Melody

I walked into the art room and put my things down at my spot before turning to Ms. Foster. She was reading a book, but looked up when I walked in.

"Is it okay if I work on something other than my project?"

"Anything you want," Ms. Foster smiled.

I ripped a blank piece of paper out of my sketchbook and set it on the table. I grabbed some paint and water and set it down in front of me. My hand reached for the red paint and I didn't fight it. If I had a colour to describe what I was feeling, red would be it. I was angry. No, I was pissed. Seriously pissed, and I wasn't even sure why.

Red paint was smeared in different directions across the page. I added a little bit of orange and paused as I reached to the yellow.

The yellow reminded me of Rose's stupid hair and I pulled away from it. Stupid yellow. It reminded me of everyone with I knew blonde hair, and everyone with blonde hair I knew was stupid. Rose was stupid, the twins were stupid, and Margot and Mia were stupid. My dad was the most stupid for marrying the devil's mistress and bringing her evil spawn into our home.

I grabbed the black paint and added some in the corners, creeping towards the centre of the page. Everything was abstract and weird, and I didn't care.

Suddenly aware of my surroundings, I pushed the paper away from me and took a deep breath before looking at my teacher. She was still reading her book, but she looked too concentrated on it. I had a feeling she'd been watching me this entire time.

I looked back to my work and blushed. It definitely personified anger. I couldn't believe I was really that angry. I mean I had a right to dislike Rose, but not because she was talking to Carson. I was barely even friends with him.

"Can I see?" Ms. Foster's voice made me jump. I nodded sheepishly. She walked over and looked at it. She sucked in a breath as she stood beside me.

"I was just... fooling around. I don't know. I'll probably just throw it away or stuff it in my sketchbook when it's dry," I rambled quietly.

"Throw it away?! Melody this is amazing!" She exclaimed. In surprise, I looked up at her, analyzing her face for any give away of a lie. "Really! The emotions on here are so intense and raw. This is perfect!" I blushed and looked back at my painting. I guess it was more than just an angry mess.

"Thanks," I mumbled. I reached into my backpack and pulled out my water bottle.

"We'll let it dry up there," Ms. Foster said, tucking her pretty hair behind her ear before she picked it up and moved it to a counter by her desk. "I'm excited to see your project!" She added. I smiled at that. I liked coming to this room. I felt safe. Ms. Foster was so sweet and caring to her students. I felt better here than at home, and while that wasn't saying much, it meant a lot.

As Ms. Foster sat down at her desk, I took a few long swigs of water, letting it fill my stomach. I rested it on my table and my stomach suddenly grumbled in response. I shifted to get my project quickly, trying to pretend it didn't happen. My face heated but I took my pencil, hunched over my desk and focused on drawing. I snuck a glance over at Ms. Foster, who was back to reading her book, and was glad she didn't hear me.

The class started filing in after minutes filled with comfortable quiet. My desk mates all sat down, the blonde guy making eye contact with no one. I found out people called him Diesel, though I was sure that wasn't his name. I thought that was the oddest nickname but wasn't going to ask where it came from.

There were four other people at my table. One of them, was Alani's friend – the one with the red hair. Now that I sat closer, I noticed she had a shiny nose ring too. I finally remembered that her name was Emma. The girl next to her was Alice who had shorter cut, caramel coloured hair. She seemed nice and hard working. Then there was Julia and Ben, who I was positive were dating, but not a hundred percent sure as they seemed kind of off and on.

"Hey everyone!" Ms. Foster began. "Since it's Monday, and I know you're all tired, I'm going to give you a free period to be creative. If you want, you can work on your projects too. Whatever you want. Just don't get too wild."

Everyone began talking and moving around to get art supplies. The low hum of music began playing in the background of the classroom as Ms. Foster sat down at her desk.

I got up to grab some sponges to try a different colour of paint. Clumsily, I tripped on someone's backpack, which was thrown carefully on the ground and bumped into this girl with short blonde hair. She glared at me.

"Could you watch yourself Newbie?" She sneered. I blushed as the people at her table chuckled. Luckily, it didn't turn into a classroom show, yet.

"Sorry," I mumbled. I went over to the sponges and picked up three before heading back to my table. As I walked, that girl visibly shifted out of my way. I smiled sarcastically at her and went to my seat.

"Don't worry about Jennette; she always forgets to take the stick out of her ass before coming to school," a voice whispered. I glanced up and realized it was Emma who said it. I smiled at her in response.

