Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret

-Ambrose Bierce

School. High school to be exact.

I couldn't say that I loved it, but I also couldn't say that I hated it. It had its ups and downs like so many other things, well for me mostly downs but I supposed I still liked it. I had a knack for embarrassing myself in public and that had its advantages. For one everyone knew who I was, so I supposed that was a good thing.

Kind of.

It was as if everyone always waited or hoped for me to fall down the stairs or just do something to make them laugh. At times it was fine and I wouldn't take it to heart when people laughed but I was beginning to believe that they were really laughing at me in general, not just at my lack of grace.

Maybe it was another aspect that I lost over the years. I never cared so much of how people thought of me before my best friend Valerie Owens moved out of state. She was so lively and carefree and it was contagious. I supposed when she left, she took half of my confidence along with her because I hadn't felt completely...whole since she moved away, if that made any sense.

Valerie and I were close and between the two of us, she was the more outgoing one. I guess without Valerie I lacked the emotional support of having someone there to tell me that it wasn't a big deal and to just let it go. She always provided that comfort for me when I needed it. Life just was not the same without her and I really hoped she would visit soon.

"Ashley?"

We talked about her visiting but with school and extracurricular to deal with, it was hard to plan it. It has been a while since the last time we saw each other but we made sure never to lose touch with each other and keep our friendship alive no matter the distance.

"Ashley! Wake up!"

I opened my eyes and realized that every gaze in my English class was focused on me.

I tried not to frown but a scowl was quickly forming between my brows. I had only closed my eyes to daydream for a second and my teacher was quick to assume that I had fallen asleep.

Let me make something clear. Overall, I considered myself a good person. I was nice when I needed to be and even when I didn't need to be, I followed all the rules even though sometimes I didn't agree with them and I never talked back to my teachers.

Ever.

Although I had no desire to be in school that particular day, I was never the type to put my head down and pass out. Sure I tended to get distracted and lose focus during a lecture once in a while but I never fell asleep during class. It wasn't like me.

So it irritated me that Mrs. Richter would assume that out of nowhere just because I had been daydreaming with my eyes shut. She must have been annoyed by the look on my face because she continued to talk when I didn't respond. "This is the last time I want you catching the Zs in my classroom. Next time will result in detention, understand?"

What the hell?

My eyes were closed for barely five seconds. I didn't think that was a big deal. I always assumed Mrs. Richter liked me as a student. I never got in trouble in her classroom before, or any other class. I was the exemplary student so what was it with the hostile attitude? Was it because I was getting a C in the course? I heard from other students before that she had favorites but I didn't think it was true. It wasn't my fault anyway that I wasn't doing so well in the class. For some reason contemporary literature was a hard subject for me to grasp. I didn't want to listen to her blab about the symbolism of some old guys with ancient clothes and blades trying to beat it out of each other. Why did I have to care? They weren't even real.

"Do you understand me, Ms. Franklin?"

"Not really, would you care to elaborate?" I questioned her, although the reasonable part of my mind was telling me to keep quiet. Now although I considered myself a good person, I wouldn't exactly say that I was the smartest. It was rare, but I had moments where my mouth would be way ahead of me. She was just really starting to annoy me. I used to really like her in the beginning of the school year but then she started to irritate me as time went on. Her voice was suddenly unpleasant and I started to lose interest in listening to her. It must have been starting to show.

"Excuse me?" She said.

I knew I should have just kept my mouth shut even though she was grating my nerves but something was different that day. I just didn't care. In fact, I wanted to get out of that class and not have to listen to her. "You're excused."

I had no idea what got into me. My classmates must have been thinking the same because they all looked shocked too. If Valerie was here, she would have told me to shut up a long time ago and to let it go. But she wasn't and that frustrated me even more.

"I don't appreciate your sarcasm, Ashley. Are you trying to get in trouble?" Mrs. Richter asked me, raising her chin up.

"No, I'm just trying to piss you off," I rolled my eyes.

"You've just brought yourself a detention."

"What?" I didn't even say anything bad, well at least not to me, but she was already writing me up before I could protest. Some of the other kids started snickering behind their hands and some were whispering to their neighbors. Mrs. Richter walked over to my desk and handed me two detention slips.

"Two?!" I had the nerve to question.

"I can add a third one if those aren't enough for you."

Grumbling under my breath, I took them and gave her a fake smile. "Fine."

"Oh, and you may step out of my classroom to serve your detention. I'm sure the rest of the class would greatly appreciate it if you took your manners someplace else."

I could only come to the conclusion that she didn't like me anymore. But I wasn't going to sweat it because the feeling was officially mutual. I gathered my stuff and stood up. And because I was being all bad-ass that day, I definitely had to have the last word in. "Anything's better than listening to anymore of your bullshit stories."

"Ooh." The class echoed.

"Out!"

I smirked as Mrs. Richter gave me a cold look.

It wasn't until I stepped inside the detention room that I realized just how stupid and immature I had acted. Little did I know that stepping inside that room would change everything as I knew itin the next following weeks.