Beyond |Calum Hood|

Chapter 1

I avoided waking up to morning sunshine slobbering on my face by setting my alarm for 5:30. Perhaps a more unpleasant way to wake up, but with it comes the satisfaction of being the only moving life in a dark and sleeping house. I've always found a sort of comfort from that. I skipped into my practiced morning routine, knowing, but choosing to ignore the fact, that today I would start my eleventh year at Batonla High in Portland. That isn't to say I dislike high school particularuly, I just don't love it. But really who does? Just because I'm not the most social of butterflies does not by any means subject me to the title of a "nerd." Whether or not I am can be determined by an entirely different set of criteria. 

I pulled a sweatshirt over the purple tank top I'd thrown on, and dragged a beloved old blue and back hairbrush through my longish dark hair. I gave myself a once-over in the full-length mirror propped against the wall before leaving the room. Not too bad for a first day look...the perfect blend of "I really don't care, nor do I want to be here" with "I care enough to make myself look pretty and presentable so I am not victim to the prying and judgemental eyes of hormonal teens everywhere."

I followed the vague, but promising, smell of something sweet cooking downstairs...chocolate chip pancakes. Dad must've gotten up while I was getting ready to make them. He always did some sort of extravagant breakfast on the forst day of school and then left us to our own devices for every other day  (which generally meant skipping breakfast entirely). 

"There's the eleventh grader! What a big girl she is!" he said ruffling my hair. I smoothed it flat, shoving away his arm playfully.

"I'm going to let you pick out the irony in that sentence," I joked. 

"A dollar says your sister is still asleep," he responded, ignoring my retort as I predicted. 

"Um, yeah probably because it's only 6:45 and she savors absolutely every last second of sleep that she can." 

"Hey," he warned, turning from the sizzling globs of batter on the griddle and pointing an oily spatula in my direction, "be nice."

"I am nice...and your pancakes are burning." I grabbed a particularly large one from a ceramic plate on the counter and bit into it as if it were an over-sized cookie. "And you know what? I'm the one taking her to school."

*        *        *

"And that sums things up for this year's introductory assembly. I wish unto each of you a great school year." Mr. Mendyk was an aerage sized-man in kahkis and a gray blazer. He was older, probably in his 60s, and the one thing that stood out about him was that absolutely nothing stood out about him. He was my own principal and I couldn't recognize him if I saw him walking down the street. He spoke with a boring monotonous drawl that put you to sleep faster than a lullaby in a warm room. 

For whatever reason, I though it would be a good idea to sit way in the back of the bleachers at the beginning of the assembly. Served me right for being early on the first day of school, I suppose. I pulled a folded schedule from the front pocket of my ancient purple back pack, and hastily zipped the pocket shut. I was constantly paranoid at this school. As in every public high school, you need to be wary of theives and the like but Batonla High seemed to see trouble every day. 

Just as the stairs cleared up and people were exiting the large gymnasium, I was pulling on my bag when someone grabbed me from behind. I jumped with a small shriek, catching the attention of a couple students who truend and chuckled.

"Heeeeyyyyyyy!!!!!! Quiiiiinnnnnn!!! OMG can you believe it!? This is eleventh grade! OMG OMG this year is going to be like, what our fifth anniversary! I can't belieeeeeve this!!! Awwwweeee!!!"