3 - Day one - School isn't all Sunshine & Rainbows (draft)

Continuation of day one - things take a turn for the worse.

I sit lost in my own thoughts until the bell rings releasing the second block. I head back up the stairs and this time go down the hallway to the left. Spanish 12 is in room 225 and I hesitate at the door before going in. The classroom is still fairly empty and I have no idea how the seating works.. The teacher a woman in her mid fifties is marking up a white board and turns as I approach. Her face lights up into a bright smile as she looks me over.

"Love your jacket it goes great with your boots."

What a great welcome. I can't help but grin right back at her, though puzzled why she seemed to thrilled to see me. Though judging by her flamboyant attire and general appearance I'd say she was one the right side of happy most of the time.

"Hola , soy la señora Carderjo . la bienvenida a nuestra clase de español . ¿su nombre es?" She looks at me expectantly and at the blank look I give her she starts to laugh. I hand her my slip from Ms. Beattie.

"Ah, a newbie." She puts her marker down and walks to her desk perching her butt on the corner. "Any Spanish at all" she asks, even though I think she knows the answer. "Okay, that's going to make it hard for you to catch up, since this is an advanced level course. All the kids are two to three years in already."  She taps a brightly coloured nail against her chin as she contemplates.  "Any languages?"

I shrug and shake my head at the same time.  Things aren't starting too good here. My first class a bust.

"Unless you count Latin? Two years" I raise my eyebrows hopefully. It was a requirement in my fifth and sixth year. I can tell she's surprised by my answer, as a bit of sparkle returns to her face.

"It's not ideal but it definitely helps, as Spanish is Latin based." She stops and thinks a moment before speaking again. "There's six months until the end of the year. That's three months each for Spanish 11 & Spanish 12 basics. You need to pass an oral & written exam for each level to count towards your Language credit for graduation." She checks my admittance slip again "Did Ms. Beattie explain any of this to you?"

"Kinda" I shrug again. My hands are clenching the straps on back pack in a death grip. I'm being weighed by her as we speak.  Basically from what I understand she holds my graduation in her hands. Well her and every other teacher.

"I can hire a tutor to work with me" I throw out there. "Monies not an issue when it's for my education" I give her a half smile, knowing that it's make or break time. "I will work my butt off, and do what it takes to complete both courses by June"  I sound way more confident then I feel. "Just tell me what I need to do, and I will find someone tonight." I plead.

She holds up both her hands to quiet me.

"Okay, one month trial.  We will re-evaluate in 4weeks. I will provide you with the learning materials & work books for the written assignments.  You will need to find a tutor to help with the oral. There are a couple of natural speaking Latinos that go this school, so you can meet them tomorrow. They charge fairly for tutoring."

"Perfect, thank you"  The tension I've been feeling eases off a bit, as I tentatively reach my hand out. After a brief moment I feel her warmly grasp mine.

"Welcome to Campbell Valley Grace, and welcome to Spanish." She gives a quick squeeze and turns to look at the class that's filled up the seats and tables. After a quick visual scan, she points an orange tipped finger at two boys a few rows back.

"Logan & Mike your splitting up. We have a new student who needs a partner. Logan you can join Ashley & Sarah at their table.  Mike you can stay where you are and partner with Grace.  Grace go have a seat. Follow along as much as you can and I'll put a homework packet together for you to take home that you can pick up after school"

As she speaks a good looking blonde kid who must be Logan gathers up his stuff and after a knuckle bump with with friend Mike heads over to the table with two girls who look like they are right out of cheerleader b***h camp. I know this type of  "Mean Girl" wannabes, only to well. Eleven years in an exclusive girl's school has put me in a league they couldn't even begin to comprehend. No contest there.

"Hello ladies!"

He moves both their chairs over and sits himself between them. I take the seat Logan's vacated and put my backpack on the seat beside me.  Once settled I turned to look at Mike.  I catch him checking me out, not trying one bit to hide his obvious perusal. The fact that he likes what's he sees is written all over his face. After he's satisfied that he's seen all there is to see, he nods his head in approval.

Rolling my eyes, I turn away. Mike is good looking in a friendly neighbourly way but after meeting Jesse Stratton today nothing compares. He might of ruined me for life.

"Marry me?" Mike scoots closer and nudges my shoulder. He looks at me pleadingly, puppy dog eyes and all.

"You've got to be joking" I laugh and push him away.

He looks at me, dead pan and solemnly responds,"I never joke about matters of the heart." His face so serious I laugh out loud, then quickly bring my hand up and cover my mouth. The class is watching us, so I lean closer and whisper into ear.

