"Why are you trying to make everyone hate you?" Hannah asked quietly. "I know you don't know when to shut your mouth, but you're actually a nice person. Why make others think you're a jerk?"

Class was about to start and I sighed, looking over at Hannah. She didn't understand. No one understood that for people to take you seriously, you couldn't be nice.

"I don't care about what they think as long as they know I'm dead serious," I said. "And anyways, as long as the right people know I'm nice I'm happy."

"I'm worried Zoey. Everyone keeps giving you dirty looks."

It was true. Now instead of just staring at me, my peers would give me dirty looks. Some would mutter unpleasant words as I walked by too. I would ignore everyone, knowing they were irrelevant.

"It's fine Hannah." I tried to give her a reassuring smile, noticing how worried she looked. "As long as I don't react, they'll get bored of me. This will all blow over soon."

Hannah frowned and I knew I hadn't convinced her. Wanting to, I opened my mouth to say more, but suddenly our English teacher spoke. The class went silent as he began to teach.

Soon the lights went off and the projector went on. Today he was teaching us how to write compare and contrast essays, and as usual, he was teaching us with a PowerPoint. Like any other day, I grew bored.

I glanced over at Hannah and saw that she was focusing intently and sighed. It made me feel horrible because I knew I should be paying attention, but I just couldn't. Not when it was so boring.

So before I knew it my eyes slowly went to Axel. He was staring at the screen today, looking bored as well. I watched him and noticed that his hair was getting longer. The ends were curling slightly and I thought of how soft his chocolate hair must be.

Then shaking my head, I thought of how he had warned me the other day. It had been for a selfish motive, but still his words clung to me. They rolled around in my mind and sometimes I wondered if I should take him seriously. But then I would remember who he was and that I hated him, and soon I would forget his words.

But as I stared at Axel for what felt like an hour, I found my heart turning heavy when he didn't look at me once. His eyes stayed glued to the screen and watching him, I couldn't help but hope he'd glance at me. I hated myself for having such thoughts.

*****

I was walking through the hallways, heading to my locker. When I saw Hannah at my locker, I smiled and she smiled back. I picked up my pace to reach her, but I was suddenly blocked off by some guy. More guys then began to surround me and I stared at them, confused.

"Hey," said the first guy to block me. "Do you know me?"

"No," I answered, unable to recognize the tall, black haired boy. "Should I?"

"Of course." He smirked. "I should be in your dreams because, you know. I'll be the one to get the kiss from you."

I rolled my eyes, knowing I should have known this was their intention. Narrowing my eyes at him, I tried to come up with a witty remark.

"Jason," another guy said. "You're wrong. I'll be the one to get the kiss."

"No, I will!" Another boy exclaimed.

"No, I will!"

This went on for a minute as the ten boys that stood around me began to argue about who'd get the kiss from me. Anger boiled in my veins as I stood there, unable to believe that any of them thought I would kiss them. I had made it clear that I wouldn't be kissing anyone and clearly, they were too ignorant to care.

"Excuse me," I said, bringing their attentions back to me. "I won't be kissing any of you."

They all stared at me, looking slightly offended. But even after seeing those looks, I couldn't hold back from saying more.

"Why would I want to kiss you?" I asked. "You idiots are desperate to win the most idiotic game in the world."

A few of the guys eyes widened, but most of them hardened. They looked annoyed as they stared at me and I realized I really needed to put a muzzle on my big mouth. Too bad I was too angry to put it on now.

"So leave me alone," I finished. "God, I would never kiss any of you."

"You know what!" Jason snapped. "You're a prude and a bitch. You think you're all that but you're nothing but a loser. You do realize that, right?"

I rolled my eyes, not caring about his words. Although being called a prude and a bitch wasn't pleasant, I didn't care about how he thought of me. Not when he clearly didn't respect me.

I turned around, wanting to be away from the annoying guys. Walking off, I heard them sneering about me, calling me unpleasant names. I chose to ignore them as I went to Hannah who looked stricken.

When I reached her, she asked, "How do you take it? How do you stay so strong and confident?"

"I have morals that I prioritize," I answered. "No one can ever break me."

Her eyes softened as she shook her head. I knew she was wondering and most likely worrying about me, but I hoped she knew I was fine. I knew I would be fine, so there was nothing to worry about.

*****

I entered my house and called for my parents. They shouted back and because I heard their shouts in the direction of the kitchen, I went over to them. After my hectic week, I really needed a bit of peace and relaxation.

Once I entered the kitchen, I said, "Hey. How's everything?"

My mom turned around from where she stood and grinned. I smiled back and took in how beautiful she was. She was blonde and tall - just like me - but with curves and a round, beautiful face. I had a heart shaped face and my hair was wavy like my dad's brown hair, which was unlike my mom's straight hair.

My dad grinned at me from where he sat at the dining table. I went over to him and sat next to him, stretching out my body. I felt exhausted and it wasn't because of schoolwork. Instead my peers were draining my energy.

"It's good," my mom answered once I was settled. "Work is great. How's school?"

Staring at my mom, I wondered if I should tell her. If I should vent my anger towards this game, but I knew she would judge me. She'd be extremely angry about the fact that some boy stole my first kiss and soon there would be a huge issue that I didn't want to deal with. So, I simply grinned, hoping no one would notice I was stressed.

"It's great," I answered. "I love school."

"Ew. Nerd alert."

My eyes flew to the doorway and I saw my annoying brother, Luke enter the room. He held a soccer ball and headphones hung from his v-neck, and I smiled at him. I rarely saw him, even though he was a freshman in my school.

"Hey loser," I said. "Why are you home for once?"

"Adrian broke his leg." Luke rolled his eyes as if that was an annoying inconvenience. "Which means he can't see anyone for a month. Meaning, I'm stuck with you guys."

I pouted. "Poor baby."

Luke sauntered over to the fridge and threw the door open. I stared at him, taking in how he walked like Axel. They both held themselves high and took confident strides. I had a feeling it was because they were both popular and used to everyone's eyes on them.

Seeing that Luke was suddenly drinking out of the carton, I scowled. Shivers ran through me at the nasty sight.

"Ew!" I exclaimed. "Don't you realize other people drink orange juice too?"

Luke pulled the carton away and said, "Sure I know. But do I care? No."

He returned to drinking out of the carton and I glared at him, disgusted. But suddenly, my dad began to laugh and my eyes flew to him, surprised. His laugh was loud and genuine, and I wondered where it came from.

"You kids know I love you guys, right?" my dad said.

The both of us smiled at our dad. We knew that. Both my parents made sure we knew that. I had always loved them with all my heart because of that.

"We know Dad," Luke said, his eyes softening. "No need to get all mushy now."

"I can't help it." My dad grinned. "You guys are so kind and funny and perfect. I wonder what I did to deserve you guys."

My heart melted and I knew this was why I allowed myself to be hated at school. At home I had parents who loved me. They set values for me and I needed to follow them, even if my own grade hated me. That was why I acted the way I did. Not because I wanted to be a bitch, but because I wanted to make my parents proud.