Just a couple more days before I'm off to Hell—

*Ahem*

I mean school.

But, do you know what that means? School shopping! It's one of the only things I enjoy when it comes to school. I love picking out pens, pencils, a new backpack... and I'm basically a slut for a good notebook.

While I wait to go shopping, I just do some sit-ups on my floor next to my bed. Casual stuff, you know? I feel like I need to look my absolute best, my healthiest, for school.

I would've formerly called this exercise something of a chore, but my mind has now changed. It feels worth the pain of my spine digging into the floor.

Suddenly, a knock sounds on my door and I immediately stop what I'm doing. Just in time, might I add.

"Hey Eve, are you– what are you doing on the floor?" Gerard asks, confused.

"Just discovering how comfortable floors can actually be, you know?" I'm slightly out of breath, but I manage to control it, letting my hair fall in front of my face to cover my cheeks that I can only imagine are flushed.

"No, I don't know. Get up, Loser, we're going shopping."

In the car on the way to the shops, I'm Not Okay (I Promise) comes on the radio. Gerard is so excited; hearing himself on the radio never gets old. That's what he says, at least.

"REMEMBER WHEN YOU BROKE YOUR FOOT FROM JUMPING OUT THE SECOND FLOOR- IM NOT OKAYYY—" This song is meant for screaming with the car windows rolled down— or, at least that's how I'm performing it.

"Okay, okay we're here!" Gerard yells over my scream-singing.

Target.

As soon as Gee turns off the engine, I hop out of the car and run into the store. I guess listening to that song pumped me up, unlike the last time I heard it, because I haven't been this hyper in a while.

"Slow down, Kiddo! What's the rush?" Gerard asks, catching up with me.

"I'm hyper!" I say, jumping up and down. "Can I get a backpack first?"

"Yeah, sure, if you know where to find them."

Unlike the mall, I know my way around here perfectly. I go straight to the back-to-school section and see a glittery black backpack. It's like love at first sight, which I don't even believe in, by the way.

"This one. This is the one." I say, grabbing the backpack and hugging it to my chest. When I pull it away, my black T-shirt is covered in sparkles, but I couldn't care less. "I feel like it matches my soul perfectly."

"What, black and glittery?" Gee laughs.

"Yes! Now let's go find some notebooks."

It was a successful shopping trip overall. I got an infinite supply of mechanical pencils (and not those cheap ones that break when you apply any pressure), cute animal shaped erasers because why not, a bunch of red and black notebooks, and also some boring school supplies.

When we're at the check-out, I think to grab about four packs of gum because it's always handy to have a stash of that at school. It's a great way to make friends too, you know. Just pull out a pack of gum and suddenly everyone loves you.

We lug all the stuff back to the car and climb back in.

"That was a short trip," I say, realizing we were only in there for about twenty minutes.

Gerard nods, "You're a good decision maker. I mean, you immediately knew that lion erasers were better than alpaca ones."

"I know what I like," I shrug.

"So, we can go to the mall and get you some new clothes for school?" He suggests as we leave the Target parking lot.

"I like that idea... but are you sure? I mean, a crap ton of school supplies was already pretty expensive..."

"Don't worry about it, Eve. Let's go, it'll be fun!"

Soon enough we're at the mall. I somehow remember my way to Hot Topic, taking the same route that Frank used when he literally dragged me there last time.

I know it's crazy, but I'm kind of hoping to see a flash of blue hair while we're in here.

• • •

Oh, Mondays. The day that everyone has deemed the worst. I couldn't agree more.

My alarm wakes me up at half past 6, which is much too early, startling me out of bed. I mean, I literally fall out of bed, landing in a heap on the floor. What a great way to start off my morning.

"You okay?" Gerard pokes his head into my room, trying not to laugh when he sees me in a mess of blankets on the floor.

"Uh, yeah. Are you? It's 6:30AM! How are you up!?"

"With great difficulty. Now, get dressed, I don't want my daughter to be late for her first day of school!"

I put on my black jeans and galaxy T-shirt, pairing the outfit with some black sneakers. Next, I go to my bathroom and put my hair up in a messy bun. It's not messy on purpose, though. I'm just hopeless when it comes to styling hair.

Finally, I decide to put a bit of makeup on after staring at my face for a few too many minutes. My face is so pale and plain looking. My eyes are just a boring greyish colour. I'm really nothing special.

"Here, I made you breakfast." About twenty minutes later I'm down in the kitchen after applying some black eyeliner. Gerard hands me a plate with bacon and eggs on it, looking proud, but his face changes when he looks at me. "No, no, no, Eve."

"What? It's just eyeliner."

"Oh, but... come on, I have a thing or two to teach you."

He drags me back to my bathroom upstairs and takes my eyeliner pencil off the counter. "Don't move," He orders.

And just like that, in less than thirty seconds, I have flawless looking eyeliner.

"How..?" I ask, almost awestruck.

He just shakes his head, laughing slightly, and we go back down to the kitchen.

Now, I haven't eaten breakfast in a while, but I'll do it today to make Gee happy. "Uh, thanks for the breakfast," I say, taking the plate from where he left it on the table.

I eat the eggs, which admittedly are pretty good, but I leave the bacon.

"Something wrong with it?" He asks me, looking at my not quite empty plate.

"Well... I guess I should confess that I don't actually like bacon. Never have." A complete lie.

"Okay then." Gerard says simply, taking it off my plate and eating it himself. Something I've learned since being here is that he doesn't particularly enjoy meat, but still wouldn't be caught dead letting it go to waste.

"Gee, we have to leave soon," I say when I notice the time.

"Yep, let's go— oh my God, I almost forgot!"

"What?"

He ignores my question and runs upstairs, mumbling, "How could I forget?" When he comes back, he's holding a little box. He hands it to me and I open it cautiously.

"A phone? You got me a phone! Holy crap, thanks so much!"

"No problem, Kiddo. I already put me and the guys' numbers in it."

I completely forget how nervous I was for school until we actually get there, but I put on a brave face for Gee, not wanting to worry him or anything.

"Here's some lunch money," He hands me a five dollar bill.

"Thanks, Gee." I say as I get out of the car. "Bye!"

"Have a great day, Kiddo! Call me if you need me."

No one pays attention to me when I enter the school and make my way to the office where there are copies of everyone's homerooms and schedules. When I get mine I look on the paper and see that I have to go to some Ms. Santiago's classroom, number 110.

I keep my head down, not making any eye contact on my walk to room 110. Still, the first thing I see when I get there is a girl in the corner talking to some guy. This girl has midnight blue hair.

My heart starts beating faster as I approach them. Surely it couldn't be...

"Emerald?" I ask tentatively. The girl stops talking to the guy and turns around.

"Hey, Hot Topic girl! Evelyn, right?" She smiles at me showing off a slightly crooked front tooth. I think it's cute.

I nod, smiling back at her.

"What a coincidence! Nathan, this is Evelyn. We met once at Hot Topic." She turns to me again, "This is my friend, Nathan."

The guy she was talking to, Nathan, looks up at me, flicking scraggly blond hair from his eyes, "Hey."

"What classes do you have?" Emerald asks me.

We end up having History and English together, and of course, we're in the same homeroom. Nathan and I have math together. I don't know what I think of him yet, though, considering he's only said one word to me so far.

"Alright, eighth grade! Settle down!" Ms. Santiago calls as she enters the room.

Everyone scrambles to find a seat. I take the one on Emerald's right side and Nathan sits on her left.

Let the day begin.

• • •