I threw the cigarette on the floor and brushed the ashes of off me. How long have I been in here? I took out my cellphone and checked the time. Oh, greattt. I missed English. The only subject I’m interested in. Ugh, I feel bad for Mimi. I asked her to save me a seat and I totally blew her off. I slinged my bag over my shoulder and walked out of the cubicle. I stepped out of the ladies’, after washing my face. As I made my way over to the cafeteria, I popped a mint gum in my mouth. What’s next?

*********

SCHOOL WAS SUCH A BORE! School ended as soon as the bell rang. Everyone was rushing to get home. Where’s Mimi? I’m counting on her for my ride back. I waited at the front door, hoping to spot her. What was she wearing again? Er… hmmm… erm… Ok, I give up. I have completely no idea. While waiting for her to show up, I decided to check out the hotties in Sunny Dale. I looked around and stopped my eyes at ..ooo, that’s Josh! Total hottie. Wavy brunette hair. Grey eyes (so rare!). Oh, I could almost melt if he had those eyes on me. Wait a minute, I’ve seen him before. Right, he’s in the drama club. He once acted as Romeo in Sunny Dale Middle School. Oh yeah, he fits that part way too well. Before I realized it, I was staring. I quickly looked away and walked forward. Bang! Owww, that hurt! I looked up and saw Mimi. She was holding her head in both her hands too. “Casey! Watch where you’re going!” I shook my head. As I was rubbing my head, there was someone beside Mimi. Huh, who’s that? New friend I suppose? I guess the girl realized I was looking at her cause then she said, “Hey, I’m Sophie.” She put out a hand for me to shake it.

“Hey. Casey,” I replied, shaking her hand.

“Oh. Yeah, Sophie was in English this morning. Why didn’t you show by the way?” Mimi asked, concerned.

“Sorry. I was having uh… well, you know.”

“Uh huh. Okay, whatever. Hitching a ride?”

“Yeah.”

“You coming along, Sophie?” I asked, smiling.

“I would love to, but Martin’s giving me a ride home,” Sophie replied, smiling back weakly.

“Oh, it’s ok. We’ll catch up with you tomorrow?” Mimi asked.

“Yeah, sure. See you guys!” Sophie said.

She walked off, turning back to wave goodbye at us. And she’s gone. I turned to Mimi.

“Hmm, she seems nice. Martin deserves her,” I said.

“You’ve only met her like a few minutes ago.”

“I can see it,” I replied. We looked at each other and burst out laughing. I can be sooo lame sometimes. Another one of my flaws. “Let’s head home. I’m starting to get sleepy,” I pointed out. “It’s only the first day of school, Case!” I grabbed Mimi’s hand and pulled her out of the front door. She stopped me. “Wait! We gotta wait for Ashton. He’s driving me home,” Mimi said. “Ah, ok. Hmmm, soo… Ashton eh?” “No! Nothing’s going on! He’s my brother’s friend,” she replied. Quite quickly in fact. “Oookay, Mimi. Whatever you say.” I grinned at her and she rolled her eyes.

“Oh, hey, Ashton!” I looked behind me and saw Ashton. He is kind of cute. I pushed my thoughts away. No way! I’m never ever going to fuck Ashton so I’d better get it off my mind before I go overboard.

“Hey, Mimi, Casey. Ready?” he asked.

“Yeah. Let’s go,” Mimi replied. I nodded and followed them. Hmm, I wonder what car Ashton owns. As we walked, I looked around to see which car we stopped at. Oh……. Oh my god! He owns a Mercedes! A black one. Nice! I don’t know much about cars, just to let you know. “Are you kidding me?” I asked aloud. Oops! That wasn’t supposed to come out. Mimi and Ashton turned to look at me. “What’s wrong?” Mimi asked. “Oh, er nothing,” I replied, covering up my awe. I’m Casey Daniels! I’m not supposed to be surprised by a damn Mercedes! I opened the back door and slid myself in. Mimi took the passenger seat. I guess it was only polite. Ashton started the engine and left the building! Ahhh, at last. School’s over for the day. No stress, no nothing.

