Maxine hated Mondays. Then again, she hated every other day of the week as well. Although, Mondays were the days she could tolerate the least. Especially since Mondays interrupted her ‘laying-around-the-house’ routine on the weekends. Mondays dragged her back to highschool; to the hellhole filled with hooligans she didn’t want to be associated with. She could only tolerate a few students at her godforsaken school, and she could even consider a few friends. It wasn’t that Maxine was anti-social; her hatred towards the people around her came from their own actions and personalities, permanently ruining Maxine’s faith in humanity. The rest of the students and teachers, however, could go to hell for all Maxine cared for.

As Maxine glared up at the ceiling, her alarm clock thundered in her ear. I know what time it is and what day it is. I know I have to get up. Stupid shitty alarm clock won’t shut up either way, she grumbled to herself in silence, rubing her eyes harshly. When she lowered her hands away from her face, she turned her face to her window. It was still dark outside. Maxine shoved a pillow over her head, holding it tightly over her ears. Even if the alarm clock annoyed her, she did not have the physical or mental energy to get up and turn it off. She shot up in her bed, however, when she heard her mother shrieking at her across the hall.

“Maxine Elizabeth Lemmons, turn off that god awful alarm clock before you wake up the entire neighborhood. Some people in this house are trying to sleep, you know!” Her mother’s sleepy voice cracked as she yelled across the hall from her bedroom. Maxine let out a small groan as she leaned over to her bedside dresser. She slammed her fist against the off button and then flopped back down onto her rock hard mattress, covering her legs with her ancient coffee stained sheets. The prickly blonde hairs on her unshaven legs brushed against the cold sheets and caused her to squirm in discomfort. Her door swung open and she glanced up with half lidded eyes.

“Well, now we’re all up. Thanks, hun,” Her mother scoffed in her doorway, fastening her soft, maroon robe around her half naked body. She flipped on her light switch, earning a sharp hiss from the teenage girl. Maxine covered her head with her blankets while kicking her legs underneath. “Oh hush. I have more of a right to complain here. You’re the one who woke me up so early. I had another thirty minutes of beauty sleep that you felt the absolute need to ruin!”

Maxine chucked a purple pillow at the door where her mother stood, hoping to hit the woman square in the nose. It wouldn’t have hurt, but it would’ve been hilarious to have the talkative harlot finally shut her mouth. Maxine missed and hit her dresser instead. Maxine bit her lip to hold back cackles as her mother cried out in frustration.

“You’re impossible, Maxine! God! Hurry up and get ready for school.” Her mothers squawks disappeared down the hall, and Maxine sat up slowly on her mattress. She rubbed her eyes a bit too hard and arched her back to get rid of tension in her mid back. When she opened her eyes fully, her eyes refused to adjust to the newfound lighting of her once darkened bedroom. Mumbling an abundance of inappropriate words under her breath, she threw her legs over the side of her bed. The chilled air of her room hit her now uncovered legs and made her shiver. She leaned forward ignoring the tingly numbness filling her head. As a wave of dizziness hit her, she stood up and leaned against the wall near her bed. Throwing her head against the wall with a thump, she blew out air that pushed chunks of hair from out of her face.

Her mouth was dry and her lips were crusty. The urge to pick off the crusted skin from her lips became nearly unbearable. She ran a calloused finger over her bottom lip, feeling along the small cracks. She raised her hand to her cheek, cupping it slightly. Her cheek was frosty, which in turn made a small bit of her fill with pride. The less food she consumed, the colder she would be. Being cold was great. Cold means she wouldn’t be chubby and squishy.

Why would that be a bad thing anyway? She pushed away the thought immediately, succumbing to her mother’s teachings of skinniness is prettiness. She then grabbed a pair of baggy clothes from off of her dirty floor and staggered to the nearest bathroom. Flipping on the bathroom light, she stepped onto the warm, yet moist tiled floor. The stench of urine and vomit hit her and almost made her stumble backwards.

“You’d think,” She picked up a pair of dirty boxers off the ground with the tips of two of her fingers and held it away from herself, “they’d clean up after themselves by this point. They just expect me to be their maid all of the time.”

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She tossed the underwear into a basket under the cabinet and stepped over a puddle of urine. At least his aim is getting better. She placed an old, raggedy towel over the puddle and pressed it down with the balls of her feet. She dropped her clothes on the sink and stepped off the towel as she felt the cold pee soak through the material. Shoving the towel towards the basket of dirty clothes, she stripped herself of her pajamas.

