The first week of school flashed by, much to Diana's delight. She was already feeling like she had been back there for months. Nothing was really different from how the last school year had been. It was mostly just her off on her own. Nobody really interacted with her. Diana didn't mind that much, because the few times people did interact with her, she usually ended up wishing they hadn't.

Diana was alone. But she was used to it. She had learnt to accept it, to settle.

Unlike her peers, who were stressed about SATs and college applications, Diana was in a pretty good place. She had spent most of the Summer working on her Art portfolio and had sent it off already to Forcades Art School, which was a small art college a couple of hours from town.

Going off to Art School was amongst the few things keeping Diana sane. She'd have a new start then, she'd be able to leave everything behind. God knew how much Diana needed a clean slate in a new environment. Away from all the bullshit from the past few years.

Back in her bedroom, Diana lay on her bed, staring up at her ceiling. It was black, peeling at the ends, decorated with stars that glowed in the dark. She had painted it a couple of months ago. She knew her parents wouldn't approve of the color, but then again, her parents didn't come into her room, so that wasn't something she had to deal with.

At that moment Diana heard the front door opening downstairs, signaling that her mother had come home. Tyler was with her as she picked him up from school most days.

Diana rose from her bed, throwing on slippers before making her way downstairs. She was responsible for Tyler while he was home. Her mother was responsible for driving him to and from school. Sure enough, the division of labor wasn't exactly equal, but Diana didn't mind. Unlike most teenagers, she actually enjoyed spending time with her younger brother. After all, the time she spent with him was probably the most social interaction she got.

"Hey Ty, how was school?" Diana asked, appearing in the corridor leading to the kitchen. She made her way over to the kitchen as Tyler trailed behind her, describing the activities of his first week of third grade to her.

Diana nodded appropriately as she warmed up food for him. She was glad to hear that he was enjoying school. Her heart warmed just listening to him talk about all his friends. Just seeing him happy was enough for her.

Diana settled a plate of pasta in front of Tyler, who was sitting in anticipation at the kitchen table and he instantly dug in. Settling down opposite from him, Diana smiled slightly as she watched her brother devour his food hungrily.

"Slow down, you'd choke," Diana said, noticing how he had basically stuffed three spoonfuls of pasta in his mouth in direct succession.

"Never," Tyler simply replied, not slowing down his eating in the slightest.

Diana rolled her eyes, but a small smile played on her lips.

"By the way, where's mum?" Diana asked after a moment of just watching Tyler gulp down his food hungrily.

"In her room." Tyler had a mouthful of half-chewed pasta, causing Diana to squeeze her face in disgust. Tyler just responded with a cheeky smile and opened his mouth wider.

"You're disgusting."

Tyler laughed in response to this. "Thanks for dinner," he said after a few more minutes, standing up with his empty bowl in his hand.

"Don't worry, I've got it," Diana interjected, taking the bowl from his hand, "you should go do your homework."

I should go do my homework too, Diana thought to herself. She had homework she had been putting off for some time.

Tyler nodded his head obediently and ran from the kitchen as Diana made her way over to the sink. She was halfway through the dishes when she heard a door opening. As Diana guessed, it was her mother emerging from her room. Her bedroom was on the opposite side of the house, hence why Diana had not bumped into her earlier on. As she heard the footsteps approaching, Diana couldn't help wishing that she wouldn't have to deal with her at all. She didn't think she was up to strained, empty conversations.

"Did you give Tyler dinner?"

That was the first question her mother asked once she appeared in the kitchen doorway.

"Yes," Diana replied, "he's done eating and gone off to do homework."

Her mother nodded, making her way further into the kitchen, and Diana turned back to the dishes she was doing.

"So, how's school going?"

Diana felt herself cringe inside. She was hoping her mother would just leave or not say anything at all. She'd rather deal with awkward silence than strained conversation.

"Good," Diana lied, turning slightly to look at her mom.

Her mom responded by nodding her head, and Diana couldn't stop herself from noticing just how identical they were. Her mom's hair was currently in short braids, but she had the same 4c mass of hair that she did. Their bone structures were also completely identical. She was essentially just a younger carbon copy of her mom.

"How are college applications going?" her mom asked; her back was turned to her as she was brewing tea in the adjacent corner.

"Um," Diana began, a little confused, "I sent my portfolio to Forcades Art School, so now I'm just waiting to hear back."

"Art school?"

Instantly Diana felt the blood drain from her. Confusion had taken over her. She knew that her mom was completely out of touch when it came to her and didn't know what happened in her day-to-day life. But surely, she knew about art school. Going to Forcades Art School had been the plan basically since she was in elementary school.

