Verge of Insanity

Chapter One

Mara Leigh

I knew why I was picked on. I wasn't usual by teenage standards.

Everyone else in my grade was 18 except for me. I was a 17 year old senior. Everyone I knew had at least one friend they could talk to, and I was always alone. The girls in my grade were experienced in relationships, yet I'd only ever had one boyfriend, and he'd just stayed three days.

Even my looks didn't measure up. My long dirty blond hair wasn't at all impressive. My mouth wasn't pouty and plump, my chest wasn't big, and I wasn't model thin.

So I knew why I got teased. And I didn't really care. I just learned to expect it and deal with it.

The only thing I could honestly say I liked about myself was my eyes. The bright blue-green irises and the dark black lashes framing my eyes gave me a sense of pride. Something had to.

Just a few more months until it's over.... I thought, pulling into my usual parking place, at the very end of the lot.

Grover High wasn't a big school. But friends tended to park as close as they could to each other and the entrance to the school, which left me alone at the end.

At least I had a cool car.

My parents are never at home, which is probably why they felt the need to try to buy my love.

But I get the house to myself and a shiny black Mustang, so I'm not complaining.

I'd barely gotten to the end of the parking lot when I heard the snide voice of Ella Barton.

"Mara Leigh."

I kept walking, pretending like I hadn't heard her. But she wouldn't be ignored.

"Mara Leigh!" She raised her voice this time, demanding my attention. I didn't understand how such a pretty voice could be so evil.

This time I stopped and turned around. If she got any louder she'd have the whole parking lot's attention. I didn't need that.

Ella looked me up and down. "It's a shame you can't dress yourself better. For such a smart girl, you're so naïve in style."

I just rolled my eyes and kept walking. I didn't dress like a slut like her and most of the other girls in Grover. I liked my style. Work boots, fitted jeans, and a lace sleeveless shirt was my attire today, but it wasn't that different from every other day.

All four of my classes sucked. In AP Calculus first block, The jerk behind me kept pulling my hair while we worked on book problems and I couldn't concentrate. Second block AP English was blessedly quiet, and that's how I knew third block was going to be bad.

And bad it was. Anatomy was my favorite class, except for the fact that Ella Barton and Beau Crawford were in the same block as me. So while cleaning the fascia off the cats we were dissecting, Ella and her group kept looking over at my table and chucking wet paper towels at me. I just hoped that it was wet with water and not cat juice.

While I could manage to ignore Ella and her friends, Beau was someone I couldn't ignore. Not because he was mean to me or picked on me, because honestly he didn't even seem to notice me. But I couldn't ignore how hot he was.

I didn't normally think about guys as hot, maybe as cute, but never as hot. It was just too cliche of a word for me. But as hard as I tried to think of a better word to describe Beau Crawford, I couldn't.

As I worked at removing the fascia and dodging paper towel missles I snuck glances at where he sat in front of me. Mrs. Williams had allowed me a cat to myself as she had a couple extra and everyone else already had groups of three. I was lucky enough to have Beau sit in front of me which had turned out to be both a blessing and a curse, since I couldn't stop looking at him.

It was so hard not to stare at the way his dark hair moved as he laughed at his friends, and how tight his shirts always were. I had to force myself not to look for too long, or Ella would probably see me and cause chaos. She hated me enough without catching me ogling the guy she liked.

I had just managed to clear the fascia from the cats forearm when I felt a warm body close behind me.

"Mara Leigh?"

I jumped at the voice, dropping my scapel onto the tray. Oh my God. It's Beau! He knows my name! I thought, blushing immediately at my dorky reaction.

I turned my head to the side a little to glance at him and ended up staring at his chest. I quickly turned back to the tray and picked up the scapel to hide my blush. Dang he's tall....

"Yes?" I managed to answer.

Beau gave a chuckle. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just had a question, and I know you're good at anatomy."

What do I do, what do I do? I tried a smile and failed. "Okay," I said, knowing that was as good as it'd get.

He took the scapel from my hand, his gloved hand brushing mine in the process and sending a tingle through my fingertips.

"This muscle right here," he pointed to the lowest arm muscle. "Do you know what it's called? I can't find it in the book anywhere."

I fought through my shock that this super hot guy was talking to me and had even gotten my name right.

"Um, that's the extensor carpi ulnaris," I took the scapel back and used it to outline the muscle, ignoring the way our hands brushed again.

"Wow," he said quietly. "You're really good at this stuff. I wish I was your partner. The guys in my group just want to sit there and talk. We don't get anything done."

Oh my... did he just say that? I think he did. Oh my....

"Well, there's a seat open," I joked, gesturing at the seat beside me.

"Really?" Beau looked me in the eye.

Well, there goes my train of thought.

"Yeah, if you want." I'd just been joking, but he wasn't.

"Hey, Mrs. Williams!" he called across the room, getting everyone's attention, including Ella's. "Is it okay if I switch partners and be Mara's partner?"

I pinched myself on the hand behind my back to see if I was dreaming.

One look at Ella's face told me I was going to wish I was. She was pissed.

Of course Mrs. Williams was fine with the switch, and after getting some confused looks from our classmates and whines from his old partners, Beau took his seat beside of me where he stayed for the rest of class, asking questions and making me a ball of nervousness.

After Anatomy I had lunch, again with Ella and Beau. They sat at a table together, Ella all over Beau, with the other popular kids.

I, on the other hand, sat at what everyone else called the Lonely Bar. It was a long bar across one wall with stools under it that kids like me who had no friends sat at for lunch.

Not ten minutes through lunch I was tapped on the shoulder. I spun around to see who it was and a cold liquid poured down my front.

"You need to learn your place, nerd!" Ella's shrill voice called out as she walked away, tossing the empty milk carton behind her to my feet.

Great, I thought, now I get to smell like spoiled milk through fourth block.

I lived too far in the boonies of Grover to go home to change. Why did people have to be so mean? One day, I vowed, she will leave me alone.

Fourth block was the worst of all, as it was Agriculture and I had to be outside in the heat with my milky shirt. Beau was also in that class with me, and everytime I'd glance at him he was looking at me with wide eyes. So I didn't even get to ogle him, which made my day even worse.

When the bell to go home finally rang I walked as fast as I could without running to my car and jumped in before anything else could happen. As hard as I fought them, tears rolled down my face as I pulled out of the parking lot and turned onto the highway that would lead home.