The sound of glass shattering filled the room. Kianna turned around to see a bronze woman limp in a chair. Her eyes were rolled back with a foam sitting on her lips. A glass of blood-red wine was shattered at her feet. Suddenly, Kianna was shoved to the floor, and everything went black.
Kianna shot up from her bed, breathing heavily. She felt something wet trail down her cheek. A fire lit inside her, and she growled lightly in disgust as she wiped the tear away. She got out of bed and looked at the mirror on her closet door. There were cuts and bruises that littered her arms. Kianna stared at them blankly for a while before she pulled off her oversized shirt to reveal more bruises sprawled across her light bronze skin. Although, this time, she didn't bother to look at them as she changed into a black hoodie and navy blue jeans.
Once she combed her deep chocolate brown hair and brushed her teeth, she went down the stairs quietly. Kianna grabbed her bag at the bottom of the stairs and winced lightly as she slugged one of the straps onto her shoulder. She suddenly froze as heavy footsteps came up behind her. She felt a hand on her shoulder as the person bent over her to speak into her ear.
"You better not cause trouble. You already destroyed my reputation in two cities. If you screw up here...." The man's deep raspy voice said sternly as he gripped her harder. "You know what will happen. Do you understand?"
"Yes," She said blankly as she stared forward. The man then squeezed her shoulder even harder as he felt ticked off.
"Yes, what?"
"Yes, Father," She said with a drip of disdain. Not noticing the disdain in her voice, the man huffed, feeling a bit satisfied, before letting go of Kianna's shoulder.
"Get to school," He said as he walked away. Kianna re-adjusted the backpack strap as she walked out of the house.
When Kianna got to school, she got some stares as she walked through the halls. Not wanting any attention, she pulled up her hood as she went straight to her first class. After all, it was clear she was some kind of mix of Latina and white. She stopped in front of class 203 and looked into it from the open door. There was a white woman wearing pearls and a red professional suit. It was obvious she was some rich white lady. She was writing her name in cursive on the blackboard. Kianna quietly made her way in and sat near the front, against a window.
She silently observed the woman as she re-did the last two L's on her name. The woman was definitely anxious, showing she was inexperienced as a teacher. Kianna grimaced silently as the woman wiped her chalk dusted hand on her butt, which left a chalk mark on her pencil skirt.
The bell rang, signaling a new beginning as a freshman in a new city. And, most importantly, a chance to be a shadow, forgotten by the world for Kianna. She stared out the window as students shuffled in. The sounds of talking and screeching desks filled the room. Kianna glanced away from the window and wasn't surprised to see students separated and talking to their own pack, but couldn't help to crack a small grin as she saw the only full white guy in class looking around nervously. Kianna glanced at the teacher to see her frown. When the teacher turned around, some students noticed the chalk mark on her skirt.
"Hey girl, you wanna give me some fries with that shake," a black guy with a green jersey said. The class laughed slightly. Kianna rolled her eyes and looked back at the teacher, who had turned around to face the class with a smile.
"My name is Erin Gruwell. Welcome to Freshman English," the teacher said with a smile as she looked over the class. She then pulled out a list for rollcall.
"I give this bitch a week," the black guy with the green jersey joked with his friend. Kianna scoffed at the comment as she redirected her eyes back out the window.
"Brandy Ross," Mrs. Gruwell called out. A quiet black girl rose her hand.
"Gloria Munez." A Latina girl chewing on gum while flipping through a magazine lazily raised her hand before continuing.
"Andre Bryant." A black guy wearing a heavy jacket with his hood up in the back raised his hand.
"Eva Benitez," Mrs. Gruwell said, pronouncing the names with a hard 'e.'
"Eva, Not Eva," a Latina girl wearing a hoodie and hoop earrings with her hair back corrected, pronouncing her name with a hard 'a' to correct the teacher.
"Eva," Mrs. Gruwell repeated to make sure she got it right as she looked back at the rollcall list. Eva then got up suddenly and started to head out.
"I have to use the bathroom," Eva said as she grabbed the hall pass in the back.
"Okay, make sure that you take a-"
"Yeah, I know," Eva dismissed as she walked out. Mrs. Gruwell sighed, trying to keep her composure.
"Ben Samuels," Mrs. Gruwell called out. The only white guy in the class raised his hand. Kianna glanced at the kid and scoffed lightly. She knew that he was probably wishin' he is in the wrong class.
"Sindy Ngor," Mrs. Gruwell called out. It was very clear she butchered the last name. An asian girl with long hair and a single bleached strand looked over at the teacher
"Right here," she called out.
"Is that correct?"Mrs. Gruwell asked. The girl just nodded, not bothering to correct her.
"Jamal Hill?"
"Man, what am I doing in here? This whole ghetto-ass class has got people in here looking like a bad rerun of Cops and shit. You know what I'm saying? It's true ", The black guy in the green jersey joked. Some of the black kids laughed.
"Are you Jamal?" Mrs. Gruwell asked calmly
"Yeah," Jamal said.
"Well, for some reason they have you registered in this class"
"Yeah, and that's some bullshit," Jamal responded.
"It's the dumb class, cuz. It means you're too dumb," Andre said casually as he looked over to Jamal.
"Man, say it to my face, cuz"
"I just did," Andre retorted before looking at the class and pointing his finger out towards Jamal as if he's pointing a gun. "See what I mean? You dumb"
"Man, I know you ain't talking to me!" Jamal yelled getting out of his seat and looking down at Andre. The whole class was watching to see how this would go. "Look, homie, I'll beat that ass, homeboy"
"Can you please sit down?" Mrs. Gruwell said getting nervous about the situation. The poor black girl in between Andre and Jamal quickly got up as Jamal got closer to Andre. Some other students got up in case a fight breaks out. Kianna just turned in her chair to watch. She scoffed at how stupid this fight was, but she was hoping it would escalate, so she can try to sneak out and chill at the Seven-Eleven down the street.
"Look, I got your spot on the team. That's why you're over there wagging your tongue", Jamal continued.
"Please sit back in your seats!", Mrs. Gruwell called out desperately. More students got up and some moved the desks that were near Andre and Jamal away.
"Look, your spot is good as gone. I don't know why you keep wasting your time coming to practice with them two-year-old Nikes on your feet!" Jamal said. Andre immediately got up and knocked his desk down. He then got up in Jamal's face. Everyone got out of there seats except for Kianna, some of them even cheering because they were about to see some action
"You don't know nothing about me, cuz. Broke down my whole situation," Andre defended.
"Jamal," Mrs. Gruwell called out to get his attention as a last-ditch effort to de-escalate the situation.
"So, now you're in my face now, right?" Jamal shouted pushing Andre back a bit as he stepped back. "Sit your punk ass down! Sit your punk ass down, homeboy!"
"I will run that ass off the field," Andre responded. Mrs. Gruwell then rushed out of the room to get help. Kianna walked her way over to the side of the door, so she can sneak out the second the security guard busted in to break up the fight.
"Shut your ass up. What's up, homie? I mean, what's up homie? Sit your ass down, homie," Jamal said before Andre grabbed him and they started fighting. Not that long after Mrs. Gruwell walked back in and a security guard busted in from the back door. Kianna then slipped out into the hallway and quickly made her way to the fence enclosing the school. She tossed her bag over the fence before she scaled it and jumped over. She swung her backpack on before staring at the school a bit from the sidewalk. She shook her head.
"This is going to be a pretty easy year if it's like this," she mumbled with a grin as she walked off to find the nearest Seven-Eleven.