Lucky for me, there wasn't any "popular" kids in my homeroom. I sat down at my desk and waited for everyone to file in. A few people came up and said 'I'm sorry,' but I knew that they didn't actually care. I mean, who would? I knew what they saw when they looked at me.

A girl with long, almost black hair almost always straightened with a long fringe in the front. Eyes dark with over use of eyeliner and mascara and blood red lips concealing a sharp tongue. Dark, nondescript skinny jeans and shoes with a top emblazoned with odd bands nobody has ever heard of. Piercings sticking out of every piece of skin available. But with an oddly beautiful name to mask the real girl underneath.

I knew what happened when people looked at me. I was stereotyped. I was judged. I was never given a chance.

Yes, what they see with my hair and clothes may be true, but I don't use eyeliner or mascara in excess, I hardly ever wear a noticeable lip gloss or lipstick, and I only have six piercings. My lobes, which almost every girl has, spider bites, my nose and I have a ring at the top of my ear. No need to freak out over those.

I sighed and hunched down in my seat as my teacher walked in. Her name was Miss Hart. She started taking the roll, calling out our names and everyone replying half-heartedly, when another girl raced into class, five minutes late.

'Sorry Miss!' She said, making a beeline for the only available seat left in the room - next to me.
I didn't recognize her, but I instantly liked this girl. Her hair was dark brown, with streaks of bright green catching the eye's attention. She wore plain clothes, definitely not a brand-name kind of girl and had a lip ring. Most people wouldn't have noticed due to the fact she had in a clear labret. She sat herself down and turned to me immediately.

'Hi.' She said, smiling widely. Sparkly eyeshadow covered her lids and her eyeliner was minimal. Her voice was a higher pitch, making her seem girly.

'Hi,' I replied. 'Are you new here?' She looked at me like I had two heads, her eyes wide and unblinking.

'Have you had your head under a rock these past five years?' I shrugged, raising my eyebrows.

'I honestly don't know who the heck you are.' I said. Miss Hart called out my name and I responded. A few seconds later my timetable landed on my desk, courtesy of another student. As soon as the guy turned around, Miss Hart called the next name. No wonder she was taking such a long time to do the roll.

'I've been in this class since year seven.' She insisted.

'And you expect me to know you because?' She looked about ready to kill at this stage. I just idly flipped through my timetable, scanning through it. It wasn't too bad. I had taken the most art classes I could, as well as maths methods. I had also taken a music class to fill up another period. I was in the normal English class, and I had taken no sports.

'Jessica.' Miss Hart called. The girl next to me raised her hand.

'So you're Jessica, huh?' I said, arching an eyebrow.

'No, I just put my hand up for the fun of it.' Jessica grabbed her timetable and spun in her chair, facing away from me, and started talking to the guy next to her. I took out my highlighters and started highlighting my subjects. I had nothing better to do, so why not be somewhat organised?

'Miss, there's a change in our homerooms.' A girl spoke up. I, along with the rest of my class, stared at her. 'It's true. Look.' All eyes darted to their own timetables, the room was quiet for once. Suddenly, it became a cacophony of sound as everybody started shouting, trying to find out what room they were in.

'Class, settle down!' Miss Hart yelled above the noise. Everybody settled down and looked at her. 'Yes, you will be changing homerooms. The school is trying out something new this year. You will be expected to turn up at your new homeroom for last period today to meet your new classmates.' My heart sunk. Who knew I who would end up with.

The day passed pretty quickly. It was an average first day, meet your teachers, get the books, remember who to avoid in which class. Lunch finally rolled around and I reached into my bag, pulling out my lunch. Jay and I had made a tradition for the first day of school, ever since we were in primary. I went to the back table in the cafeteria, pulled out my stereotypical brown paper lunch bag which had "Have a good lunch, sweetie. Love Mum." on it and pulled out my lunch. Peanut butter and jam. I pulled out my phone and snapped a selfie, including the empty seat next to me. I sighed and put my phone away, digging into my lunch. I had never liked peanut butter and jam sandwiches. Neither had Jay, but we both found it hilarious. So we suffered for one lunchtime every year eating this stuff.

My phone beeped from inside my bag, and I unlocked it. My mum had texted me.

Mum: Hi honey. Here's this morning's picture. I hope your day is going well.

I saved the picture attached and made it my lock screen.

'Jay, why did you have to go?' I muttered under my breath.

'Hey look, it's that loser we saw this morning. What's wrong? Lost a friend?' Stella's voice cut through my sadness.

'Hey look, it's that stuck up bitch I keep on running into. What's wrong? Lost your posse?' I spat, standing up and leaving. A few girls and a guy moved to keep me from going anywhere.

'Move it.' I said, trying to push past them. The girls scurried out of the way, but the guy just stood there and crossed his arms, smirking at me. I stood at five six and a half, and this guy was easily five ten.

'Look. her mum still packs her lunch. Isn't that...' Stella hesitated, before saying the next word, venom dripping off it. 'Cute.'

'Her mum probably texted her to see how her day's going.' Hayley interjected.

'Just because your mum doesn't give a stuff about you doesn't mean you have to take it out on everyone else, Hayley.' I hissed at her. I dodged past the guy who was blocking my retreat. I managed to walk a few more steps before somebody caught my wrist.

I turned around and saw Alan, his fingers sliding under my jumper sleeve. My eyes widened, and I pulled my arm back, almost yanking his out of it's socket, I'm sure. But I saw it in his eyes; it was too late. I ran out of the cafeteria, and into the girls' bathroom.

It doesn't matter now. It was a mistake. I pulled back my sleeve and looked at my wrist. The day after Jay had died, Stella's crew had gone after me and insulted me to no end. They had never picked on me after the third week of year seven, when Jay had broken Alan's nose. But since Jay was gone and I had no other known of friends, four or five years worth of hate came crashing down on my already cracked resolve to stay strong. The scars had healed, but I had picked at them during the process so they hadn't faded. They were still raised lines of my arm. I heard the bell ring, and I walked out of the bathroom and back into my horrible school reality.

My next class was music, which I headed into. I wasn't skilled at any instrument, but I liked singing and I wasn't too bad at it either. I walked into my classroom and scanned it, looking for someone friendly-looking to sit with. Unfortunately, I had gotten here a bit late and there were barely any seats left. My heart dropped when I saw a spare seat next to a familiar red head. To my dismay, the other seats were taken and I had no choice but to plonk myself down next to them.

Notes

Title cred: You're So Creepy - Ghost Town