For Kate, a senior, forcing herself to vomit after every meal was a daily necessity for several months during her junior year. Her habit felt as natural as brushing her teeth or getting dressed in the morning.
Bill waits eagerly within the bustling confines of the SAC during 5A lunch as his friend approaches an academic support room. "Hi, I'm Bill and I'm here to make up a test," Bill's friend tells the teacher in the room. "No, you're not," says the teacher. "Bill is in my class, and you're not him!"
Her vision is blurred, her steps are off-balance and her mind is racing from one fleeting thought to the next. After a few swigs of the bottle, she is ready.
The bell rings at 10:47 a.m. signaling the start of 5A lunch. Instead of joining the throngs of students munching warm fries in the SAC or the crowds of people chatting along Blair Boulevard, senior Jordan Gross gathers his belongings and leaves school for the day.
Joe, a junior, sits silently amongst a boisterous group of friends along Blair Boulevard during 5B lunch on Dec. 22. After shooting paranoid glances up and down the hall, he is confident that the coast is clear and opens his hand, revealing a 10-mg OxyContin prescription pill. His back turned against the passing crowds in the hallway, Joe works quickly, crushing the pill with his driver's license and pushing the powder into a thin line on the cover of his student planner. In a matter of seconds, he snorts the drug through a pen cap and up his nose, brushes any residue onto the floor and leans back into the wall.
It's a place where the weather is always warm, everyone is thin and beautiful and the houses are enormous. Here, money is no object, and all the clothes are fabulous. Paradise? No, it's The O.C.
The date flows out of her mouth as easily as her name. July 14, 2003: the day that junior Aracely Blanco's father was imprisoned for illegal immigration from El Salvador; the day that upturned Blanco's entire life.
The autumn wind ruffles her long blonde hair as she crosses New York City's busy streets and steps into Barney's, the famously chic department store. She floats toward the bathing suit section eyeing the selection for her upcoming trip to St. Bart's. Sophomore Maura Druhan suddenly opens her eyes and turns the page. Sitting in her Takoma Park home on a Saturday afternoon, Druhan is engrossed in the latest novel in the Gossip Girl series by author Cecily von Ziegesar. For a brief second, Druhan imagines that she is Serena van der Woodson, the beautiful, rich and popular protagonist in the series.