“Jenny! Get up please!” Her mum shouted up the stairs, just like always.

“I’m doing it!” Jenny shrieked downstairs and she climbed drearily out of bed, and walked slowly downstairs. Slowly, she walked into the kitchen where her parents were already up and dressed. They had to be, they both worked at the hospital. Jenny’s mum, Lizzie, was a midwife and her dad, John, was a doctor. That was how they both met, at medical school.

“Good morning, Sleepyhead.” Lizzie greeted. Jenny mumbled something back to her. “Help yourself to cereal. There’s orange juice in the fridge.”

“Right…” Jenny got her breakfast and ate it while her parents got ready to go to work.

“Jenny! We’re off now! Bye!” Her dad called from the door way.

“Bye Mum! Bye Dad! Love you!” she called back, Jenny was feeling more awake now she had ate breakfast. The door closed quietly and she heard the key turn. She finished her cereal and drank the last bit of orange juice then loaded everything into the dishwasher.

The house was really quiet because Jenny was an only child. It could get lonely, especially with two parents who worked a lot. Jenny ran upstairs – making as much noise as possible to fill the silence – to the bathroom and had a shower. The lukewarm water properly woke her up. She stepped out of the shower, shivering uncontrollably and started brushing her teeth, washed her face then wrapped herself in a towel and ran into her small room. Her room was very tidy, nothing ever got out of place. The warmth of the hair dryer stopped her shivering. Jenny waved it impatiently around her head until her shoulder length, layered hair dried. Finally, she pulled out some skinny jeans and a red t-shirt out of her drawer. It was a completely unoriginal combination of clothes, Sophie and Emma would probably say something about it, so Jenny pulled out a grey hoodie as well. A bit better.

Jenny felt like just going back to sleep, she couldn’t be bothered with school. It had been even worse though, a few months before when they still had to wear school uniform. But now the school had decided to get rid of it to give the students more freedom.

That night Jenny was going to sleep at her friend, Sophie’s house. Emma was going to be there as well. They’d all been friends since year seven, were part of the popular group of girls at the school, and everyone knew their names.

Jenny grabbed her school bag and shoved a few books into it as she walked down the stairs. There wasn’t any point in rushing, last time she’d looked at the clock there was twenty minutes to spare before she had to set off for school; plus she lived quite close. Jenny did a cartwheel (her mum would kill her for donig that, but she was home) and then walked over to her piano. She pressing down a few keys tunelessly. Jenny loved music. It had gotten to to the point that she was obsessed with music. She played all sorts. Guitar, Piano, Flute, Drums, Cello and she sang too.

Soon she was engrossed in the song she was playing, something random she’d made up herself that was still unnamed. Suddenly her phone rang.

Jenny cleared her throat and picked up, “Hello?”

“Where are you?” It was Sophie.

“At home!”

“School started twenty minutes ago!”

Jenny hung up and yanked her shoes on quickly, then grabbed her school bag, locked up and ran out of the house. In her rush she bumped into someone, “Woops, sorry!” She bent down to pick up her keys and then stood up again to see who she’d ran into. It wa a boy with coal black eyes and coal back hair styled into some sort of emo cut. His eyes slated upwards like a cat’s and his skin was very pale.

“Don’t worry about it,” he smiled like something was funny, “You running late too?”

“Yeah,” Jenny started walking. She knew this boy, he was in the year above her. Adam Okinawa, the only boy to have got into Elmtree Private on a scholarship. Apparently he was a freak, and only had one friend: That gay kid, Zach. Jenny wasn’t about to just not talk to him, like some people in her group of friends would, she just wouldn’t bother talking to his usually. That was all.

He walked next to her quietly and she just happened to glance down at his bare arms, she fliched. On his right arm there was a long, vivid red scar.

“How did you get that?” She asked, nodding in the direction of his arm.

He gave her that smile again, the one that suggested something was funny, “I caught it on some glass.”

“Oh.” Jenny raised her eyebrows, maybe he was a cutter, “Anyway, gotta run.” She smiled and then walked away quickly. The Girl’s Division was further away than the Boy’s Division.

Jenny say down quickly, blushing bright red, next to Emma. She noticed there was a new girl sat opposite her, she was tall and skinny with tangly sandy blonde hair. There were several other girls smirking at her cheap looking clothes and scruffy hair.

“Who’s she?” Jenny whispered to Emma.

“Holly Berry,” Emma smirked, “Isn’t that the stupidest name you’ve ever heard? What kind of parent gives their kid a name like that when their surname is ‘Berry’?”

Jenny shrugged and looked at the smart board at the front of the classroom, though none of it made much sense, “roll on music…” She muttered.

“Freak,” Emma sniggered.

“Back at ya,” Jenny nudged Emma in the ribs, knowing Emma was ticklish. She burst out laughing in the quiet class room and everyone turned round to stare. Holly didn’t though, she seemed so bored that she’d fallen asleep with her eyes closed. Jenny took this as her chance to stare a bit longer.

Holly had two short scars on the side of her neck, both vivid red.

Blue Jay Elementary was host to grades kindergarten through eighth, and held after-school activities for the residents, including Bingo, woodworking, and town meetings. The old school bell rang, and the doors burst open to let out a flood of children. Jasper quickly broke away from the crowd heading toward the playground and made his way around the far corner of the brick building. He was in such a hurry that he slammed smack into Merckle Clay, an eight grader who dwarfed Jasper in size.
“Watch it Nickels!” He shouted as his two friends, Horace and Lionel, loomed from behind him.
“Sorry,” he said, “sorry.”
“So, do you have it our not, shrimp?”
“Yeah,” Jasper replied as he tugged at his backpack.
He dug through the depths of his pack, rummaging past a sack of marbles, a yo-yo, some pogs, and an old granola bar, until finally retrieving a twenty-dollar bill and a loose marble.
“Let’s see it first.” Jasper said.
“Well, well, well,” said Merckle, “Hand it over guys.”
Horace reaches into the back pocket of his jeans and produces a slingshot with discretion. Jasper’s eyes light up. Horace hands it over, and Jasper eyes the old craftsmanship of the handle, the new rubber band, and worn patch of leather connecting the two rubber bands.
“That’s twenty big one’s shrimp.” Merckle demanded.
“Sure,” Jasper said, and tossed the twenty over.
Merckle glanced back at Horace and Lionel with a gross smirk across his face.
“Always a pleasure doing business with you, Jasper,” he said while still grinning, “but I’m afraid we’re going to have to ask for that back now. Isn’t that right b–,” he trailed off as he watched Horace and Lionel’s grins dropped as their eyebrows lift.
“What’s the matter with you two?” he asked as he turned back to realize he was staring through the slingshot’s wooden arms, directly in target of Jasper’s marble, which he had placed in the leather patch and stretched back over his shoulder.
“You were saying?” jasper said.

IMAGE CREDIT