Catalina's POV

After the last bell rang that day, Scarlett offered me a ride back home but I refused because I didn't want to risk getting caught by my mom as I got out of a stranger's car. That'd probably be the last time I'd go to school or go out at all. She would start off by carrying me to school every morning while holding my hand. It's a terrifying thought that I'd rather have stay that way.

As I entered our apartment I heard my parents openly argue about something they would never mention if I was around so I figured they hadn't realised that I just entered the house since they continued arguing non stop. "You know I can't let you do that" I could hear my father say. "You don't get it! No matter how much it might hurt your ego you have to know that even while you were working abroad I didn't sit home and wait for money to come. Do you remember those times when you couldn't meet up with the deadline in which you had promised to send the money because you had been stranded? How do you think we survived then, huh? I don't want to be a full time housewife and you know that!"

Since I didn't want them to suspect me of overhearing almost more than half their conversation I then opened the door again and this time I made sure to leave a loud bang behind as I closed it. Then I slowly walked towards our kitchen as I gradually took my bag off my shoulder. "Afternoon!" I said, just as I closed the kitchen door behind me.

I was in a situation where it felt like my parents were trying to protect me at all cost, a situation where they acted like everything was alright even though it wasn't, a situation where I wasn't supposed to feel like an outcast in the midst of my peers.

"Oh! You're back?" A nod was all I gave in response as I watched my mom trying to use the famous gesture 'eye contact' to tell my father something.

"Umm... well I'm going to drop my things in my room" As I walked out of the kitchen I could already hear some whispers even though I couldn't really identify what they were saying but I could guess what it was about.

Just as I returned to the kitchen to have dinner with my parents, they exchanged this tormenting look again and I simply couldn't get a hang of it.

"So... how was school... today?" It was my father. He asked how my day went.  It was then I finally grasped what they might have been whispering about after I left the kitchen.

My father, the way I knew him, would never ask something like that. I grew to understand my father this way-  As long as the wife is okay with the child I'm okay with okay with it too. But if the wife should chastise the child for doing something wrong, then I will chastise the child too. In other words he only associated himself with me if my mom requested him to.

"Okay... I guess?" I answered. My father stole a glance at my mom looking to see if she was satisfied with what he had done. It was like he had a gun pointed at his neck and any wrong movement would be the end of him, so the more assignments he completed correctly  the higher his chances of survival were.

"Did you make any new friends?" Scarlett! I thought, but... "No." And for me that was the end of that discussion, I really hoped he wouldn't ask any more forced out questions.

Fortunately for me my father read my mind at that moment and stopped asking questions. But then my mom continued from where he stopped. "That can't be it, right?" She looked at my father before continuing...  "Something exciting must have happened in school today." 

'Other than the fact that today was my first... No nothing special' I thought but obviously didn't have enough courage to say that out loud.

"Nothing happened. But this morning I found out that the bus arrives a lot earlier than it should" I saw mom's eyes immediately widen in shock, before saying... "What!? Then how did you get to school? Don't tell me you were late on your first day"

It's always this phrase 'The first impression matters' but after a day at Armstrong highschool I might as well throw this particular phrase out of the window, because it seemed like everyone had already constructed their own idea of me.

They appear to know nothing about the saying... 'Don't judge a book by it's cover' but who am I kidding? We all do this all the time even without realising.

"I didn't arrive late to school, someone who also attends the school saw me at the bus stop and offered me a ride" I could tell by her reaction that she wasn't very fond  about what had happened.

"Okay, look Catalina today was an exception and I know this won't happen again, but please be careful around these kids. The things I've heard about them surely aren't the best, but they keep getting covered up by their empowered parents. But one thing you should know is that they won't be able to drag you down if you put effort in what you're doing. Don't look at them thinking they're better than you because they live in mansions that were built with blood money. You might have noticed that they're all surprised to see someone who is not from the same origin as them to be going to a school like that, but you've proven that you don't need to be from the same background to have the same opportunities as they do. So even if you don't have friends now don't worry about that, the only thing you should worry about is your studies. Friends come with time and no one wants to be friends with a loser, so strain yourself"

And after that prolonged speech from my mom I was long done with my meal. I decided to go back to my room and arrange the things I wasn't able to arrange since we moved in. As I began arranging, things that happened that day started replaying in my head. And it just didn't seem to add up.

But that wasn't my main problem. The main problem was that I had to choose between keeping Scarlett as a friend for the rest of the school year till I eventually find other friends or immediately cut her off and try to befriend myself with people who might not even want me.

The more I repeated these options in my head, the more the option of sticking with Scarlett for the rest of this school year stood out to me. I mean, we're only going to see eachother at school, right? Nothing about that could possibly go wrong.

Was what I kept telling myself. It's not like I'm using her. We're going to act like acquaintances. Nothing about that could possibly go wrong.

After that very colourful day, I made myself ready for bed.

The next morning I woke and did almost the same thing I do every morning which is allowing my mom strain her voice trying to wake me up and then taking a shower after that I went to the kitchen and stood there till my mom was done scolding me. And last but not least those 5 remaining minutes which I would normally take for granted on a normal ground are now the 5 remaining minutes in which I accomplish things I'd need hours for.

„I'm going!" I said as I bid goodbye. After what happened with Scarlett yesterday I couldn't help but be more sensitive about the things and people around me. Most of all because I'm living in "Tacoma" now there are a lot of things I'll have to learn.

Entering the bus I wished the driver a good morning, but got no response other than "Ticket?" and with that statement I quickly grabbed my ticket showed the driver and took my seat. But I was sitting in this uncomfortable atmosphere. It's this type of feeling you get when you're being tickled, feeling cold or experiencing strong emotions such as fear or euphoria.

It felt like sitting in between a group of people you knew didn't want you anywhere near them. I bet there are thousands of words out there that could describe that feeling best but I felt like an outcast, misfit, castaway and hated for no particular reason.

Then I started to compare my ride to school on my first day at Armstrong highschool with the one I'm having with the school bus. The emotions I felt sitting in the same car with Scarlett didn't differentiate themselves from the ones I feel sitting in a bus full of teenagers all around my age.

But Scarlett didn't make me feel unwanted or undesired but due to the massive difference in our life standards I did feel a bit like I didn't belong there. Immediately after we reached I noticed how everyone started rushing out of the bus as if a fire broke out.

I noticed that majority of the students had already ran out, I saw my chance and took it, but accidentally bumped into someone. "Hey! Watch it!" I was about apologising when... "Jeez... Jade! What's with the attitude?" A stranger I supposed had a special relation with the so called Jade, spoke out.

They had this typical trio relationship in which one was the leader and the other two were the followers, but I couldn't really put together who was the leader between Jade and the friend who scolded her. There was this other girl who seemed to cling unto Jade as if her life depended on it. They walked so fast away from me that I could barely make out what they were being so hectical about.