She trembled as she took the bottle of her father’s sleeping pills and untwisted the cap. The bell rang for homeroom; there was a sea of khaki skirts and blue collared shirts as the girls scurried to their classes on the first day at St. Mary’s Academy. Skylar pulled up her white knee high socks and adjusted her wide frame glasses as she strolled into Room 221. As she scanned the room, girls immediately shot her glances of disapproval. Insecurity overcame her, as she sat near the back of the room. The heavyset homeroom teacher took attendance as every one of the 20 or so girls said “Here!” Girls with pin straight hair and perfectly manicured fingers gossiped about their vacation homes and the exotic places they went over the summer. As they sensed someone was listening in, the group of girls flashed eyes like daggers at Skylar. Skylar quickly looked away as she turned her attention to the window. The weightless leaves that parachuted to the grass captivated her.

Crisp leaves crumbled under her feet as brisk fall air chilled her cheeks. Her mother hummed as she raked the leaves into a pile that seemed massive. Skylar watched the leaves fall from the trees one by one, gracefully falling to the floor like twirling ballerinas. “Why do the leaves fall?” she inquired. Her mother gleamed as she smiled, paused and then said, “The leaves must fall and decay to create new life, just like when people die.” Skylar didn’t fully comprehend the statement, but she assumed it had more meaning that she realized. That was when Skylar was eleven. Her mother then died some time after. She took some in her hand, still shaking, and placed them in her mouth and swallowed.

Skylar avoided a pool of spilt apple juice as she made her way to the lunchroom. She sat with some acquaintances from her art class, since she didn’t know many people from different areas. Skylar looked over her shoulder to see the group of girls from her homeroom blabbing about what cars their father’s are going to get them for their birthdays. Skylar began to lean back on her chair as she was talking to her friend about their Spanish homework, eating her sandwich. Being the clumsy, awkward girl that she was, Skylar lost her balance and as she tried to catch herself, the sandwich flew out of her hand and hit one of the girls from her homeroom. The girl by the name of Amber had a look on her face of pure rage. Skylar bombarded her with apologies as Amber plucked lettuce out of her hair. Amber shrieked, “Are you kidding me! Do you know how much these extensions cost?” Skylar stood in bewilderment as Amber then took her water and dumped it on Skylar’s skirt innocently saying “Oops.” Skylar had tears in her eyes, as her eyes became heavier and heavier.

Skylar went to the bathroom and dabbed paper towels on her drenched skirt. She peered up to look at the mirror and thought how different she was from those girls. She didn’t have a vacation home, or get her nails or hair done, or wasn’t going to get an expensive car to drive for her birthday. Skylar’s father couldn’t even afford to pay for his daughter to go to school at St. Mary’s Academy, especially after her mother had passed. Skylar had worked for her education and received an academic scholarship; she was fortunate to be where she was. A couple of other girls came out of the stalls and started washing their hands. The one girl observed herself in the full-length mirror and commented, “My stomach is so fat” as she looked for complements from her friend. The other girl remarked, “Oh stop you are so skinny, if anything I’m fat.” As the two girls left the bathroom, Skylar was appalled to think of how self-absorbed some of these girls were. As her eyelids began to close she saw the last, lone leaf to descent from the branches of the bare tree.

From then on, Amber went out of her way to make Skylar’s life a living hell. It started with trifling rude comments and insults to derogatory remarks and public embarrassments. Skylar went on dealing with Amber and her posse, as she never realized how cruel girls could be for no good reason. It came to a point where she had no one to turn to. It was times like these where Skylar wished she had her mother.

The school days would drag on and every so often Amber would make commentaries and spread rumors, yet Skylar could withstand them. Girls in the hallway would stare at Skylar in disgust and whisper loud enough so that she could here. Skylar would just drop her head and walk away like she didn’t exist. She spent her days at lunch unaccompanied in the library. Skylar had a despairing cloud of depression that hung above her head that made her question her well-being. When Skylar was leaving her homeroom one morning, Amber came up from behind her and knocked the books out of her hands. Skylar just glared at her with blazing eyes that seemed as if they could burn a hole through a wall. Amber stingily uttered, “No one cares about you. Why don’t you just die?” Just as the leaf fell, so did she.