Westfield High School – 2007

It had always been this way. There’s The Newtons. What we call them. The people who didn’t fit in—and then there was The Elite, the students who matched the school’s unspoken social standards. That included me.

I joined the school two years ago and quickly became someone important because I was a cheerleader. It didn’t take long before I became captain.

The only thing that made me different from the other popular kids was that I actually had a heart. I didn’t show it very often because I had an image to maintain, but it was there.

I walked into the gym for our 3:15 p.m. practice and immediately heard laughter. A group of cheerleaders was gathered together, laughing at something—or rather, someone—but I couldn’t tell what. I frowned and made my way over to the group.