I walk lazily out of the bus, earning glares from the driver. As I try my best to shift my gaze, he clears his throat. I gulp.

"Next time, I won't even bother waking you up," he says and shoots another burning glare. I keep my head straight and walk away slowly , pushing back the urge to look at his face and respond.

Ugh, I slept. Again. I shake my head as I walk a bit further, now reaching the huge sliding doors. I manage to squeeze through the unbearable crowd. Gosh, most of the people here are not even moving! They are just gossiping, standing still.

Groaning for the hundredth time, I successfully push past those motionless people. Just in front of me is the staircase, leading to the first floor. To both its sides are long extending corridors, with the elementary /primary classes.

I know, it's kind of awkward to enter into a school just to be met by a staircase. But I am glad. I don't want to be ruining my time trying to squeeze past these people. I enter and tada! Straight route to my class.

It's more convenient that my class is the first one next to the ascending staircase. Walking up the steps, I eye the people walking besides me. Ignoring the thudding of my head due to the immediate interruption of my sleep, I look around just to see a bunch of colored heads.

All the wonderful colors of the rainbow.

And the worst part is that I am not even kidding. A bird's view of our section will make all of these heads look like Skittles. Even though untying your hair and letting it tousle about is not allowed, the school decided to let kids dye their hair.

Tell me, which school even does that?

And don't even get me started on the insane load of perfume these students use. It almost chokes me to death. I have no problem with light fruity perfumes. But when they come and attack your nostrils, cutting off your oxygen supply, you sure would feel threatened.

Heaving a sigh of relief, I open the door to my classroom. Heading in, I push the door. Some students look at me and quickly look back, going to whatever they're doing. I walk towards my seat, the extreme front one at the left, next to the door. It's not like I love sitting here. Sitting at the back is just distracting. I don't want to miss my marks, after all.

A small tap on my shoulder sends my thoughts out the window. A tall blonde with rosy cheeks grins widely at me, expecting me to mirror the same. I groan in response. 

"Uh, good morning?" she asks, adjusting herself on the table besides me. She is going to get screwed up if some teacher walks in. Sitting on the table is a big no-no.

"Grumpy morning," I reply, yawning and softly falling back on my desk. I hear her laugh slightly.

"Done with mugging up the entire biology book?" she asks, a twinkle in her brown eyes, showing me that she is just joking. I roll my eyes but noticing that she can't see my covered face, I speak.

"C'mon Avi. You score the same as me. It's surprising how you actually score, considering you spend all your life on YouTube," I reply, stating the truth. I straighten my back and fold my arms, just to prove my point.

She rolls her eyes back at me, tucking a stray golden hair behind her ear.

"Nerds talk," a guy says, smiling to himself as he sits besides me. I narrow my eyes at Jayden before sighing. I don't even bother to roll my eyes anymore. Instead, I look out the window, zoning out in my own thoughts.

"Remember what we spoke about yesterday?" Jayden interrupts me, his brows a bit furrowed. I look at him in confusion.

It suddenly dawns on me and I quickly ask him.

"Did you receive any letter from the company?" I ask, but I already have predicted the answer. It's no surprise if it is the same.

"The modeling one?"

He nods. It's hard to miss the distress in his eyes.

"Oh, well.." His voice begins to faint and he looks at the ground. Kayla, who seems to have just arrived, slowly places a hand on his shoulder.

"They replied that I was too... you know.." he speaks inwardly, swallowing some words. His eyes don't meet up to mine. It's fine though, as I already know the answer. They replied that he was too short. Again.

Trying to sound as sorry as possible, I speak.

"It's fine. Maybe there is some other job, something far better waiting for you," I reply, quite satisfied at how it came out. It's the only problem with him. He is too short.

Can't short people model? Why do they have a certain height for modeling?

"I don't think anything can compensate with this, Eline. You do know that this is one company I was aiming for from that time, right?" he replies, leaving my tongue twisted.

His eyes turn dark hiding a distaste for something and I look back at Avi, worried. Before I attempt to speak anything, the teacher enters the class.

We stand up, Avi quickly jumping from the table she was sitting on. The teacher gazes at us and a smile falls on her face.

