Daughter of Death part 5

Chapter 3 Angela Gram

         My hands fumbled from only just getting up.  I was trying to get ready before the bus came, as usual.  I was still tired from my shower, but I tried.
         “Angela!  Hurry up!  The bus is here!” Crap!  I was out of time.  I shouldered my backpack, slammed my door, slid down the wooden banister, kissed my mom goodbye, and ran out to the bus stop.  I slammed my hand on the bus railing right as they were about to close.
         “Excuse me.  Sorry I’m late.” I smiled, knowing my glasses were lop-sided and my hair messed up.  I didn’t care.  I made it.
         The bus ride was always the worst.  I couldn’t sit in the back because of the football players and cheerleaders.  Mostly Rudy Gearshift, but same difference.  I also couldn’t sit in the middle, which was reserved for emos, Goths, and loners.  I am not a football player, a cheerleader, an emo, or a Goth, or a loner.  I am a computer geek.  I couldn't sit in the front, either, because that’s reserved for the little kids.  And the other people who have no life, I reminded myself.  I can’t sit there, because I do have a life.  I spend it reading, writing stories, and fixing my dad’s computer; which is frequently broken because he is constantly overworking his hard drive, which lowers his firewall, making his computer open for viruses.  Ergo, I have to carefully pick my chair every day.
         I’m the first one on the bus, so I can take my time while I choose where to sit.  Today I took a seat by the window near the back. I liked it there.  No one sat by me for the whole ride.  The closest was Shay Raquel.  She sat across the aisle from me, turning on her iPod.  I saw her lips move slightly every once in a while, so she must be listening to a song she new.  Then I heard a familiar name behind me, Nikki Stat.  She was a cheerleader, she had blond hair, brown eyes, and a face that wasn’t blotched my scars.  She was a girl who was envied by other girls, asked on multiple dates a night by guys, and whose ego could have bought a whole house and still would be leaking out.  I didn’t envy her at all.  She was a bimbo.  A girl who was so self-absorbed and shallow that she couldn’t keep water inside her for too long couldn’t be envied by me.
         By the end of the bus ride, Shay had not opened her eyes and was still moving her lips faintly, and Venom Starke sat looking out the window with his trademark bored face.  Shat felt my eyes on her and turned to look at me.  I smiled and held up my hand in a wave.  I didn’t expect her to reply to my action, but she did.  She held up her hand like I had, and smiled.  I tried to hide the surprise on my face with a smile.
         The day went slowly  My teachers held me after class because I was going to Maine State Spelling Bee.  They all gave me their encouragement and I smiled and simply said, ‘thank you.’ Lunch wasn’t any better either.  I sat alone, down the table from Shay and Venom as I always did.  They sat across from each other like always, Venom busy eating while Shay just looked out the window.  I still couldn’t understand how they went on dates…unless they just made out all the time…or worse.  The thought made me sick.
         On the bus ride home, I sat near the front.  I was good with kids.  Kids liked to talk to me.  Besides, it was a nice change from Nikki Stat and Rudy Gearshift.  They should get together.  Really.  They’re perfect for each other, just like Shay and Venom.  I smiled as two kindergarteners came and sat by me, even though I couldn’t pat attention to them. My mind was still exactly nine seat away, an iPod plugged in, and lips moving slightly.  I silently curse to myself.  Why did I care?  She was a crazy person.  I didn’t want to think about it anymore.
         At home, my dad was sitting with my younger brother, Justin, playing X-box.
         “Hey, Ang.  Want to play me?” Justin asked.
         “Sure.” I agreed reluctantly.  My homework could wait, and I needed something to take my mind off of Shay.  I whooped him in seven games before he quit.
         After we ate supper, my dad and I were trying to figure out what was wrong with his computer tonight.  (I swear we go through this every night) when the phone rang.  My mom answered it.
         “Hello...This is…Is something wrong…?  Yes, my daughter is Angela…What?” My ears started to ring.  Soon my mom would be bawling. “Yes, officer.  We’ll be over there soon.” She hung up, and then came the hurricane.  First it was the sniffles, then the weeping, then the sobbing, then crying.  I snapped dad’s computer back together and walked into the kitchen.  Justin was there, staring as if mom had exploded.  Maybe she was going to.
         “Mom, what’s wrong?” I asked.  So what, I had more courage than my brother?  It’s only natural, I’m older.  She looked at me and hugged me tight. 
         “I’m sorry.”
         “What?”
         “Your friend, Shay, she…died.”
         “What?” I was completely taken aback. “What happened?”          
         “She’s committed suicide.”