Elements

It felt like an eternity until lunchtime came. My classes were pretty much as boring as the teachers, and I didn’t look forward to going to more after class.

I walked into the cafeteria and looked around for my friends. I heard someone call my name, and turned to see Michael and Leo waving me over.

“Hey guys. Where’s Carina?” I sat down at the lunch table and looked around. She wasn’t anywhere in sight.

“Didn’t you see her text on the group chat?” Michael asked me. “She said she’s in detention.”

“What? On the first day? Why?” I pulled out my phone and read the message she had sent:

I won’t be with u guys at lunch today. I have detention. Kiely pissed me off so I slapped her. It was so worth it.

“To be honest, I’m kind of proud she had the guts to do that. Someone had to,” Leo said as he took a bite into his sandwich.

“Yeah, that’s true, but she should’ve used Air to push her over or something. It’s not a great first impression for the teachers,” I pointed out. “Anyways, how are your guys’ classes?”

“Same old boring stuff, just like the year before,” Michael said gloomily.

“Same here. The only teacher I like is my bio teacher, Mr. Garry. He’s pretty cool.” Leo looked to me. “How about you Jade?”

“Not much happened. I already have to turn in a five-page essay for Ms. Teddy by the end of the week, so not much changed in the English department. This school is pretty boring.”

“You’re just now noticing that? We’re in Los Angeles and are about to die of boredom. Something needs to happen around here.” As Michael said that, Kiely came up to our table. Her cheek was red, and she looked furious.

“Your stupid friend slapped me for no reason. She’s just jealous because her ratchet ass can’t get herself a boyfriend. We all know about her little crush on Elijah,” she snickered evilly. ”It’s funny to think there’s even the slightest chance they’ll be together. I doubt he even knows she exists.”

At this point, I wanted to slap her.

“Shut up Kiely. You had it coming,” I shot back. “Maybe if you learned to be nice to people, they wouldn’t have the sudden urge to slap the shi-.” I was interrupted by the bell.

“What was that? I don’t understand loser talk,” she flipped her hair and left.

I stood there, infuriated.

“Don’t let her get to you,” Leo placed a hand on my shoulder.

“How dare she talk about Carina like that. I swear, one day, I’m going to murder her in her sleep.” I watched as she walked over to her cheerleader and jock friends. How could anyone put up with her? I didn’t understand.

“It’s okay. You’ve put up with her for this long. You only have two more years to go. Just get your mind off of her,” Leo advised. Michael nodded in agreement.

“Whatever. I’m going to class.” I started walking towards my locker when Leo stopped me. “Hey, I can walk you to class if you want.”

“It’s fine. Kiely put me in a bad mood and I want to walk alone right now. She can trash talk me all she wants, but to talk to and about Carina like that, I can’t put up with that. I’ll see you guys after school.” I waved to Michael and Leo and went to class.