This chapter was written by Alyssa4Jesus!

Monday, September 7 – Avalon Jacobs

“Oh boy,” I mutter to myself as I walk down the halls of my new school. 

“Shouldn’t be too bad, right?” I think as I enter my class. I sit, of course, at the back. I can see everyone has their own friends chatting with them and no one notices me. 

“Perfect,” I think. I rest my head on the table and I doze off. 

The next thing I hear is a psycho shouting at me. I jump up and notice some of the students laughing. I roll my eyes. He says something, but I don’t pay much attention to him. Soon after, two boys walk into class, as late as ever. I hear the teacher call their names, Zane and Thaddeus. I notice one of them with a smirk on his face. I smirk myself. I think I am staring at him too long because he turns around and notices but I quickly look away. “Get a hold of yourself, Ava. No friends, no drama, no unnecessary talking,” I say to myself. 

Finally, lunch comes, but I am walking on the school field, for no particular reason when someone bounces into me. Oh, Maelynn, I recognize her from class. She tries to strike up a conversation, but me being me, I try to avoid that. 

When she leaves I go to the bathroom. There, I see two more girls from my class, Hannah and D.K. They seem nice but again, my stupid, introverted self leads to me being a jerk face to them. I leave the bathroom and walk down the halls, looking at the ground. My eyes start to get a bit misty. I quickly wipe them and head to the back of the school. I drop myself on the floor and I cry a river. I feel a burden lift off my shoulders once I’m through. Then, I get up and go back inside. Thank God no one sees me.

The end of the school day finally comes. I race home as quickly as possible. I run upstairs to my bedroom and lock the door. I don’t even notice my older brother sitting in the living room. I sigh loudly and pluck up enough courage to go downstairs. 

“Hey,” I whisper. He looks up and smiles gently.

“Hey, sis. What’s up?” he asks. I shake my head. “How was school?” he asks. 

“Boring and horrid,” I say

“Made any friends?” 

I lifted an eyebrow at him. “I could’ve but as usual, I was a jerk face,” I reply

“Oh, well, try opening up a bit, Ava. People seem to want to talk to you. Don’t be too distant,” he smiles. 

“Ok, I guess,” I shrug. Suddenly, the door flies open and my father walks inside with Chinese food and his briefcase. 

“I thought we could have something nice for dinner today,” Father says, half smiling. I barely smile back and take his briefcase. He places the food on the table and we all sit down to eat. He tries to strike up a conversation but I barely speak. He begins to get irritated. Then, he looks at me for two minutes, without saying a word and I see tears in his eyes. 

I excuse myself from the table, and run upstairs, leaving my food out. 15 minutes later, there’s a knock on my door. It is my aunt. I am super surprised. 

“Hey, pudding. Here, eat,” she says and begins to feed me like a baby. She tells me about her day and asks about mine. I open up to her and tell her about my day. About my new teacher and the other kids I interacted with, Maelynn, D.K and Hannah. I tell her about my massive breakdown and how I avoided conversations with Maelynn, D.K and Hannah and looked like a jerkface. 

“Don’t worry Ava I’m sure everything will be better tomorrow.” She says, engulfing me in a hug. 

“One can only hope,” I think to myself.