There's no such thing as "fitting in" apparently.

I was observing I guess anda could say, the students at the school. The kids who were "popular" were very obvious; they had huge crowds around them, and were akting very obnoxious. Apparently this rank was diberikan to anda at birth atau something. Kids who were "losers" were not allowed to socialize with these kids at all.

I pity the losers.

Not that I wasn't one either, because it's obvious that I was. Not even the other losers would talk to me... Not that I wanted them to. I was better off just being oleh myself. So I avoided Jezreel and Emery as much as I could. I appreciated their effort; I just didn't want to get close to anyone here. I had too much on my mind to have friends.

There were some kids that caught my eye though.

I noticed them far off to the side, far off where even the nerds weren't hanging out. A small group of them hung out in the corner, seeming oblivious to others around them. While everyone else seemed chaotic and vibrant, they seemed calm and collected. Actually mature.

"Hey Shelby," a voice snapped my attention. I looked up to see Emery, beaming down on me with his goofy grin. I ducked my head.

"Hi," I mumbled.

"What's up?"

"...Nothing," I said, rolling my eyes behind my eyelids. Why couldn't he just leave me alone? He'd been attempting to talk to me for almost a week now, with no success. I didn't like him. He was too... happy. My eyes flickered over to the other kids, my curiosity spiking up now and then.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Emery asked, turning around. I saw this as my chance to know what the deal was with those kids.

"Who're they?" I asked; it was almost a whisper.

"Them?" Emery asked, almost disbelieving. "Those are the druggies," he berkata slowly, as if I was missing a big piece of the puzzle. "Why?"

"I dunno," I shrugged. "They seem nice."

"Yeah, maybe because they're high," he replied coldly. He glared at me, staring me down with his big brown eyes. "Stay away from them Shelby. Those kids are bad news. anda don't want to get involved with drugs and crap like that." I bit my tongue. Who was he to tell me what to do? The bel, bell rang, and Emery left, with a warning glance. I rolled my eyes. Why was he akting like he was Blair atau something?

That hari at lunch, Emery and Jezreel didn't get their daily chance to invite me to their lunch meja (which failed also daily). Instead of sitting in my usual spot in the far back corner of the cafeteria, I went to eat outside, where the "druggies" were.

I admit that when I saw them there, I was actually kind of intimidated. Ok, really intimidated. I took a deep breath, and walked over to them. They gave me weird looks. One of them chuckled.

"It's the retard," one of the guys chuckled. "Aren't anda supposed to be in high school atau something?" I ignored the comment.

"I need something," I said, my voice shaking a little. The guy stopped laughing. They all looked at each other; their eyes suspicious.

"Like what," one girl said. My jantung beat picked up.

"Anything," I berkata quickly. "Just give me something to forget." The girl smiled.