Ava proclaims with some... choice words as her backpack contents spill on the ground.  This would be the fourth prototype bag since school started that has not stood the test of time. The idea was simply to have a bag that is more zippers than pockets, and more pockets than actual fabric material. This design would prove to be quite difficult to master, but this has not stopped Ava Lopez from attempting to make a 'stylish' alternative backpack! 

A few people walk around her as she collects her things, and some people accidentally bumping into her. This isn't because she's necessarily unpopular or a figure of ridicule, she is just very short and keeps to herself. 

Her mother once compared her to a full sized person just squished down to make a short and fat person. This "compliment" did not go over well as one could imagine. 

Despite this wrench in her day she was able to gather her things quickly and make her way to P.E. before being the last one in the door, which would more or less spell death for Ava.This class was competitive but not in the way you would think, as there was a simple but painful policy: 

Last in the door, means chores galore!

No one liked this rule (obviously) but there was no changing it, as the principal's wife was the P.E. teacher. 

The chores weren't always bad but sometimes they seemed more like punishments depending on who was late.  

Today it was Brenden Bucket. 

Now, no one likes Brenden Bucket, but not even he deserved to do 15 laps around the football field in the rain. Mrs. Crum must have been feeling a quite evil today as Brenden had to carry a pail that became full of water for all of the 15 laps in the rain. Not sure how that is in anyway legal but its better to not linger on it.

Ava on the other hand sat behind the bleachers inside the gym to work on a new backpack design. She was determined to get it right. 

"It broke?" 

Ava looked up between the seats to see a pair of judgmental grayish eyes staring down. 

"Yep, it's hard to get the ratio of zippers to pockets to fabric... but I'm sure I'll get it" Ava erases a portion of the drawing as she speaks. 

"Well today is your lucky day my friend-" 

"We aren't friends??" Ava thinks as she crinkles her brow

"Because my dad is a fashion designer!" he says as he walks down and around the bleachers to where Ava is. 

"Who asked?" she swats, "listen Damian, I'm trying to focus right now"

He scoffed and leaned up against the support beam of the lower bleachers. Damian Foster had a designer dad and was not afraid to let everyone in the world know it. Ontop of that, Ava wasn't sure if he actually considered himself to be her friend or if he just liked rubbing his family’s success in her face. 

He proceeded to babble on to Ava for the rest of class, she didn't listen to a word of it and slid her headphones up to help her tune him out. Eventually the bell released Ava from the clutches of Damian, and then she only had one more class left before she could finally go home. 

Good ol' history class, she has always had mixed feelings about the class as the more preppy rich girls tended to be VERY vocal in it. The teacher, Mr. Peterson is amazing-but it's History! It's usually super dull and uninteresting, but she was never late as she always felt seen by the teacher. 

She walks to her class tightly holding the bag as she wishes to avoid another zipper spill. She grabs the chair out of the set of table desks and then realizes that she left her headphones in gym. 

"Ah shit-shiiit" she panics. 

The last bell rings and of course as the sun is a yellowish hue, Halloween means folklore and the *witch*trails in history. 

But as someone only interested in few things not even this has as much broad appeal to Ava, and as such even thinking about the class and trying to escape Damian made her forget her music playing mufflers.

"I am gonna lead todays lesson by saying this is one of my favorite units to cover, and... fall formals are in two weeks I guess" Mr. Peterson rolls his eyes near the end as he doesn't care for the dance one bit. Ava rocks a little nervously, biting the tips of her fingernails wondering if she should even try and get excused from class to get the headphones. 

She figured it was worth the risk and puts up her hand, "umm, Mr. Peterson? Can I be excused for a minute- I left my headphones in -um-the gym?" She says meekly as well, she doesn't like the attention in this class in particular..

"Yeah let her go get those 20 dollar Wallcart headphones." Tiffany chuckles. 

 Andddd this is why she doesn't like the attention. 

Mr. Peterson turns to look at Ava, then snappily at Tiffany, 

"Why, Tiffany I don't believe you raised your hand" 

he nods a smile over at Ava indicating she could go. "No way you have a no leaving class rule!" she barks back.

"Well I sure hate to leave you out, why don't you go to the office then, Tiffany?" 

At that moment Ava got very red in the face as she knows Tiffany is giving her the worlds biggest death stare. The girls both leave class and it doesn't take long before Tiffany is back at it again. 

"Thanks a lot Homemade! I'll get you back for this you bitc-" 

Ava really really did not want this but what can you do. She tuned out the majority of Tiff's whining and belittling. It still hurt to hear her malice though, even if Ava did her best to tune out the words.

"..." Ava only occasionally glances at Tiffany trying to also keep her distance. 

They stay mostly silent the rest of the walk after Tiff's going off until they spilt to go where they need to go. Ava gets around to the gym trying to avoid being seen and fast walking behind the bleachers. She finds them but something weird is sitting in-between them. 

It looks like a piece of chalk wrapped in paper and string, and she wonders if Damian is trying to mess with her.She just takes the headphones and leaves the weird cryptic chalk offering; she heads straight back to class but cant help thinking of the paper and chalk laying in the dark behind the bleachers. 

She gets back to class and wonders what was up with that chalk but ends up doing her best to forget and get back to taking notes for Mr. Peterson. Tiffany never came back to class, probably just skipped to go to Duncan's BBq. Ava hadn't even realized school was out for the day, until Mr. Peterson tapped her shoulder and asked if she was ok. She simply nodded and gathered her things and headed to the back parking lot for her cousin to pick her up. 

They never really talk much even when he'd come to pick her up from school nearly everyday for two years. -and even if they did talk today was just another mediocre day, another silent ride home, and another design failure. 

Usually ava makes a snack and will go to her drafting table after school but today just wore her out for some reason instead she walks past her work desk in her room, full of a dozen or more college brochures and applications. She shuffles them around with her hand. 

"I can't wait until college, everything will be different then, I hope."

Even though she didn't really have a bad day, she felt the weight of something unbelievably heavy on her shoulders. So for the evening she just changed into her pajamas and decided to take a nap to escape some of those more negative thoughts. 

She wished that something would change. 

For a way out of this loop.