About halfway through the class Ms. Foster left to go get something for the class after ours. I was three quarters of the way finished with the prints I was making for another outfit idea. Suddenly, I was pushed, and some brown paint poured down my shoulder and onto the table.

"Oops!" I heard a shrill voice exclaim. I glanced up and saw Jennette standing there. There was brown paint on my white sweater and she did it on purpose. I held my breath for a moment, not sure if I was going to snap at her or not. She folded her arms across her chest as if she dared me to do something. The whole class was staring at us now in anticipation. Not want to give them a show, I reached down and grabbed my book and backpack and then stood up.

"That's alright, accidents happen," I said bumping past her, making sure to get some of the brown paint on her shirt. An annoyed yell left her mouth, and it sounded quite animalistic. I ignored it and left the room and headed straight towards the bathroom.

As I stepped inside, Rose stood there as if she had expected my arrival. She smirked at me as she saw my appearance.

"Looks as if your sweater got an upgrade!" She cackled. I narrowed my eyes at her, finding my backbone. "Maybe that will teach you to stay away from Carson."

"Are you really that petty, that you told a friend to dump paint on me to teach me a lesson?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"No, that was part of a bigger plan. There's always a bigger plan." Rose smiled evilly.

At that moment, Summer stepped out of a stall holding a bucket water and threw it at me, soaking my hair and clothes. I hoped to God that came from the sink. The flash of a camera suddenly went off and Serena, who had been hiding behind a wall, handed the camera to Rose.

"Well, done team." Rose cooed to her friends.

They began walking out of the bathroom when Summer stopped beside me. "You're in for a treat tomorrow," She sang into my ear, making the other two girls laugh.

***

I was lucky enough to get home before Margot and Mia did. But unfortunately, Leslie was in the living room when I walked inside. She was dusting some of the furniture. Her blue eyes widened as she saw my messy state.

"My goodness Melody! What happened?" She asked. I was nervous about this, as any excuse that fit my soggy and paint covered state would be hard to come up with.

"Art class accident." I settled on. It didn't make too much sense, but it was good enough if she didn't read into it. Leslie smiled and nodded, and relief filled my chest.

"Well, you better go upstairs and get changed before you know who gets here," Leslie warned. She was all too aware of Margot's meanness. I nodded and darted up the stairs.

As I got to my room, I took off my sweater and sighed. After looking at it, it was easy to see that it was no good anymore. I threw it in the garbage and stripped the rest of my clothes off to take a shower. I stood in front of the mirror and sighed as I looked at myself.

I ran my fingers over my torso and wished I could feel more ribs and less fat. I raised my arms and watched as they jiggled. I wasn't pretty, and I looked large. Fat in every sense of the word. It was probably the reason why Rose and her friends had no problem picking on me. No matter how cute my clothes we, they couldn't hide my appearance. I bit my lip and got into the shower, trying to forget my thoughts.

***

The next morning, I woke up and decided to put really nice clothes on. I wasn't sure what Rose was planning but if it involved cameras again, at least I maybe I could look good enough that she would be too irritated to use it.

I pulled on a black floral chiffon bell sleeve mini dress and then a pair of strappy black stilettos. I looked at myself in the full-length mirror and noticed how much leg was showing in my dress. I shifted uncomfortably, unsure if I should change or not, but realized that the looseness of the material hid the rest of my body. Since I wasn't sure what could get dumped on me today, I stuffed a baggy sweater and a pair of leggings in my school bag.

After doing my makeup and leaving my hair straight, I grabbed a banana from the kitchen to eat on the way to school. I walked out the door and slammed it shut behind me. As I began walking to school, I started regretting choosing to wear heels a little, but I took comfort in the fact that they made my legs look better.

When I finally did get to school, I started walking towards my locker, but stopped as I saw what was posted along the walls and lockers. Pictures of me, soaking wet, and it had been photoshopped to look like I was walking out of a bathroom stall. Underneath my picture, it said "Rub-a-dub in the toilet tub."

Rolling my eyes, I wondered if Rose really thought people would buy into this nonsense. I ripped a few down and threw them in the recycling bin, before reaching my locker. I put my change of clothes in there and took out the books I needed.

"Hey look! It's Toilet Girl!" I heard a guy yell.

I sighed.

Here we go.

__________

Author's note:

Helloooo! Another day another chapter! I hope you like it, I feel big things coming for the next few chapters!! Let me know what you think in the comments and by voting (it means the world!) Also if you like this story, see Nothing's Fine! I'm working on a new chapter!!

Melody's outfit (at the end of the chapter) here:

(If you want to check out more outfits I've made on Polyvore - the link is in my bio hehe)