For Nevermore Season 1

your questionable wardrobe of funeral attire, is that you let life happen. Girls ain’t gonna pick on you if you do something to change it.”
    “Yeah, whatever,” Noella said. “What do you know about what I’ve gotta put up with?”
    “Oh, right,” Randy sarcastically nodded. “What do I know? I’m just a deputy. What would I know about handling violent people? Take the bus, and learn to stand up for yourself. Otherwise bullies are gonna be pushing you around forever. Mark my words, Missy.”
    Missy ... another one of the things he said which had a way of crawling under her skin and burrowing into her brain.
    “Fine, I’ll take the bus,” Noella said to the biggest bully she knew.
    It was just as well. The girls on the bus were cruel, but at least the trip was short. Going to school with frizzy hair and feeling funky was not an option. She’d rather put up with a few minutes of catty crap than feel like crap all day. Besides, the girls on the bus were in the minor leagues when it came to her list of enemies. Her real enemies were far too popular to ever be caught dead on the bus. They either took new cars their parents got them, or rode with their boyfriends (in cars bought by the his parents). So maybe the bus wasn’t as bad as she remembered.
    “Well then, I’m outta here,” Randy said. “Remember, if you kill one of the girls, I’ll have to arrest you, but I promise you won’t get grounded at home. So try and keep it to fists and hair pulling, eh?” Randy winked, then disappeared down the stairs and out the front door.
    Noella rolled her eyes and shut her door, his Old Spice still lingering in her nostrils.

    **

    Noella showered and then texted Mako to let her know she would be joining her on the bus today. They didn’t get to see much of each other this year, since they only shared one class, so that would be cool. Noella checked in on Josie long enough to see her shape buried under the covers, and then raced from the house. The morning air was crisp and cold. Dark clouds hung over the street as if they’d been waiting for her to step outside.
    God, it better not rain... or snow.
    She considered going back inside to get her umbrella, but sometimes the bus liked to come early, so she locked the door instead. She turned around and stopped cold, surprised to see an extra long green and yellow moving truck blocking the house across the street, the one that had been vacant ever since her best friend Sam,moved a half mile away last summer.
    As though she had all the time in the world, Noella trotted across the street, then peeked around the back of the truck. It was locked up tight. By the looks of it, the house was, too. But the “For Sale” sign was gone, so someone was definitely moving into the place. She hoped it would be someone cool, though odds of that happening seemed pretty remote. In fact, other than Sam, fate had a rather dark sense of humor when it came to choosing her neighbors. Her block sometimes seemed like a Who’s Who of Weird, from the old man who liked to walk outside in nothing but his underwear, to the militant nut-job that always gave her the stink-eye and yelled racist comments at people who walked on his lawn, to the “family” that she was pretty sure was running a meth lab, to the creepy guy who seemed waaaay too interested in everyone’s business, she was glad she didn’t have to spend a lot of time outdoors.
    And then there were the kids.
    Kids around here, with the exception of her two friends, were either popular rich kids who looked down on anyone different than them, or testosterone-pumped steroid cases with raging homophobia. And in some cases, you got the worst of both worlds, steroid-case rich kids. While there were other groups, the artsy hipsters, the rockers, the emos and goths, the nerds, and a few other groups, she didn’t really fit in with any of them. Though most people looked at her and thought goth chick , she never really fit in with them, either.
    Noella was truly a unique freak, not belonging or fitting in with any group. Alone, as she’d always been. And most days she liked it. But her birthday was not one of those days.
    Noella looked up and saw Mako at the end of the block, tapping her foot impatiently.
    “Come on!” she said.
    “Sorry!” Noella yelled, throwing her arms around her in a big hug.
    Most days felt like a reunion. Noella and Mako rarely saw one another outside school. Randy was a jerk, and yanked the leash whenever