Chapter One - Dreamings of an Outcast
Earth, 1997
Evertone High School
Friday, 2:30pm
Alanda sighed as she stared down at the workbook, the french words
making exactly as much sense as Russian to her at the moment. Not that
THAT was all that surprising - it was Friday, and in several more
minutes the sixth and last - *THANK GOD* - period for the week would
end. *Another week over with.* she thought in relief as she scrawled
another answer and stole another look at the clock on the wall, *And
then three glorious days of freedom to go home, lock the door on my
bedroom and go back to writing and dreaming.* she thought, smiling
slightly as she planned what would happen next to her two characters in
her story. She'd left them in the middle of an ambush.
"Hey, Alan!" a voice shouted directly into her ear.
Alanda jumped and whirled around to come face to face with the class
clown - Ryan Calaran.
"What do you want, Ryan?" she asked tiredly.
Andrew had become a pest lately - he'd been teasing her more than usual.
Not that THAT was unusual by itself. The teasing anyway. THAT had
escalated during the past couple of weeks since she'd cost the Eastern
Regional hockey trophy.
*God, I can't wait till the holidays.* Alanda thought wistfully as she
ignored Ryan's teasing. *I'll really exercise this holidays. I'll grow
thin and become as pretty as everybody says I can if I just loose
weight, and then when I come back to school, everybody will be stunned
and they'll NEVER tease me again cause all the boys will want to go out
with me!* she sighed inwardly though, *Oh yeah Alanda.* she thought
dryly, she'd vowed every holidays since she'd entered Year 7 those same
words - nothing had ever came out of it. *Nothing EVER comes out of
anything I 'vow'.*
She was in her tenth year of school now, four years of high school
practically under her belt - she certainly had the bulk to prove it -
and nothing had changed.
"Still daydreaming, Alan?" Ryan commented.
Alanda blinked as she realized he was still teasing her. It wasn't
often that she could just drift off and ignore everything in the real
world. *Cause if I could, I'd do it more often.* "What did you say,
Ryan?" she asked politely.
Ryan grinned, "The bell's gone, and everybody has left for the end of
the day." He commented, "I just thought maybe you'd like to know before
they lock you in." he added.
Alanda flushed, glancing at the clock - it still read 2:30 and she
realized that it'd been frozen that way for the past hour or so. She
gathered her books and rushed out of the room so that Ryan wouldn't see
her face burning up. If being teased and being fat and boring was what
they all teased her for, it was worse when Ryan did it. For a short -
*Thank god it was short* - while in year 8 she'd fallen in love with
Ryan - though THAT wasn't new either, half the girls in the school fell
in love with Ryan regularly - and out, thankfully quickly after being
teased about it for weeks.
*Back home where I can dream about being beautiful, talented and
UNboring.* Alanda thought firmly as she pushed her way through the
crowded locker bays, *And have lots of gorgeous man falling in love with
me instead of the other way around.* she added. *God I hate being in
love. It's so depressing. It's not as if he'll ever return that love.*
she thought with an inward sigh as she pulled her bag out, dumped her
homework in unceremoniously then shoved her way out.
