The New Student

Chapter 6

     James' first period cooking class was already proving to be the highlight of each day. Bookwork may have been the first of their activities before actually cooking, but he didn't care. It wasn't the key thing on his mind at the moment. The class was overrun by females from every year. He was like a kid in the candy store, and all he had to do was choose which one stuck out the most. No one in his group that he sat with tickled his fancy, so he looked around at other tables.

     And there she was. A girl who looked the same age as him, sitting across the room. Her hazel eyes were glued to her smartphone and all of her long black hair flowed to one side and rested on her left shoulder.

     And wait. Is that a nose ring? Where has she been?

     There were still a few minutes before the first bell rings and she was currently alone at her table. Now was the perfect time to strike. He got up from his seat and strolled his way towards the stranger. The girl immediately shifted her eyes away from the screen and set them on James. This swift action caught him off guard, as he wasn't prepared to be impaled by such a dangerous stare. James had already found himself just two feet away from where she was sitting. He was confident a few seconds ago, but it quickly vanished from his body. Well, you are here now so you might as well say something.

     "Hey, have I seen you before?" The girl's eyes instantly rolled so far upwards it looked like she just got possessed.

     "I swear, if you say you saw me in your dreams, I will sock you."

     "Oh, no, no. I was just asking because I don't think I've seen you anywhere else. My name is James, by the way. What's your name?"

     "I'm Risa." He already knew that because the teacher took roll yesterday, but he wanted to make sure he got off on the right foot. "And I tend not to speak up during class a lot, so that's probably why you've never noticed me. Wait, why am I telling you all this? You weren't going to hit on me, were you?"

     James' eyebrows suddenly raised to their highest point. Was she expecting this already? Is she used to this? "Well, no, I just wanted to say hello. That's all."

     "Right, okay." Risa said, cracking a faint smile as the first bell rang. James smiled in return and walked back to his table.

     At least I got her to smile. I can work with that. 

--BREAK--

     Derek hated reading. It wasn't like he had trouble paying attention, it's just the books that were always assigned to him never interested him. He blindly read through each novel but still kept enough information to get a passing grade on all of his book reports. So it surprised him when Sydney and the other students shared in great detail what their favorite novels were. Mrs. Schmidt had assigned groups in the beginning of class and had every student discuss the different genres that interested them.

     "I like the stereotypical romance novels." said Sydney. "You know the ones. The handsome male who has a six-pack and is totally straight falls for the timid girl who sits in the back of the class. It's so corny, but I just can't stop reading them. What about you guys?"

     A guy named Kevin decided it was his turn to speak up. "Well, I like the gruesome books about war or serial killers. Have you ever heard of The Watcher?" The rest of the 5-person group shook their heads in unison. "Well, it's about this middle-aged man who stalks females so much and for so long, that they start to go insane. He never even lays a finger on them, but he's caused a lot of mental damage. Isn't that insane?"

     Derek and Sydney both looked at each other and tried not to laugh.

     With the first period coming to a close, Sydney caught Derek before he blended in with everyone else in the main hallway. "Hey Derek, what are you doing for lunch?" They were now walking side by side.

     "Just going inside the cafeteria to eat. What's up?" Derek asked.

     "Well, I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me and my friend. She normally eats at the tables outside the cafeteria, if that's fine with you."

     Derek's eyes instantly widened. Wow. I definitely didn't expect this.

     "Sure, that sounds fun. I'll just let my friend know I won't be eating with him today."

     "Oh, so you are just going to abandon your buddy? Have you no shame?"

     Derek got caught with his mouth open, only able to make an "uh" sound. His brain turned on the accelerator to come up with a response, but Sydney luckily put him out of his misery. "Relax, I'm just messing with you. I'll see you then, okay?" She said as she split off to enter the photography room. Derek quickly pulled out his phone to text James.

    "Dude. You are not gonna believe this."