"Mom, where's dad?" I asked the next morning. She put the cofee down and looked away guiltily. "At work, dear.' she said, smiling shakily. Great. Now even my parents were keeping things from me. My life had turned into a bad episode of Secrets.

Today I wore skinny jeans, plain soles and a red and white sweater over a black turtleneck shirt. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and headed to school. I walked into the school attracting just the usual amount of attention and then I walked to my locker. I walked to my locker and twisted in the code. Just then, some word caught me.

"it's started."

i froze while reaching in to get my books. Gossip began to float to me.

"A girl was attacked yesterday." someone said.

"I heard it was on the way back from school that someone jumped out and grabbed her-?'

"already? it started so fast?"

"i bet it's that damn T and his gang."

"T? more like SOB."

"It's all that girl's fault-"

"Just like her sister huh?"

I slammed my locker shut. I had heard enough. Apparently, someone was attacked and for some strange reason, everyone was blaming me.

The bell rang and i thanked God that I had first period Art. I hurried to the workshop and sat down, pulling out my sketch pad and planning to spend a very helpful ten minutes drawing a masked manga character, reaching out from the shadow and slaughtering a bunch of nasty school kids. No sooner than I had opened it, did someone come along to shut it closed.

"Are you happy with yourself?" a voice hissed in my ear. now i really don't like people getting to close or touching me especially when i'm in a mood such as now so I clenched my fists and mentally prepared myself for a fight. I looked at the face of a very red-faced Allison.

"Excuse me?" i said.

"You've doomed us all," she spat at me, then drew back her hand and slapped me. Now usually this is the part where i go cave man and slap her back and we get into a hair-tearing bitch fight about it but for a minute I was too stunned to do or say anything. Believe it or not, I had =actually liked Allison. She looked all soft and sweet but hid a core hard as steel.

"Bitch," she spouted and stumped off, leaving me to figure out what just happened. All my emo and wierd classmates had seen the exchange and were looking at me with this sort of disinterested but still interested look. It was confusing to describe. It's like that expression you have when there's nothing good on TV and you're like "I'm bored so I'm gonna watch this crap anyway" and so you do.

Mr. K walked in a few minutes after Allison had left and I never got any time to draw because he decided to spend the first thirty minutes talking about his adventures in Canada, and the last teaching us about basket weaving. I mean, seriously? what do I care about basket weaving. After that class, I had a free period so I went up to the computer lab after stopping off to drink some water along the way. When i walked in there, i headed for the back as usual, but then i saw Silver sitting two from the front looking like he didn't have a care in the world. This really pissed me off since I was having a very crappy day and so because of some craziness that took over my body, i walked right there and slipped into the chair beside him. he didn't look up but i knew he could tell it was me. He got a little nervous and focused on his computer screen like it wa shis life. After a few minutes of ignoring each other, I turned around and stared at him.

"oh hello Silver," i say pleasantly, " haven't seen you in quite a while? Sorry i ditched you yesterday things were crazy and I couldn't find you. No one would  tell me how to reach you either. So there, I've told you my excuse. What's yours?"

Silver looked very uncomfortable now. he looked like i had put him on the spot. Unfortunately for him, at that moment, i didn't particularly care.

'look,' he mumbled, "it was nothing personal. Chill."

One thing, i really hate it when people tell me to chill. It really gets on my nerves, especially if i know that you have done something that demands I DONT   chill.

I turned to my screen and clicked on the mouse fuming. Then i paused and turned to him. "What'd I do?"

"nothing. i told you, it's not personal.'

"Don't give me that crap. You can't just ditch someone when they needed you and call it nothing personal"

'Um...Oscar,  you're sort of shouting-"

"And now you're asking me to chill?" I shook my head and held up my hands. "You know what, never mind. Screw you.' i got up and left, ignoring the stares and Silver's groan "Oscar" and left. But now I had extra time with no where to go so I wandered into the chem lab for some reason. maybe i figured i could make something to blow up the whole school. i was surprised to see the sandy-haired boy-Alex-there scratching his adorably mussed hair and peering at his text book.

"Great," i said, "Alex right?"

He looked up brightening of a while then darkening. "Hey," he said not very enthusastically, turning back to his book his soft lips pressed in a thin line. I wondered what he'd do if i just walked over there and kissed it. i could have slapped myself. here I was, pissed, in a room with a guy who obviously hated me and i was thinking about kissing him. What the hell was wrong with me.

'one question," i said.

he looked up.

"what's going on?" i asked, "And why does everyone hate me?"

He looked at me for a while then said. "It really has nothing to do with you."

"My sister then?"

He looked down and didn't say anything. i turned around and left. God i was sick of this. Sick of everything.

It started at lunch, per usu. Only this time I didn't even bother going t the cafetaria. I just went straight to my locker to get out my SHonen jump and that's when I smelt something funky. alarmed i opened my locker hurriedly and almost got queasy at the sight. A dead rat hung from one of the vents in my locker, a pool of blood forming under it and no head at all.

'Uh-oh" I heard a voice behind me, "it's started."