The ringing bell signaled the end of the class period, and for Caitlin Landry it sounded like a blessing. Chemistry was her second-to-last class of the day and she hated every minute of it. Quizzes had just been returned, and she had scored an 81%. She was horrible at Chemistry, and this normally would have been a godsend, but her best friend and lab-partner Maureen had scored a 98%. Though Maureen, out of courtesy, didn't rub it in, Caitlin still felt a fair amount of jealousy. She was used to Maureen outdoing her in just about everything, but was still grateful for her friendship. They had been friends since grade school, and Caitlin really had no qualms about playing second (or even fourth) fiddle to her. They were in their final weeks of their junior year in high school, and concerns over Chemistry quizzes would soon be a thing of the past.

Jason Kline turned around to swap scores with Maureen. He had a crush on her, and wagered with her that if he scored higher on the quiz, she had to go out with him Friday. He was grinning smugly, but Maureen continued to load her school bag, casually pretending not to notice him.

"So I'll be picking you up at 7:00?" Jason said, grinning expectantly.

Maureen gave him a slight smile, and continued to pack up her things. "Confident?"

Jason smiled bigger and nodded. "Ninety-seven percent, baby. What do you got?"

Maureen had already slid her quiz into her bag. "Ninety-six. Pick me up at 6:30."

Caitlin shot Maureen a quick look which Maureen did not return as she continued chatting with Jason. "Now we see what it takes to get you to study. Maybe we'll make a higher stakes wager for the final," she said, tossing her bag over her shoulder. Jason laughed, then his eyes widened at the possibilities. Before the conversation could go on any further, Maureen nudged Caitlin toward the door, leaving Jason still gaping, barely managing a wave as the two girls left.

Maureen seemed to be blessed with everything. She had what most considered to be the best smile in the school, along with dark brown eyes and thick brown hair. She was a standout tennis and soccer player, and naturally had great–the highlight of her toned, 5'6" body. To top it off, she was an excellent student, not quite taking AP classes, but sticking to a few honors classes that would guarantee her ticket to a quality university. Maureen was well aware of her high spot in the school pecking order, and often used it to her advantage while being careful not to come across as bitchy or stuck-up. She was student council secretary, vice-president of honor society, and had been elected to homecoming court every year of high school. While she was friendly enough to everyone, she stuck to her inner group and enjoyed her status, knowing that it would eventually take her far in life.

Once they were well out of earshot of Jason, Caitlin whispered to Maureen, "Didn't you get a 98?"

Maureen grinned. "Yeah, but he's cute. Regardless, I figured it wouldn't hurt him to put in an extra effort. The guy's been averaging C's all quarter. This way we both win."

"Ugh, I think he's a scumbag," Caitlin replied, rolling her eyes.

"A cute scumbag," Maureen offered, smiling.

Caitlin shook her head in disgust, but before she could dig up more reasons to hate Jason, they were interrupted by Alexis who, as always, couldn't seem to contain her excitement. Alexis was an entirely different case than Maureen. From the very beginning, Alexis' attention deficit disorder and complete disinterest in all things academic made it obvious that she wouldn't be moving mountains with her intelligence. By the end of her fifth grade year, however, she had shed a large amount of baby fat only for it to slowly migrate to one centralized location in her upper torso. By the time she reached high school, she was not only sporting boobs on the upper end of Double D, but sported a derriere which had been dubbed by most of the student body as "un-fucking-believable." She stood 5'9" with bright blonde hair and green eyes. Her mother, the widowed owner of a real-estate company provided Alexis with the most expensive exercise equipment and beauty products available, and the only knowledge Alexis truly accrued was related to maintaining her looks. By age sixteen, Alexis had begun modeling in her spare time, but couldn't spell "moisturize" to save her life. While generally uncoordinated, Alexis' near limitless energy and spunk (not to mention incredible body) easily earned her a spot on the varsity cheerleading squad. She was generally nice to everyone, too dense to be cruel and lacking the grace to overtake Maureen in popularity, but her money and unbelievable looks kept her in the popular crowd.

"You'll never guess who asked me out!" Alexis gushed.

"Ben," Caitlin, replied without enthusiasm.

"YES!!! Alexis replied gripping Caitlin's shoulders and jumping up and down, setting her tube top in motion and getting the attention of every male within viewing distance. Caitlin flicked Alexis' hands off of her continued forward.

