Young Writers Society

Chapter One:

*~Natalie~*

I stepped out my car at the school entrance with the bus riders from the part of town that my prostitute mother lives, and joined the crowd of students in the commons area. On my way over to my friends, Lori Emerson and Amanda Johnson, I passed by the popular crowd.

“Well, if I’ll be darned,” commented a voice from behind me. “If it isn’t Natalie Zelenski.”

Now, I’ll be honest with you. When I hear the voice of a prep making fun of my being the ex principles daughter, I don’t pay any attention. Just because they are too bored with their own lives that they have to make others miserable doesn’t change the fact that I am happy with myself. But for some odd reason, that one voice caught my attention.

Irritated, I turned around to face the guy who had addressed me. It wasn’t until I turned completely around that I wish I had just kept on walking like I usually do. I became startled to the point where I skipped a breath. Why did his voice have to distract me today of all days?

“What do you want?” I asked of him.

“Not much. You?” Casey Thomas replied with a smile that showed all his perfect white teeth. He stood there looking at me; his blue eyes flirtatious, the light reflecting off his brown, spiked hair, and his evil smile glistening against his tan that made most of the girls in Burlington High want to be with him. Me of course, I could not stand sight of him. I seriously thought of spitting on him with disgust.

“I want you to leave me alone,” I answered shortly, then, turned to walk away. But I was stopped dead in my tracks when he unexpectedly asked, “What? Daddy isn’t here to protect you anymore?”

I whirled around so quickly that my shoulder-length brown hair hit me in the face. I walked up to him, then, standing only inches away from him replied, “You know what I think? I think that you are a load of bull and need to get a freaking life okay? So just keep out of my way, and I’ll stay out of yours.”

Students around us were saying things like, she got you good Thomas and are you going to let her get away with that?

“Well, what if I don’t want to stay out of your way?” he asked, moving closer to me. “What about that?”

I took a step back in disgust. Right then, I could have gone off and slugged him, but that might have turned a few more heads in my direction. I hadn’t been one of the most feared girls in my old school for nothing.

Why do you think my dad paid my mother to transfer me to a school across the country almost three years ago? I hadn’t been voted girl most likely to pummel someone for nothing. I mean what would my friends across the room think if I freaking pummeled the most popular guy in school. Then, there is the fact that if I took a swing that he might swing back, and believe me; I did not want to take that chance.

“Casey, I really don’t have time to play your little games…so if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got much better things to do then waste my time arguing with you,” I finished before I started to walk away.

“Natalie.” He grabbed my arm causing me to freeze.

That did it.

Usually, he’d kid around me, and I wouldn’t care…but today was different. I had had enough of trouble to last a lifetime, and did not need this. What I did next was not planned or even in fact intended. I set my stuff down on the ground saying, “Fine, you want to talk…we’ll talk.”

I balled one fist and swung. My right hand, which had my class ring on it made contact with his left eye.

--Casey--

Natalie Zelenski whirled around and punched me in the eye. Her class ring cut my left eyelid. “Now, release me,” she ordered. “Or I will do it again.”

“Whoa! Hold up here,” I said, trying to ignore the pain to my left eye and act all cool about what had just happened. “You just punched me…Miss goodie two shoes just punched me.” I laughed and released her arm. “That was good, Natalie…you win, but tomorrow, well that’s a different story.”

Everyone else, who didn’t know how to react to what had just taken place, started laughing weakly. They were still a bit shocked that she had just broken her own rule and punched me. She had guts.

This girl stood there, her brown eyes angered and serious, her hair around her shoulders, glistening from the lights, and her facial expression…it was a major turn on. I can’t believe I am actually admitting this, but seeing her standing there like that was seriously making me want her.

“Now, please,” she said between clenched teeth. “Leave me alone and please don’t ever make me do that again.”

With that said, I watched as she picked up her bag, and stormed off in a rush. Her skirt swished when she walked and her hair moved back and forth. I began to wonder whether she would be easy or not. It is kind of ironic how I was thinking this when out of the blue, some guy commented, “Man, I want her.”

“What?” some other guy asked.

“Yeah, she is hot when she’s mad.”

“Well, her Dad did just die.”

I wasn’t listening to them any longer. I raised my fingertips to my left eye and looked at the dark, warm liquid that was trickling down my index finger. I could not believe that she had actually swung at me like she did. Maybe she wasn’t the girl that I had been led to believe that she was. It’s like Vince says, it’s always the quiet one’s you have to watch out for.

