CHAPTER 1

 "AVA!"

 I jerk awake and frantically sit up, hurriedly wiping drool which gathered in a little pool at the corner of my mouth.

 "Present!" I impulsively reply and I hear muffled giggles.

 My teacher peers at me over the rim of her red thick-framed glasses, her eyebrow ticking in annoyance. My attention is fixated on the mole and moustache forming at the top of her lip, and I stifle a snicker. With a deadpanned expression plastered over her face, she sighs impatiently. "Come over and solve this equation since you're so present." 

 I fumble with the loose threads on the arm of my jacket, thrown off by her sudden instructions and look at the whiteboard and understand nothing written on there. When exactly did we do all this?

 My eyes remain on hers, making a silent plea for her to call on someone else to answer the question. 

 The class is dead silent and everyone just stares at me, I assume waiting for me to step forward to answer the question. 

 "We're all waiting for you!" she snaps. "Bitch." I whisper under my breath, rolling my eyes and taking sluggish steps forward.

 Her face instantly turns beetroot red and I realise I may have just not been so discreet in making that little comment. Shit.

 "PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE! NOW! And do not return to my class unless you have a written note from him asking for you to be let in!"

 Fighting the urge to mimic her annoying shrilled voice, I shrug indifferently and pack up my stuff, exiting the class with a little bow and curtesy. She walks towards me and slams the door in my face- is that even allowed?

 I hear a trail of laughter as I walk away from the classroom and wonder why my dumb as shit classmates find everything funny. Bunch of weirdos.

 Saying I hate that stupid algebra class would be an understatement. The funniest thing is I don't even hate the subject itself, but the teacher makes everything so unbearable. Plus, the factor that my classmates are idiots.

 I arrive at the door to the principal's office and sigh heavily. Today really couldn't get any worse. The secretary gestures for me to have a seat, and goes back to typing lazily on her computer, the sound of her chewing gum echoing through the room. I glance and her and see stains from her poorly done lipstick on her teeth. 

 "May I help you?", she drones out, looking at me through the bright blue contact lenses in her eyes. I didn't even realise that I was staring. I cough awkwardly and look away, and she goes back to chewing her gum and typing loudly.

 Principal Miller, with his impeccable timing stepped out of his office and walks up to me, his long frame towering menacingly over me, and he gives me a glare that could instantly melt me into a puddle of shame.

 His salt and pepper moustache, shaped like one right out of an 80s magazine twitches with annoyance and he signals for me to step into his office, leading the way. I say a little prayer and follow suit, closing the door behind me.

 "Ms. Torres," he starts. "I believe you should have a good reason for disrupting Ms. Shannon's class today?" he relaxes into his seat, hands folded on the mahogany desk.

 My brain goes into overdrive trying to generate a perfect response, and my mouth works faster than my brain, "um I was conducting research on the relationship between the desire to sleep, and a boring class." I giggle a little into the back of my palm but stop when I realise I'm the only one amused. Damn.

 He pinches the skin between his sparse eyebrows with annoyance, and sits up. "Ms. Torres, I have neither the patience nor energy for your shenanigans today. A week detention and a 2500-word essay on why good behaviour is essential in the classroom." 

 "But-", I attempt to protest, but he sternly tells me to leave his office. I defeatedly make my way out of the door. A week detention seems like such a stretch if we're being honest here.

 On my way out, I spot Megan. If she sees me coming out of the principal's office, she'll definitely snitch to mum and dad and I won't hear the end of it at home.

 I look around frantically and dash into the classroom nearest to me, hoping I did so unnoticed.

 The clack of her heels become slower and she stops just a couple of steps after the classroom door, then I hear conversation. Resolving to wait till when she leaves, I plop down on a desk at the corner of the classroom, absentmindedly picking at my nails, that is, until I hear my name come out during the course of Megan's conversation.

 I stealthily walk to the door, stopping a couple of inches after it and planting my ear by the wall. I can hardly hear anything, just a few scattered words.

 "…finally getting rid of her…how much gain…"

 I give up trying to understand what they're talking about so I just creep back to where I was at.

 A notification from Cole pops up on my phone. 

 'where r u???'

 'groundfloor, b9'

 Assuming he's trying to make his way to me, I decide and pass time with music. I fish my earphones out of my bag and plug them in, casually through my playlist to choose a song, and finally settle on 'double take' by Dhruv, then put my head down while humming rhythmically.

 It seems like hours had passed by when I heard the door open, and Cole walks down to shake me violently, jolting me out of my reverie.

 Without raising my head, I lift up my middle finger to flip him off, because was there no better way to get my attention? I tilt my head halfway to glare at him and he laughs in response. Ass.

 "What are you doing here A?" he questions, noisily dragging a chair to take a seat next to me.

 "Got detention, avoiding Megan, tired as hell." I mumble incoherently, settling my head back on the desk.

 "Great! I got detention too."

 I keep my head planted on the desk, and my nerves start ticking with annoyance when I hear Cole reach for a packet of crisps in his bag and begins chewing noisily. I try to ignore him but as soon as I snap and jolt up to slap the bag out of his hand, the bell signifying the next period rings.

 4 more hours of school left. Amazing.