Smiley and Sunshine

15.

"Good morning, my favorite fourth period class," Mr. Brandt greeted his biology class. He was a middle-aged man of average height, with big-rimmed glasses, a bald head, and married with children, according to the wedding band on his ring finger and the photo on his desk. He was also Hayes' first male teacher of the day and if she had to guess, probably her last too, with PE as the other exception. But it hadn't been so bad, her teachers could have been old enough to be her grandmother with greying-white hair and spunky attitudes. Nothing that made Hayes feel threatened or represented her mother in any way. That didn't mean she'd be spending anymore time with them than necessary, though.

Class was 55 minutes. That's as long as she planned to spend in the classroom.

"We're your only fourth period, Mr. Brandt," someone sitting in the back of the room felt the need to point out. From the way they spoke, Hayes figured this was an everyday occurrence of Mr. Brandt.

Mr. Brandt waved them off. "As you may have noticed, we have a new student with us, welcome Hayes." He extended a hand in her direction, making Hayes slump down in her seat a little as the students turned to look at her. She had been receiving this unwanted attention all morning which was to be expected, but at least her face didn't showcase her embarrassment anymore. The redness of her cheeks finally faded after 3 periods.

Overall, she'd have to say that being the new student wasn't like what she expected, in a good way. None of her teachers made her introduce herself in front of the classroom or any torturous thing like that, so her nervousness was riding low.

On the other end of the spectrum, Glen was probably enjoying every moment of it, making friends with everyone. He was such a people-person, just like the rest of their brothers. Somehow that trait missed the youngest sibling.

Hayes was curious who they'd end up eating lunch with, eager to see who clicked best with Glen.

"If you all remember, on the first day of school we did an ice breaker to get to know each other. Soooo," Mr. Brandt slapped his hands against his pants for a drumroll. "We're going to do it again!" The class cheered, making Hayes high-key confused. Ice breakers were awkward and uncomfortable, so she didn't understand why they were happy about it.

"Don't look so scared," someone spoke from next to Hayes. "It's actually really fun." Hayes turned her head to the right to look at her desk mate. For some reason the girl had the only empty seat beside her, but if Hayes had to wager a guess, it was probably purposeful because she was too talkative. They hadn't had a chance to introduce themselves to one another because as soon as Hayes sat down, Mr. Brandt addressed the class with his announcements. But Hayes recognized her from her 2nd period math class, and the girl got a warning for chatting during the lesson.

"That's what Glen usually says before we do something stupid and get in trouble," Hayes muttered, fiddling with the pen in her hand.

"Who's Glen?"

"My brother," Hayes answered, biting on the end of her pen. It was another one of her habits, sometimes because of nervousness, or boredom, or because she spaced-out. This time, definitely nerves thanks to the icebreaker game.

"That's the spirit, guys and girls. Remember, it's suppose to be a boring fact about yourself, so nothing like being able to juggle, okay? Juggling is freaking amazing and deserves all the respect. " Mr. Brandt pointed to a specific a student, making them laugh. "And let's keep the repeats to a minimum. I'm sure we can all come up with something boring. The more boring the better."

A boring fact about herself? Hayes switched to chewing on her bottom lip and tapping the pen against her desk, at a loss of what to say. Lately, it seemed like her life was anything but boring.