• "I must be going crazy..." I said to myself. I got out of bed and got ready for school.

    By third period I was already miserable. It was like a routine for me at school. I hated school. I had no friends, but then again-- I was an outcast by choice. And I was pretty proud of it. I didn't stress over being popular, and through my eyes, that was a good thing.

    In my school, there were perky cheerleaders, perverted jocks who usually hit on me, goths, nerds, and a loner. Me. My least favorite were the cheerleaders. They looked so stupid in those stupid ugly orange uniforms. The loud school bell distracted me from my thoughts. I entered the hallway, glad that my day was a few steps closer to being over. Then I saw it.

    Stacey Hawkins, the most annoying chick at East Hills high. A.k.a., head cheerleader. Stacey was leaning on the lockers with her so-called "besties" from the cheerleading squad, known as Brittney Sundberg, Stacey's pet, Cassie Malone, the freakin idiot, and Gertrude Thompson, the gossip know-it-all. The four snobs stood on the lockers, waiting for me to pass by.

    I walked past them like it was nothing, then the whispers started.

    "Freak..." One of them said. I ignored it and kept walking.

    "She's so small..." another effing comment. Just ignore it Luna... I thought.

    "What a weirdo..." One said. God I hated them. The rest of the periods just flew on by-- until lunch. I hated lunchtime. Every lunch period I sat by myself, while everyone else sat with their friends and made comments about me. Like I really gave a damn.

    The so called "popular kids" sat at the table in front of me, always shooting glares at me or laughing at me. Then Bobby Anderson, a.k.a. quaterback, a.k.a. Stacey's "boo", got up from the popular table and walked toward me. I shot a glance at Stacey's table with the other jocks and cheerleaders-- they were staring at me, smiling. Then Bobby pulled up a chair and sat next to me.

    "Hey Luna, why you sitting here by yourself? Why don't you come sit with us and we'll talk." He said. Then the popular kids bursted out laughing.

    "He really did it too!" said Danny, another jock sitting at the popular table. I just rolled my eyes and ignored them.

    "Hey, don't be like that. What are you doing after school?" he said.

    "Do yourself a favor and go f*** yourself." I said to him.

    "You can join me." He said. I flipped him off and he sucked his teeth and finally walked away. When eighth period came, the last period of the day, my spirits started to lift. Then the feeling quickly left when Stacey and her evil minions sat in the row of desks in front of me.

    The last thirty minutes just went by really. The four preps were just talking about their boyfriends, saying crap about other people, talking about how bad their boyfriends wanted to go to second base, the usual.

    "So, Gertrude, what's the gossip update?" Stacey said. Oh God... I would laugh at how corny that sounded if I weren't so annoyed today.

    "Pathetic..." I said, watching the two morons.

    "Did you say something?" Stacey said, turning her blonde head at me.

    "Yeah, I said you're pathetic." I said.

    "Whatever..." Stacey said, rolling her eyes.

    "Hey, I heard she kisses birds." Gertrude says, smiling at me. Stacey laughed.

    "She looks emo." Stacey goes. Gertrude cracked up, still looking at me dead in my face to see if I'll break. "Think about it!" Stacey adds. Now I was really pissed.

    "Why don't you think carefully about me decking you in the face?" I said. The whole class said ooohh. I didn't even know they were listening. Stacey rolled her eyes again and turned around, embarrassed. I smiled.


    I took out my keys and entered my apartment. Silence. No TV sounds, no radios blasting, nothing. Just silence. I wanted to make things louder. I wanted to yell to my mother, to let her know I was home safe.

    I wanted to find her in the kitchen, give her a kiss on the cheek, and tell her about my day, like I used to. Unfortunately, she wasn't here today. And I knew she wouldn't be home tomorrow. Or the next day. Or ever.

    I went into my room, and thought about that weird dream again. I sat on my bed, and glanced at my a.c., to be certain I wasn't losing it. It was still there like this morning. I looked for my ipod, so I can get weird dreams and memories of my mother off my mind. I checked my dresser to see if it was part of the mess, but it wasn't there.

    While checking my dresser again, I noticed a small photo of me and my mother posing together at my eighteenth birthday. Thank the lord I turned eighteen last year, before my mom died. Or I'd have to stay with my uncle, and only God knows what I'd be doing right now if I were with him. I almost gave up searching for my ipod, when I suddenly remembered I had left it on my window sill last night, when it died on me. No wait... that was only a dream. But it can't hurt to check, right?

    I walked over to the window, opened the curtain, and there it was. The headphones were out, all knotted and twisted, which was weird, since I usually roll them up when I'm done listening to it. Unless I'm doing something, like talking to a super hot vampire. I pressed the center button, but it wouldn't turn on. And that was pretty spooky.

    I walked closer to the window sill to look out the window, then my foot bumped into something under the radiator. I kneeled down and reached for whatever it was I bumped into. When I grabbed something, I stood up, looked at it, and my eyes widened. It was a mug. Ho...ly... sh**.