"Miss Williams. Late on your first day."

Diana swallowed hard to keep from rolling her eyes. Teachers were so predictable. So cliche. Yes, she was late. Yes, it was the first day of school. Did he think she didn't know that?

"Sorry Sir, it won't happen again," Diana mumbled, keeping her eyes level with the floor. The teacher, who Diana had often seen around school but didn't know his name, let out an exasperated sigh before motioning for her to get seated.

Diana almost felt sorry for him. She couldn't imagine what it was like to spend your adulthood in high school. She couldn't for the life of her understand why anyone would ever want to be a teacher, a high school teacher at that. As far as Diana was concerned, once she was done with high school. She was done.

The teacher had begun teaching again and for the first time since entering the classroom, Diana raised her head up to get a quick glance.

She had taken the free seat towards the back of the classroom right next to the window. It was advantageous for a number of reasons: it let her remain invisible and also allowed her to stare out into nature whenever she got bored with class.

As Diana glanced around, she noticed that her English class was mostly filled with seniors like herself. Diana recognized most of them. After all, she had been going to school with the same set of people practically since kindergarten. It was a small town.

Diana was about to look away, beginning to stare idly out of the window when she caught sight of the familiar blonde hair tied up in a tight ponytail.

Julia.

There had once been a time when school had been bearable for Diana. Once there was a time when she didn't mind as much the difficulties she faced in her home life. Life was a lot easier when you had someone to share your struggles with. And Diana had someone; she had Julia. Keyword: had.

At that moment Julia looked up, making brief eye contact with Diana who looked away in a split-second. She opened her notebook and began pretending she was taking notes. But in reality, she was drawing small doodles in the margins and her mind was not at all on the lesson before her.

Once upon a time, Julia had been her best friend. They were inseparable. She was the person who Diana always went to, she could tell her anything. A heavy feeling formed in Diana's chest and she gulped as she thought back to the painful memories that she often kept repressed.

She had fallen for Julia. This was when she had first known that she was into girls. For the longest time, Diana had thought it was just an admiration, until she had grown older and been able to completely understand her feelings. So she told her. It had seemed like the right thing to do at the time. The most logical thing, actually. After all, they were best friends; they told each other everything. That was a big mistake.

"Mr Arthur, could you tell me why you're arriving half an hour late?"

Diana's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the teacher's voice. She looked up to see Stefan standing in the class entrance. He had a lopsided grin on his face.

"Um, because I didn't feel like coming," Stefan drawled, which earned giggles from other girls in the class. Diana rolled her eyes, not in the slightest bit amused.

"Just take a seat," the teacher grumbled before turning back to the whiteboard.

Diana watched as Stefan made his way over to where Julia was sitting. She watched as he sunk into the seat next to her and threw his arm over her shoulder.

Diana watched unblinkingly for a few seconds as memories resurfaced in her head. Memories of Sophomore year and getting taunted in the hallways every day when the story of her little crush on Julia spread around the entire school. It was the loneliest she felt. It was that year that Julia had become a cheerleader, and she had taken up photography.

That was the year their friendship had ended. They had gone on separate paths. Julia had gone on to become the popular girl, dating the jocks and being invited to all the parties. Diana had gone on to be a loner and an outcast.

Even though the bullying and rumors had calmed down by Junior year, the situation had not really changed much. Nothing was really unchanging in her life. All that had happened was that Diana had grown used to the lonesomeness of it all. She had come to understand her situation; she had gotten her heart broken for the first time.

That was just how it was.

Diana ripped her eyes away from her former best friend, focusing instead on what the teacher was saying in an attempt to ignore the hollow feeling inside her.

Lunch break could not come round soon enough. Whilst everyone headed towards the school cafeteria, Diana made her way towards the Art room, a small smile growing on her face. This was her solace. The only place in the entire school that she felt safe, that she felt most herself.

She knew that the protein bar she had for breakfast wouldn't hold her till the school day was through, but Diana would much rather spend time in the Art room than to be in a room full of the very same people that had made her high-school experience miserable. Even if it meant her going hungry.

By the time she arrived in the Art room, a huge smile was spread across Diana's face. It was empty, and the distinct smell of paint instantly filled her lungs.

