While getting ready for school, I notice that my bruise is getting better. Yesterday, it was sort of violet, but now it's a light blue. My mom had bought some more cover-up yesterday, but I had decided not to use any today, because the bruise isn't as noticeable as it was before. After I had some cereal, I head outside and wait for the bus to come. I lean up against the mailbox and then pull a book out of my backpack. By the time the bus gets to my house, I have already read a whole chapter, which, in this book, is about 15-20 pages. The reason I'm able to read so fast is that I can process words very quickly. I can tell what a word means just by looking at how it's used in the sentence it's in. Some people used to think that all I was doing was skimming the paragraphs, but then they finally understood that I was just better at reading than they were.

I hop up the bus's stairs and quickly go to my seat. I sit down next to Cade, who smiles at me. We sit there silently throughout the entire time that we were on the bus. When we finally arrive at the school, we both hurriedly got off the bus and ran inside the school building.

We dash down an empty hallway and end up near the 8th graders' lockers. We sit down and lean against them while we catch out breath. I guess we had been running very fast without even realizing it, since we're out of breath. When we're able to talk again, Cade mentions how my bruise is quickly healing. We start talking about some random things. Every time we begin talking about something that reminds me of my mom, or anything that has to do with my life at home, I'd steer the topic towards something odd. I'm glad Cade doesn't mind.

Suddenly, I hear footsteps. They're getting louder every second, which means that they're coming towards us.

"Oh no, someone found us," I whisper to Cade. He puts a finger to his lips before grabbing my hand and pulling me farther down the hallway. I accidentally let go, causing me to fall down backwards. Cade stops to help me up. Although, instead of taking his hand, I look away from him and say, "You go on without me. I'll be okay. I promise."

He gives me a solemn look before running off down the hallway.

I'm able to hear the other pair of footsteps much better now. They're getting closer and closer with each step. Suddenly, I'm met face to face with two feet. I look up and see a girl I don't recognize. She has long, curly locks of dark brown hair, baby blue eyes, and rosy cheeks. Her tall figure is covered with a pale yellow top, blue jeans, and a pair of fuzzy brown boots. Also, her hair is pinned at the side with a brown clip. I don't remember any of the teacher announcing that we'll be having a new student coming to this school like they usually do. Maybe this girl's an 8th grader. This hallway IS for 8th graders.

"Um, hi..." I say nervously, getting up off the ground. Standing up straight, I only come up to her chin.

The girl just looks at me instead of saying anything back. I bet she's shy or something like that.

"Are you new here?" I ask.

She makes a face before she bursts out laughing.

"Am I new? No way!" she replies.

I was sure she was new, since I've never seen her before. I guess she really is an 8th grader. I would've recognized her if she was in my grade, because there aren't any girls in any of my classes with long, curly dark brown hair. It's possible we just don't have any classes together, but I'm pretty sure I'd remember her from the hallways or something like that.

"Who're you then?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

She let's out a small laugh. "Oh, Lora, you're so silly!"

She knows my name. That must mean something. I'm one of those invisible people at school. No one pays a lot of attention to me. I only hang out with a few people. Although, Cade's the only one I can count as a real friend.

"How do you know me?" I ask. Different thoughts about how this girl knows me enters my mind: maybe she's smart, maybe she's popular, or maybe she's a stalker. Smart people would know everyone. They'd know a lot of things about different people, and would be able to recognize them very easily. Popular people would also know everyone. Stalkers would know many things about the person they're stalking. I'm really hoping that this girl's either smart or popular. Both would be fine, too. Just as long as she's not a stalker. In movies, stalkers are very creepy. The thought of having someone stalking me makes me nervous.

"We're in the same grade," the girl replies.

"We are?" I ask. I feel so stupid. Why'd I even ask that? There's no reason for the girl to lie about what grade she's in.

"Yeah... I guess you don't recognize me..." she says back, her voice laced with sadness.

