The Breaking of Hearts

Chapter 1 - You Snooze, You Lose

I yawned and stretched lazily on my bed. I suddenly shot up, slammed my glasses onto my nose, and glanced at my alarm clock. I groaned, faintly remembering hitting the snooze button multiple times already this morning. The clock read 7:43AM.

I collapsed backwards and, for a second, contemplated just skipping school. I turned my head to the side to look at the clock again. The digital screen flashed 7:44. I cursed as I dragged myself out of bed. I couldn't be late again; I had been late too many times already. Quickly, I tossed on my usual oversized sweatpants and sweater and swept my past-shoulder-length chocolate hair into a messy bun. I raced to my bathroom, splashed some water on my face, and brushed my teeth in record time. I grabbed my jacket and bag, and headed downstairs to the kitchen to grab a Pop Tart.

As I unwrapped my Pop Tart, I found my mother sprawled on the couch in the living room half-naked. I sighed but left a glass of water and two aspirins on the coffee table by the couch for her.

Racing outside, I slammed the front door behind me and started up my car. My father had bought it for me for my 16th birthday. This was when everything had been alright, when my mother had no idea what was going on. Going just over the speed limit, I soon made it to the school parking lot and found a spot all the way in the back by the furthest edge from the school.

I flew through the front doors, messy and sweaty. 'Nice way to start the day,' I thought to myself. I ran down the hallway, checking my watch, and screeched to a halt in front of Mr. Docking's classroom. First period had already started, which meant I was late for History. Fantastic. He was the strictest teacher in the school.

I quietly and slowly opened the door, hoping to arrive unnoticed, but the damn door squeaked. Mr. Docking looked up immediately and narrowed his beady eyes.

"I'm sure you have some flimsy excuse as to why you've arrived late to my class for the, what is it now, 10th time?" Mr. Docking asked in a tight voice. Most eyes were on me now.

I flushed, then said, "Well, um, actually, my mom's sick, so I was making her some, uh, chicken noodle soup. I guess I lost track of the time." I pasted an innocent smile on my face and hoped he would let this slide.

"Detention after school today, Miss Pritchett."

I sighed, knowing it was useless to argue with him. He'd just add another day to it. I glumly headed to a seat all the way in the back corner and plopped down, taking my notebook out. I then proceeded to copy the notes on the board.

My mom wasn't always such a wreck. She used to be pretty and nice. She used to be happy. But then my dad left us— for his boss's secretary. Everything went downhill ever since my mother found out about the affair. After almost a year of moping around, my mother decided to move, and not just out of the house – out of the state! She made this decision the summer before my senior year. She gave me the choice of who I wanted to live with, and as much as I hated to leave everyone behind, there was no way I was going to live with my cheating scumbag of a dad and his slutty girlfriend. There was also the matter of Alex, who I had just broken up with…

Anyway, after the week we got settled into our new home, everything changed, and not for the better. My mom was barely home anymore. She got a job as a maid at some rich guy's house, and after work, she went out to drink the night away.

I changed a lot, too, but on the outside, not on the inside, though I did start to study more often. I suppose that would be the result of the lack of a social life. If you saw me now, you would never even think this, but before the move, I was, well, popular. But after everything I'd been through, my dad, Alex... I knew what being pretty could do. I knew what guys were capable of, how crappy they can act. So I decided that if I guy wanted to be with me, they would have to get to know me first. I wouldn't let them choose me just because I was "hot."

Now, I let my wavy dark chocolate hair run wild and where it however I feel like. My glasses hide my greenish hazel eyes, and I wear comfortable clothes: loose pants and t-shirts that aren't exactly "form fitting." I guess I've avoided people. Sometimes I do miss being greeted by my crowd of friends, but it's actually been a bit easier to be able to walk around unnoticed and on the peripheral.

BRRRRRING!

The bell rang, startling me out of my thoughts. I grabbed my things and stuffed them into my bag as I walked out the door.

"Shit!" I cried out, as I collided with someone. My bag fell to the floor, and everything in it tumbled out.

"Tsk, tsk. Watch your mouth, young lady," a voice said mockingly. Looking up, I saw James Blackwell leaning against the wall, his arms crossed across his chest. Ugh, the jerk. I had an overwhelming urge to wipe that annoying little smirk off his face.

