Kennedy is an average girl who does not want to be in the center of attention. She goes through different obstacles that make her journey complete. Chapter 1: Homecoming You need to go on the right path Kennedy. The words repeat itself like an old record that’s stuck on replay. Everyone expects me to be on my best behavior and exceed at everything. What if I don’t want to exceed, what if I want to be the quiet one that no one knows. What if I’m the outcast with friends who love me for me, not for my money? What if my mom never left us for a different life?

* * *

As I walk down the hallway of McHenry High School, I feel trapped. Lockers are lined up with their owner and their books are stacked in piles waiting to be used for another forty five minutes. The green walls seem endless like there’s no way out.
Seeing everyone in their cliques sickens me, the girls are being flirtatious and ready to strike at their next victim. High school seems overrated.
“Hey Kennedy! Wait up!” Rachel yelled as she was pushing people out of her way. Rachel is the prettiest girl I know. She has long curly hair. It has to be the perfect blonde that never gets old. Everyone doesn’t understand how we are friends because we are the same. People say opposites attract buts it’s the opposite. Rachel and I have been friends since 3rd grade and we have done everything together. Shes my twin sister at heart but sometimes she can get annoying.
“Hey Rachel, what’s up?” hoping she wouldn’t ask about homecoming.
“Are you going to Homecoming this year?” she said with the biggest smile on her face. I dreaded this for too long.
“I don’t know, it seems pointless” please don’t say anymore.
“What! You know you’re going to be the homecoming queen this year!” and there it is, the moment I’ve been waiting for, becoming the “queen.”

“That’s the point I don’t want to be the queen.”
I think I scared her a little because she jumped and her eyes went wide. But as the moment went on she calmed down and the marks in her face settled.
“Oh come on, it will be nice! You have been dreaming about this your whole life!”
“That was in 6th grade” I can’t believe she still remembered my “want to be” years.
“It won’t be that bad, I heard Jason was going to ask you!”
Jason Michael Scott, the star football player of Jacksonville, Missouri. Jason has the most bluish eyes anyone has seen, his dark brown hair flows just below the ears and his smile, his smile is the brightest and it’s what gets people’s attention. The girls are always around him trying to get his attention and the adults admire him and would never think poor little Jason would do such wrongs. I especially hate him. I know it’s bad to say you hate someone, but the way he acts just makes me angry and the way Jason treats his peers is disrespectful.
Last year, a boy named Ryan moved here from Texas, he had the strongest and different accent and everyone was fascinated with it. Jason did not like all the attention people gave him and he got way to jealous. He started shoving him in the hallways, and playing pranks on him, but things went too far. When Jason invited Ryan to a party, they got him drunk and it wasn’t a pretty sight. The football team took pictures of Ryan doing silly things and that’s when it went around the town, but of course the team didn’t get in trouble because everyone didn’t want the chance of losing state championships.
“So, are you going or not?” Rachel asked for the second time.
“I’ll think about it, but you know how I feel about Jason. He’s a complete jerk.”
“I know, I know, but you’re the star player for soccer, the class president, the best dancer… shall I go on? You guys are a perfect couple.”
“Hey ladies!” In walks in Allison Title, the captain of the cheer team. She has been jealous of me since middle school and I can’t stand her. Her hair is a complete replica of mine, dark brown with small waves hidden in the color. Allison’s eyes are a dark green and she is pale as a ghost. Today she is wearing a short skirt that looks like a hooker would wear and a baggy top. That style is not attractive.
“Oh hi Allison, how’s the school day treating you?” Rachel looked right at me as she said it, and right then and there I gave her the evil eye.
“Its treating me well, so Kennedy, I heard Jason was going to ask you to Homecoming, has he asked you yet?”
“Oh, um no, not yet anyway.”
“Mmm, well, see you later at the prep rally, ladies!” Allison said as she walked away toward the gym.
“I seriously forgot about the prep rally!” Jumped Rachel, who was now practically standing on top of me.
“I am not going.”
“Come on Kennedy, its senior year, the time where you involve yourself more to make memories with friends and teachers.”
Nope, not this year. This year I’m laying low, I’m tired of all of this “involving”, people what more than what I can give. I want to do things different this year and watch from the stands. I want to meet the people I see every day in the halls and get to know them. I want to be different.

