"Room 110 right? ...So you'll be having Mr. Stafford. That's gonna be rough... he's pretty strict about a lot of things and doesn't cut anyone a break. I have Ms. Garret as my teacher, and she's pretty chill with us for the most part."
"Where did you transfer from?"
"Oh, well... I came from Ivory."
"Cool! I had a cousin that went there."
"So... what made you come here?"
"I, umm... don't... really feel comfortable telling you that."
An awkward silence ensued after that last sentence, and the vibe between us chilled for a moment.
"U-umm... Anyway, you'll like it here! People don't really bother you, but it can get lonely and the atmosphere here is kinda tense."
This new bit of information piqued my interest.
"Really...? Why?"
"Well, there was this really influential group of students that were the pride of this school, everyone liked them. One day, they..."
I gazed at him, briefly, but listened intently at his every word. It was very interesting what he had to say about everyone, the story behind the school and the people in it.
"---And now everyone's just bitter even after a few months. Honestly, it's kinda silly to me, but a big deal to the others."
It was amusing to hear this story, and his opinion on both students and teachers. There were many whom he said 'Didn't give a damn who you were, just as long as you kept to yourself.' Other's, he said were nicer and a little more sociable than that, but that they all had a similar mindset in the end. Many people were strangers to each other and didn't care to know anyone else. And that was perfectly fine with me.
° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °
We walked, he talked and I listened, and then we walked, and he talked some more.
It seemed the halls were long and winding. Continuous. Almost never-ending.
After the storm of students had died down, we finally reached our destination, so it was time Angus and I parted and went out separate ways.
"I, u-umm, hope we get to talk again December!"
There it is again. That bright beautiful smile. It's warm... it's nice.
I offered a slight smile and reciprocated his words, even if they weren't genuine. How could they ever be? That someone would actually want to speak, let alone look me in the eye again. Especially after what he said earlier.
"Yeah... sure."
"Heh, well... u-umm, cya!"
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He waved then turned to leave. I had no idea how much time had passed but it felt like forever. I turned the knob and opened the heavy wood door, and took a step inside the classroom.
"Hello? Who are you?"
The man who spoke to me was tall and dark-skinned, and wore a black plaid shirt. He shifted his sight to the clock above the door and his expression quickly changed from confusion to annoyance.
"And WHY are you late?"
I glanced up at the clock behind me and was instantly annoyed. I was only 3 mintues late. The teacher spoke in a deep and raspy voice, mixed with a harsh tone which I know would annoy me to pieces as long as I lived.
I cleared my throat and introduced myself.
"My name is December DeNori. I'm the new student."
"Ah. Well then..."
He shoots a quick glance at the roster and marks me down.
"You may take a seat in that empty seat next to Macie. I will assign you locker... xxx. You can get to know everyone later, but in this room, you will pay attention and listen when I am speaking. There will be no chitchat about irrelevant, trival things. If you speak to each other it had better not be loud enough for me to hear you. That is all."
He looked tired and worn out, even though we had only just started the day. He also had 3 steaming cups of hot coffee sitting on the table with his name sloppily written all over them in big bold letters.
The classroom was big, just enough for all 30 desks. From the door, the wall on the left was lined with a short bookshelf and a glass cabinet stuffed with supplies. Light pours in through the windows on the right, casting dark shadows inward. I walked over to the empty seat and set my books neatly in the desk. The girl steals a quick glance at me, but rolls her eyes once she sees me. Rude.
"Now class. Announcements for today..."
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Time sped by and before I could even process anything, it was time for lunch. It felt like I'd been daydreaming, I was so out of it and unfocused. I put my things away and followed the rest of the students toward the cafeteria.
It was big with rows of tables, posters plastered on the clean white walls. Students filled the space, groups sitting at their "own" tables. No one really seemed to think about where they sat, they just... did.
I picked the empty table farthest away from everyone else, or everyone sat at one far away from me. I took a seat, staring down and picking at the food with a spork. 'A sandwich and some apple slices. Nice.'
I didn't realize when but at some point, Angus had walked over to my table and set his tray down. He tried coughing to get my attention. I slowly lifted my head up to meet his soft gaze. He leaned in towards me and placed one hand on the table and the other on his waist.
He smiled that big bright signature smile of his and said...
"Hey December! Do you mind if I sit here?"
"Oh... Hello Angus. So, umm, yeah you can go ahead and sit."
"Thanks. Hehe, you are super noticable, even in a sea with a hundred fish."
"Oh, I u-umm... yeah, I guess..."
I mumbled to myself and felt my face grow warm from embarrassment at his comment, although I don't know why...
"So, I also wanted to talk to you!"
"Talk... To me...?"
° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °
My god, I typed a 1019 words of the story... wow.
Would anyone really wanna know what happened at the school that made everyone have social issues??
Love, Pluto :D