"Sorry Mikey but my heart is taken"  Still laughing I kiss my finger tips and lightly pat his cheek. Straightening up I catch Logan and the cheerleaders watching us. The two girls, Thing One and Things Two sport identical snarls while Logan sends Mike a thumbs up.
***
I manage to follow along in Spanish without to much of a struggle and Mike keeps me laughing. He's proves himself to be a entertaining partner. The continuous flirting helps the time time pass quickly and before I know it the bell signalling the end of class is ringing. Gathering up my backpack I look around the room watching as all the students rush out for lunch. Logan sends me a wave as he leaves chatting with the two cheerleaders who throw me nasty glances as they walk out the door. I turn to find Mike camped at my elbow. He saw what I saw, and shakes his head.

"They're b*****s, and that's being nice" He says says as he grabs my arm and drags me towards the door. "Come on, let's get outta here". I stumble after him. "Where's your locker?"

"No clue" I shrug.

I stop in the crowded hall and dig around my pack until I find the second crumpled sheet Ms. Beattie handed me. Looking it over Mike pulls me across the hall, down the stairs, through the Hub and up a second set of stairs and towards another hallway with classrooms on one side and large picture windows on the other.

"Most of the senior lockers are up here, unless you're a jock, then they are on the first floor closer to the gym." Mike states, as he walks down the hall reading the locker numbers engraved across the top of each metal door.

"Here we are, this is yours" we stop and he pulls open the door. The rankest smell ever overtakes the whole hallway. The locker is jammed packed with garbage. Old clothes, half eaten lunches and other disgusting s**t that makes us both cough, gag and almost puke. We both reach out and slam the door shut.

This time is me who reaches out and grabs Mikes arm pulling him down the hallway, panting for fresh air.

"Holy f**k!!" The look on Mike's face makes me start to laugh. "Seriously, something died in there" I struggle to catch my breath, as I watch Mike hunched over, hands on his thighs, trying to control his gagging.

Surprisingly the hall is fairly empty, with a few students milling around, leaning against the lockers or sitting in groups on the floor. No ones paying any attention to us, until Mike lets out a loud "What the f**k!?" Heads start to pop up and we become the focus of interest. "I think I almost f*****g died when I opened that door" We both break into uncontrollable giggles as we think about what just happened.

"I don't think I'll be using that locker ever." I say through my laughter. "Wow, that was bad." I shake my head as I take in my surroundings. Eyes are still focused on us, but for once I don't care.

As Mike finally straightens up he reaches for my hand and we slowly walk back towards the offending locker. With one last glance at it as we pass Mike me leads down the stairs to another locker closer pulls at the lock snapping it open.

"This is mine, you can use it for now, until they can figure that s**t out with a new one for you" Its mostly empty, fairly clean and has a faint odour of cologne. He puts his Spanish books on one of the shelves and closes the door. With a gentle push of the lock we turn to leave.

"Thanks, I'll talk to the office later about it, but I can't see that smell ever coming out" I look at Mike, surprised at how comfortable I feel. Strange. "I think I'll hold onto my stuff today" I smile up at him, "but don't be surprised if you find a few things shoved in there tomorrow"

"If you put your s**t in there remember to lock it. I don't generally but I have nothing anyone wants" He slowly looks me over from head to toes. My cheeks start to flush as I feel the appreciative heat of his gaze. "But...your jacket is probably worth as much as my car" I hear what he's saying and I momentarily feel embarrassed, but quickly shake it off. I feel no need to comment on it. Shrugging, I hook my arm threw his elbow and turn towards the stairway. "Let's go have lunch"
***
I walk through the cafeteria line eying the selections, and pick a chocolate chip muffin and bottle of water. Mike behind me loads up with a burger, a bag of chips, a couple of cookies and two chocolate milk cartons. Raising an eyebrow I follow him through the Hub as he heads for an already packed table near the back window.  I take the only empty seat as Mike pushes the boy in the seat next to me aside and plops himself down. I watch as the kid ends up on his butt an incredulous look across his face.

"What the f**k man?" His eyes narrow as he glares at Mike, who barely looks over his shoulder at his pissed off friend. "You're a dick." Mike ignores the outraged voice behind him and starts to eat.

The boy uses his hands to push himself off the ground. Pulling his hood up over his head he stands behind Mike and swats him across the back of the head before reaching around and grabbing the burger right out of Mike's hand. He takes a huge bite before turning and walking away.

"Come on Peters!!" Mike yells at his retreating back. "That's my lunch" Peters' middle finger pops up over his head in response as he weaves through the Hub and disappears. Everyone else at the table watches their interaction, amused grins on most of their faces.

Opening my water bottle I lift it to my lips while casting my eyes over the table. 

"Hi, I'm Grace." Raising my hand I slowly make eye contact around the circular table as I introduce myself. All the faces are friendly, unlike the wannabes, Things One & Two.

Logan I recognize from Spanish and he flashes me a quick smile, dimples and charm oozing, "Hey".