Diana wasted no time in grabbing a canvas and some paintbrushes and settling down at the corner of the room. She began painting. She didn't know what she was painting. She didn't care either. She painted for the way that it made her free, the temporary stillness it brought her. It was like a pause in the chaotic events that constituted her life.

Nobody ever came into the Art room during lunch break. So of course, Diana was surprised when the Art room door suddenly flew open. She looked up abruptly, causing paint to spill all over herself. Diana didn't have time to gape at the mess the paint had made over her plain shirt as she was too caught up in the sight before her.

Alex Perez.

Everyone knew Alex Perez. She was arguably the most popular person at school. She wasn't just popular at her high school, but basically the whole town knew her. She was the high-school women's soccer team captain and had been since her sophomore year. She was just that good.

But Diana was not struck by this alone. Rather, Alex was making out with some random girl, snogging her face aggressively. Neither of them had noticed Diana in the room sitting there awkwardly; paintbrush in hand, big paint blob on her shirt, unsure of what to do.

Diana was in shock. The entire sequence of events seemed to have happened too fast for her brain to process. However, she was instantly slapped out of the shock the moment she saw Alex's arm begin to reach down the other girls' pants.

Diana cleared her throat loudly.

The girls had broken apart, both of them looking at Diana in surprise. The other girl, Diana could not recall her name, was red with embarrassment, but not Alex. Alex looked unbothered with a smug look resting on her face.

"Funny, I thought this room was empty," Alex said, breaking the silence that was resting uncomfortably in the room.

"Well..." Diana replied, raising her brow slightly, "it's not."

"Um, I'll see you around Alex," the other girl murmured quickly before making her way out of the room.

Diana found herself wishing that she had never left, as Alex was now approaching her. The same smug look from before, still apparent on her face.

Diana continued her painting, pretending not to notice the presence of the girl now standing directly behind her, watching her paint. Her efforts were futile as she was too self-conscious to concentrate, but rather, hyper aware of the warm breaths down her neck.

"Do you mind? Ever heard of personal space?" Diana snapped. She turned around to look at Alex but was instantly thrown off guard by just how close the other girl was standing behind her. It was close enough that Diana could see each individual strand of her dark wavy hair falling into her eyes and the light freckles on her nose.

Diana cleared her throat to get her attention, but Alex continued inspecting her painting, unbothered.

"I can't seem to figure out what it is you're painting," Alex now said, cocking her head to the side slightly.

Diana snuck a glance at her work. She couldn't tell what she was painting either, but she wasn't going to admit it out loud. "Do you mind?"

Alex ignored her question, as if she wasn't even there.

"You are actually extremely talented," Alex said.

This sudden compliment left a strange feeling in Diana, and she definitely was not appreciative of the fact Alex was still practically breathing down her throat.

"Yo, could you back the fuck up?" Diana exclaimed, letting the irritation seep through in her voice.

That got Alex's attention. "Could you relax? You don't have to be so uptight."

Diana thought to respond, but Alex was already walking away. She was content to see the other girl leaving.

"You better not spend your whole time cooped up in here," Alex said as she retreated to the door. "It'd be a waste of your senior year."

"Oh? How do you suggest I spend it?" Diana asked, sarcasm clear in her voice. "Making out with every girl I come in contact with?" The bitterness was clear in that last statement. It was so apparent that even Alex paused in her tracks, her back still turned to Diana.

As much as Diana might not have wanted to admit it, she was bitter. Alex was able to express her sexuality as much as she liked, and nobody cared, because she was "popular". Whereas she had gotten teased to the point, she had basically gone back into the closet.

For a moment, Diana thought Alex would respond. She thought that she would turn around a snap at her, or worse yet, beat her up. Diana knew that the wavy-haired girl had gotten into quite a few fights in her days, and each time she had come out victorious. A nervousness settled within Diana. Her heart rate picked up slightly, fearing what Alex was going to say.

"Whatever," Alex finally mumbled before walking out of the Art Room, slamming the door loudly behind her.

It was then, right after she had let out a low sigh of relief, that Diana came to realize that was the first conversation she had ever had with Alex Perez.