Choosing a Lover

Chapter One

     Tomoyo sat on the crowded bus full of 7th and 8th graders. Each seat was filled with two, (sometimes three) and chatter filled the air. People were crammed against their windows, and some were halfway into the aisle. You could hear people cussing at each other, and the sticky sound of kids chewing gum. The air was hot and sticky, and the sound of yelling made it worse. 

     Tomoyo sat in the back with the 8th graders she viewed as 'ok' but not the best. Instead of involving in their heavy gossip, and weird politics, she sat quietly like always, reading on her kindle. Her dark brown hair rolled over her small shoulders in wavy locks. Tomoyo's emerald eyes scanned the words on the screen, her pale slender fingers gripping the edges. 

     "Hey Tomoyo!"A girl peered over the seat behind Tomoyo staring at her. The girl was another 8th grader. Her hair was a silky dyed caramel pulled back in a tight high ponytail. Her sky blue eyes were rimmed with curiosity. 

     "What do you want Yuuki....?" Tomoyo asked not looking up from the screen. 

     "Did you know Lilac and Alex are dating? Also, Stephen likes you." Yuuki informed her happily, not caring if Tomoyo was paying attention.

     "Yeah, sure." Yuuki then darted back into the conversation being held by the other 8th graders. After a few minutes, Tomoyo strained her hearing to them, out of curiosity. Though she didn't care for gossip, she was in the mood for eavesdropping. At first, she couldn't hear them over the other chatter, so she peered over the edge of her seat at them.  

     "Do you like Charles?" A blonde boy with wavy hair asked. 

    "Of course not! He's such a douche bag!" A girl with long, wavy, red hair replied, trying to show a straight face. But her face was aglow saying she was probably lying. 

     "Are you sure?" The boy pressed, lifting his eyebrows.

    "I'm serious! I don't like him!"The redhead exclaimed. 

    "Sure...."

     "What?!"

     "Nothing." The boy smirked. His name was Harold. The red head was Kathy. Tomoyo zoned out, and went back to reading, realizing their discussion wasn't too interesting. After a few minutes they arrived at the school. The school was Full Field Middle School, and it unfortunately only had one floor, so some of the classes were outside in the trailers nearby. The main part of the building was made of red-brown bricks.  Flowers were lined outside in rows, near the white sheer trailers that had thick black roofs. A warm breeze swept through the area, making the healthy green leaves on the thin trees rustle, and the lush lawn grass bend over. The copper sun was still making it's way to the top of the blue sky, sending rays of light towards the school. 

     Tomoyo slowly got up and moved into the aisle as the bus stopped behind the other vehicles at the curb. Quickly, minding her steps she made her way off the bus, followed by the other kids that jostled each other to get off the vehicle first. Making her way into the front doors of her school, she was aware of Kathy and Harold having a deep conversation behind her as other students rushed by to get to their lockers before the warning bell would ring. Kids crowded at the doors, and everyone was way too close to each other. Inside, a large room (if you call it that) stretched far into the heart of the school. Navy Blue lockers were pushed together in cramped rows, and paintings decorated the high walls. Halls sat in a circle around the heart of the school, and kids bustled around slamming lockers, talking, or making their ways to classes. 

     Tomoyo sighed as she pushed her way to her locker knocking into a few people. Some 8th graders (all of which she didn't know) talked in groups of ten, blocked some of the ways. Those groups could be SO frustrating and annoying. Finally, she arrived at her locker. A girl named Rachel had a locker next to her. Rachel had silky, curly, dirty blonde hair, and a splash of freckles on her pale nose. 

     "Hello." Rachel greeted shuffling her notebooks into her slim locker. 

    "Hi...." Tomoyo replied, entering her combination into the lock. Rachel was one of those kids that never failed a test in every academic even if she didn't study.  Black rimmed glasses sat on her pointy nose, giving her an intelligent look. The locker common was full of chatter as students walked around. Kathy flew by Rachel's to have a quick chat about her liking Charles or something, and how she also wanted to slap him silly. Tomoyo quickly unloaded her black backpack as soon as she opened the door to her locker. 

     She noticed that everyone was talking to someone, and she was the only one that wasn't. Rachel was now talking to James, Harriet was talking to Ella, Anthony was talking to Haanz... Basically, everyone was involved in a heavy chat. She suddenly felt a strange loneliness until Timothy, who was heading to class tried to get Tomoyo into a conversation about how atoms worked, even though she was already full aware about how they worked, and didn't really care. She also knew he had a thing for her, but he could be so annoying. Tomoyo started to walk by him, showing him she didn't care. Though, she felt bad about it, since he was probably lonely, she had to let him know that he needed to stop.

    Brushing by Timothy she started heading for her first class, English. She kind of hated that class, everyone in it, was really annoying. She groaned as she lifted her black notebook and binder in her arms.  The halls had dark blue stripes along it's bottom, and a brush of yellow circled it's top. White painted brick lined the walls, and kids jostled each other to get to their classes. After a few tedious minutes of trying to find her classroom, she slipped into its doorway. She took a seat in the back of the room, where she usually sat. Tomoyo was one of the first kids there.