Morgan

   I looked in the mirror one more time. The outfit that I’d picked out last night just didn’t seem the same now that I had it on this morning. There was still time to change before I had to leave, but what would I wear if I didn’t dress in this.

Ten minutes later, I walked out of my room and downstairs. I still had on the leggings and tunic shirt that I’d selected earlier. It wasn’t the best attire in my wardrobe, but it was comfy, and that ranked higher than wearing the latest sleaze fashions that everyone else would have on.

“You look…nice.” Mom poured another cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. “What happened to all those clothes we bought with Clarissa yesterday. Those were cute.”

I rolled my eyes and wobbled my head side-to-side. There always had to be a ‘but’ in whatever compliment my mom gave me. This time it was the ‘that’s a nice outfit, but are you really going to wear that to school. You know Clarissa wouldn’t be caught dead in something like that, especially going where there are going to be so many people that could see her.’

“It’s comfy.” I grabbed my car keys off the holder and picked up my backpack off the floor. My mom’s lack of compliment and the way that she was checking out my outfit like she was totally disappointed in her youngest daughter’s clothing, made me lose my morning appetite. “See ya later.” I didn’t even wait to hear a response. I left for the first day of school before my mother could put me into any worse of a mood.

                                                                        ***

I tried to stall for time of going in, but that was nearly impossible with Tara and Rynae pounding on my car window. They were two of my besties, well really only the two closest friends that I had.

We were all in the lifelong sisterhood of being part of the geek squad. It wasn’t that they were ugly or anything, but just had the above-average grades, lack of sleaze clothes, and of course they were in the debate club with me.

Tara was the first to pull on my arm once I decided that I had let them wait long enough. This was a tough feat to do since Tara was like a pixie in disguise, but she was able to get my feet moving in the direction of the school.

“I don’t know why you have to be so stubborn.” Rynae, the Cover Girl model look-a-like of our trio of misfits, seemed annoyed that I had made them wait three extra minutes while I listened to a song on the radio. “You should be happy, like us, “her lips turned upwards into a big, happy smile, “That this is our senior year. We will be done and outta here in no time.”

“First,” I held up one finger, “I wasn't stubborn. I was listening to a Taylor Swift song.”

“Welcome to New York.” Both Tara and Rynae said it at the same time.

Okay, so I had an obsession with T. Swift’s music, especially her song ‘Welcome to New York.’ I’d never gone there, and that was on my big list of places to go, and hopefully, I really, really hoped that I would be accepted into one of its many law schools for next year’s fall semester.

“It’s a great song. Well, they all are, but I sorta have a liking to that one.”

“Really.” Tara looked stunned by my confession. “You mean when you play a song a hundred times a day, that means you have a liking for it.”

“I don’t play it a hundred times a day, only ninety-nine.” I stuck my tongue out her.

They both just shook their heads at my nonsense.

“Well, at least it isn’t One Direction anymore.” Tara looked over my way and questioned me with her eyes.

“I…um…I still listen to them occasionally.” I didn’t tell her that meant I listened to them on my way over to the school.

Tara snorted at my hesitation and nudged Rynae who just nodded her head.

“I can’t help that they were an excellent band.”

“We’ll have to get you out of your rut. There are more singers out there than just those two.”

“I sorta like my style. C’mon, we better get a move on.” Now it was my turn to pull them along.

The distance from the student parking to the school seemed like it was half a marathon. I don’t know why they made it so far away, but I was exhausted by the time that we hit the main crowd walking up the sidewalk.

The ninth graders were acting like they usually did, like the children they still were. The rest of the student population was in their own little groups.

The real geeks of the school hustled about forever looking like they were in a total state of confusion.

The hoes that weren’t part of any cheer or dance team just walked around and strutted their stuff. They wore the skimpiest of outfits and seemed to have as many male followers as the sports teams had female followers.

Then there was us, the academic nerds of the school. The ones that got picked on because we were actually trying to make something out of our lives and not wasting away being a follower, a stoner, or someone who could possibly have every sexually transmitted disease by the time they were twenty-two.

The presence of the Hawks and Hawkettes were nowhere to be found. It was kind of an eery calmness about the school with them not around. It was like the school could function at a reasonable level without that forever lingering rain cloud that threatened to ruin everyone else’s day.

The loud sound of the first warning bell echoed as it alerted everyone that the first day of school was to begin in fifteen minutes.

And so, the circle of life at high school continued.