Is she new?
Hair, cut close around her face, streaked different shades of black, blue, and green. A new colour appeared every week or so, but nobody asked for an explanation. Eyes shaded with dark pencil, usually only half-open, slits of defiance. They were dark, murky brown, not unlike a swamp monster's footsteps in the sand. Long nose with a ruby stud in one nostril, mouth tweaked up slightly in a permanently crooked smirk.
She actually looks kind of scary.
Fine, she stood out. From the cookie-cutter straight-A, all-American cheerleaders that roamed the halls of the school. The ones that were so perky, their voices could make paint peel if you got them happy about something. Being mad all the time wouldn't be an endearing quality.
Usually.
She wore her iPod earphones in class, artfully tucked behind her many piercings to disguise them from her teachers. People within a ten-foot radius could hear the pounding beats of The Clash or the soft strumming of Jack Johnson or the honey-smooth voice of Alicia Keys. It was a different song every day, and he often saw her subtly tapping along to the rhythm, her green-tipped fingernails scratching out a beat through her desktop.
Does she play anything? Guitar or something?
He saw her at her locker, discreetly slipping a pair of drumsticks into her sweatshirt pocket. He imagined her at home, headphones on, multicoloured hair flying, the room filling with loud music. Not angry pounding, nor annoying cymbals. Merely the percussion of what was on her mind.
I wish I could play something. All I play is baseball.
At lunch she didn't eat, just slipped a tablet under her tongue and disappeared into the crowd.
Isn't she hungry?
She pushed past all the people in front of her, not being rude, just trying to get by.
Where is she going?
She made her way through the throng all the way to a table at the very back, where a bunch of his friends were sitting. Marsha, John, Patrick. She whispered something into Casey's ear and walked away.
I should really get Casey an anniversary present. Last time I forgot and she had a hissy fit. Maybe flowers or something like that; I'll make a car-
"Excuse me," she said. I looked up. It was the new girl.
That's odd... What could she possibly...
She leaned in until her swamp monster eyes were level with mine. I uncomfortably looked away. "I told your girlfriend you were staring at me," she said. The silver braces on her teeth glinted in the dim light. "Might want to go fix that."
Um, what?
"I have a name," she spat. "And it's most definitely not 'new girl'." He watched her walk away, keeping his eyes on the back of her arm. He squinted. Scars, all in a row. Like lines on a chalkboard.
Oh my God-
"Hello?" Casey's voice was in my ear as she roughly grabbed me by the elbow. "Quit checking out the freak!" He ignored her and craned his neck forward to see where the nameless girl had gone. He searched silently, but no head of black and green appeared in the crowd.
Is that why she won't talk to anybody?
It was like she'd never been there at all.
