It All Started With a Diary

surprise

Ryland shot a weird look toward me, and his blonde eyebrows rose with his curiosity. "I asked how school was." I answered with a lie to soothe his worries.

The drive to school was very talkative, and when I say talkative, I meant Ryland. He found new things to talk about every second a conversation ended.

I couldn't be more relieved, but also saddened once we arrived to my school.

Yes, my brother talked a lot, but anything that would keep me from this hell, was worth it.

"Hey." I turned around to Ryland once he stopped me.

His head tilted as he examined me carefully. "You been doing good, kid?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, with the adjustment? The move, all of that...how have you been?" he asked me then motioned toward the school.

I wanted to confess to him. I wanted to tell him everything that had happened lately, but I held it in. I held it in like I had been doing for the last seventeen years.

"Yes, everything is fine." No, everything is terrible.

Ryland studied me for a minute, his eyes on high alert for anything out of the ordinary. "Mhm," he hummed, finally reaching my eyes. "Have a good day."

I smiled at him, though I could feel my smile wavering with every second that passed.

I tried to be happy with my family, and with everyone else. I tried to put up that smile that everyone was custom to. And it hurt, badly. More than any physical pain could come close to.

I left out his car, and watched as he drove away. I wished that I could be in the car with him, driving away from the terrible things this school had to offer.

Even though time had passed since the pictures were posted on the walls of the school, I still received the weird looks. I heard the hurtful whispers. It seemed that Carter received nothing but praise for what he did or tried to do.

One more year, Kimberly.

I tried to brush off the looks I received from the other students, the ones who still hung onto the past. I could feel their hard stares burning holes into my back with every step I took.

Making my way inside of the school, my ears caught the patter of footsteps behind me. I jerked around in time to catch the perpetrator.

"Jesus." Raven placed a hand to her chest, her eyes wide and startled. "I was trying to scare you, but you beat me to it."

I rolled my eyes at her, a small batch of laughter left my lips. "Why were you trying to scare me?"

"I have a surprise," she grinned, her entire mood positive.

We continued to walk further down the hallway to a vacant classroom. I was the first to sit in a empty desk, and she soon followed. During my time here, I learned which teachers didn't care if you sat in their rooms as long as you left it how you found it.

I leaned back into my seat. "What's the surprise?"

Her eyes fell as she frowned.  "Levi Wallace asked me out on a date."

I frowned at her reaction. "Why is that something to be sad about?"

"Have you met Levi? He's a player. One of the biggest in the school actually, and as sweet as he is, I don't know if he's trying to get inside of my pants or not." Her eyes raised, this time full of hope. "But that's where you come in."