Graffiti Girl // Michael Clifford

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Sick of the system, don't wanna hear it. It's not a secret, that I'm just a reject!

«Rejects» 5 Seconds of Summer

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"Should it be a solid green or a flag design over the continent?" I ask Arabella. I'm just finishing up a new design that I want to start working on today, but want to show Arabella to get her take on the idea first.

"I say a solid color so it contrasts with the chaotic center image," she ponders aloud, looking over the sketch.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. So green? I was just thinking it would represent the wholeness and healthy ideal of the country while the underlying reality is so broken and combustible."

"No, yeah, I like it. Maybe you should expand the shell image to the globe instead of just Australia. I think it would capture the idea of how everyone, not just one people, are creating this mess under the world we imagined now becoming so much more."

"Okay, I like that! Let's do it!" I yell excitedly, raising my hand to high five my best friend.

I think the design has turned out really cool, in the end. Hopefully it turns out as cool against concrete as it does on paper.

"Okay, now that we are done with that, let's get this math homework done before the period is over. I really don't want to have to do it tonight," I grumble, turning the sheet in my notebook to start the assignment written on the board. R laughs, leaning back in her seat doing the same.

"You make me laugh. Most girls who spend their free time in an abandoned building aren't exactly concerned about school."

I chuckle lightly at her and roll my eyes, looking down at my paper to start my work. This is a recurring conversation, so I answer the same way I do every time she brings it up.

"I guess I like to defy stereotypes."

"Right," she laughs before she hunches back over the desk and begins her work as well. At least she's doing it. I know it is mostly because I refuse to ditch--most of the time, at least--and insist on at least doing my work. I'm not the straight A student, but I got A's and B's with maybe one C per semester.

And what I said was true; I don't go by stereotypes. I'm none of them, anyways. Or you can argue I am a lot of them, I guess. I don't really know, and I don't really care either. I guess not caring is a stereotype in itself... If so, then fine. I'm the girl who doesn't care what anyone thought and just does whatever makes her happy.

Then again, that is a total lie. I do care what people think, so I just do the things that make me happy without people knowing. I guess I'm that stereotype then; the girl that hides who she is for fear of being judged. But at the same time... I mean yes, I do hide certain attributes of myself so that I don't have to deal with what certain people think about certain things, but it's more about self-preservation. They shouldn't care about what makes me happy or who I really am, but they would, so I just keep it to myself because it's easier that way.

Is that a stereotype then? I don't even know. I'm confusing myself. These days, everything is a stereotype so that there is no more sense of individuality because whoever you are, you are trying be something else.

"Hey, Andi. Do you get number three?" R whispers to me.

I laugh and look over to her. "You're on three? Babe, I'm on seventeen."

She giggles and shoves my shoulder with hers. "Shut up and help me."

"Fine." I reach over and start explaining the problem to her. Once I finish and show her the end result, she stares at it for a moment before looking up to me with her 'innocent eyes', obviously not understanding what the hell just happened. She holds my gaze for a second before she starts laughing uncontrollably. It takes a millisecond before I join her.