I stared at the ceiling. It was black and blank. No real design. Like me...I shook my head. I had to stop thinking like that. That was the whole reason I was like this. I constantly questioned my existence and why I was made like this. I sighed and looked over to my night stand. The clock read 2:53. I groaned softly and rolled over onto my side. Why couldn't I sleep? I sat up and got out of bed careful not to wake my sleeping puppy. I went down the hall into the living room silently and sat on the couch gazing out into the cold black world called Earth. People ran across the sidewalk even though it was near three in the morning. They didn't care. This was a run-down town called Celafane and they lived around the idea that the key to living longer was staying fit. They would run from three in the morning to noon. Then after a small break they would hold group workout sessions that went on until six at night. Then they had a sad meal of salad and water. It reminded me of a classic high school romance book when describing popular girls. I never participated in it. I ate burgers and bacon and drank soda and on the rare occasion lemonade.

I never participated in it for a reason. I was single-handedly the most bullied girl in the state...maybe the country. I hadn't had a real friend since back in kindergarten. I groaned and laid on the couch. I didn't have any social media accounts because I didn't see the point. I found it as a pointless way to just be stalked by some creepy online admirer. Not to mention many people do things they regret on the internet. I turned my head to stare at the darkness outside. I squinted my eyes and reached toward the table for my glasses. I could've sworn I saw a white, pale figure across the road just staring at my house. I grabbed my glasses and put them on looking back towards where the figure was...well should've been. It wasn't there. I guess I just imagined it since I haven't slept in a couple days.

The next thing I knew it was morning. I must've fallen asleep at some point. Groaning, I got up and made my way to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror I frowned. What did I see? I saw a girl...with plain, straight, black hair and big blue eyes. I saw a girl...with bruises faintly showing and her eyebrows weren't too thick but weren't too thin either. I saw a girl trying to make it...she wore big brown glasses and her hair went below her waist. Long enough to braid...or pull depending on the person. Personally, I saw a worthless girl. Despite her pretty features, her big blue eyes were dull as her lips mumbled the same words I did.

"Survive one more day Nelly...one more day."

I took a deep breath and took a nice hot shower before dressing in a simple garment. A light purple shirt with an extra big hoodie to cover up the bruises on my arm and to hide my hair. Also, a pair of brown pants and my black Converse shoes. I bit my lip before grabbing my book bag and running off to school not bothering with the bus because of the bullies. As I ran I could hear faint footsteps matching my pace. I stopped abruptly and spun around. Behind me was nothing...I furrowed my brows and turned back around running to school once again. Soon enough I reached school and slowed my pace. I made my way to my locker and opened it. I grabbed some books and stuffed them in my bag. Someone tried to slam my locker door but I moved my fingers just in time. Suddenly, I was against the lockers looking up into the cold brown eyes of Timothy. He snarled at me and lifted me up by my collar.

"Where's my homework Nerds?" he growled out.

I snorted. "The same place your brain is. The dumpster."

He glared at me and raised his fist punching me hard in my stomach. I groaned but didn't fight him as he punched me repeatedly. If I just let it be then he would get bored and leave. Soon enough he dropped me and kicked my bag away from me, its contents spilling onto the floor where people were more than grateful to stomp on them and 'accidentally' rip them into pieces. I sighed and crawled over to my papers slowly putting them back in my bag. I was called Nerds, not because I love the candy, but because I was the smartest kid in school. I already had all my homework for the next two weeks done early and I had already read ahead in all my classes so I would be ready for any pop quizzes or tests. The bell rang and everyone, except me, hurried off to their classes. I stayed picking my things up when a boy I didn't recognize came over and bent down to help pick up my things. I vaguely recalled that he was one of the four new kids that transferred here.

"Here.." he whispered and handed me my papers which I immediately stuffed in my bag.

I looked up and saw the other three students behind him and I rolled my eyes. "Thanks...I guess." I mumbled as I went to stand up ignoring the outstretched hand of the middle new kid.

"My name is Roy." the boy, who helped me pick my things up, said smiling softly.

I nodded and started to walk away when one of them grabbed my wrist staring at my face. "What happened?" he asked referring to the bruises on my face.

I shook my head and yanked my wrist from his grasp before running off to my first class. When I walked in I was immediately greeted by snickers and mumbles of the words 'Nerdy Nelly'. Even the teachers couldn't help but either call me Nerds or Nerdy Nelly. It was the name they'd heard so many times and honestly I was bored of it. Bullied by teachers and by students and the worst part was I didn't do anything to deserve this treatment. I did my best to stay away from everyone ever since the incident. I sat in the back away from everyone else. It was my assigned seat so it worked out. One of the new kids stumbled in late and mumbled an apology. His brown hair was swept off to one side and his piercing green eyes searched the room.

"Take a seat next to Ner-I mean Nelly." Mr. Bell pointed to me.

The kids frowned at the mistake and walked back to the empty desk beside me. He smiled softly at me. I ignored his raised hand not really wanting to shake it. He frowned and slowly lowered his hand mumbling something I couldn't hear. The kids around us were snickering but when they were met with the boy's glare they looked away and stopped whispering. Instead they wrote notes and passed them to each other.

"I'm Thomas." the boy said and gave me a reassuring smile.

"Nelly..." I mumbled.