Using his chin Mike takes over the intros, starting with the kid who stole his cheeseburger.

"That d****e who just stomped away is another Mike, last name Peters, we just call him Peters."

He then turns to his left "that's Nick, Travis & Jen." When his eyes land on the pretty dark haired girl his face noticeably tightens and he stops a moment before continuing on.

"Nick and Travis are also on the soccer team as are Dave and Nathan " he nods to two guys directly across from us. "Jen is Travis' girlfriend"  hearing her name she looks up from the book in her hand a gives me a smile and a wave but her eyes settle on Mike. I sense anger, unhappiness and history.

Interesting!

Mike points towards my right and I see Logan who gives a quick nod in my direction as he shovels French fries in his mouth. Beside Logan is a girl with bleached blonde short spiky hair. A lime green strip hangs in a long bang across her forehead. Her eyes are the brightest of violets and I can't help but wonder if the colour is real. Some of the girls at Brantford wore coloured contacts, often changing them up daily. A big grin lifts the corners of her mouth as she reaches across Logan with an elbow to his chin and shakes my hand.

"Hey Grace, nice to meet you, I'm Lindsay Morgan and this idiot be side me is my twin Logan." She purposely bumps her elbow against Logan's chin again causing him to drop the ketchup laden fry that he was plopping into his mouth.

"Beat it Lynds. " he doesn't look at her but aggressively pushes her arm out of the way while scowling into his tray. Pulling back she flicks his ear while she laughs at him, her violet eyes sparkling. Watching the two of them I spot the resemblance and laugh at their antics, knowing that they've spent their whole lives picking at each other.

I sit back slowly eating my muffin while listening to the conversation going around me. They are a close group of friends and it's obvious that they've been together forever. As Mike recounts our locker tale, I find my self watching the snow fall out the large picture window behind Dave and Nathan. Other then our yearly ski trips to Whistler I've never been surrounded by so much snow. And even on those trips the village was normally clear and dry. I find it mesmerizing as it blankets the view, drifting softly from sky to ground. A slight nudge against my left elbow brings me back to reality as I turn towards Mike who is looking at me expectantly.

With a slight shrug and lift of my brows, I silently question him, knowing I've missed what he's said.

"I went to a private school down the south coast" I answer to the group once Mike repeats himself. "My mom has a house here so we figured that this was as good as a place as any to finish my senior year"

"How are you liking it so far? Your first day and all?" Jen asks, drawing another scowl her way from Mike.  Definite history there I speculate. She seems oblivious to his ire.

"So far so good" I take the last drink from my water bottle as I answer her. "I've only had one class so far, and have a toxic waste dump for a locker" everyone laughs at that "So I guess I'll have to see how everything else is"   Jen is leaning against Travis' shoulder, their heads close together and I can sense Mike's tension beside me. Interesting. Being from an all girls school this isn't a dynamic I've  seen much of. Is it jealousy or something more?

"Can I see your class schedule? Maybe we have some together" Lindsay asks. Digging it out I hand it to her, careful to not knock Logan who's in conversation with Nathan and Dave across the table. After a quick read, she points to my next class AP English and another class that I won't have until tomorrow morning Western Civ. "I have these both" she seems excited about that. "I'll show you where to go after lunch"

"Great" I smile back at her, not quite as enthusiastic but happy to know I might have  made a friend.   Just then the bell rings ending lunch I gather up my backpack and jacket and fall in line behind Lyndsey.

She leads me out of the Hub and back up the stairs past the office and down another corridor, chatting non stop about life in Campbell Valley. It seems her and Logan have lived there their entire lives and she can't wait to leave and travel once she graduates.

The English classroom's door is still closed and locked when we join the rest of the students camped out in the hallway waiting. It's refreshing listening to Lindsey as she points out various students and their particular idiosyncrasies. My last school was filled with backstabbing maliciousness, where she just shares funny anecdotes. You learned quickly who your friends were and more importantly who they weren't.

While Lyndsey babbles on I watch the comings and goings of my fellow students and noticed that once the second bell rang the hallway was virtually empty except for the dozen of us or so who milled around the still locked door. It was a small class, no wonder they had no problem fitting me in.

It's an additional 10 minutes or so before a very pregnant woman waddles her way towards us, keys in hand.  Walking and chatting beside her is Jesse Stratton carrying a neon pink overloaded book bag. If the dreamy expression on her face is any indication she is enthralled as I am. All conversation stops as they draw closer and we step aside to allow the door to be unlocked and lights turned on. I involuntarily move in his direction as Mr. Stratton steps through the classroom door. I suck in my breath as our elbows brush. A zing traverses throughout me at this barest touch.

