“Late again, Ms. Simmons. That’s the third time this week.” My biology teacher, Mr. Fisher, said as I walked into class five minutes after the tardy bell. Everyone’s eyes were glued to me. Heat rose to my cheeks in embarrassment.

I put my head down as I walked towards my seat at the back of the classroom. When suddenly I’ve made contact with the floor, pain bursts through my face, and blood leaks from my nose, which I’m pretty sure is broken. Chuckles resound around me, making my cheeks heat up even more. As I stand up, I spot the cause, or rather the person that caused me to become acquainted with the floor.

McKenzie Fuller. A brown haired, blue eyed, bitch that thought she was better than everyone. This is because her father made a big donation to the school, and since she’s dating the swim team captain, Gaberial Del Angelo.

Who FYI, I’ve been crushing on since middle school.

It’s the most cliché thing of all time. The mean girl is dating the loser’s childhood crush, and the guy doesn’t even know they exist.

Holding my nose, I make my way to the back. Once I’m seated, I zip open my bag and pull out my emergency tissues. You’d be surprised to know that I get nosebleeds more than a few times a day. Somehow, the air around her affects my body strangely.

Mr. Fisher continues his lesson.

Drowning him out I turned my attention towards the window watching as dark gray clouds covered the sun.

Great it’s going to rain, and I was supposed to walk home from school today. With a sigh, I turn my attention to Mr. Fisher. He’s wrapping up the lesson. As soon as the bell rings, I’m up and out of my seat heading towards the cafeteria.

My best friend Periwinkle - don’t ask me why her parents named her that-, sat at our table waving frantically at me, like she hadn’t just seen me this morning.

“Hey,” I said, sliding into the seat next to her. Pulling out my lunch from my bag, I opened its contents to see a chicken salad sandwich, a bag of potato chips, carrots, and a bottle of water.

“Hey yourself. Anyways what happened to your nose Bea?” She taps the side of her nose indicating she saw the slightly red tissue stuffed in my left nostril.

“McKenzie.”

“Ugh, that girl is a total bitch.” She whispered, low as the Queen B herself passed our table, giving me the stink eye, before strutting to where her posse, and the swim team sat. To be honest though, it looked like she had a stick up her ass the way she swayed her hips. “One of these days she’s going to get what’s coming for her.”

I frowned at Peri’s words.

“What do you mean by that?” I ask, taking a bite out of my sandwich, but I regret it when it tastes like I swallowed sand. Uncapping the water bottle I gulp down the water trying to wash away the horrid taste in my mouth. Pushing the sandwich aside, I sighed. There goes my lunch. I wasn’t even hungry anymore. My stomach churned as I looked at the remains of my discarded food.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head, Bea.” She pats my arm, then her eyebrows crease when she sees my face. “Are you okay? You look slightly green. Do you need to go to the nurse?”

I shook my head.

What was the nurse going to do? Give me peppermints and ice?

“I’m okay, just not hungry anymore.” Which was only half true. I was starving, but the food in front of me didn’t look appetizing.

“Oh, well did you hear about...”

While drowning out Periwinkles’ useless gossip, I looked around the cafeteria. The place was packed full of people, and I was suddenly starting to feel overwhelmed. My head pounded, and the noise seemed to increase with each passing moment. Closing my eyes, I counted to 5 in French.

Une...

Deux...

Trois...

Quarte...

Cinq...

Breath...

But it didn’t work. Curse those therapeutic YouTube videos.

I opened my eyes, but my vision becomes blurry. Everything was a blur and no matter how many times I blinked it wouldn’t go away. The last thing I remember before passing out was Periwinkle’s panicked voice and a pair of muscular arms encircling me before I hit the ground.