Letters

Letter 6

November 10th, 2004

Dear Dad,

            I went to school today. I was late to every class, but I won’t be late tomorrow, I promise. I took my backpack everywhere I went and I said hi to every kid I sat next to. I don’t know if that was an efficient way of making friends, but it was the best I could do. I made at least one friend today though. His name is Richard and he’s a grade lower than me, sophomore I think. He wears a tie with his polo shirt and blue jeans. I met him in the library when I was trying to ask the librarian directions to where room 56 was. She wasn’t there, but Richard was. He’s the librarian’s aid and he helps put the books away. He asked me if I was new here because he’s seen everyone come through the library at least once. I said yeah, and I told him I came from Australia. Then we talked for a pretty long while. Once I was aware that I was losing time, I tried to wait for him to stop talking, but he seemed to go one forever about the kids here, his parents, and about his life in general.

            When he finally paused to think, I said that I needed to go to room 56, and then he gave me the directions. Before leaving, I apologized for leaving him like that and I asked where he hangs out during lunch. He said that he usually hangs out in the library where it’s always quiet. I went off and I began to search for room 56 on the third floor. I found out that this school has an elevator right by the stairs. It was probably for kids who used wheel chairs, but I thought that was cool anyways.

            When I entered through the door, I gave the teacher a paper and she signed it. I had to give it to every teacher, and then turn it in to the counselor by tomorrow to make sure that I went to every class today. I sat right in the back and the teacher continued her lecture about hypocrites, although it seemed more like complaining. She went on for half an hour and she used my classmates as examples. The scenarios the brought up weren’t made up. The scenarios she mentioned actually happened in the past with these exact students.

            She started offending these specific kids in my class, like this one kid named Daxus. He sat in the front and the teacher mentioned that he’d call other kids weird for their actions, and she called him weird because of how he dresses. She said that he’s being a hypocrite, even though her example is really bad and it was only her opinion. I raised my hand to correct her of her mistake, but she gave me detention instead of listening to what I had to say. Everyone looked at me strangely and made an “ooh” sound. The teacher then told everyone to shut up and she threatened to give everyone detention. My teachers I had before were never like that. Sometimes they’d get angry at the class, but never like this.

            After class, I followed Daxus and I asked if the teacher was always like this. He said yes. I told him that I didn’t think he was a hypocrite in attempt to cheer him up a bit. He said “Oh, okay” and then he asked why I was following him around the halls. Then I asked if I was bothering him. He shook his head and he said that people usually don’t talk to him or follow him around the halls. He wore a hooded jean jacket with a striped shirt underneath, a black necklace with a cross, and black jeans. He had piercings on his left ear and one on his eyebrow. I didn’t want to offend him with my burning question, so I spoke out fast and asked if it was the way he dressed. I later added that he didn’t have to answer that if he didn’t want to.

            When he said no, I gave a sigh of relief. I said that I personally liked how he dressed and that I only asked because of the teacher. He said right back “You don’t dress too bad yourself, with your flower shirt and tan shorts” He said that without feeling and he seemed pretty down. I asked if he wanted to hang out in the library during lunch, and he said okay. Before I went off to get lost again, I asked him where room 42 was. He told me that all the number’s lower than 50 is on the second floor. He added that the numbers lower than 25 is the eastern side, and the numbers higher than 24 is on the western side, same goes for the third, fourth, and fifth floor.

            I left and entered what was the art room. I looked around the room and it seemed to be the cleanest art room I’ve ever seen. The walls had posters of the elements and principles of art and some posters of famous paintings like the Mona Lisa, The Final Supper, and Starry Night. I handed the teacher my paper and she signed it. I sat down where there was an empty seat and she told me that they were drawing skulls. She handed me a plastic skull, some paper and a pencil. She left and I sat there looking at everyone else’s skulls. Honestly, I didn’t expect this. I thought we were gonna learn something cool and interesting, like how Vincent Van Gogh lived alone in his cold apartment and he burned his paintings to keep warm. But instead, we’re learning about proportions about the face. I guess that’s kinda cool.

            When the bell rang, it signaled lunch time. I quickly walked towards the library and greeted Richard there. We picked up the conversation from where we left off. When Daxus arrived, I greeted him and told him to come to where I was at so I could introduce him to Richard. It wasn’t really a surprise when Richard said that he knows Daxus. He said that Daxus would always rent out books about dreams, fairy tales, and phycology. That fueled our conversation and we went on talking about each other’s interests.

            Turns out that Richard liked gardening. He lives at an orchard with his parents half an hour away from school and sometimes he has to help out during the summer and weekends. He doesn’t seem like the type of guy to like that sort of thing. He looks like a husky jock in formal clothing, and that was rather unexpected.

            On the other hand, I learned that Daxus came from an art school in another state right next to California, Nevada. He said that he majored in art, but he moved here because of his parents. He said that even if he didn’t move, he’d still have to transfer schools because he was failing some of his classes.

            After eating lunch, I walked to my guitar class. I didn’t know before that I could have two electives, so that’s cool. In this class, I had to sit out because I had to bring my own guitar. I didn’t bring my guitar along, so I guess I have to buy a new one next time. After guitar class, I went to my math class. Daxus was there and I sat right behind him in the back of the room. The teacher went on about things I’ve already learned the past two weeks, so I barely paid attention. When the teacher saw me not looking up, she called on me to answer a question. I answered it correctly and she went on continuing her lecture.

            Uncle Alex picked me up after school in his Ferrari. He said that it was to show off to the other kids. I came to the house with a slightly heavier backpack and ate homemade pizza. It’s 9:35 now, and I gotta go to bed.

Your son,

Rico