"Good morning, kids," she says, motioning us to sit. We greet her back and sit, quickly searching our bags for the English text. It seems at first like the whole class is scared of her. Sure, she has that aura around her. But honestly, she is one of the sweetest people I have ever met.

She flattens her shirt and takes out a book. A quick overlook at us and she begins to scribble on the board.

"The Raven, by Edgar Allen Poe," I read the title quietly. I flip the pages of the book till I find the poem.

Poems always have some effect on me. I adore them. I read books, I like to, but poems top them. It's always interesting to interpret what the poem is about.

"Alexa, mind reading the poem?" Ms. Linda asks to the student at the extreme back. Alexa quickly stands up, beginning to read.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore-
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-
Only this and nothing more."

As the poem went on and on, along with Ms. Linda's wonderful explanations, I couldn't help but smile goofily at the book and then at the teacher.

Eline, that's creepy.

Shush, I know.

The period soon ends as soon as it began. I gloomily stand up, wishing that the class could have been extended. Time seems to just fly by for the periods I like. But when it comes to P.E, time freezes.

As soon as the teacher heads out of the class, I hear the gradually increasing noises and chatters.

"Seems like someone enjoyed it a lot," Kayla comments mockingly.

I shrug, not wanting to reply to her.

"Dude, you need to seriously be consulted," she replies, blowing a huge bubblegum. I raise a brow. Consulted?

Wow. I didn't know liking poetry was a disorder.

"Yeah, yeah," I mutter, gritting my teeth and stuffing my books in. She laughs, making her blue eyes twinkle.

Typical Kayla, completely immune to what anyone says. That's what makes it hard to speak to her.

She turns her attention away and starts speaking with Avi and Jayden.

More like gossiping.

I hear my small group of friends chatter and I slowly take out my pocketbook. It's for sure that they won't let me write anything in peace, if they come to know. Grabbing a pencil from my pouch, I begin to write down a poem, feeling inspired by the poem that was read in class.

I don't even know how else I could spend my time without the company of books and poems. I smile a bit, thinking of how this all started.

I was a fifth grader at that time and had begged Pa for a stack of Marvel comics. He was extremely reluctant and never accepted my request. I remember that period vividly. I used to nag him for almost a month. And when he finally agreed to buy me some comics, I managed to hear Max loudly reciting a poem. The moment I heard it, I fell in love.

I begged my dad to buy me a set of poetry books instead and he gladly agreed. That was one thing that I had gained interest by myself. That was that one thing that I wasn't forced to do or read. Something that I genuinely was interested in.

I ponder, thinking on what to write before letting my thoughts incarnate into words.

Desperate, shattered hearts sitting in the middle of nowhere.
A hand reaches you to grab it, but grease makes you slip it.

I bite my cheek, trying to find more appropriate sentences for highlighting my sombre mood. A slight chuckle breaks my train of thoughts.

"Avi! I was trying to concentrate!" I groan, hitting her arm jokingly. She looks at me with humor plastered onto her features.

"What is even there in poetry, Eline? That's legit boring. Let's do something more fun," she puts a finger on her chin, thinking of what to say, despite my death glare. She seems completely oblivious and instead jumps excitedly.

"What about gossips? Ooh, did you hear that the new kid almost spat on Gloria's face while eating? Man, the look was priceless!" she says, looking at me and the other two.

Okay...

"Avi, I appreciate your information, but as you can see-" I am cut off by Kayla's voice.

"Aw, Eline. Avi is just boring you with her gossips. I have better ideas," she says, a sly grin crawling on her face. She twirls the end of her ebony hair.

I swallow my spit, trying not to look into her eyes.

"Juicier gossip!" She eagerly claps her hands, successfully making me annoyed.

"I told that I want to-" I get interrupted again by Jaden who earlier was busy with his phone. He immediately flashes us the screen, showing two schoolgirls fighting in a familiar hallway.

Wait.

Oh sh*t.

"C'mon, Eline. Let's get going. There is this huge drama going on. You surely don't wanna miss it," he says, pulling me from my seat.

"I-I" I blurt pathetically but they pay no heed. Within the blink of my eye, I am already walking with them in the cooridoors. I took a mental note to facepalm myself.

Why am I here again?

Oh, because there is some drama going around that has absolutely nothing to do with us.

It's already crowded when we reach the 'drama' area. I can hear screams and curses.

