‘....dark blue (dark blue) have you ever been alone in a crowded room...' this was exactly how I felt as I walked toward school while listening to "Dark Blue" by Jack's Mannequin on repeat, precisely for that line. I had the volume up to 10, and I was in pure bliss. For the moment, my sister, Adalyn, (don't even think about calling her Addy unless you are feeling immortal or want to die), was talking about something that happened to her last night. Fortunately, the music drowned her voice, but I could still hear snippets like "And he was like..." "And I was like, oh no she didn't!"

It was a terrifying thought, that my little sister was more popular than I was.

Adalyn was in seventh grade, well, was going to seventh grade since this was the first day of school. She had undulating, blonde hair and olive skin that she inherited from our Mother and a slender pose of a model, which she also inherited from our Mother. From Dad, she got her almond-shaped dark, chocolate-brown eyes.

She was dressed in an orange tank top with short denim shorts. If you looked at us, more than likely you would wonder why a beautiful girl like Adalyn was talking to a freak like me. Well, you would be wondering this because we are polar opposites. First off, my hair is black, jet-black and is stick-straight with bangs that I push to the side. Mother says I got it from my Grandpa on Dad's side, but how would I get hair from my Grandpa? He didn’t conceive me! She also calls my hair soft and silky, but I call it plain and boring. One day, my brain took a vacation and I tried to curl my hair. Five seconds after completing one curl, my hair went back to being straight.

To complete the freak look, I have creamy skin that makes me look like I have never seen the sun. Well, that might be stretching it a bit, but it’s the color of butter. I also have big, and I’m talking the size of golf balls big, eyes that change color. Most people might think that that's way cool, but it usually changes so that one eye is blue and one eye is green. So that makes it that when someone talks to you, they always end up staring at one of your eyes instead of both. Also, the big eyes make me look harmless and vulnerable, when really, I’m a black belt in karate and could kick your butt.

When we finally arrived at school, I almost gasped. They had done renovations over the summer and had done an amazing job. Our school had been separated into three buildings: the Lower School on the right, the Upper School in the middle, and the Middle School at the left. The buildings had been built from a snow-white bricks and in big black letters that were probably made from onyx, read 'THE UPPER SCHOOL ,' or whatever school you were in. I was in the upper school, since I was a sophomore in high school. "I’ll see you when we get home," I said to Adalyn, but she had already joined her group of popular friends that had been squealing "Adalyn!" ever since we arrived on school property. I assumed she didn’t hear me or notice the renovations.

Looking around, I saw everyone catching up with friends and some people desperately looking to find their friends. Nobody squealed " Kyle !” to get my attention. Jack ’s Mannequin got it right when they said, "Have you ever been alone in a crowded room…” That was how I was feeling now. So much was happening around me, and I wasn't part of it. To get away from the feeling that I was having and to get away from the noise, I walked inside the Upper School , where the halls were empty. Everyone tried to avoid getting inside school until the last, possible moment.

In case I haven't established this yet, I go to a rich-kid school. Everyone here buys their shoes from Marc Jacobs , everyone carries Chanel purses, and everyone has Luis Viotten book bags. Me? I don't have that stuff. Adalyn does, saying that they are "Super cute!", but I think she's just following the crowd. What happened to being yourself?

Also, the school looks the part. The stuck-up-rich-school part. The desks are imported from somewhere in Europe and are made from a very expensive material. They also have marble tables in the lunch line where they serve gourmet foods like caviar. In other words, this school is loaded. The bell rang just as I was passing our school's trophy case. Slowly, kids trickled in. To avoid the rush, I went ahead to locker number 395, my new locker, and put away my book bag and made my way to Homeroom. Something told me this would be a long day.