Unnoticed

Chapter One

Chapter One

"For the love of God, Riley get the hell up!" My mother shouted at me from outside my locked bedroom door.

I groaned and rolled over placing earbuds in my ears to drown out her incessant nagging. Doesn't she have any respect? I'm trying to sleep here. I had to be at school in an hour or so.

"Riley Jean! Get your ass up right now. You're supposed to be at school in twenty minutes!" She shouted again.

No, I had school in an hour. Why on Earth would I be on time?

"It's your first day of your senior year. Please get up and go to school." She pleaded.

"I'm up. Go away." I replied loudly hoping she'd leave me alone to get ten more minutes of sleep.

I heard her walk away, her heavy footsteps resonated all throughout the house. When I realized I was wide awake with no chance of going back to sleep, I rolled out of bed and padded over to the closet.

"What to wear?" I asked myself softly, pushing the clothes aside.

I settled on a pair of destroyed denim jeans and a black Angel Haze t-shirt that I had bleached and frayed the sleeves of. After a quick shower, I was dressed and had to tackle the feat of my hair. Every morning I went through the struggle of getting my purple hair into a decent hairstyle.

Being natural was a struggle.

"Riley you're late." My mother called through the door.

"I know mom." I responded.

I grabbed my trusty leather jacket and checked my appearance again. Satisfied that I looked good, I went downstairs and grabbed the banana and cup of orange juice my mom had set out for me before she hustled out the door herself for work.

I knew senior year would be amazing. It had to be.

And best of all, everyone would know my name.

*****
"Riley Jean, you're late." My homeroom teacher told me as soon as I entered the classroom.

"I'm well aware." I told her before flashing the cocky smirk that Justice had helped me perfect all summer. I slid into the only open seat which was in the back behind a girl I'd never seen before.

Had she gone here last year?

I tapped her shoulder. I knew how it felt to invisible. "I'm Riley. What's your name?"

She looked around confused. "Y-you're talking to me?"

I flashed her a charming smile. "Of course I am."

She blushed, the beet red color vibrant on pale cheeks. "I'm Jeanna."

"Nice to meet you, Jeanna."

Jeanna smiled at me again before turning around to face the teacher again. I knew how it felt to have no one take interest in you and it was the worst feeling ever.

I would make sure nobody felt that way on my watch.

The bell rung releasing us to our next period. The bell was shrill but barely audible in the densely packed hallways. If I cared about being late, I'd be pushing my way through the hallway quickly and jogging across campus to my next class.

Justice stood next to our lockers. He looked up from his manga when he saw me standing in front of him. His face lit up in a wide smile. "Riley."

"Justice."

He pulled me into a hug that I immediately pulled back from.

"You're going to ruin the cool kid image we spent the whole summer trying to build up!" I gushed.