W.I.P.

Chapter One: Smoke

I fell to the ground, catching myself with my hands. Everything was a blur. My black Jansport backpack lay on the ground next to me. Derek, the kid who had just pushed me, stood behind me laughing at my pain and misery. I was waiting for the bus when these kids who lived in the same neighborhood as I did came up to me and started harassing me. I should have gotten up and let one of the school guards know, but I knew it would result in me being blamed for the incident. I was one of the school's troublemakers, at least, that's what everyone believed. Everyone always blamed everything on me, and so I ended up with a bad reputation.

Everything started to spin as I sat there on my hands and knees, just waiting for my strength to return long enough to punch the crap out of those guys. I got up off my butt and showed them that I wasn't putting up with them anymore.

"What, are you ready for more? I'm sure you can take it." Said Derek. I'm not going to lie, when I was younger I liked Derek for a while. Even as a child he had this bad boy attitude that drew me in. As I got older I realized how big of a jerk he was to people, but he still had those gorgeous blonde locks and these chocolate brown eyes.

"I think she wants you to hit her again." Said one of Derek's little gang friends.

"Yeah, you shouldn't have said that." I punched both Derek and his friends in the nose. "You should think before you speak." I turned around and started to walk away, nearly running into the teacher that had stopped right behind me, and had seen me punch the guy.
"Mr. Evans, Harleen punched me in the nose unprovoked." Derek's friend claimed.

"That isn't true! You freaking pushed me to the..."
"I... don't want to hear it Miss Fernsby, come with me. I think we need to have a little chat with your mother." I picked up my backpack and followed Mr. Evans, groaning as I went.
Well crap, my mom was being called away from work, I had been hit by these jerks, my head was spinning, probably from the force of the fall. As we walked back inside towards the principal's office, I remembered what was in the pouch of my backpack. When we got to the office, Mr. Evans stepped out to call my mother, leaving me alone in the room. I set my backpack down just to check and make sure it was still there.

"What are you looking for miss Fernsby?" Mr. Evan stepped back into the room.

"Oh...uh..." I stuttered. "Just my chapstick."

"Mhm. Okay, well um...Your mother will be here shortly, and I called the principal to let him know what is going on since he has already left for the day."

"HARLEEN ROSE FERNSBY!" My mother slammed the door behind her. "What were you thinking! Punching that boy. What has gotten into you!"
"Mom I..."
"Save it. We will talk about this at home." She turned towards Mr. Evan. Thank you for calling me. We've been having some issues with her as of late. I wouldn't be surprised if Harleen started it just for the sake of the thrill."
"Harleen is receiving a warning for the incident, and if it occurs again we will have to suspend her. She is a bright student, and has a promising future, but..." Mr. Evans turned to me. "You need to get back on the right path Harleen. This is not going to lead into a good future for you."

"Thank you, Mr. Evans." My mom grabbed my arm and pulled me out the door. She didn't say a word to me on the way home.

Things had been so bad lately. Mom and I hardly ever talked, and when I say talked, I mean like a real, honest, deep conversation. Even small talk was rare between us. We didn't really know each other anymore.

I didn't really have any friends. I was kind of a loner at school. I used to have friends, specifically one friend named Ash. We ended up getting into this huge fight over nothing of any real importance, and now we don't even speak to each other. Sometimes I catch her glaring at me from across the cafeteria.

The way things happened with Ash, it took a toll on my mental health for a few years, and It had been really hard for me to adjust to not having her around. It really wasn't that different I guess. She never really cared now that I look back on it.

After Ash, I got to the point where I didn't really care what people thought about me, other than my parents. I wanted to make them proud, but I could only take so much in a day before I became overwhelmed, and I just couldn't do anymore. I turned to the only thing I could think of at the time.

I headed for the kitchen when we got home. I was starving. I sat down at the table with a bag of plain chips. Whenever I get emotional or nervous, or really any kind of emotion other than what I normally feel, I get hungry. My mom followed me into the kitchen after she set her purse on the hook by the front door. "Harleen, we have to deal with this. You know we can't avoid it forever."
"You mean like you avoid all of the other problems that I have tried to bring up to you before? The same problems you said I was overreacting to, or that were not important enough to worry about. Yeah, I guarantee those are the same problems that lead us to this." I got up and put the bag away, and started to head upstairs to my room.

"Harleen don't walk away from me. Either we can deal with this now, or deal with this with your father tonight."
"How about I tell you what happened. I can tell you that the story everyone else is saying isn't the truth. Those guys came up to me and started the whole thing. Do you know Derek who lives just down the street from us? Yeah he, along with his group of friends, or his gang as I say, started harassing me. Derek pushed me, and I ended up falling. So I punched him in the nose. He shouldn't have said or done what he did. I can't be blamed for defending myself." Before my mom could say anything I turned around and headed upstairs. I didn't want to hear it right now, because I was very overwhelmed.

I closed the door behind me, locking it, and I dropped my backpack right behind the door. I walked over towards my window and sat down on the window seat for a few minutes to look outside and clear my head. I thought about opening the window and crawling out onto the roof, but I didn't want my mom to see me out there.

I finally got up and went over to my bed. I didn't take long for the day's emotional drama to catch up with me. It wasn't long before I was sound asleep.