Almost Alive by Christina Barr

change into my gym clothes, which I didn’t care about.  I didn’t really want to play any sport, and since it was my first day of actually attending class, I figured I wouldn’t get marked down. 
                  There was one other girl in class who was sitting in the locker room on a bench not intending on changing.  She was…Dark.  She wore heavy eyeliner, her eyelashes were incredibly full and long, but her eyes were blue.  Her hair was black with a couple of dark purple streaks.  She was pale, but I think it was from makeup and not completely from getting a lack of sun.  She wore a dress like something a baby doll would almost wear, except she wore it with fishnets and boots that looked like they could crush the skulls of any grown man.  She also wore a lot of different accessories like skulls, crosses, and pentagrams.  I understood that kids wanted freedom to express themselves, but I didn’t think her fashion statement was completely in the school rules.
                  I felt compelled to stare at her.  If anyone had to be threatening to my soul, I would have guessed her, but perhaps it was wrong of me to judge.  I guess I felt something toward her like a familiarity, but it wasn’t anything negative.  Julian looked like a total freak, but he hunted demons.  Maybe the weird chick was also making a fashion statement and was completely innocent.
                  Her eyes suddenly zoomed in on me and I turned around.  I got the chills; but who wouldn’t have jumped and turned awkwardly?  I tried not to stare at her, but I wanted to.  I felt like she was always looking at me, but I didn’t wanna make things too awkward between us all.
                  The gym teacher did as predicted and let me get out of gym class without any sort of docking from my grade.  She also spared me the inconvenience of asking me why I didn’t show up to class the day prior.  I was glad I didn’t have to run a couple of running tests with the girls.  The only downside was that I was alone in the bleachers with the odd girl.
                  I got the impression that she was the type of girl who often skipped out on gym class and wouldn’t mind not speaking to anyone.  She had a black notebook that she kept writing in, so she knew how to keep herself busy, yet she would look up at me pretending not to stare every so often.  Eventually, she started scooting down the bench and then came down two rows to sit right next to me.  “So, I saw you talking to Julian.  Are you two a thing or whatever?”
                  “No.  Absolutely not!”  I had to catch myself after reacting so disgusted.  I tried to laugh it off.  “He’s not really my type.”
                  She shrugged.  “You’re not really his type either.”
                  “What is that supposed to mean?”  I’m not sure why I was so offended.  He said I was pretty and it was obvious he was attracted.  It was obvious that he liked to flirt a bit.
                  “I mean exactly what I said.  I’ve never seen him with a blonde and bubbly type before, but I can’t say that I’ve seen him with anyone for a while.  Maybe things have changed.”
                  “I’m not really bubbly.”  I felt a tiny bit defensive.  I knew I didn’t like Julian.  I was barely tolerating him, but I didn’t want to be picked on by a jealous ex or jealous friend who wanted to be his girlfriend or whatever she was.
                  “I’m sorry if I’ve offended you.”
                  “No.  You’re fine.”  It was dumb to care, because I didn’t care anything about Julian.
                  I was curious about the girl though and I peeked over to see what she was writing in her notebook, which was a bunch of notes of stuff I didn’t understand.  “What do you have going on there, if