Chapter 6

A Chapter by Melissa

“So, that was boring,” I say as I leave the classroom.

“My class was way ahead so… yeah.”

“Mine too,” I respond.

“Where are you headed now?”

“Uh… English. It’s in B3, I guess,” I respond after glancing at my schedule.

“I’m going to B2!” Katy says happily as we walk out of D wing.

“Good.”

“Yeah… I’d probably get lost if I had to find it myself,” Katy says while laughing. I laugh with her and we chat absentmindedly until we reach B-wing, were we split ways. We wave goodbye as I start walking up the stairs.

Locating the room isn’t too hard, and the teacher introduces herself immediately as Ms. Lydi. She seems pleasant and doesn’t make me introduce myself. As the class settles down she commands silence.

“Class quiet down. This is our new classmate, Hayley. Travis, please raise your hand.” A boy with blond hair and bright green eyes raises his hand slightly. “Please go sit in the open seat beside Travis.”

I nod and do as told, walking to the seat fairly quickly. As soon as I sit down, Ms. Lydi places a fairly large book on my desk.

“Were you reading this in your last English class?”

“Yes,” I respond after glancing at the title.

“How far were you?”

“We’d finished the book and were in the middle of writing essays on it,” I respond easily.

“Alright, well I have to apologize because the next few days will be fairly boring for you, as we’re about three quarters of the way through this book.”

“That’s okay,” I say, flashing a smile.

The whole block was boring and I’m one of the first to leave the classroom. As soon as I reach the stairs, I see Katy waiting for me.

“How was your class?”

“Boring, yours?”

“Awesome! Creative writing has always been a favorite of mine, but my old teacher was horrid! Now I have Mr. Lauro, and he’s actually really cool.”

I laugh at how excited she is. “You’re happy over the silliest and simplest of things,” I tell her.

She smiles brightly. “I know.”

We walk toward C wing, because Katy had looked at her schedule while I was walking down to meet her, and this was a class that we had together. When we reach the room, we see that it’s mostly full already, and that Jason is already seated.

“Ah! You must be Katy-Lynn and Hallie!” a hyper, smiling man says.

“It’s Hayley, actually…” I correct politely.

“But I got yours right?” he asks as he turns to face Katy.

“Yeah… but�"”

“Hey! Half isn’t bad!” he claps his hands together.

“Could you call me Katy though?” Katy asks quickly.

“Of course! Now, Hayley you will sit beside Jason and Katy next to her.”

Katy and I share a discreet look but the teacher claps his hands together again and says, “Chop, chop!”

We shrug at each other before taking the seats we were instructed to take.

“Now, class, please tell the new students my name,” the teacher says very loudly.

“Mr. Knick,” the class says in unison.

“That’s right kah-nick. Not ‘nick’ but KAH-nick. Got it?” his question is directed at the three of us.

We just nod as an answer.

“No nods! Speak!” he commands of us.

“Yes Mr. Knick,” I say. Katy and Jason just say ‘yes’.

“You… which are you?” he asks me.

“Um… Hayley?”

“You passed your first test! Congrats!”

I smile a little. The whole class is full of little riddles and games like that. A bit passed the halfway mark of the class, a bell rings, and the whole class stands up. “That’s lunch!” Mr. Knick announces. “Go!”

“So…” Katy says as we exit the class, “our lunch bell is the third one…”

“I suppose,” I shrug.

“Where do you want to eat?” Jason asks, although he doesn’t really seem to be paying attention too much.

By now we’ve reached the cafeteria and we see some kids taking lunch outside.

“Let’s eat outside!” Katy smiles.

I nod in unison with Jason and we split up to get lunch. I end up going with Katy to get a hot lunch of chicken fingers and fries. The two of us get lunch and head outside to find Jason already sitting on the grass under a tree. He has a tray in front of him, and sun shining off his face almost makes him seem to be glowing.

“Way to drool over my brother,” Katy whispers right before we get within earshot of him.

Katy sits in front of him, leaving me to sit next to the both of them. “So, how’s your day going so far?” she asks him.

“Fine,” he answers. “Yours?”

“Well, there’s a cute guy in my creative writing class…”

“Katy,” Jason says in a warning tone.

“He’s a little protective,” Katy explains, turning to face me. After she speaks she looks back at Jason.

“What about the guy at our old school? Cody?”

“Oh shush. The only reason you like him is because he was too shy to ever actually go anywhere with me.”

He nods a little before completely denying her accusation.

“What about you, Hay? Any hot guys?” she says, ignoring Jason.

I see Jason focus his eyes on me, staring intensely. It feels as though he’s willing me to read his mind and look at him, or acknowledge him at least. I’ve barely done this all day, or really at all since the big fight.

“No,” I say, “not really.”

“How about you, Jase?” Katy asks, turning her attention to him. “Any girls catching your eye?”

He removes his gaze from me, and I refuse to give him mine. “Huh?” he asks.

“Any cute girls at this school? Anyone that you have your eye on?” she repeats.

He glances at me quickly, but I can’t tell if it’s my imagination or not. Then he replies, “Just one.”

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