The mirror ahead of her was much too smudged to get a good glance of herself in, but the purple blotches on her white skin stood out immensely. Her jeans were way too big for her, and probably weren’t even hers. However, that’s exactly what made the pair of jeans so appealing to her. She slipped the jeans around her legs and pulled over her bottom. She grabbed the sweater off the counter and examined it for a moment. The sweater was soft and faded shade of purple. In the middle of the sweater was a medium sized blue stripe with a noticeable coffee stain in the middle that Maxine rubbed her thumb against. No one will notice, and if they do, they can keep it to themselves.

After throwing on a pair of clothes, she grabbed a brush from the sink cabinet. Grimmincing uncomfortably, she ran the brush through her knotted hair. Clumps of her golden hair tangled with the bristles of the hair brush. She silently shamed herself for having such unkempt hair. Her toothbrush was in a small cup by the sink, and she grabbed it once she finished brushing her hair. The toothpaste was a pretty shade of mint green, and Maxine squeezed it on her toothbrush. She scrubbed her teeth intensely and then threw down her toothbrush. She picked up her clothes and put it in the clothes basket before ripping open the door and rushing out of the bathroom. Hurriedly putting on her black VANS from off of the living room, she rushed out the door.

“I love you, hunny! Have a great day,” Her mom called after her in a singsong voice. She was holding a mug of coffee in her hand and making sure not to cover up her noticeable cleavage above the top of her robe.

Maxine kept walking with a roll of her eyes. She popped in a pair of blue earbuds and pressed play on her phone. Glancing up at the sky, she held back a small groan as she saw the sun had started to rise. Orange, pink, and yellow bursts into the once black sky and she shielded her eyes from the newfound sunlight.

Her shoes thumped against the ground heavily and she lowered her gaze to the cement beneath her. Exhaling sharply as her chest constricted. The wind pressed against her body, almost causing her to fall backwards. The humidity in the air was making it nearly impossible to breathe, and was making her hair poof up. She let out a harsh cough as she gasped for air. Her body shivered against the wind and her breaths were long and drawn out.

Dread filled her as she saw the ginormous brick building. She muttered a curse under her breath as she heard the nearing of the meaningless and absurd shrieks of her peers. She pulled out her earbuds as she crossed the school parking lot to get to the front doors. Whistles and catcalls rang out behind her from football players, in turn causing her to cringe and scrunch up her nose. The unmistakable stench of body odor and unbrushed teeth filled the air, and Maxine was glad she took proper care of her own hygiene.

I wonder if they can smell fear on me though, She thought as she opened the front doors of the school. The doors led to the cafeteria area- which seemed more like an arena filled with picnic tables. The savages of the arena were seated in chaotic order, one in which Maxine could memorize. On the far right tables were the popular kids and stoners, and in the middle were the nerds and gamers. On the left of the room were the bullies and overall trouble-makers. Even though there were so many groups of many people, Maxine fit in none of them.

Maxine sat in the corner of the cafeteria with her backpack still swung over her shoulder. She hunched over and started to scroll through her phone in boredom. There was nothing interesting about her phone, she just didn’t want anyone to talk to her. She wanted to be alone.

“Good morning!” A high pitched voice of a female chirped above her, putting an unnecessary emphasis on the word ‘good’. Maxine didn’t have to lift her eyes to know who it was. The girl sat down next to her and leaned against her, placing her head onto Maxine’s shoulder.

“Mornin’,” Maxine leaned her head away slightly and stared intently down at her phone. She lined the large crack on her screen with her thumb and rolled her free shoulder. “Will you get off me, Minnie?”

“You oughta spend more time with me, you know,” The girl, Minnie, stuck her bottom lip out as she got off of Maxine. She huffed out a puff of air and crossed her arms. The way she looked currently reminded Maxine of a toddler.

“Why should I? I really don’t care that you’re moving,” Maxine glanced up at her with no visible emotion. The two girls both knew that wasn’t true. Minnie rolled her eyes and smiled a big, toothy grin.

Minnie poked Maxine’s nose affectionately, and Maxine swatted at her hand. Minnie furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side, “But I care! I’m going to miss you so much! We should go to the park after school.”

Maxine gazed off in the distance blankly and nodded. She didn’t know how she would get to the park because she didn’t have a car. She couldn’t drive, and she couldn’t ask her so-called parents to drive her. They’d both be at work. How would I even get to the park? Where is it? Is it within walking distance?

“I’ll drive you there,” Minnie chirped and Maxine focused her gaze back onto the girl. It was as if Minnie could read her mind. Quite frankly, it freaked Maxine out. Before Maxine could respond, the school bell rang and she was nearly trampled by the highschoolers around her. When the crowd finally left, she rose unsteadily and fastened her backpack around her shoulders. Minnie followed shortly behind her as she dragged herself to class.

Algebra for first period, Maxine stared at the security cameras as she passed them, fidgeting with the stolen money in her jean pocket. Whoever thought that would be a good idea, should rot in hell.