Nelly groaned at the sound of her alarm clock, forever hating the obnoxious beeping it blared every morning. The only thing she hated more? School. She would forever hold school at the top of her hate list (which albeit wasn't all that long but still). Every school day was the same. She would have to wake up early, fight for control of the bathroom from her siblings, and spend the rest of the morning thinking that she had chosen the wrong outfit. And that's not even her day at school yet, that's just getting dressed. Speaking of, she thought to herself, if I don't hurry up and get in the shower then there will be no hot water left for me at all.

And so her morning went. It was just like every other morning, lots of arguing with a few precious thoughts of one day sacrificing her siblings. It was this thought she was thinking when she stepped out of the car, and was immediately confronted by the chaos of her high school.

Nelly just shrugged the shoulder straps of her bag higher on her shoulders and unwillingly began to wade through the halls of school, struggling to keep her balance as she was jostled around by the crowd. Her eyes rolled when she saw that the girl who had the locker beside hers was once again leaned against Nelly's locker with her legs wrapped around her boyfriend for the week's waist. She wasn't sure what was the most inappropriate, the fact that they were in that position, how short the girl's skirt (if you could call it that) was, or the fact that Nelly had no idea where the boys hands currently were but it was a good bet that they were somewhere that they had no business being. Either way, Nelly had to get to her locker or she would be late for class. She wanted to tell the two to "screw off" but she wasn't entirely sure that they wouldn't do exactly that, and she did NOT want to be the one who was responsible for that. Besides, she never would have been able to tell them that because she was simply just too shy.

Nelly was incredibly shy actually. She disliked crowds and social situations, and particularly hated the idea that people were staring or watching her. She actually would eat alone or even skip lunch cause she felt like someone would watch her eat. And the braces didn't help at all either. Seriously, she thought to herself again, who the hell has braces in their Senior year? Like I really need something else to worry about people looking at. The ringing of the homeroom bell snapped her out of her trance. She was relieved to see the couple to walk away from her locker because , honestly, she had no idea how she would have asked them to move. She rushed to unlock and open her locker and grabbed the books she would need for her first few periods and ran towards homeroom, walking into the classroom just as her teacher called her name for attendance.

"Here!" She said a little breathless as she walked into the room. "Ah! Late as ever, Miss Nelly. I suppose I don't have to remind you that your supposed to be seated in your desk by the second bell or you are officially tardy?"

Nelly did her best not to roll her eyes but still blushed as the rest of the classes attention was on her. "I'm sorry, sir," she said in a quiet and embarrassed voice, just wishing she could go sit in her seat at the back of the classroom where there were no eyes to look at her. "Yes, well I would like to have a word with you after homeroom if I could borrow some of your precious time." An echo of "oooooo" softly ran through the room, reminding Nelly of a class of 5 year olds but nevertheless embarassing her. She nodded to the teacher and walked to her desk with her head down, trying to not allow the tears that threatened to appear show in her eyes.

Nelly didn't really pay attention for the rest of homeroom, but instead just doodled absentmindedly in her notebook until the bell that signaled for them to head to their first period class rang. Nelly lingered in the back of the room until the rest of her classmates had left and went up to the teachers desk, not really caring what he would say as he had started her day off as worse as possible. She was glad then, to hear him say that he was too busy to give her a full explanation on why being on time both in school and at work was extremely important that he hoped that Nelly would one day understand that. She simply nodded along and said things like "Yes, sir" and "I understand" where she thought she was obligated to, and took his note explaining to her teacher why she would be late to first period and was glad to walk out of that classroom.

Despite the fact that she practically jogged to her next class, it was underway by the time she reached it, and attendance was already taken. Not wanting a repeat of homeroom, Nelly simply walked up to the teacher and gave her the note without a word. She turned to take her regular seat only to find someone sitting in it. He had pitch black hair and dark brown eyes that stared into space as the teacher began to go over last nights homework. Nelly had never seen him before and guessed that he must have been new, but she didn't really care. He was sitting in her desk and while she knew that he had no way of knowing that, it was still her desk that she sat in everyday. He had no right to sit there, but she would never tell him that because she knew that she was wrong to think so, and he was too shy to say that anyways. So she shuffled to a seat near the front of the class instead and sighed as she sat, knowing that she wouldn't be able to pay attention with so many people sitting behind her and possibly watching her. Instead of listening to the lesson, she imagined adding the new kid to her list of people to sacrifice, along with her sibling and homeroom teacher.

And so her day went by, she sat in her classes and took notes and tried to navigate the hallways without being trampled while traveling from one to the next. It wasn't until she went to lunch that her day changed. She was eating in the lunchroom by herself at her own table when suddenly she heard a deep voice with a strange accent speak beside her.

"Is it ok if I sit with you?"

Of course it's you. She thought once she realized it was the new kid. But she nodded after all and he sat across from her, gently setting his plate on the table. They ate (or he did actually as she now found it uncomfortable to eat with him there) for a while in silence before he finally spoke up.

"My name is EZ."

She recognized his accent to be from the South which was very rare, considering that they were in the northwestern-most state possible that wasn't Alaska. How did he get all the way here? She asked herself before accidentally speaking without realizing. "Southern..."

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, I'm from Alabama. My family moved up here to take care of my grandparents and I didn't have much of a choice but to come with. I'm sorry I should have mentioned that." He said while chuckling nervously.

Nelly realized her mistake immediately. "Oh! I'm sorry, I got a little distracted by your accent and completely forgot my manners. I'm Nelly. It's nice to meet you, EZ."

"Nelly? That's an interesting name, ain't it?" He asked, his southern drawl sounding almost like honey to her ears. It was so different and she liked how words that she said everyday sounded completely different out of his mouth. She decided that she wanted him to talk as
Much as possible just so she could listen. But then she realized what he had said and got a little defensive. "Yeah. But so is EZ, ain't it" she said, trying to copy his accent. "Oh well I suppose that you have me there. Sorry,I didn't mean any offense. Sometimes I get distracted and don't think about what I'm saying when I talk to pret-" he stopped short with his and her eyes widening at what he was about to say. "-ty different people that I'm not all that aquatinted with." He ended his sentence with a nervous giggle that instantly made her smile as well. It was one of those that you just couldn't help but to smile or laugh along with. Nelly decided that this new kid, EZ, wasn't so bad after all. "Oh it's ok." She responded in a quiet and shy voice. Another long silence settled over the two, and before either could break it, the lunch bell rang, signaling that it was time to return to class. He smiled at her and grabbed both his and her trash before telling her goodbye and walking off.

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"Ugh! Why do I have nothing to wear!" Nelly screamed in her room as she tried on the seventh outfit of the night and once again not liking how it looked on her. She didn't know why she cared so much what she looked like, she didn't care this much usually, but she felt different now. She felt like she wanted to look her best tomorrow even though she was only going to school. She looked into the mirror and frowned. She was wearing a nice shirt over denim jeans that she knew that she would normally look good in, but for some reason, she didn't like the way it looked on her now. Or how her hair looked for that reason. She decided that she would straighten her hair the next mornings or maybe even braid it. It would take up more of her limited time in the morning and his equips have to wake up even earlier than normal. And it drove her crazy that she had no idea why.