Spotting me, Mr. Stanton's mouth quirks up at the sides. Our eyes meet and I find I can't look away. His eyes darken and draw me in. They mesmerize. With a slight shake of his head he shoots me a quick smile before breaking contact. I'm rooted in my spot.  My eyes follow his every move as he drops the book bag on the desk and leans in to whisper quietly into the pregnant English teacher's ear. Both sets of eyes land on me just as my legs unglue and finally start to move. Mr. Stratton's look right into my soul while her's narrow in on the fact I'm staring at the gym teacher. Feeling her gaze directed at me I shift my eyes to her as she captures me with her stare. Something unpleasant passes between us.  She's sending me a warning, of what I'm not sure. It happens so quickly I almost doubt what I saw.

Feeling a tug on my arm I turn to find Lyndsey pulling me down into a seat. Knowing she's observed that whole exchange I try to hide my blush. I don't understand what it is about those dark eyes and that hair that I want to grab by the fistful.

"That's Coach Stratton, the new Athletic Director or something like that. Pretty freakin hot isn't he?" Lindsey murmurs under her breath once I'm seated. "I think every female here including the staff and maybe half the guys are crushing on him" using her hand she fans her face to emphasize her point. "Look even Ms. Williams is caught up in his hotness" she giggles as she points out the dreamy expression on the pregnant teacher's face as she watches the Coach exit. I have to admit he looks as good from the backside as he does form the front.

She still hasn't addressed the class and other then her glaring at me hasn't acknowledged that her students are waiting and wondering what is going on. We are already close to twenty minutes in and everyone in the small class sits silently.

I pull the class admittance slip from my bag before standing up and approaching her desk. I hand it over and watch as her expression changes while she reads it.

"Just great" Is all she says as she eyes me warily and gently lowers herself into her seat. Not sure what her problem is I quietly wait again. So far this class has consisted of waiting. When she finally speaks it's abrupt and to the point.

"You need to catch up on your reading as well as keep current with what we are working on. Everything we've already finished is to be completed on your own time. No class time will be allocated. Each novel we have studied has had both essays and unit quizzes. You will need to complete and hand in the essays weekly until your caught up. Quizzes and exams will be over your lunch hour and supervised by the admin staff at their discretion" For some reason she studies me closely taking me in from my ombré hair tones to my designer Prada boots. Preconceived judgement is written all over her face. I've never had a teacher dislike me on sight. "I want you caught up by the time I go on leave, so your new teacher doesn't have to worry about you lagging behind. Whether you pass or fail is all on you."

She's no longer looking at me but is digging around in one of her desk drawers. After flipping through a few files she hands me a booklet. From the title page I see that it's the class curriculum and reading list. I flip through it as she speaks noting that I had covered the reading last year, like I thought.

"If you don't think you can keep up let me know now so that we can get you switched out before either of us wastes any more time." I feel my face heat. Up until this point I figure her bitchiness is due to the uncomfortableness of her advanced pregnancy.  But now I realize there's more to her nastiness and that her condescending tone is really starting to piss me off. The dislike I thought I'd imagined before is now bouncing off in waves.

"You don't have to worry about me keeping up" She's got my back up and I struggle to suck back what I really want to say. "I can get through this list pretty quick". We eye each other. I keep my face composed, unreadable. I can feel that this stupid cow is just looking for any reason to send me packing.

"I promise not to waste your time" I resist the urge to cross my arms over my chest as I force a smile on my face.

"Very well" she continues on as rudely as before. "You need to score a minimum of 80% on my exams.  No retakes. Essays to be edited and polished with a maximum of 5 grammatical errors. Content and grammar carry equal weight."  She turns away from me in dismissal. "Find a seat. Today we start a unit on 20th century American poets. Make sure you have the required book for tomorrow's class. I only have enough for my regular students so you will have to hunt one down"

What the hell is a regular student?

"For today you can share, but only today. Next time you step into my classroom I expect you to be prepared" I raise my eyebrows at her last remark and her lips part in a snarky grin, daring me to speak out.

So before I say something I know I will regret I turn on my heels and go back to the seat beside Lyndsey. Internally I'm fuming. Nice welcome to the class.

The entire classroom is silent as we wait for Ms. Williamson to get her s**t together. All eyes are on her as she hands out the Poetry books making a point to not even look at me. Now in front of each student is a slim hard covered edition. Lyndsey pushes her copy towards me so that it rests between us. I can see she wants to know what happened as she senses my tension and views my stiff posture. No doubt every word spoken was heard throughout the silent classroom. Since I don't know where the hostility comes from I have no answer for her. I relay that with a slight shrug of my shoulders and an incredulous look on my face.

After another few minutes we are directed to a certain page in our book. "Somewhere I have never traveled, gladly beyond" By  e.e. cummings is the first poem on our list. I start to read, happy for the distraction realizing that high school isn't all sunshine and rainbows.

Author's Note

Rough draft- looking for honest feedback