Everyday, I had some remark to say when she walked by just to make fun of her. I’d been doing it for three years, and she always kept walking…except for today. Today, she punched the living daylights out of me. Perhaps the rumors weren’t true. What if she wasn’t easy like everyone believed she was? I wanted to find out for myself.

*~Natalie~*

“Shoot!” I yelled, slamming my fist down on the steering wheel of my car. “You just had to lose it.”

It was then, that I broke down into sobs. Placing my hands over my face, I laid my forehead against the top of the steering wheel where my fist had been at one time. I just could not handle this anymore. Melissa being so nice as the new principle, my mother being so hateful, people staring at me, and my acting like nothing was wrong.

Something was wrong. My father was dead, and to top that off, I had just punched the most popular guy in school in the commons. Why did his jokes have to bother me today of all days? There sure was going to be talk about me…like there already wasn’t…gosh. I had clearly ruined the reputation I had worked so hard for to get so that the old me wouldn’t be revealed.

My father had asked me to change, and I felt that I owed him that much…he did after all take me away from my mother three years before. And now look at me. I’m freaking crying in the car, looking like a complete mess.

Unexpectedly, my cell phone began to ring from beside me. I looked over at my purse that lay open on its side; its contents were spilled on the seat.

Wiping tears from my eyes, I picked up my flip phone to see who was calling me. Melissa Reins.

“My gosh, who does that woman think she is?” I demanded aloud before I answered asking, “What do you want?”

“Nat, just because your father died doesn’t give you the right t-” She began lecturing me.

“Excuse me, Melissa, but I clearly stated at my father’s funeral that I never wanted to speak to you again. So stop acting like you care and acting as though you are my mother. You aren’t, and you know what? I am freaking tired of you invading my life so just butt-out!” I yelled at her.

I closed the phone roughly, and threw it down into the seat. Then, without checking to make sure that no one was behind me, I pulled out of my parking space. My car turned sharply out of the parking lot and onto the highway before I sped down the road not caring who saw or thought.

My phone started ringing again before I made to Fifth Street, which is two blocks away from the school. I looked down at it, taking my eyes completely off the road. I didn’t care if I was in an accident at that precise moment because the person calling was my ex step mom once again.

I picked it up, opened it, and sneered, “Did I not make myself clear? I don’t want to have anything to do with you, Melissa Reins, so get the heck out of my business before I say something I regret.”

--Casey--

“Vince, man, what happened to you last night?” I asked my best friend, pretending as though I didn’t know that he had been taken to the police station the night before. “You get wasted or what?”

“Well, all I can remember is my old man griping me out,” he answered; watching two girls wearing mini skirts walk by. “What about you?”

“I went to take a pee, and when I came back you were gone.” I propped my feet up on our lunch table before taking a long drink of Dr. Pepper. “What’s your punishment?”

“Community service. It seems as though my cell phone dialed 911 or something on it’s own.”

“That’s it?”

“About two weeks of it…this bites.”

“What about at your place?”

“Grounded,” he answered stuff his face with potato chips. “Nothing new.”

“Casey, what are you doing tonight?” a female voice asked from behind me. Candis Stone.

I had recently been dating her just to get some, and because the rumor was she was easy. Heck she was. My being a senior made the junior she was extra, extra easy. “Whatever you’re doing,” I stated before she placed a seductive kiss on my lips.

“Well,” Candis replied after the kiss ended. “My parents won’t home till late…so you can come over.”

“About tenish?”

“Sure. Catcha later, Casey.”

With that, I turned around in my chair. The thing I saw about knocked me out of it, for standing in the hallway was a very hot woman, and she was standing with Natalie, wearing a very short skirt, and a halter-top. I wondered if she was a prostitute…she really did look the part.

“Casey, that’s miss goodie two shoe’s mom,” Vince informed me. “Imagine Natalie dressed like that.”

“Talk about sudden change of attitude,” I commented, throwing a straw at him.

“Seriously. She’d be one hot babe.”

“Man, you have issues.”

“Issues? You’re the one who’s doing it with Candis.”

“Not for long.”

“What do you mean?”

“I like someone else.”

“Who?”

“It’s nobody.”

“Come on tell me.”

I shook my head, and looked at the girl standing in front of the principle’s office. She stood there with her arms crossed over her chest with a bored look on her face. It was clear that she didn’t want to be standing there outside Ms. Rein’s office. Not that I could blame her. I mean, who wants to stand outside the principle’s office when your parent is inside yelling every cuss word in the book.

As the woman’s yelling got worse and worse, she seemed to grow happier and happier…which made her cuter. This was getting scary. We made eye contact for a moment before she looked away, annoyed.