* * *

“And there she is, my beautiful dance partner.” Jason said louder as he was leaning against my car.
“I’m not going to Homecoming with you, okay? Can you just get that through your big head?” I said back as strong as ever.
“That’s what you think, I will make you go, your mine.” He said as he walked closer to me.
“You really think you can make me? Ha, you can’t even throw the ball right unless you do your dose of your “special” medicine. And I’m not yours, I’m mine.” I really wish I hadn’t said that.
“What did you just say?” Jason yelled loudly and grabbed both of my arms with a big force while pushing me against my car making me groan in pain.
I hope someone is around, but I don’t think they would be. The school parking lot is full but silent; everyone is at the prep rally. All the students went when the clock stroked 3, and by the looks of it there was no escape. There was an Exit and an Enter and the parking lot was too big to run through and you were open but if I made it too the corn field, I could hide from him.
When I finally caught my breath, I fought back. It took most of strength to push him to the ground and get in my car to start it. I locked my car before he was to my door. He had this anger in his eyes that was so different from what I’ve seen; it was like he was a whole different person.
As I drove off, I looked back and he was gone, it was like he disappeared into thin air.
What did I do to deserve this? Jason had this sense of evil something I never felt or seen before. He told me I was his, but I never gave him any idea of us being together. I would always ignore him, but there was one time before I hated him. One special time…

* * *

When I heard footsteps coming down the stairs of my house, I tried to hide all the evidence of my crying for hours. Ever since I got home, I’ve been huddled up in my doorway between the garage and the kitchen, crying. The event that happened earlier frightens me every time I close my eyes. The image of him pushing me against my car won’t leave my head. As the footsteps got heavier, I sat up and took the tissues to the trash right when Trevor Hall walked in.
Trevor Hall is about the same age as me. He’s only 4 months older and for some reason, he’s wiser too. He comes to my house sometimes to help my dad with fixtures around the house. I only talked to him a couple times and sometimes we would go for a walk and every time I did I felt like myself again. Trevor does go to my school but I don’t see him around much, he’s usually in the art room, working on his paintings. He’s not all that buff, but enough to get by. His hair is the color of the light wood in our kitchen and long enough to cover his ears. When I look in his green eyes, I feel safe and secure like he will always protect me in away.
“Hey Kennedy, how was school? Did you go to that silly prep rally?”
“I, uh, I just came home right away, I saw no need to go.” I spoke as I tried to keep myself together.
“Is everything ok, you seem kind of spacey?”
“I, uh, I, I’m just exhausted that’s all.”
“Have you been crying?” I knew Trevor would notice.
“It’s nothing, really, just silly stuff at school that’s all.”
His eyes filled up with concern. He walked toward me and gently put his hand on my face wiping away tears. When he touched me, the shock of his hand raced up my back making me shiver. He smiled by the sight. Then he held m
“You know I’m always here to talk, right?”
As I close my eyes, I saw Jason again with his hands on my arms pushing me. When I opened my eyes Trevor’s head was tilted to the side with a curious expression on his face. That’s when my wall came shattering straight down.
“When I was walking to my car, Jason was there waiting for me. He told me that he would make me go to homecoming with him and that, I was his.” I hesitated for a moment before going on. “I told him that I wasn’t his and that he couldn’t throw a football without taking drugs, when I said that, he put push me hard against my car. His eyes were filled with evil” I cried into Trevor’s arms while he held me tightly.
“Shhh, it’s alright now….. You know, I have an idea, you should go to homecoming with me?”
I looked at him and thought for a moment what would people think, but then who cares, I would just be the real me.
“It sounds like the perfect idea to me.” I smiled widely and continued to cuddle with him, getting closer and laying my head on his chest. We stood like that for awhile, until my day came home.

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