Angels in the Alleyway

Chapter One

Megan Ross

Mornings at Serenity Falls High always start out the same way. Teenagers of different races in navy blazers --- guys usually in their trousers and the girls in jeans, shorts or skirts; well, what they all wear is their choice anyway. They all start to spread out amongst the perfectly cut and green lawn of Serenity Falls campus grounds. When it's almost time for school to start, there are always some last stragglers racing to slide safe into campus before the gates are shut.

Here at Serenity Falls, most people stick in cliques, much like in other high schools. We've got the big, brawny  douche bags who consistently do stupid things out of the teachers' line of sight, tormenting weaker students and generally just being pains in the ass. There are also the few druggies that chill out around the back of the building, exchanging their daily portions of cigarettes, booze, pot or whatever other substance they abuse that kills off the few brain cells they have left.

Then we have the preps, jocks and cheerleaders, unreachable and better than everyone else. They seem to always flaunt their "greatness" and they usually move around in packs. There are also those overachievers and nerds who also group together, although larger in quantity for safety numbers, with their calculators out as they punch in the numbers.

There are just so many different kinds of students in this school, all trying to fit in and feel like they're worth something. It really isn't that easy to blend into the crowd in Serenity Falls High School. We're all damningly judgmental of each other and in many instances, "friendships" are only pathetic facades to make it easier to backstab each other --- particularly with the preps and the cheerleaders.

Call me jaded, call me dillusioned, I don't really care. If you really knew what happens in this high school, you'd agree with me anyway. I used to be a prep, a cheerleader in fact, but I don't really hang out with those people anymore. I'm not so pessimistic as to not have friends though --- there are I few girls I trust, including some of the girls in the cheerleading squad.

But guys are assholes. I've learnt that firsthand.

It was approximately 7:30 in the morning, Monday and just a week had gone by after the first day of school. I didn't know it yet but soon, my life would cease to be what it had been before. I had just left the dance room that Valerie always reserves for us, The Hip-Hop Girls. Okay, I know that the name isn't really that good but over time, you'll get used to it.

Right now, it's just me, Valerie and Amber, another girl in The Hip-Hop Girls whom Valerie scouted. Although it was just the three of us in here, I always have a great time doing the dance routines with them. After I quit cheerleading, I wandered around the gymnasium after school, trying to figure out what sort of activity I should be doing and thus, I discovered a new passion in dance.

Speaking of cheerleaders, I spied some walking down the hallway towards me. There were three of them --- Erika Sanders walking next to Anya Haynes, who was in the middle, and Penny, the youngest amongst them, struggling to keep up and trying to look like she really belonged. I pitied the girl. We used to do routines together and she was nice enough.

When they passed by me, Erika, who quickly spotted me, gave me a smile and a little wave. Penny kept her eyes averted away from me. Anya seemed to have been in the middle of telling a story and as soon as she saw me, a look of irritation flashed in her eyes, which disappeared as quickly as it came as she gave me a sweet and incredibly fake smile.

Surprisingly, I decided to be the better person and smile back at them. Heck, I even said "Good Morning" though it was only meant for Erika and maybe Penny. Anya Haynes is the head captain of the varisty cheerleading squad and she just happens to be a manipulative, overbearing and backstabbing bitch. I have no idea what forces decided that she was fit to be better than everyone else (which is funny because she almost never practices so her skills, for the most part, have gone down the drain).