(Michelle POV)
I woke to a silent, nearly empty house. Iris was sleeping in the small bedroom my parents had given her years ago, and other than her, I was the only one home. I pulled myself out of bed and into the shower. My bathroom was quite big, with both a shower that could fit three people and a bathtub that could fit two people easily. It also had four sinks and a toilet, blocked from view by a wall and a door. Once I got out of the shower, I put my hair in a towel and got dressed in a lilac bathrobe. I washed my face, put my makeup on and went to my closet to pick out something to wear. I eventually settled on a long, knee-length sweater jacket over a white t-shirt and jeans. I also put on a necklace, belt and gray pumps. I brushed my long, lower-back length hair into a waterfall braid, then went downstairs.
Iris had fixed me a breakfast of waffles with maple syrup, with I ate with gusto. Iris had already retreated to her room by the time I came downstairs, however. I didn't mind the silence, though. In a bustling, noisy world, a bit of silence did me a whole lot of good.
My phone buzzed as I finished my waffles, and I internally groaned as I saw it was Parker. Tanya had given him my phone number back in July, despite my constant protests. Then again, I protested a lot of things in my life, but no one ever listened to my protests. As the popular, rich, pretty girl, it's almost like everyone just expects you to act a certain way and they pressure you to do so. I was expected to always look beautiful, to have the most expensive car, or straight A's. I was naturally pretty, rich and intelligent, but that didn't mean the constant pressure wasn't annoying. I would probably have B's, but my parents would kill me if I ever got lower than an 89. Mainly my mom.
"Hey Mickey, whatcha doing?" The text read, and I rolled my eyes. Parker was the only person who called me Mickey. I didn't mind the nickname, I just hated that it came from him. I collected myself as I typed a response.
"Eating, as most people do in the morning." I replied, trying to keep my response as polite as possible.
"Really? I don't eat breakfast in the morning." Parker replied, and I turned my phone off before his next text came in. I grabbed my backpack, barely even glancing at my phone before I walked out the front door. As I walked hurriedly to the bus stop, I glanced around. Olive was probably still in her house, and I managed to get to the bus stop before she walked out of her house. She wore a violet dress and blue heels, and had her hair in a fishtail braid.
"Mich!" She called, running up to me as fast as her heels could carry her. I could actually run pretty fast in heels, but Olive could barely run without tripping. It was a wonder why she even wore heels, but as she always said, "Fashion is worth the pain."
"Hey Olive." I spoke, as Olive nearly tripped running to me. She managed to reach me without tripping, however, and she wrapped her arms around me in a hug.
"Oh Mich, you are looking beautiful as ever today!" She cried enviously. "How do you manage to look that good so easily? It takes me one hour to get ready, and it takes you like ten minutes!"
I simply laughed. "Just don't put too much effort into your morning routine. It's amazing how pretty you can be when you don't care."
"Oof, I don't think I could ever not care about my appearance." Olive replied. "If I went to school not caring what I looked like, can you even imagine what other people would think? You're just lucky you can not care and actually look pretty."
I rolled my eyes and smiled, turning my head to face the bus stop. The bus soon pulled up, and I climbed on and into the front row seat, sitting down next to the window. Olive plopped down right next to me and began endlessly babbling about her boyfriend as I was forced to listen to her. I honestly wanted nothing more than to not be her friend, but as I said earlier, expectations.
Tanya got on at the next stop, and she managed to cram onto the same seat as Olive and I. Two stops later, Peyton climbed on. She avoided my gaze as she almost ran to the back of the bus.
As the bus pulled up to school, Tanya finally stopped tweeting and Olive ceased her endless babbling, and we all got off the bus. Olive and Tanya waved at me when we split to go to our separate first periods.
At lunch, Olive and Tanya gossiped about Parker with gusto as I ate my food in silence. Soon, Olive turned to me with a gleam in her eyes. "Mich, Parker's coming this way!" She cried, and I silently groaned as I turned my head. Parker was indeed coming towards me, and I thought of burying my head to avoid him.
The cafeteria noticed him walking towards me, and soon all eyes were on me and him.
"Hey Michelle." He spoke, and I said hey back. A friend of his, some boy named Joey, pulled out a poster board with the words "Homecoming?" on them. "Will you go to Homecoming with me?"
I could already see at least a dozen girls filming Parker and I with their phones. A few boys held their breath, and I could see Peyton glaring daggers at both me and Parker. Olive and Tanya's eyes were bulging out of their sockets as they waited excitedly for my answer. Seemingly the entire cafeteria waited with bated breath as they waited for me to respond. My thoughts were running a mile a minute, as I decided on my response. Not caring what anyone thought, I faced Parker and calmly let out a firm "No."
The entire cafeteria erupted in a solid, collective gasp. Olive and Tanya stared at me with looks of horror, and I could even see a surprised look on Peyton's face.
"Why not?" Parker replied.
"Because I said no." I spoke firmly, standing up to meet his eyes. Parker was barely 3 inches taller than me, and with my heels on, we were almost the same height.
Before Parker could say anything else, I grabbed my lunch and swiftly exited the cafeteria, knowing Parker wouldn't leave me alone if I didn't.
As I did, Olive and Tanya flocked behind me. "Mich!" Olive cried. "Why the hell did you just reject Parker freaking Reynolds?!?"
I turned and faced Olive and Tanya. "I've told you before, I don't want to go anywhere with Parker. He's kissed nearly half the girls in this school, and last time I checked, truly good guys don't do that." I replied sternly, not even realizing anyone sitting in the far corner of the cafeteria, including Peyton, was within hearing distance. Before Olive and Tanya could say anything, I walked away.

When school ended, Olive and Tanya surprisingly left me alone during the entire bus ride. And when Peyton got on, she didn't glare at me nor avoid my gaze for once. She was wearing a deep blue turtleneck and jeans, which I thought was a nice outfit. She sat in the very back seat, the seat I had noticed she always sat in. I was paying more attention to her than usual, which I didn't care about enough to really notice.
Once the bus dropped me off at my stop, I quickly ran to my house and locked the door behind me. Iris was fixing dinner as I walked in.
Iris barely looked over her shoulder as I went upstairs to my room. I decided to do my homework in my room for a change. It took me nearly an hour to finish my homework, but once I did, I walked to my art room.
My art room had lilac walls and shelves of paint containers. The walls had paint splatters on them, and there were two empty white canvases. I grabbed a paintbrush and began painting.
I painted long brown hair, creamy shoulders and light, glaring eyes. It took me a while to realize exactly who I was painting, as I had just started painting without much thought.
My face flushed as I realized I had just painted Peyton. I quickly set my paintbrush down and fled the room.
I returned ten minutes later to hang the painting in my so called "frame" room. The frame room showed off all of my paintings and drawings, and it was one of the larger rooms in the house. My mom had made it solely for bragging purposes.
Most of my paintings were of women, mainly celebrities or just random women I came up with on the spot. Never had I painted someone I knew.
I hung the painting in a corner, then returned to my art room to try and clear my head.

Over 1,500 words! Man, these chapters seem to just easily exceed 1,000 words! Anyways, enjoy this chapter. I wonder how long it'll take Michelle to realize though, hmmmm.........