October 11 2021

Dear Diary,

Tonight was our school pep rally and I thought it was going off with a great start, my natural hair was in twists and just below my bra, the newly bleached tips contrasted heavily with my black roots and seemed to make my piercings stand out even more than before ( I just got my septum and three-lobe piercings on each side) and I felt amazing. I sat down beside my best friend Christian Andrews as we watched our other friend Mahika Shah do her cheerleading with the cheer squad to lift our spirits and that's when I saw her ASHTON WELLINGTON, she was riding a bicycle with no hands and I thought she was the hottest girl I had ever seen and I swr when I saw her I had an instant gay panic.

Present Day September 9 2022

I'm already having a shitty day, my alarm didn't go off so I woke up at 7:40 am instead of 6 am leaving me with basically no time to get ready as school was 15 mins away and the assembly to start the session was meant to start by 8:00. 

I ran to my bathroom and quickly washed my face and brushed my teeth before running my hands through my hair and leaving it in its natural poofy state, I just got sections of my hair coloured emerald green and I was loving the look but it was no time to admire my hair in the mirror, I quickly did my eyeliner and mascara while deciding to line my lips later in school, I decided to wear the baggy shorts and sports bra I wore to sleep along with a random hoodie I found lying on my floor.

I ran downstairs and was met with the sight of my Hispanic cook cleaning the kitchen counter.

" Morning Luciana, did my parents come home last night ?"

"Ay! Riona what are you still doing at home, what of school? You're going to be very late" Luciana all but yells at me

I grab my Hydroflask coffee thermos and run out of the backdoor yelling back at her "Luciana tell me when my parents get back home I need to talk to them"

I run into my black BMW pick-up truck and race to school, blasting Tyler the creator's Corso as I run all the red lights to school, I put the ringer on my new iPhone 13 my parents got me as an apology for forgetting my birthday and instantly get bombarded by a bunch of messages from the gc, my phone starts ringing and I ignore and attempt to drive faster to school.

I make it to school by 8:08 and sprint out of my car ignoring the safety official trying to reprimand me for running in the halls and for being late.

I get to the doors of my assembly hall and I throw the doors open, I'm met with a bunch of eyes staring back at me then I hear someone screaming my name and I can already tell by the voice that it's Ronen.

"Riooooo! You're like 50 mins late, where were you? We like saved a seat just for you."

"Miss Black I would like to see you in my office after the assembly with a full explanation as to why you were late and why you caused such a loud commotion" Principal Needleman bellowed

The students in the hall snicker and I hear someone from the football teams holler at me 

"Way to go, Rio, getting into shit on our first day back"

" Oh shut up you numbskull, at least I actually got here !" I screamed at whoever made the comment in the crowd and walk to the seat my friends saved for me as slow as possible just to piss off the principal that seemed to want to drown me in a pit of despair.

I slide down in my sit red in the face and embarrassed about the scene I had just caused and ducked my head in shame.

"It always amazes how red you get even though you're brown skin, also you got here earlier than I thought you would, what got you so excited ?" my partner in crime Chris whispered to me not so discreetly.

" Don't encourage her, you're fuelling a dysfunction and before you ask Katsumi is giving this new Yr12 girl a tour because they're like Student body president so we'll see them after the assembly and Mahika is sick so she's coming tomorrow " my other friend Taylor informs me.

"Why is there a transfer in Yr12, isn't it too late for that kind of stuff, and must it be Sumi that gives the tour? they're a year younger than them"

"I love how you completely ignored the fact that Mika is sick and besides, you know that Sumi is president and they're meant to do stuff like that"

I sigh in annoyance at the lack of seeing my always bubbly friend and look to my left and see my friend Jayden sleeping on some senior's shoulder, I think his name is Lukas or something but I'm not too sure but he looks awfully familiar.

The assembly takes forever with the principal introducing the Yr7's and welcoming us back to school and before I know it, I find myself making my way to the principal's office, listening to a playlist my brother made and ignoring everything around me when I crash into someone.

I'm steadied by a strong pair of hands placed on my waist and I instantly feel the warmth of the person spread around my body. 

The first thing I notice is that the person smells amazing and I instinctively pull the person closer to get a better smell that's when I look up and I'm met with the brightest shade of brown eyes staring at me.

"Um, hi. Are you okay?"