1 Ch. 1

I walked to school from our four-bedroom house every day. The blooming flowers and the bees flying about as the cicadas sang made waking up worth it. I always walked alone because I enjoy the sounds nature makes, and for that, I was never really fond of loud people. My home was loud so this walk was a time I could let my mind wander. I was relatively good in school and I was set to take my S.A.Ts the next week. I didn't pay too much attention to it because standardized tests came easy to me, and I had more of an artistic outlook so I wouldn't be able to focus if I were to study long enough.

I lived a couple of blocks away from Marise High School so the walk was short. I lived out in the boonies away from cities and skylines. I wasn't involved in any relationships and only focused on my studies. My younger brother Ada, who was 15, always criticized me for not using my looks to get a girlfriend.

There was only this high school in the small town of Karma, Maine, the people that go here all grew up together so I was kinda outcasted. I moved from Portland, a big city. I had a few friends, but we weren't close enough to keep in contact when I moved. I hated the move because It made me feel like the center of attention and even more so in a small town.

This town has four main roads that all branch out from one interstate, it's a calm town with farmland that separates the houses. I've been here for a couple of months so I know some of my teachers and they help me to try to make friends, ignoring my pleas to stop.

When I arrived at the main entrance it was around 8 am. I get to school a little early to do homework because the house was too crowded to focus on. A flight of stairs greeted me when I opened the doors, the office was in the center of the ground floor. To the left was the cafeteria and the gym was located on the other side of the building. There were some students but mostly staff because the first bus didn't come for another five minutes. I went downstairs and the third door to the left was the Art room. I sat down in the right corner, took out my notebook, and started drawing. Ms. Meli came in minutes after I got comfortable.

"Oh, Good morning Asara." She greeted me, holding watercolors and paint bottles.

"Hey." I replied I didn't look at her because I was too focused on drawing a sideways eye. Ms. Meli was a pretty woman, a dimple would always show up on her right cheek when she smiled big enough. She had a figure that could put a model to shame and a face that would make the devil blush. I always wondered why she was single; but then again, not just any one can handle her.

She set the supplies on a white counter, pulled a chair, and sat next to me. She rested her cheek on her right hand and watched me draw. Despite her angelic appearance, she isn't the kindest person I've met. No one in this town can handle her temper and some students claim to have nightmares of her.

"What are you drawing?" she asked.

"Miss, have you ever experienced a feeling of longing for something, you don't know what you want but if you have it, you'll be happy?" I sincerely asked.

"Sure do, every night," she said, getting up and going to her desk. Bodies came through the entrance as the first bell rang. Twelve other students took the class. I thought art was the only class everybody took seriously because they feared the teacher.