"It was you!" a screechy voice hollers.

"You-You! You have no idea what's waiting for you," another girl hisses. I can't exactly see the faces properly as there a bunch of morons clumping around the area. All I can do is hear.

It suddenly occurs to me that we have a math class next. Oh God, what have I even done?! I should've never agreed to this in the first place.

Well, I didn't agree. I was forced to. But anyway, my point remains the same. I swear, if I don't get to complete my notes, I'll turn mad.

"Guys, I think we should get going," I say very slowly, finding myself a bit attentive towards the ongoing scene.

No response.

"Guys?" I ask again, looking around me. All I see are unfamiliar faces.

"Kayla? Jaden? Avi?" I ask again and no response. I bite my lip and glance rapidly at all the faces. No sign of them.

Well, it's a school, so no harm in abandoning them here, right?

I turn away from the place, satisfied in hearing the sound gradually fade.

"Girls! Go to class, right now!"

I turn around, witnessing a tall professor screaming at the students and the girls. The girls still look mad at each other, threatening to chop each other's necks off. Good that someone intervened. I even catch some teachers enjoying the fight.

What kind of school even does this? Thank God that there is at least one sensible teacher out there.

I hear a small 'oof'.

I should've known not to walk forward with my eyes fixed behind.

The file she held in her hand falls down, letting the papers fly around the place. Her eyes look at the ground in horror and around the entire place.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry!" I say, trying to run around, grabbing all the papers I could find. She doesn't reply. She still looks flabbergasted.

Why am I so clumsy?

If I ever landed up in a Victorian aristocratic bloodline, I would be disowned.

Once I get my hands filled with the sheets she dropped, I head towards her, still surprised at my dumb action.

"So sorry," I say again and hand over the papers. She suddenly looks at me and then at the papers. As though, finally realizing, she immediately heaves relief and quickly takes the sheets.

"Thank you so much! I am so sorry. You might have thought I was a complete freak some moments ago. it's just that I worked super hard on this and was just shocked when my work flew," she says in one breath.

Okay, she sure is talkative.

I nod at her understandingly. Her blue eyes shrink and her lips curve into a smile.

Weird, she looks oddly familiar.

She stretches out her hand to me. I look at it and quickly shake her hand.

"Eline," I reply, smiling.

"Wait." A flash of realization falls on her face.

Yeah, I am that overrated kid that is adored and protected by the teachers and scholars.

"Aren't you that girl who won The Scholar's Cup last year? Oh wait, it is you!"

And there goes my identity. I nod at her, who is still trying to digest the fact.

"Cool," she drags the word as her eyes widen.

"Do you have any friends here?" she immediately asks. She changes her mood, fast.

"Yes, I just don't know where they even are right now," I mutter. Of course, she is one of those girls who think achievers live under a rock and don't like to socialize.

She raises her brow.

"Well," I sigh. "Apparently, this 'drama' piqued their interest. I told them I wouldn't come. But they just can't let me stay there and let me enjoy my time. After all, it's just wonderful to see empty skulled people quarrel in the middle of the hallways, right?" I say, sarcasm dripping in the last line. She chuckles softly.

"You seem fun, mind joining me tomorrow for lunch break?" she offers. I blink a few times at her.

You're telling me that this girl, who just met me a minute ago, wants me to sit with her?

Talk about being social.

And I should have known to answer immediately as this lady took my silence as approval.

"Wait, hold on!" I yell, as she already is some few steps away from me.

"It's fine, they won't mind you joining! "

She replies and walks away, until her figure disappears in the crowd. They?

Who are they?

And why did I not even tell her I am not interested?

And.. why did I not ask where she will be?

Still a bit shocked at her personality, I walk away, increasing my pace as math started two good minutes ago.

And then, another realization fell upon me.

Oh, no need to even ask her place. It's obviously Emma.

One of the ones I have been told to stay away from.

The Popular ones

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Author's Note

I legit got tired by writing this much. I know, usually these many words are normal to find in a book. But being an author that writes only up to thousand words per chapter, this is a huge workout for me.

Just edited the chapter again and realized that the word count is 2890. That's pretty huge compared to the usual "1000-1500" words.

Anyway, constructive criticism is always appreciated. Feel free to express what you feel.

Till then,

Splashes.