I adjusted my feet, leaning against the bathroom stall. My lunch in my hand, I sighed. I couldn't go to the cafeteria to eat. Nobody liked me. The bathroom door opened, and from under the stall I saw three pairs of designer shoes walk past the stalls and straight to the mirrors. "I'm so ugly!" one girl moaned. I recognized her voice; Sarah. She was the most popular girl in school. Trisha and Piper immediately told her she was beautiful. She WAS. But she was horrible on the inside. "The only ugly one is Crystal." Piper sneered. I winced at her saying my name. "That's totally true. No wonder she's never at lunch." "Because nobody likes her?" "Who would? Crystal's a loser." "A loser who eats lunch in the bathroom" Sarah said loudly. The girls laughed and filed out of the bathroom. I walked out of the stall, and threw my lunch on the floor. Looking in the mirror, I saw my mascara smudged along with my tears. The bell rang. (Should I continue?)
I walked out to the hallway. Everyone ignored me. They were all too busy talking to each other, gossiping about the newest scandals. A crowd of people made a semicircle by my locker. I pushed through, to see Sarah with a spray paint can in hand. She had written the words "bîtch" and "fugly" all over my locker. I swallowed back tears and tried to open my locker. "What're you doing?" Sarah asked, blocking my path. "Trying to get my books?" I responded. "Yeah... no." "Um, why?" "Because I said so." Sarah snickered. She pointed the can at me and sprayed. Soon my shirt, pants, and some of my face were bright pink. People laughed. "What do you think about that?" Sarah asked. I didn't say anything, and turned to leave. Trisha appeared from the crowd and pushed me back. "Answer me when I talk to you!" Sarah hissed. I kept my head down. I couldn't say anything, or I'd burst into tears. And they would start laughing even more. Sarah grabbed my shoulders and pinned me against my locker. I bit my lip to keep from crying out. Angry she wasn't getting a reaction from me, Sarah slapped me. The sound resonated down the hall. The crowd snickered, and the few smart ones left, so they wouldn't get in trouble if a teacher saw. Sarah punched me in the stomach, and I cried out. Trisha opened my locker and dumped everything on me. I laid there on the ground, gasping for breath as the crowd disappeared, with faint voices of "loser" floating down the hall. Now that they were gone, I could finally cry. And nobody cared.
After school, I ignored the usual stares and whispers. I didn't consider telling anyone about what had happened. I just got on my bike and rode out of the parking lot. Sarah Piper and Trisha were hanging out by Ashton's car, with the rest of the football team. Ashton was the most popular boy in school. You know, muscular, quarterback, winning smile. Although he had black hair instead of blonde, and hypnotizing grey eyes, that part didn't matter. Anyways, the most popular boy should go out with the most popular girl, right? That wasn't the case. Ashton was single ever since eighth grade. He never said yes to the confident girls who asked him out, and despite Sarah's efforts, he'd shown no interest at all. To believe I've heard all this in the girl's bathroom. Gossip wad bad in my school. I felt a sudden bump and was thrown off of my bike. My front tire hit the curb, and I fell on the concrete. Sarah and the others burst out laughing. "Looks like the loser took a spill!" Sarah laughed. Ashton shot Sarah a look, shutting her up immediately. Her silence caused everyone else to quiet down. The looked at Ashton in shock as he walked over to me, and held out a hand.
I looked up at him. He was actually sincere. I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up. He glanced at my bike, and the tire was popped. Trying to win back his affection, Sarah cracked another joke. "Looks like a long walk home, huh?" Ashton shook his head, and picked up my bike. "I'll drive you home." he said. Ashton opened his car trunk and put my bike inside, and carefully closed it shut. He walked past an open-mouthed Sarah. "Ashton! What about me? How will I get home?" "Walk." Ashton said, and he got inside his car, motioning for me to get inside too. I awkwardly entered the car, and he drove out of the parking lot. "You're bike's pretty messed up, uh..." "Crystal" "Huh. Crystal. So, do you need a ride every day?" I looked up at Ashton. "Just until you get your bike fixed." he hurriedly added. "I, uh, ok." I nod. We pulled up to my house. Ashton got my bike out of the trunk, and he brought it to my garage. I wiped my black hair out of my eyes and walked over to open the door for him, and clumsily tripped over his shoe. Ashton caught me by my shoulders. There was a spark of electricity at his touch, and I looked up at him timidly. Ashton's eyes were deep, like there wasn't an end to them. And just as soon as the moment started, he let go of me, a smiled. "See you tomorrow?" "Yeah."