Anne

Anne ran until the burning in her side could no longer be ignored, and the world around her faded in and out- not in the good way it did when she slipped into her daydreams. Throwing her arms around a thin tree, she used it to stay upright as she gasped for air. Precious, precious life giving air.

    Had she really just hit Gavin Blythe over the head with her tablet? She, who had never had a tablet in her entire life, just broke an expensive electronic over a boy's head for referring to her hair color as... she clenched her eyes tightly and banished the thought. That cursed vegetable wasn't even allowed to enter her mind.

    "Oh, I'm in so much trouble," she said to no one but herself, but it was the kind of trouble that required a person to speak it out loud.

    If the teacher hadn't seen the incident, she might have been able to claim she dropped it, but surely, the Stewarts would receive a phone call about their delinquent new daughter. No one would get away with bashing a boy over the head, especially a former orphan, and when that boy was the son of the headmaster...

    Anne released the tree and clasped her hands over her mouth. She ought to run away. The Stewarts would find a way to send her back, adoption papers be damned, and when she left her old foster home with the Joneses, she promised herself the Stewarts would be her last family. If they didn't want her, she would leave because it wasn't worth risking getting stuck with another family like the Joneses.

Mrs. Jones was a miserable banshee, and Mr. Jones was an abusive alcoholic. How the two managed to stand each other long enough to procreate as often as they had was still a mystery to Anne, but then again, Anne supposed most things were still a mystery to her. Like how Gavin could stick up for her one moment while in the next he taunted her with his peers.

She sighed dramatically (as all sighs should be dramatic) and started back down the sidewalk at a more leisurely pace. The silver lining for the day could be that in her haste to escape her torment she made up for lost time and wouldn't be late getting back to the house.

    Anne knew her temper was a terrible thing, but controlling it was about as easy as controlling her daydreaming. Thankfully, it often passed as quickly as it came, though the anger was often replaced by shame. Her pointed chin jerked up. Not this time. Gavin deserved the thump over the head, and if he ever tried to speak to her, she would refuse to respond. He would be her enemy for life.

    She chewed on her thumbnail as she walked, pondering the wisdom of appointing the boy as her archnemesis. It might be in poor taste considering she ought to have a bosom friend before an enemy, and Gavin was popular. She wasn't blind to the way others flocked around him in the hallways and at lunch. One word from his perfectly formed lips, and she would never manage to rise above the level of orphan pariah.

    The harsh squeal of brakes drew Anne's attention to the bus stop ahead. A line of children piled down the steps, and even from this distance she thought she could smell the stale scent of fake leather and body odor. Until moving to Avon, public transportation was how she made it anywhere in the world, but she quite preferred to use her own two feet when possible. There was so much scope for the imagination wandering about in the open air. Somehow, fantasies just weren't as fantastical inside a school bus.

    The last girl leaving the bus was Anne's age, and she turned to wave at someone as the vehicle lumbered back into traffic. When she spun back around, her dark eyes lit upon Anne, and a bright grin sprawled across her face.

    "Hi," the girl exclaimed. "I'm Di Baker. I live next door to you."

    Anne tried to remember if she'd seen the girl before. It would be hard to forget someone as beautiful as Di. Hair dark as a raven's feathers. Matching eyes set above round, rosy cheeks, and lips the color of raspberries. She was all the things Anne wished for herself.

    "Why don't you go to Blythe Prep?" Anne asked. If the Bakers lived next door to the Stewarts, money wasn't a problem.

    "Oh, I went there until last year, and after they fired my favorite teacher, I told my parents I wasn't going back."

    "And they just let you quit?"

    "Hell, no. It took an entire summer of tears and fights, but I won in the end. Usually do. Anyway... what did you think of Hell Prep?"

    "Hell Prep?" Anne whispered the words in horror as visions of demons and fire filled her mind, pushing away her normal visions of enchanted woods and winter wonderlands.

    "Yes," Di said, falling in step with Anne as they walked to their homes. Her long, brown hair swung back and forth with every bouncing step she took. "It's literally hell on earth. The teachers are boring, and the only thing everyone cares about is who your daddy is. I got so tired of everyone crawling up my ass because my daddy represents the hottest talents in Hollywood."

    "Oh, that would be terrible."

    Di peered at Anne as if trying to determine if the other girl was genuine. When she slid her arm through Anne's, she felt as though she'd passed some sort of test.

    "So, come on. Spill."

    She thought about her day. While not pleasant, calling the entire experience hellish was a bit of an exaggeration. Not that Anne was against a bit of hyperbole every now and then but today did not merit the effort. Not when she had a perfectly juicy, factual story to share.

"Well, the teachers are a bit boring," she admitted. "But I usually find them to be boring. I was given the option to test out of most of my classes, but the idea of going to college at sixteen was too much for me."

"So, you're a sophomore? Me too!"

Anne flushed. "I'm a senior."

"Ah, well that's okay. I'm always looking for a good tutor. Meet any handsome boys?" Di asked, her voice rising at the end. "I will say the guys at Blythe Prep were wait hotter than my current school."

A bit of the anger from earlier returned. "I don't know about handsome, but I met one extremely irritating boy."

Di's eyes sparkled. They reached Anne's house, but didn't go inside. "Who? I bet I know him."

"Gavin Blythe."

"Oh, Anne," Di exclaimed. "Gavin is one of the nicest guys I know. You sure?"

She remembered how he'd circled her, dragging his eyes over her body, making her feel small and weak. Then, when he'd tugged on her hair...

"Yes, I'm sure. He and his despicable friend, Jodie-"

"Jodie Piedmont?" Anne shrugged. She wasn't sure of her last name. "That girl is total trash. She's been chasing after Gavin since she could walk, but she's not afraid to get on her back for someone else while she's waiting for him to notice her."

Anne threw her hands over her cheeks to feel the heat that rushed to the surface of her face. She wasn't well versed in the art of love herself, but she wasn't completely naive. A few of her foster parents had been more amorous than others, and she'd walked in on a swinger's party when she was fourteen. So, when Di mentioned Jodie getting on her back, she didn't need her vivid imagination to help her, but this was the first time in her life someone had discussed this type of thing so openly with her.

"Why, Anne you turn as red as your hair when you're embarrassed. Love it. It's, like, really refreshing. I think we're gonna be good friends. I'll talk to my mom about a sleepover soon, okay? I gotta go. Crap ton of homework to finish."

And just like that Di Baker darted up her driveway and disappeared, leaving Anne with the same feeling from earlier. Everything was changing, and now it didn't look like it would be all bad. The bosom friend she'd longed for had materialized as if by magic. And she knew that's what Di Baker was going to be. The girl was a kindred spirit despite the obvious differences between them in temperament and looks.

"Anne girl, are you coming inside?"

    She jumped at the sound of her new mother's voice. Mary Stewart looked and sounded much harsher than she really was, but she'd proved patient with Anne's tendencies to drift away. With a little shake, she scurried inside, her mind already whirling with the possibilities of new friendship.

    And, she reminded herself, new enemies.