"Yeah, art school," Diana replied, laughing awkwardly. "We've talked about this..." Her voice trailed off. Diana knew what was coming before it even happened.

"You think your father and I are going to pay thousands of dollars for you to go to art school?"

There it was. Diana's throat went dry, and she blinked furiously at her mother.

"But we've talked about this," Diana hated her whiney her voice came out, but there was nothing she could do about it, "I've always wanted to go to art school."

Her mother snorted in reply. "Is that what you plan to do with your life? Art?" Her voice was filled with spite. It was a strange form of anger that Diana could not comprehend for the life of her. The glass bowl she had been holding in her hand had slipped out, shattering in the sink. But Diana wasn't focused on that. She barely even noticed the sharp sound it made as it fell to pieces.

"Mom..." Diana said, in one last desperate attempt. "Please..." She knew her parents had the money. They could easily pay for her to go to Art School. What really mattered was if they cared enough to do so. They didn't.

"We'd talk about this when your father gets back from his business trip," her mom replied, turning her back to her once again.

All of a sudden, Diana felt like she was crashing. She felt like her life was falling to pieces on the floor all around her. There was nothing she could do to stop it. She silently walked out of the kitchen, fighting within herself to keep the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes at bay.

It wasn't until she got to the safety of her room that she let herself come undone.

The bus ride to school the following week felt even gloomier than usual. It was bad enough that Diana was literally the only senior that still took the school bus to school, but the news from the previous weekend was still hanging heavy in her heart.

She wasn't going to art school. She knew now her parents wouldn't agree to pay for it. That was her dream since forever. That was the plan for as long as she could remember. But suddenly, that was gone. Snatched away from her.

Diana leaned her head against the glass window as the chatter from the others on the bus filled her ears. She knew that she needed to get away somehow. She needed to get away from this town, no matter what it took. Diana decided she needed to get a job. She needed money of her own. There was no way she'd be able to get away with the measly allowance her mom gave her once a month.

As the bus pulled nearer to her high school, Diana's mood only seemed to dampen. She knew she shouldn't be feeling sorry for herself. It was a waste of time and Diana knew that she would not get anything out from doing so, so she never did. Yet, she couldn't help it. She found herself reminiscing, she found herself thinking back to Julia. Usually she would have come to her, told her everything that was happening, what she was feeling. After all, Julia was probably the only other person who understood Diana's passion for art. Diana pushed this longing to the back of her mind. She needed to accept the fact that Julia just wasn't her 'person' anymore. Their relationship was dead.

Diana remained lost in her thoughts and sombre mood when the bus arrived at school, and even as she walked into her first-period maths class. She took her seat towards the back, at the window, and waited for the maths teacher (who she had learnt to be Mr Gary) to arrive in the classroom.

All around her, different students came in, talking amongst themselves. As usual, they ignored her. Nobody paid her any attention. Diana didn't mind that. It was moments like these that she enjoyed being invisible.

Diana watched from the corner of her eyes as Julia walked into the classroom. She was dressed in her cheerleading uniform, showing off her long, pale legs. Stefan was beside her, with his arm slung over her shoulder, whispering into her ear. Diana watched as Julia giggled at something he said.

"Okay, class," Mr Gary announced as he walked into the classroom with a stack of books underneath his arms, "we are going to be starting on statistics this weekend-"

Mr Gary was interrupted mid-sentence when the classroom door opened up and in walked Alex Perez. She had her hands tucked lazily in her pockets and her dark hair was swept to the side of her face.

"Perez, I'm surprised to see you here," Mr Gary said.

"Yes Sir, I um, switched out of my history class, I'd be taking this class instead," Alex replied, handing him a sheet of paper.

Mr Gary inspected it for a moment before nodding his head. "I'm glad to have you in my class then. I'm looking forward to this soccer season, I hope it's a good one."

Alex grinned in reply, and Diana rolled her eyes. Of course, it was going to be a good season. It always was. They had Alex freaking Perez on their team. But unlike basically everyone else at school, Diana didn't care for sports. She didn't even care for their Women's soccer team, which was talked about practically all over the country. Most of all, she didn't care for Alex Perez.

Diana got a flashback to their brief encounter the previous week and found herself feeling bad. She had been rude to her when there was absolutely no need to. Diana got over this feeling in a few moments, however. Alex Perez was basically a fucking celebrity. She would not be affected by a nobody like herself being rude to her. She'd be fine.

Turning her head to face the window, Diana went back to feeling sorry for herself.