"I'm thrilled, and I'll be shocked if he can navigate his way to your house," Caitlin said dryly.

Maureen stepped in. "When?"

"In the gym. He came over and mumbled something about Friday." Alexis bit her lip and smiled. "It was so cute! He could barely talk!"

"Are you sure he asked you? He could have asked your boobs and you might just be tagging along for the ride."

Caitlin's venom was entirely lost on Alexis. "You know, come to think of it, he did seem awfully interested in my new sports bra. You think I should wear it Friday?"

Caitlin groaned. "I'll see you guys later," she said, and hastened toward her last class.

While Maureen and Alexis sincerely saw Caitlin as their friend, Caitlin always felt she got the raw end of the deal. She was neither as pretty nor as smart as Maureen nor was she anywhere near as drop dead gorgeous (or, thankfully, as dumb) as Alexis. She had light auburn hair and stood 5'4"with a respectable figure and an attractive face which she often caked in makeup. She was fairly athletic, and played on the JV girls basketball team and varsity soccer team, but wasn't really a standout in either. Her inferiority complex around Maureen and Alexis only fueled her caustic temperament and she quietly bore the stigma of being the "bitchy popular girl." This didn't bother her much, but many of her teachers resented her languid attitude in class. Maureen was thankful that Caitlin provided an outlet for her own occasional bitchiness, and Alexis was simply not bright enough to interpret Caitlin's cynicism as anything but hilarious. In spite of their differences, Caitlin valued Alexis and particularly Maureen as close friends

There was one class which Caitlin didn't particularly despise, and that was her Advanced Painting class. She had always enjoyed drawing, and looked forward to her art class at the end of the day. The instructor, Mr. Knightley often praised her work and encouraged her to submit her art to art shows and contests, but Caitlin would have none of it. Though she was proud of the fact that she was a talented artist, she was not proud of the company of students in the Advanced Painting class, which consisted of mostly goth kids and geeks which she neither wanted to compete with nor be associated with. Most of the kids who took art resented Mr. Knightley because he wouldn't let art class be an "easy A," and few students outside the artistically inclined took the second year class. She knew that at least appearance-wise, she didn't really have the look of an art-geek, but she wouldn't let that stop her from enjoying her one tolerable class period.

Most of the students were working on their final design projects for the course, and Mr. Knightley was doing little beyond coaching and advising. Caitlin had settled on a simple landscape with a few trees. While the picture itself was not particularly challenging, she had opted to use acrylics, which she had little experience with. Next to her, Nicole Ryder, one of the stars of the art department, was pouring herself into what appeared to be an armless zombie and an inside-out horse acting out some kind of violent hardcore pornography. Ordinarily, students weren't allowed to address such extreme subjects, but several statewide galleries had showcased Nicole's work, and she had earned a bit more freedom than other students. Nicole also had an alternative style to match her alternative works, sporting short, bright red cropped hair, a tattoo on her forearm, and more piercings than anyone could (or wanted to) count.

Mr. Knightley, a tall, bald man wearing cargo pants and an old t-shirt stopped at Caitlin's canvas and studied it carefully.

"You've done an excellent job with the sky, but you might try something different," he pointed out, with his head tilted to the side.

"It's a blue sky," Caitlin replied. "To my knowledge that's not uncommon."

Nicole chimed in. "I think he wants you to paint like you're not some afroed schmoe on public television."

"Don't you have a metal detector to set off?" Caitlin shot toward her.

Mr Knightley cleared his throat, clearing the air and sending Nicole back to her work. He leaned in to Caitlin and asked her to see him after class, before continuing to Nicole's canvas where Caitlin overheard him commenting on the color contrast of the kidney hanging out of the zombie to the blood spraying out of the horse's open throat wound. She shuddered at the imagery and returned to her own work, working quietly and diligently until the end of class.

After class Caitlin tried to sneak out the door, but Mr. Knightley called her out and she grudgingly headed over to his desk in the corner.
"This doesn't have anything to do with metalface does it?"

"Not really," Mr. Knightley replied, "But I would like to talk about your work."

"What about it?"

