Back to Linao

The day was wet from last night's mist, and thoroughly chilly. All through the damp, infested hallways of Hawkins High School, shoes squawked and book-bags sifted against the cold, metal lockers. Linao slid along one side, grateful for the end to last period; her fingers reached numbly for her locker handle, prying it from its place with a loud scrape.

"Linao!" the voice made her shudder involuntarily. "I haven't seen you all day! You have Geometry with me next period, right?"

Turning her head slightly, Linao grimaced. That girl from the night club... The... the... tramp. She'd known Ammy for a few years, but Ammy'd never taken much notice of her. Ammy was too popular.

"Uh... Yeah," Linao mumbled distractedly, stuffing a few books into her bag.

"Hey, I saw you on stage last night." Groan. Here we go again... "That was wicked awesome! What'd you think?!"

"I don't want to talk about it," she muttered blandly. Especially not with you, Ammy.

"And that guy was totally into you," she continued, almost as if she hadn't heard her. "Did you two hook up? What's it like to be onstage??"

She had that dreamy look in her eye again. Linao sighed, slamming her locker shut. The sentence came out a bit more strained the second time. "I really don't want to talk about it."

"Well, hey..." Ammy blinked in surprise as the lockers shook around her force. "...I'll see you in math, okay? Bye!" She scampered off with a few backward glances.

Ugh... Only one more class. Linao shifted the weight of her bag, staring at her shoes as she walked toward Geometry.

"Hey Linao! You were hot last night!"

Linao paused, her stomach churning. All she wanted to do was forget it ever happened... and every few seconds, another one of these freaks had to remind her what a freak she was. She grit her teeth and continued her walk, as calmly as she could muster, straight out to the parking lot.

I can't deal with this any more, she thought as she rounded the corner. Trini won't mind if I'm a little early picking her up... Eyes fell back to her shoes as she trudged toward her car, missing the stranger who had blended quite well against a small school alley.