Five minutes later, I reached home. I waved to Mimi and thanked Ashton for the ride. I stood on the front porch and watched them go off. I took out my keys and unlocked the door. “Mum?” I called. “Mum, are you there?!” I shouted. Huh, no one’s home. I went into the kitchen and took a packet of chips. I ran up the stairs to my room, locked the door and threw my bag on my bed. What should I do now? No homework. Well, I do have some, but not that I bother doing. I decided to go online. I went to my study table and turned on my laptop. I spun around in my chair while waiting for it to finish loading. Ok, here it is. I signed in and waited for either Mimi or someone decent to chat with.

5 minutes later….

I put my feet on the table and leaned my back on the chair.

10 minutes later….

Are you serious?! No one is online?!

15 minutes later….

Omg! I tore open the packet of chips and started munching on them.

*Blip* Oh, thank god! It was Mimi.

"So, Sophie huh? Where are you from?"
" Florida. "
" Cool."

I had a small talk with Sophie and she's really friendly! We walked out of the room together as soon as English class was over and i must say, she's one hell talkative person. I liked it! That way, i didn't have to waste my time, thinking for random shitty topics. I could let her do all the talking. Easy!

At first, i was being the fucked up one. I didn't even bother to speak up or to just look at her. Ugh. I know, i know. Wtf is wrong with you, Minnie? She's just like you, for god's sake!

Well, not physically.

She has brown eyes and curly blonde hair, just like me. No, except, mine isn't curly. Hm, sort of curled but not curled. Mine's more to the natural side. Hah. You don't get me, do you? Anyway.. the main problem was, me. I wasn't being myself most of the time.

Half the time. Yeah, not all the time. UGHHH. What am i saying. Half the time doesn't make any sense.

But, somehow, we made it through.

"What's your favourite color?" Sophie asked.

"White. WAIT! no." i shook my head and said, "Green? Blue? Ugh, i dont know man. Definitely not brown."

"NOO, i hate white. White.. Ugh, white brings me bad luck! There was once.." and she started telling me her grandmother stories.

Fuck, we didn't have much in common.

Anyway, she then told me she had to find Martin and his friends already. (ya right, i bet she wanted to get rid of me.) And so, i was alone. I didn't manage to spot Casey in the school's cafeteria. It was huge. It was even bigger than the football field! Imagine that. I suppose, there were an average of 880 students in there. Look how pack it was?

But one thing's for sure, everyone seemed happy with their group of friends.

Except.. me.

Where was Casey? Where could she be?

Sigh.

I walked toward Max's table to join them. I hope they didn't mind. Max saw me coming over and started waving his hands in the air. I grabbed a chair and sat down quietly. Phew, luckily no one was distracted by me. I then tried to catch up with the conversation.

"My sis said it was awesome. There were plenty of people screaming in the cinema!" exclaimed Yumi.

"Really? Oh wow, we should watch it then!" Max pushed his chair back and stood up. "Friday night anyone?"

I guess, they were talking about this new horror movie that's screening on the cinema and it sounded, somehow, catchy to me. Everyone seemed to agree to go out on Friday so i guess i'll come along too. After all, i don't think i have any plans for Friday night.

Sigh, i was missing Casey already. We always have a sleepover on Friday. I guess, things have changed.

"Hey Minnie." a male voice came from the back. I turned to see Kelvin, the guy from History class. He was looking good, as always. "Hi, Kelvin." i smiled politely. "You.. okay?" "Yeah sure. What makes you think i'm not?" "Your smile.." he murmured.

