BEGINNINGS

It was the last day of school and I was running down the halls, trying to get to my locker before my best friend. As I get close, I see her already standing there, tapping her foot to the music blasting in her ears. She was popular, unlike me. But not the 'I'm better than you' Barbie type. She has platinum blonde hair (all natural), tall, yet perfectly filled out with her white turtle neck and ripped purple jeans. Me, on the other hand, I am a redhead with long hair that falls in unmanageable waves. Don't get me wrong, I had a nice body but I always hid under baggy sweaters and loose pants. I've always hated drawing attention.

She sees me approaching and waves at me. Taking off her headphones.

"Hey, you're late." she said and raised an eyebrow.

"I know, August." I wheezed out, trying to catch my breath. I walked over and opened my locker, grabbed my backpack, then slammed my locker shut. I smiled at her as we started walking to our classroom.

"Okay, so, I heard that Jared is with Cassie now." August said, looking at me cocking one of her perfect eyebrows. I rolled my eyes.

"A, you know I don't care about who he dates or about school drama." She laughed and stopped in front of our history class.

"Honey, we both know you're a real hot-head. Which I will never understand, considering your parents are the most level-headed people I know." I laughed and nodded my head.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get started." Her eyes scanned me head to toe and I already know she is going to criticize my outfit choices. And, to my prediction, she wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"Angel, why must you wear those horrid-looking clothes all the time? You look like a hobo. I know you got a body under there. Why not show it off? You'd get so much more attention from the boys, you know." I laughed and shook my head.

" Maybe I don't want their attention. I just want to get through school and go to college for my art and stories. You know that."

"I know. I just-" The bell cuts her off mid-sentence.

We looked at each other and giggled, as I pulled open the door and we walked into the crowded classroom.

"Nice of you to finally join us girls." Mr. Peaty stated as we walked in.

I blushed, not used to the attention of so many staring eyes at once. I rushed over to a seat in the back and plop down, dropping my pencil bag on the floor and spilling it. I heard a few snickers as I leaned over to pick them up. Someone walked by, kicking my pencils around and stepping on my finger as she passed me.

"Move bitch." she whispered, just for me to hear. I can feel my face and ears heat up and I started feeling off. I'd normally calssify it as anger, but it felt more intense than that. I looked up at the girl and noticed she was looking at me, a smirk on her face. Which made me even angrier. I locked eyes with her and stare at her for a moment before her smile faded and a look of fear replaced it.

"....Angel!" I blinked, breaking out of my trance-like state. Looking up, I saw August looking at me with a concerned look on her face.

"Are you ok?" she asked, looking at my hand. I looked down and noticed that the finger the girl had stepped on was already turning purple. August raised her hand.

"Sir, Can I take Angel to the nurse's office?" Before he responded, she grabbed my uninjured hand and pulled me out of the classroom. As soon as the door closed behind us, she spoke up.

"Dude. What just happened?" She looked at me, expecting an answer. I looked at her, confused.

"What do you mean?" She raised an eyebrow.

"The fact that you looked like you were about to murder Jade is enough..." She paused and laughed.

"I think you scared the crap out of her." I looked down at my hand to avoid her gaze.

"I honestly don't know what happened. It's like I spaced out. I was so angry."

"Well, you know Jade. Queen Bitch thinks she has the right to do whatever she pleases. You shouldnt let her get to you, Angel."

"I know I shouldn't but.....Gosh, she makes me so mad!" I could feel my body heating up once again as I remembered what happened with Jade.

"Uh, Angel? You're smoking..." My head snapped up. I looked at her with a confused expression.

"August, now is not the time to be making jokes." She looked at me with a worried expression.

"Like hell I am. LOOK!" She pointed to a mirror that is across the hall and I see plumes of light grey smoke rising off my body. I watched as my eyes widened and I felt my anger die down and the feeling of fear replaced it. I look at August.

" WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" I yelled. As I stared at myself in the mirror, the smoke around me slowly dissapated. I slowly looked over at August with fear in my eyes. She looked back at me with concern.

"Angel, are you okay? I have never seen you that angry before. Has this ever happened to you in the past that I didn't know about?" I looked down to avoid her questioning gaze.

"No. At least if it has, I haven't noticed it or don't remember it happening." I could feel tears start to well up in my eyes as I stared at the floor. She hugged me and put her arm around my shoulders as she started to steer me towards the entrance of the school.

"Come on sweetie. Let's get you home. We can talk to your parents when we get there. I stopped in my tracks and looked at her with wide eyes.

"NO! I'm already enough of a freak. I don't want to look like one even more." She slapped my shoulder.

"Bitch, shut up! You're not a freak. But if we want any answers, we need to talk to them. They might give us an idea of what's happening." I sighed.

"Alright, fine. Do you just want to just spend the night since it's the weekend? It'll give me a little more time to process what happened too while you grab stuff from your place." she looked at me and smiled.

"Yeah we can do that." We pushed the open the front doors and started walking in the driection of her house. Thankfully she lived only a couple blocks away.