There she was again.
Kyle spotted her a few lockers down, staring into space. The weirdo. She was dressed in black, as usual, and she had a silver skull earring in one ear. Her tattered black hair floated weirdly around her face. Her long black skirt touched the dingy school floor and made a shush whenever she moved.
Annie.
Kyle hated her. In the entire ninth grade, she was the only one who didn’t at least try to fit in. Nobody understood her. Even teachers cringed when she walked past. But she didn’t care. All she ever did was stare at people until they blushed or looked away. Or else she would mutter strange curses at people under her breath.
Kyle always made fun of her. Well, Kyle and his many friends. It was common knowledge that she believed in werewolves, and fairies, and all that other crap. And they sure made her pay for it. Yet, every single day, she would show up again in the same stupid outfit, sometimes with a lizard or a rat riding on her shoulder. The teachers never reprimanded her when she did, though. They were all too scared of her.
Kyle walked up to her now, and stuck his face into hers. She blinked at him, unperturbed. “What?” she asked irritably.
“Why do you believe in all that stuff? Do you really want werewolves to run around under the moon? Do you think your fairy friends will come save you when you’re in trouble?” he sneered at her.
Suddenly, Annie stuck her face even closer into Kyle’s. Her pupils changed, and they became vertical, like a cat’s. Her hair suddenly swirled to life about her face, writhing like snakes. Kyle quailed, and Annie smiled, revealing sharp fragile fangs where her incisors should be. She shoved Kyle, and he flew across the hallway. He hit the lockers on the opposite wall.
“You don’t know everything, Kyle.” Annie’s voice echoed unnaturally through the hallway. When Kyle opened his eyes to look at her, she had disappeared, but her voice still echoed through the school.