Mr. Knightley clasped hands together and put them to his mouth, a gesture which had become familiar to Caitlin and had grown to hate. "Caitlin, I've been watching your work for the past two years, and I must admit you are quite gifted. The piece you are working on right now, for example, is quite good, but I think you could do more."

"Is this about the sky? I can make it purple or orange or plaid if you want," Caitlin offered curtly.

"It's not about what I want. I don't feel like you are really choosing to express yourself. I feel that you have more to say but you aren't letting yourself say it."

"Are you saying that I'm not creative?"

"No." Knightley replied. "I know you're creative. I just think you are curbing your creativity. For example, your final project is a landscape of grass and trees. Granted, you are using acrylics, but an artist of your caliber could handle something much more challenging."

Caitlin had heard enough. "So you're saying that my art piece isn't 'A material.' Oh! Ok, well if you want me to draw a bull sodomizing the queen of England like tank girl over there, I'm sorry, I'm going to have to decline."

"You know what I mean Caitlin..."

"Sorry Mr. Knightley. I'm not a prozac psycho like your little prize students. I'll put a house on the grass if you want, but it's my final project and I'll do what I want." Caitlin headed toward the door, but then turned around quickly, shouting, "...and you can give me a fucking F minus for all I care!" With that she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

Caitlin rushed out of the studio nearly barreling through another student who happened to be entering at the exact same time. He muttered a few words of apology but Caitlin, livid with rage, had hardly noticed him. Art was one of the few classes where she actually felt half-decent about herself and now she was an underachiever there too? The whole episode had given her a headache. She briefly considered stopping by the convenience store for some aspirin, but decided she would rather head home as quickly as possible. She wanted to vent, but she knew that Alexis was at cheer practice and Maureen had an ASB meeting. Often she would stay after school and work in the art studio but this particular day she obviously wasn't in the mood for artistic expression, though she had to admit that at this particular time she could almost justify some of the gruesome shit that Nicole vented onto her canvas.

Heading back to her locker, Caitlin was doing her absolute best to avoid everyone she possibly could, dumping textbooks and binders into her backpack with little to no regard for what she actually needed. She had barely noticed the approach of Steve Rubins, the Soccer team captain. A prototypical sleazeball jock, he was searching for the soonest possible opportunity to get laid. Having already failed with Maureen and unwilling to compete with the all-state fullback on the football team for Alexis, he saw Caitlin as his best bet. Caitlin naturally knew of her place on the pecking order. Despite the fact that 90% of the female student body (and possibly 2.7% of the male student body) would have been glad to take him up on his offer, Caitlin hated Steve purely on the basis that she was his third choice.

"Hey sweetie, what's the hurry?"

Not in the mood to talk, Caitlin seethed some semblance of a reply through her teeth.

Steve grinned and flashed a look of mock sympathy. "Rough day?"

Caitlin, still fuming, was fumbling to zip her bag and get as far away from him as possible. It made her miserable enough that she was third on his list, a fact made all the more painful that she had a huge crush on him.

"Look hon. How about you and I…" He trailed off as Caitlin turned to look him in the eye with a queer look. It was a mixture of intense rage and something else he couldn't place. Caitlin, in the meantime thought she was going to tell him off, but was distracted at how powerful her crush was on him. The longer she stood there staring, the more awkward it would get, so she said the first thing that came to her head.

"Go blow yourself."


Her embarrassment from her encounter with Steve compounded with her irritation over Mr. Knightley's comments and sore spot from her comparatively poor score on the exam whirled through her head as she flung her bag into her car. Her mind raced around with rage and self-consciousness as she sped home. Throwing caution to the wind, she let her subconscious do the driving as she cursed her teachers, her classes, and even her friends. Why does Mr. Knightley love Nicole's work so much? How does Alexis get by so well having the IQ of a raccoon? Why does Maureen never EVER have any problems? Why doesn't anything good happen to ME!?!? She punctuated her last thought with a slam on the accelerator which sent her car screeching forward at a speed in violation of local speed laws. But Caitlin could care less about speed laws, and she also didn't have time to really care about the Nissan which pulled into the intersection. Caitlin's small sedan clipped the front of the vehicle, which sent her car spinning off the road. Luckily (?), her car was halted by the passenger side impact with a telephone pole. None of this mattered to Caitlin as her head slammed into driver's side window, rendering her instantly unconscious.