts, and folds her arms across her chest. 

Tobi hisses at her and pouts, winding back around her to hide behind the trashcan. He leans against the wall behind us and slides down, a scribbled on binder clutched to his chest. I arch a brow, eyes flickering to Amanda. She smiles at me and shrugs, "He's weird." 

A purple-clad leg flicks out, and the toe of a shoe rams into Amanda's leg. She scowls and kicks back at Tobi, who lets out the first human-noise I've heard him utter since I met him. "Owe," he whines, "Bitch." 

 I laugh. 

"Anyways," Amanda sighs and gestures to Trash-Can, "That's Eric. Best friend, known him for years, remotely cool. And obviously, that's Tobi behind the trashcan. He's weird, but a good friend." Her hand moves from Trash-Can to Tobi. I nod.

Then a loud horn blares through the air, making everyone jump a good two feet in the air. My head swivels around and, to my horror, I see my mom waving frantically at me from the driver's seat of the van.

I cringe.

Amanda slaps a hand onto my shoulder, "Don't worry, at least she hasn't gotten out of the car." 

I make a wounded noise and bid my new friends goodbye. I slowly make my way through the crowds, careful to not draw any attention to myself. I don't want anybody to notice that I'm heading toward that car. I even don't want anybody to know that I'm actually getting into that car. My mom leans back in her seat --away from the horn, thankfully. Sunlight warms my skin as I step away from the shade of the school. I open the car door and slide into the passenger seat, shielding my face from the sun with my hand. 

"Took you long enough," my mother greets as she puts the car in drive. I lean back in my seat and run my fingers through my dark colored hair. "So," she arches an eyebrow at me, "How was the first day?" 

I sigh, "It was alright." 

As per ritual, I go through my day --only excluding any minor details about Blue-Eyes-- and tell her all about each of my new friends. She laughs when I explain Devon's crush on me, and teases about that changing once he gets to know me, and when I tell her about Amanda and Miley, she starts to plan sleepovers for me. 

I kind of just tune her out, and lean my head against the window as she talks. The van turns right into our driveway and I gather my things. She goes ahead to unlock the door and I trudge down to the mailbox. The metal is hot when I open it. Inside are a few letters addressed to my mom, and a flyer to some local pizza joint. I glance it over as I walk to the door. Mom meets me at the door and I let back backpack slump to the ground. "What's that?" she gestures to the flyer in my hand. 

"Dinner," I wag my eyebrows. 

"Cool," she smiles and snatches the flimsy piece of paper from my hand, "I'll go ahead and order it. Go do your homework." 

I sigh, "Right." 

I didn't bother to tell her that I didn't have any since it's only the first day. Knowing her, she'd come up with her own version of homework. I make my way to my room and drop my bag off at the door. I practically leap onto the bed and stretch out. I inhale the flowery scent of my perfume --which the comforter had been drowned in during an accident in the move. It's comforting. I close my eyes for a few minutes and then sit up.

I drag my computer chair out and plop down into it. I'm so bored. 

My forehead slams into my desk. I let out a groan. I could probably go surfing the internet. YouTube always has something interesting to watch, but I'm too lazy to turn on my laptop. Plus I haven't found my charger cord yet. I have to preserve the battery life. 

"Alice," my mom calls from downstairs. 

I grumble something incoherent under my breath, somewhat thankful for the interruption. Whatever it is she wants has to be better than staring at the chipped-paint that coats the top of my desk. I fumble down the stairs and round the corner, only to come to an abrupt halt. 

"I thought I recognized you!" My mom is saying to the pizza guy, a bright grin on her face. "You were one of the kids that we met at the mall. Alice!" She whirls around to call for me again, only to pause when she notices me hiding in the corner.

She waves me over excitedly. 

I smile weakly and wave back, unsure what to do. It's hard to force my legs to move; it's like someone's poured lead inside them. My innards cringe up and wither away into dust. I can hardly speak. "Hi." 

Blue-Eyes smirks at me and chuckles. "Hi." 

A/N:

So, not the best. But it's something. I'll probably re-write this when I go to edit :) I hope you enjoyed the story so far, and don't forget to vote/comment/follow/share!