Did she want me to recognize her? I find it odd that someone who doesn't even know me would want me to recognize them. It's true that there are a lot of people out there who'd like to be known by many people, since it'd make them feel popular, but this girl doesn't seem like the popular type. To me, popular girls usually wear nice clothes and lots of make up. Also, they'd have a boyfriend and would be mean to people who aren't as popular as themselves. I've noticed that that's how popular girls are usually depicted in books that have to do with school drama.

"Um, are you okay?" the girls asks, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I nod. "Yeah..."

The girl beams happily. "That's good. You looked like you were daydreaming or something like that." Suddenly, she holds out her hand. "I'm Raina!"

I reluctantly take her hand and shake it. I wonder why she's acting so odd towards me.

Before either of us can say anything else to each other, the school bell goes off, signaling for us and the other students to head to our lockers to get our stuff for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd period. I was about to ask her if she'd like to walk with me to our lockers when she starts walking away from me. I want to call out her name, but, for some reason, I can't find the courage to speak up.

I walk away in the opposite direction. I run up the stairs, which are now filled with students. I smell the girls' perfume and the boys' cologne. I hear the gossip that's being swapped between the different groups of girls. Unlike them, I'm not a fan of gossip. To me, gossip is just another word for rumor, and I'm also not a fan of rumors. Rumors are stories that are usually untrue. I hate how people start them even when they don't know if it's true or not.

I open my locker and shove my backpack inside. I quickly take out the stuff for my 1st three classes. Then I slam my locker shut and speed-walk down the hallway. I look around for Cade, but, unfortunately, I'm not able to find him. Instead, I see Raina standing near the door of my 1st period class. She's leaning against the wall, holding her things against her chest, her legs crossed at the ankles. She smiles when she notices me walking towards her.

"Hey, Lora!" she exclaims happily. I wince a little at her cheery tone. It's not that I don't like happy people. It's just that, ever since my mom started abusing me, I've been unhappy, which is why I'm kind of weirded out at how joyful some people can be, despite all of the bad things in the world. Yes, there are more good things in the world than there are bad things, but, even so, I feel like no one ever pays attention to all of the bad things that happen.

"Hi, Raina," I reply, putting on a fake smile. "What're you doing here?" I hope I didn't sound like I didn't want her here. I truly am happy that I made a new friend. Maybe my mom will be happy for me, although I highly doubt it, since she really doesn't care about my friend-life. All she cares about when it comes to school are my grades. If I ever make lower than a B on either my midterm or my report card, she punishes me. That's why I always study whenever there's a test that's coming up.

"I just wanted to say hi," she says, smiling sweetly at me. I give a small nod, indicating that I understand. I, on the outside, may not seem very thrilled about having someone talking to me, but, on the inside, I'm jumping up and down in excitement.

"Oh, that's cool," I say. I know that wasn't a very happy reply, but I didn't know what else to say. I was about to say something else when I suddenly saw Cade standing by the lockers.

"Cade!" I exclaim, walking over to him. Someone grabs my arm and pulls me back a little. I whip my head around and see that Raina is looking at me with a worried expression on her face.

"Lora... who's Cade?" she asks me, raising an eyebrow in confusion. I look back over where Cade was and see that he's gone. I wonder where he went.

I free my arm from Raina's grasp and look at her. I give her a bug grin. "Cade... It's a word l made up to describe something cool," I lie. For some odd reason, I didn't want her to know about Cade. It's not like I think she'll get mad when and if she learns I have another friend. It's just that I kind of want him all to myself. I know I sound greedy and selfish, but I can't help it. I just don't want to lose my best friend.

The reason I said that Cade's name is a word that describes something cool is because I think Cade himself is cool. I'm happy that I can easily and quickly come up with excuses. The faster you come up with an excuse, the more believable it is. That's why my mom always tells me to come up with an excuse to tell anyone who asks about my cuts and/or bruises.

"Sweet," Raina replies, breaking me from my thoughts. "Or should I say Cade?"

I chuckle a little. "Yeah, I guess so..."

Raina laughs. "Well, I got to go. I'll see you later." With that, she walks off towards her destination. After she's gone, I walk into my 1st period class with a smile on my face.