Misunderstood

Harper

Don't you just love waking up to the sound of your mom and older brother yelling at eachother in the kitchen? Or perhaps the way you hear things crashing to the ground like plates and china, but you can never tell because it happens so often? Yeah, me too. My name is Harper Marcela Collins, and this is the kind of thing I have to deal with on the daily. My brother Kai is this angsty emo, 'leave me alone' kind of guy, and my mom is incredibly religious. So you can go ahead and imagine how that is going to work out.

I rolled out of bed not even trying to imagine the sort of 70's hairdo I had going on. Tossing on the outfit I had set out the previous night, I grew the courage to go downstairs. As I trotted down the creaky wooden steps of my suburbian home, I found Kai and my mom arguing over god only knows what. Once my mother saw me, she smiled, though it was tight and readable, "Good morning, Harper. I've got you toast and jam on the table if you're hungry." She spoke as if nothing just went down between the two. Kai took a heavy sigh, "Morning." he mumbled, taking a rough bite out of his toast. "If you want a ride I suggest you hurry up." He said to me, as he put his jellied toast down and walked to the door. I hadn't even taken a bite of mine before following him like a duckling. Now, I understand this may have given you the wrong impression of him, but he is the closest thing I have to a best friend. You see, I am starting my junior year in high school this year, at Cornerville High. That sounds really cool, except for the fact that I don't know a single soul there, except for Kai.

"What was the deal this morning?" I asked him, reading over my schedule. Kai came to a red light, looking at his phone, "I came home at three this morning from the bar." He started, "I'm seventeen though, so I don't exactly see the problem. She says that I'm destroying all of her hard work. That she has 'groomed me into the man I am supposed to be'. What is she getting at? That I'm a failure?" He ranted to me the entire car ride. Which, thankfully, was only a ten minute drive.

I took a deep breath as I ventured out of the small chevy SSR, and into the vast parking lot of the new 'Hell', as Kai liked to call it. I ran my hand through my long brown hair, walking inside. It was exactly as I had expected. Lockers, a hallway, students. In other words, I wasn't surprised. Triple checking my schedule, I found out where to go to first. Room 24B- English. At least it was my easiest subject. Crossing over to my locker, I checked the code on the orientation paper. 23-5-32. Easy enough. Cracking the code, I put my backpack in my locker, taking out my binder and pencils. Closing it, I was startled by a girl with silky dark hair, with honey glow skin and striking blue eyes. She wore a white tube top, and jean shorts. Apparently she didn't care about the dresscode, "Hey, you're Harper Collins, right? I'm supposed to give you a tour, so we will both be missing our first period. Let's go." She snapped, but somehow made it sound friendly. Harper couldn't even respond before the beautiful girl started walking. I was almost made to follow.

"This is the A wing. You will find all of your freshman and sophmore teachers here, then later that way is the B wing, with the junior teachers, and the C wing is for the seniors. D wing, on the other side of the school, includes all of your elective classes. Cafeteria included. Any questions?" She asked. I could hardly process everything she said because of how fast she spoke, but I just nodded and pretended to understand. A shiny pink bubble gum bubble grew out of her mouth, before it popped, "Good. Now I'm getting to class-" she said, turning around as her pink heels clicked on the ground. She turned, a sudden cold glare whisked across her face, "By the way, newbie, just because I gave you a tour, doesn't mean we are friends. Okay?" She asked, smiling as if it didn't sound threatening at all, "Okay." I mumbled, before silently walking to my class...or what was left of it. Entering, I got a few stares, but took the empty seat in the front, "Hm...Harper Collins, I assume?" the teacher asked. I, again, just nodded. She smiled, "Nice to meet you. As the rest of your class has been informed, I am Mrs. Warmuhnd, your first period english." She said, looking at everyone in the class. At least she seemed nice.

Before I knew it, the bell rang, and I fortunately was the first in the hallway. I looked around, wondering if that orientation girl was in the hall, but I didn't see her. 'Guess she really doesn't want to see me again', I thought. I wondered if she was even a junior. On my way to my next class, I passed a boy with white hair, blue eyes, and beautiful golden skin. And yes, I immediately fell in love. He walked to his locker, and of course I watched him. No, Harp. It's the first day, no crushes. I shook him out of my vision and walked into my secound period. He came in right behind me. Was he following me? Or was this his next class?

I smiled happily when I learned the truth. He sat next to me in class, and I watched him over my shoulder. He was writing something all over his hand...it looked like henna, almost. Except with a pen. I smiled softly, "That's really good-" I whispered. He looked up at me like I was an alien, "Uh- yeah. Thanks." He said, then went back to his work, unphased by my compliment. I leaned back in my hair and sighed heavily, regretting saying anything.