I scowled at him before I picked everything up, thinking about how much of a jerk he was. He didn't even bother to help me!

Hurriedly, I left the classroom and took a seat in Ms. Lanski's room just as the late bell rang. She taught math, one of my better subjects. I signed and settled in for the long day ahead of me.

About two hours later, I finally found myself waiting on line in the cafeteria. I was starving; I only had that Pop Tart for breakfast. I grabbed a sandwich, quickly paid, and headed to my usual table by the window in the corner. Positioning myself so that the sun shined at me but didn't blind me, I unwrapped my sandwich. As soon as I was about to take a bite, however, someone tapped my shoulder.

"What?" I turned around, sighing, and saw a pretty girl standing with a brown paper bag in her hand and her bag slung on her left shoulder. I narrowed my eyes, wondering what she wanted.

"Um… Well, I was wondering if…," the girl trailed off.

"If you could sit down?" I asked, annoyed at being interrupted from my lunch. She nodded. "Yeah, whatever."

"Thanks," she said, "I'm Melanie Rushcott."

After a moment of silence, I realized that she expected me to introduce myself, too. "I'm Alli. Alli Pritchett," I replied before biting into my sandwich.

"Cool. I just moved here last weekend. It's my first day!" Melanie had wavy blonde hair that fell to her shoulders and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans with a rip on the right knee and a simple blue T-shirt. A white cashmere sweater was tied around her waist. As I examined her, she struck me as being one of the "cool" people, and I wondered why she had chosen to sit with me of all people.

"So how do you like it here so far?"

"It's a nice school. Everyone is so nice and friendly here!" she gushed. "Like Rachel. I think her name is Rachel Beckett, do you know her?" I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Of course Rachel would be nice to Melanie, she looked rich and pretty.

"Yeah, I know who she is. She's the captain of the cheerleading squad."

"Oh, I was a cheerleader at my old school, too!" Then her face fell. "Damn, I guess that means cheerleading try outs are already over…"

I pretended to listen and she talked about where she moved from. When the bell finally rang, I shot up, but Melanie stopped me. "Wait, I don't know how to get to my next class!"

I glanced at her schedule. "We're in the same class, just follow me."

As we headed out of the cafeteria, I heard a voice call, "Melanie!" We both looked back. Great, it was Rachel. I rolled my eyes and waited as they made their way though the crowd to us – or more specifically, to Melanie.

"Hi, Melanie! Rachel squealed in the annoying, bubbly voice of hers, smiling brightly. Then she saw me by her, and added, "Oh, and... Annie, is it?"

I plastered on a fake smile and said in a fake, high-pitched voice, "Oh, hi, you're Rebecca, right? And it's actually Alli."At this, Rachel's smile turned down a notch or two.

Melanie shot me a confused glance before turning to Rachel. "Hey, Rachel! Alli here was just showing me to English with Mrs. Balky."

"Oh, wow, I have her now, too! I can show you the way instead, if Alli doesn't mind." Rachel flashed a smile at me.

"Whatever," I replied, rolling my eyes. I turned away and headed for Mrs. Balky's classroom. I ended up arriving early, despite the run in with Rachel, but Rachel and Melanie weren't quite as lucky. They arrived a minute after the late bell rang.

Mrs. Balky pursed her lips disapprovingly as they noisily entered the room.

"Girls, you are late."

"I'm soo sorry!" Rachel gushed. "It will never happen again. Melanie here dropped her bag down the stairs, so everything, like, fell out. We had to look for her stuff."

Mrs. Balky shook her head. "I'll let you off with a warning this time, girls, especially since I believe it is your first day. Is it not, Miss Rushcott? But it better not happen again."

Melanie nodded, her neck flushed.

"Well, find a seat. Quickly, now. We don't have all day, you know." And with that, Mrs. Balky started the lesson.

0o0o0o

Okay, wow, it's been almost a year and a half since I've even looked at this story.

Oops.

Super sorry, guys, but I was just so busy and I lost a lot of interest in TBH; I just had no inspiration to write.

I'm going to try again, though. I've deleted all the chapters, and now I'm slowly rewriting everything else. (: It will mostly be the same, but I will tweak a lot of the writing. Eep, I never realized how awkward my writing was.

Also, this chapter is super short, I know. But I have no idea what to write, and I don't want to combine it with the second chapter because then I feel like it would be too long.

Whatever.