Chapter 1 of my teen fic

Chapter I

I sat alone on the cold, wooden bench, nibbling at my ham and cheese sandwich. A cold, wintry breeze blew over me and I pulled my jacket zipper higher and I couldn't feel my hands. Why did she have to do it? I would never understand why she did it.
I snapped out of my reverie as I heard my name being called. "Kristen? Kristen?" I stared up at the big brown eyes penetrating mine. "Can I sit with you?" Brooke didn't wait for an answer and simply plopped down next to me.
"Sure, of course." I replied numbly. That was how I felt all the time now - numb. Ever since my best friend just walked out on me, I wasn't sure what to do or feel.
It had always been Ashley and Kristen. We met in the second grade fighting over crayons. It seemed like such a long time ago. So much **** had been going on in past month. Eighth grade was supposed to be the last year of my childhood and I was ready to leave it with Ashley by my side. Now, it was November of my last year of middle school and I was all alone in the dark.
I had always lived in Ashley's shadow. She was beautiful, intelligent, funny, and charming. I don't know why she picked me, a plain girl, to be her best friend. But since I was her best friend, people had accepted me. Now, they ignored me and I lived in a boring routine everyday. Wake up. School. Homework. Sleep. The cycle had continued for almost a month now. I wasn't quite sure what ended my friendship with Ashley and I don't think that I will ever know.
Brooke was my second closest friend. Ashley despised her and vice versa. Since they were both my friends, they managed to get along together.
"What are you doing after school today?" Brooke inquired, trying to lighten up the mood. I had been in a deep depression ever since I lost Ashley to them. Brooke was always trying to do things to make me feel better and I greatly appreciated it.
"Going home," I replied in a dull tone.
Brooke looked down at her thermos. "Oh, I was wondering if you wanted to come over today."
"Sorry, my mom wants me home early today," I lied, feeling bad about lying to her. "Sorry," I reiterated.
"That's okay, I understand. Parents can be a pain in the you-know-where." Brooke never swore. She didn't even say "crap". The closest she ever came to swearing was saying "shoot". On the other hand, Ashley was a swearing menace. I mean, she swore so much, it was like a habit and after awhile you started to not notice it so much. Some kids swore because it was cool, but to Ashley, it was just nature. As for me, I only swore whenever I was pissed off or angry at something.
The sun was out yet it was still cold as hell. A dark shadow cast over the table. I peered up from my lunch and was surprised to see Mariana Sardinsky there. She was considered to be of the "in" crowd. She was nice enough for me and actually pretty smart. Her parents were super nice and let her hold parties occasionally at their house if no boys attended.
"Hey Kristen, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second." I froze. What could she want from me?
I managed to keep my cool and answered, "Sure." I tossed my unfinished sandwich into the brown paper bag and threw it into a nearby trash receptacle.
As soon as we were out of earshot from Brooke, Mariana told me about her upcoming party.
"This Friday, at 4:00, my house. There's gonna be this big party. Everyone's invited. Well, almost everyone. I'll drop off a note in your locker for more information." Mariana was bubbling with excitement. I was surprised she didn't explode.
"Um, sure. I'll be there. Is Brooke invited?" I asked gesturing over to Brooke who looked over at Mariana vexingly.
"Well," she hesitated, "it's only for, you know, the cooler people." Mariana explained.
I nodded. I guess she wasn't that nice after all. The bell rung and we went our separate ways and I caught up to Brooke.
"What was that all about?" Brooke asked, a little irate.
"Oh, that? Nothing. Mariana just wanted to invite me to a party on Friday." I answered casually.
"You're not going, are you?" Brooke laughed as if it were the most absurd thing on the planet.
"Well, I--"
I was truncated by Brooke's sudden outburst. "How could you even think about it, Kristen? I mean, I thought you hated those girls and their stupid parties!" She stormed off angrily.
Surprised, I stopped short and stared blankly after her shadowy figure. I did hate those girls - with a vengeance. Ashley was one of those girls; and she had abandoned me and our friendship. As of now, my only true friend was Brooke and she was mad at me. Why was I going to that party? Was it because I knew that Ashley was going to be there and that I could try and convince her to stop doing what she's doing? Was it because I yearned to be part of the "in" crowd?
Shaking my head to get rid of these thoughts, I rushed back into the school for fifth period. I got there two seconds late. Mr. Wysecki still marked me late and gave me detention. Not wanting to make a bigger fool out of myself then I already had, I quietly took the punishment and headed down the aisle to my seat. Ashley sat in the seat in front of me. It was a shame that our last names both started with "M". Before, in elementary school, when we were still friends, it was a gift from heaven. Staring straight ahead, she didn't even glance my way, and my eyes shifted to the ground as I slid into my seat.
I barely managed to keep my eyes open during Mr. Wysecki's monotonous lecture about stars. The bell rang loudly and I jumped in surprise. Quickly grabbing my bag off the ground I tried to leave the class as quickly as possible so as not to have an encounter with Ashley. However, much to my fear, a road block had formed in front of me and I couldn't get around unless I walked all the way around the back of the room and out the door. The girls were giggling over something that Ashley had just said. I cleared my throat, hoping that one of them would notice and move aside.
A short, blonde girl?-Lauren?-took note of my presence and started to question me. "What's wrong, Kristen?"
I was not stunned by her curtness like I was with Mariana. "Nothing, Lauren. Just trying to get through." I tried hard not to meet Ashley's piercing green eyes.
"Come on, guys. Let her through." Ashley was defending me. I was in pure astonishment. Several of the girls, including Lauren, turned to stare at Ashley in disbelief. Reluctantly, they stepped aside. I let out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks," I said, trying not to sound too grateful, yet not caustic either.
"Have a nice trip, see you in the fall," Ashley replied, her face distorted with hidden laughter.
I furrowed my brow trying to decode her cryptic message as I started to walk out of the room. Before I knew it, Ashley had stuck out her foot and I had fallen onto my knees with my books sprawled everywhere. The throng of girls laughed and every single one stepped over me and the last one slammed the door shut. Taking a deep breath and trying not to break down and start crying, I quickly gathered up my books and headed to my next class.
I opened my locker and tried to remember what I had for homework. Deciding that I wouldn't get any homework done tonight, I just grabbed my science notebook since we were had a test tomorrow
"Hey, Kristen," a soft, tentative voice said. I turned to find Artie Myers.
"Oh hey, Artie," I replied, not really paying attention to the dork.
"We still have to do that history project together," he started. "I already started some of it. I was wondering if you want to come over and we could work on it together." He looked really hopeful, his eyes shining bright.
"Um, sure, I guess we could." I answered reluctantly.
Artie didn't seem to notice. "Oh, fantastic! I had this brilliant idea of constructing the…" I sighed and decided that I officially hated my life.