--

Finally, school's over and i was exhausted. Like what the hell, the first day of school today was totally different from what i'd expected it to be. New friends? Horrible teachers? Nice locker number? Casey missing? Nevertheless, i was feeling excited at the same time because Casey was going back with me. She must have a good explanation about cutting English class today. Sigh. Oh, Sophie was coming along too. She wanted to meet Casey so i guess it was fine. We talked about books which we've read so far, while walking toward the front gate. Oh, while we were on our way, we kinda got lost. What the fuck. We started asking people for directions and they sort of. Hm, pranked us?

NOT FUNNY!

They told us the front gate was at the back of the school and when we got there, we saw people taking cigarettes out of their pockets. UGH. Smokers suck big time. They gave us the stare and we quickly escaped from them. We ran as fast as we could and before we know it, we were already at the front gate. Geesh.

Anyway, i believe in karma! what goes around, comes around. I hope one day, those people whom we asked, will get lost in this school too and when THEY ask me, i'll tell them to go right and hit the wall.

After all the introduction shit (between Casey and Sophie), Ashton drove us back and Casey seem to be really quiet in the car. Normally, she would tell me about the hottest guy she met today and so on. I guess she had something in mind. But what could it be? I'll ask her on AIM later. Meanwhile, there was this awesome song i knew which was playing on the radio for some time already. Oh my god, my favourite part.

"Your vain your games your insecure!" Ashton and i shouted at the same time.

Hey, that was so cool!

"OMG. Did we just .. sing at the same time?" i giggled shyly.

"Sang?" he laughed. "That wasn't even singing. I guess we did." he flashed a smile back at me.

"Coincidentally?"

"Maybe."

We dropped Casey off at her house and said our goodbyes. Ashton continued driving and oh there was another song on the radio again.

"It's too late to apologize. It's too late!" Wow, i'm impressed. Ashton could really sing! Hah, i think he has the voice of the best singer in the world mann. God, no i'm not exaggerating.

Okay, fine maybe i am. But he does have a nice voice..

"Why did you sound so.. nice?"

"I did? Maybe only when you're around."

"I loved you with a fire red, now it's turning blue.." he continued, singing. I shall join in too. Besides, i know the lyrics for this song.

"Sorry like the angel.. heaven let me think was you.." i tried to sing along. And for the next few minutes, we sang as loud as we could, ignoring all the stares we got from the other drivers. I felt.. different.

He stopped the car in front of my house and then turned to look at me. There was eye contact for a few seconds, and omg. I felt something between us. Something, i don't know.. It was indescribable.

Something... like....

.........

No. It can't be. I'm sure there was something on my face.

Before he could say another word, i quickly looked away and unfasten my seat belt. I took my bag and stepped out of his car. "See you later, Ashton!" I waved at him and he waved back. He gave a nod and drove off. I stood there, stoned until he was no longer to be seen. It was drizzling already but i couldn't move.

What was that all about?

I don't think it was..

Was it?

No, it wasn't. No it can't be.

"It's only the first day, Minnie. There's no such thing as love at first sight. You don't believe in that.." said the voice in my head. I was definitely thinking too much.

---

I walked into the house and overheard Heroes' theme song on the telly. Isn't that.. "Eurikaaaa!" i yelled. My sister was back! I was glad to see her again. I could also hear noises coming from the kitchen and that must be my mum. Lance can't be back so early. "How was school, dear?" It was mum. I ran toward her and gave her a hug. "Great, i've made some new friends. I missed you mum!" "I missed you too! Eurika's back to normal. She's no longer sick. Thank Jesus." She did some funny hand movements and we both laughed. Apart from all that laughter, i was feeling thirsty and hungry already. Mm, is that ham sandwich? I took a can of soda out from the refrigerator and some sandwiches on the table. I went to the living room and saw my sister. She did look healthier and her face wasn't as pale as it was before already . She didn't even bother saying hi. Ugh, i then headed for my room upstairs. I put my bag down on the floor and went over to my table. God, it has been a long day. I turned the computer on to see if Casey was online.

And she was. Apparently, Sophie was too.