He furrowed his brows. "What was that?"

I glared at him and saw him lose his cool for a moment. "Nelly." I said a bit louder.

He chuckled a bit. "Sorry about that Nelly..."

I shrugged and started writing down notes without looking at the board. I already had them memorized. It was amazing what a nerd like me could do. I noticed Thomas trying to look off my paper and I glared at him. He immediately backed off mumbling something rude. I rolled my eyes and went back to writing. Pretty soon the class was almost over so Mr. Bell started giving out the homework. I took mine and saw it was crumpled thanks to the person in front of me. Again, I rolled my eyes, smoothed it out, and started working on it. Thomas tried to peek off my paper and I put my hand up as a barricade. He laughed and the bell rang. Shoving everything into my bag, I ran out of the class before I could get tripped or hit.

"Wait! Nelly! I'll walk you to your next class!" a voice yelled.

I paused and looked behind me to see Thomas walking towards me. I ran away from Math as fast as I could as I ran towards my next class Chemistry. I made it in time and sat at my empty lab table. My partner had conned the teacher into sitting next to his friend. I did the projects by myself until today. One of the other new kids walked in. I grumbled something under my breath before looking away. The teacher just smiled and pointed out an empty seat next to me. This kid had white hair and icy blue eyes. His muscular build was impressive and everyone didn't dare look at him. He looked towards me and was met with a glare. There was a hint of surprise in his eyes before he held his hand up. I ignored the gesture to shake hands and looked away. He sighed and thumped the side of my head.

"OW!" I yelped which got a round of applause from the other students, "What'd you do that for?"

He shrugged. "You were being rude. Anyway, my name is-"

I cut him off. "I know. You're the guy who tried to help me up in the hall. You're name is Tyler."

He smiled a bit. "Glad you're not out of the loop Nelly."

"What?" I frowned. He didn't call me by my stupid nickname.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing...just you didn't call me Nerds or Nerdy Nelly."

"Why would I?"

"Everyone does it..."

He frowned and looked around the room glaring at everyone. I thought he was going to say something but Mrs. Callis started her Chemistry lesson. We did a small project with making goop that everyone did back in grade school. Mixing water, starch, glue, and food coloring to make a stretchy goop. Surprisingly, Tyler helped me with it all. I didn't think he would be smart with how muscular he was. Most jocks weren't smart which meant they bullied me into doing their homework. He was different. The bell rang and again I rushed out and away to my next class. I ran into Ms. Tals' Literature class and sat in the front this time. The empty seat next to me was again filled with a new student. This one was Roy. The one who helped me pick my things up in the hall.

"Long time no see Nelly." he smiled softly.

I nodded. "Yeah...I guess."

"How was your first two classes?"

"I had some of your little gang in each one."

He tensed when I said gang. "G-gang..."

"Yeah. I had Thomas in Math and Tyler in Chemistry."

He relaxed a bit. "And? Did they treat you nicely?"

"You could say that..."

Roy had short black hair and hazel eyes. He seemed kind but I knew he saw my bruises so I had to be careful.

"So, you never did tell me what happened."

I shrugged.

"Nels...what happened to you?"

"I ran into a pole...and don't call me Nels...it's Nelly."

He frowned and pulled my hood down revealing the bruises in clear light. "That's not from a pole."

I ignored him from then on out. I wasn't trying to draw attention to myself and that was the last thing I needed. I worked on the classwork while he tried his hardest to figure out what was wrong only to be met with my constant shrugging. The bell rang after what felt like hours. I packed my stuff up to find that Roy had my Chemistry notes. I tried to grab them back and he held them above his head. He was tall so I couldn't reach them. He smirked a bit and I glared at him. He ruffled my hair and I tried to fix it frowning.

"You'll get these back when we reach your next class."

"What?"

"I'm going to walk you to your next class and we're going to talk. Then you'll get your notes back."

I growled a bit. "Fine."

Together we walked down the hall getting stares from other people but Roy kept his cool and his stupid smirk stayed on his face. He had put my notes in his bag so I was forced to walk beside him.

"So Nelly...are you ready to tell me where you got those bruises?"

"I already told you...I walked in-"

He cut me off. "I know for a fact you didn't walk into a pole Nelly. Now...I hate liars. Why are you trying so hard to hide this?"

I shrugged.

"Not this game again...Nelly please..."

The next thing I knew I was on the floor. I looked up to see Timothy smirking. Roy seemed lost and his eyes widened in realization. I watched as he pushed Timothy to the floor and kicked him.

"How dare you trip a girl?!" he yelled kicking him repeatedly.

My eyes widened and I stumbled up. I quickly grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away. He stopped and looked at me with a glare. I glared back at him until he looked away. He mumbled an apology and we walked the rest of the way to my class in silence. Once we arrived there he looked at the ground. He grabbed my notes from his bag and handed them back to me mumbling an apology once more before walking off. I rolled my eyes and went into my next class. The last class before lunch. I sat at the back once more. This time there was no new student. I was glad for this, however, this also meant I was bombarded with Nerdy Nelly and spit balls. I groaned a bit and just put my head down waiting for the class to end. The worst part is, is that the teacher, Mr. Grebs, didn't do anything. He just watched the scene happen. I hated when teachers did that. The bell rang and I left immediately.