I woke up early and took a shower. I kept my hair in the towel while I went to get changed. I picked out a dark blue t-shirt, a black hoodie to go over, a pair of black skinny jeans, and my black converse. I put on my neon green and pink bracelet. After I was done getting my clothes on I went back to the bathroom to do my hair. I yanked the towel off my head and let it drop to the floor. I looked at my mop of black hair in the mirror. I would do something special with my hair today instead of letting it all fall in my face. Maybe Nick would like that. I shook my head trying to get the fantasies out. He’s just a friend. Your only friend. Don’t ruin it! I thought to myself. I blow dried my hair until it was dry but still a tad damp. Then I got out my mom’s curler. After I finished, I was a little smug. Maybe I would try some new stuff more often. I looked pretty nice. The curls blew out away from my face, but I was missing something. My bangs were still covering my eyes. I dug around in the drawers until I found a dark purple headband, Gina wouldn’t mind if I wore it. After I was done pampering my hair, I put on my mascara and eyeliner. I didn’t put as much eyeliner on as usual, and I was beginning to think it looked nicer. I half skipped out of the bathroom, which would probably be something hilarious to the kids at school. I searched the freezer for a hot pocket and popped it in the microwave. While it was warming up I packed my books in my backpack. The little ding went off and I retrieved my breakfast. I gobbled it up too fast, and it burned my tongue. I grabbed the milk carton and chugged it to help cool the burn. It felt good. I put the carton back in the fridge and grabbed my backpack. I wrote mom a quick note saying,

Mom, I’ll see you after school.
Tell Gina I’ll play whatever she wants when I get home.
Morgan

I only waited a couple minutes before the big yellow bus pulled up. I walked to the back of the bus and sat by myself like usual. On the way to the high school we made an irregular stop in front of a huge white house. I stared at it with awe. My crummy little house wasn’t even half the size of this monster. A kid who looked a lot like Nick walked up to the bus and climbed in. Sure enough it was him. I got the butterflies again. He saw me and immediately went to the back to sit next to me. Everyone on the bus watched him pass, and pop a squat next to me.
“Morning sunshine! Did you do something with your hair and makeup? You look different. Prettier. I like it.” He smiled like it was nothing and put his arm around my shoulders, but I blushed a deep red. He glared at all the faces staring at his arm with accusing glances.
We arrived at school, and he walked with me the entire way. I couldn’t help, but be amazed at his commitment. This kid wasn’t kidding when he said he didn’t turn on people.
“I need to go to the office to find out where my locker is. Will you be ok while I’m gone?” He said giving me a worried glance. Now I couldn’t take care of myself?
“Yeah I’ll be perfectly fine, mom.” He smirked at my little joke and started towards the office. I watched him walk away, absently. He turned back once, and smiled when he saw that I was watching after him. After he had turned the corner and was out of view, I turned to my locker. I placed my books on the shelf and looked at my schedule. I grabbed the books for that class and shut my locker. Should I wait for him? Or should I go to my first class? I deliberated for a moment. That’s when they came up to me.
“Oh, looky here girls! It’s Miss Goth! Did you get all prettied up for your little friend?” Shannon, the blonde and lead girl of this little clique, said with acid in the words. The others snickered. I didn’t reply, and pushed my way through them. They just ran back next to me. I scowled. I hated their guts. Shannon and her little minions were always the little popular bums around here, and they were the leaders of the Anti-Morgan club.
“Leave me alone, Shannon. Go be a snooty brat somewhere else. Maybe you can even be a little play boy bunny and go hug some football player or something, I’m pretty sure he’ll like that. Then again, some guys might not.” I gave her an evil smile. She gasped at my expression. Not everyday the Goth girl told her off.
“Fine, be that way! Girls!” She snapped her fingers and they stalked off in their too-short of shorts. I smiled in accomplishment. They would get me back though, I was sure of it.
I watched after them until I heard Nick’s familiar voice.
“What happened? I knew I shouldn’t have left your side!”
“Nick, Nick! Calm down, I’m fine. Those girls always give me trouble, but I handled it,” I said while he looked at me only absently. He was probably still yelling at himself. Yeesh. He was such a worry wart. I stared at his face while he stood there silent. He was cute when he was frustrated. His eyebrows pulled down, and he gnawed at his lower lip. He noticed my analyzing.
“What?”
I smiled, “Oh, nothing.” The first bell rang.
“Oh, shoot! I’ll see you after class,” I said abruptly. I turned, and fast walked to my first class. The lecture bored me so I started doodling on my paper. First I just wrote my name, but then I started thinking about Nick. By the end of the class I had doodled things like Morgan + Nick= <3, Morgan Bradley, I love Nick. The entire page was covered with those doodles. I felt the heat rise to my face and ears, and I quickly slammed my binder shut. Oh jeez, I hope no one saw that. I collected my books, and hurried out the door, realizing I was the last one left. When I got to my locker I ripped the sheet of paper out of the binder then placed it in its spot on the shelf. I crumpled the paper up and shoved it in my pant pocket. I cradled my next class’s books in my arm and shut my locker. I stood there searching the faces that passed me; most of them gave me weird looks. Then I found his face. He was standing at his locker talking to some girls. It took me a minute to catch on who those girls were exactly. Shannon and her little blonde nitwits. My hands clenched in fists around my books. She was just asking for a fight. She looked over to where my locker was, and saw me glaring at her with hatred. She smiled evilly, and then turned back to talking to Nick. I stalked my way over to their little huddle. Shannon scowled.
“Hey Nick, having fun talking with that?” I said indicating to Shannon.
“Hey Morgan, ever thought of not budding into other people’s conversations?” Shannon said icily.
“What conversation? All I saw was you trying to flirt with him. I’m sure you would have tried making out with him if I hadn’t come over here.”
“Tsst, like he wouldn’t have enjoyed that,” she sneered, twirling her blonde hair.
“Umm, can I speak for myself ladies?” Nick tried to interject.
“Sure Nick,” we both said together. We glared at each other when we spoke at the same time.
“Shannon, I’m not really interested in whatever you had in mind, no offence. There was actually this other girl who caught my eye the first day I visited here.” The pain hit me like a wrecking ball. He already found a girl that he liked?
“Who is she?” Shannon half shrieked. Her eyes darting to me then back to him.
“I’m not going to say, but I’ll tell her soon enough. Hopefully she likes me, too.” He smiled. The pain tore at my heart even more. Whoever that girl was, I hated her guts.
“Shannon we need to get to class,” Veronica, the shier one of the girls said softly.
“Shut up, Veronica,” Shannon hissed. Veronica cringed and immediately became mute. Shannon checked her pink watch. “I guess it is time to go. Taa-taa Nick. Come along girls.” The Pre-Madonna snapped her fingers, and her little shadows followed.
“You totally have to tell me who that girl is!” I said to Nick.
“Later. We need to get to our classes.”