Minnie and i walked separate ways after a quick chat to know each other better . Then , i started to look for Martin . gosh , where is he right now , just when i need him the most . i hate walking around alone as i might get stuck or lost where nobody can even hear me screaming for help . I walked off alone . Damn it , i need to pee , at a second like this . gosh . i need to find for the ladies . Where the hell could it be . Then i walked around and hoping to see a washroom nearby . thank god , there is . I went in .. and oh my , the washroom smelt like someone just smoked or burnt something here . I went to look at all the cubicles so that when i can sense something burning i will just run like a mad cow straight right to the door . Genius idea , aint it ? Wait a second . Eh ? nothing's burning ? so perhaps someone had just smoke in here . AH , why am i bothering bout this . I quickly went to find for a clean cubicle , and i felt better . Real good .

I continued looking for Martin . locker area , that might help , i thought . I went to the locker area , oh ya , martin is there , chilling with a group of guys . I decided to walk over there and get to know his friends , maybe ?

*************

Yes , school's finally over . I'm with Minnie right now , my new best friend . She's really nice somehow , and of cause friendly too . She's pretty too , i wonder why isn't she having a boyfriend right now but i guess she's shy after all . way too shy . She has really nice blonde hair . dirty blonde , that is .

" So , Minnie , where are you going after this ? "

" No where ? Home i guess . " said Minnie .

We walked to the front door . There was this girl , who banged into Minnie . Right , it was her friend . Wasn't she the girl who was making out with a guy in the toilet during Denise's party ? It is her . She's staring at me right now . I dont think she saw me that night right ?

" Hey , I'm Sophie ." I started . I put out my hand to shake hands with her .

“ Hey . Casey , ” she replied , shaking my hand.

Minnie told her how she found me , wait , met would be more appropriate . How she met me . Casey's really nice , but she doesnt seem like one . No offence . She looks like a bad girl to me . A wild , nasty , party type who goes clubbing every night . Wait , if she isnt a bad girl , why would she randomly go to a guy and ask for sex . But maybe if i get to know her longer , i wouldnt have this expression towards her anymore . I was talking to myself in my mind .

“ You coming along , Sophie ? ” Casey asked , smiling to me .

“ I would love to, but Martin’s giving me a ride home ,” I replied, smiling back weakly.

“ Oh , it’s ok . We’ll catch up with you tomorrow ? ” Mimi asked.

“ Yeah , sure . See you guys ! ” I said.

I saw Martin a few metres away . So i walked off, turning back to wave goodbye at them . I walked to Martin . He was with , this guy . A tall guy . I think his name's Trace .
" Hey dear , are you driving me home ? or will i be walking home ? " I said , frankly . and tapped his shoulder .

" Of cause i'm fetching you . Since when i will let my baby walk home , alone ! "

" Okay , since you say that , Are you done with your friend ? " I looked at Trace , and smile .

" Martin , so i'll see you tomorrow . " Trace said . Waving goodbye to Martin and i . He put on his sweet smile on me . I stared at him , looking at him , walking further away from me . He's really friendly . Sunny Dale Highschool teenagers are real friendly .

" So are you ready to go ? " Martin said .

I didnt respond . I just stood still and still looking at Trace .

" Baby , whats wrong with you ? " Martin popped his face right infront of me which totally made me shocked .

" Oh oh , nothing's wrong . Lets go get your car . " I replied .

We walked , and i turned behind to look at Trace . Gosh whats wrong with me . We walked to Martin's car . We got in , and he started driving . After 10 minutes of driving , i made it home . Said goodbye and gave him a kiss . I went out of the car and waved at him . I went in the house and nobody was home . Parents are working right now , probably will be back few hours later .

I walked up the stairs , dragging my bag . I was really tired and feeling very lazy . I put my bag on the chair and laid down on the bed . 15 minutes after , i went to the computer and switched it on . I added Minnie on my online contacts . Then she came online . Thank god , i wont be bored right now .