On the Trail with Tracer

Another Day Another School

"Get up," the stern voice commanded Emily. Her muscles burned and buckled as she tried to push herself up. It was a testament to her resolve that she was able to move at all, let alone push herself to a half-kneeling position before falling prone once again with a soft umph. As her energy waned and her vision began to go dark, Emily weakly waved an arm in the vague direction of the voice, too weak to go on.

Her eyes shot open once again as the covers were ripped from her bed in an instant. As the cold air rushed in around her body jolting her fully awake, the hated voice spoke once again.

"I said 'up.' You can't be late on your first day of school."

"Ugh. I disagree," Emily sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eye before letting out a soft yawn, "Whatever dumb school you're dropping me in this time will still be there in three hours." As she blinked away the last of her exhaustion, she finally was able to open her eyes and address the demon given physical form that would dare wake her up at the ungodly hour of six-thirty in the morning.

Emily's dad stood with his arms crossed leaning against a nearby wall, framed by not yet unpacked boxes. He was on the taller side with his blond hair showing more than a few streaks of gray as his age was catching up to him. He was already dressed for the day in his Air Force and sporting the disapproving scowl that Emily has come to recognize means he was quickly running out of patience. She imagined that it was often leveled on soldiers in disciplinary hearings or whatever it is her dad did all day.

"You can disagree all you want," Her dad responded as he pushed himself off the wall and turned to leave the room, "You're still going. Get up and get dressed. I'm leaving in an hour. If you aren't ready by then you can walk."

Once the door clicked shut Emily sighed and began to get dressed for the day. Movies and strip mall commercials would have you believe that the first outfit you wear to a new school will define your popularity for the rest of your time there. In practice, this belief is often misplaced in Emily's opinion. What you wear, drive or do is so much less important to popularity than who you know. Of course, popularity is an overrated concept as well, so it doesn't matter either way.

About forty minutes later Emily made her way downstairs having had a quick shower and gotten dressed. A quick stop at the kitchen for a bowl of cereal and to grab her bag before making her way out the door to her father's truck. It was a shiny black pickup truck, meticulously maintained and always buffed to a mirror shine. Emily's dad spent more time in the garage working on the engine than anywhere else when he wasn't working. The few times she bothered to ask him why he spent so much time working on it he always made up some lame excuse about it being a show of character and a good first impression. She wished he spent more time inside the house honestly.

Car rides with Emily's dad were often quiet. It wasn't necessarily an uncomfortable silence, more of a familiar one. With all of the moving around and changing of schools, their morning drive was one of the few constants in Emily's life. The thrumming of the engine and the whoosh of passing cars has become a calming presence in the mornings, giving her the time she needs to mentally prepare for a day of school. On this particular day, however, her dad seemed intent on filling the silence

"You know I was thinking," he said, taking a moment to glance over to Emily who was watching other cars pass by going the other way, "Later this week we could host a cookout. You could invite anyone you want from school and I could bring some friends from work. It would be a nice little way to say 'hello' to everyone in the community" He always made suggestions like that on the first day of a move. Emily thought it was his way of trying to make it up to her, having to constantly leave behind friends and clubs. It didn't mean much these days though, Emily rarely got close enough with her classmates to consider them friends anymore. The goodbyes just weren't worth it.

"I don't know," Emily replied, "This school is probably just filled with more military brats and burnouts and it's not like we'll be here long enough to put down roots anyways." Her dad gave her a little sideways glance before shifting in his seat uncomfortably and sighing. Emily rolled her eyes and prepared for an incoming speech.

"Look," he began in that 'I'm going to try to have a heart to heart with you without actually saying anything new' voice she was so used to from him, "I know these last few moves you have had a hard time adjusting. I get it. We move around a lot, especially lately, but this time is going to be different. I talked to my CO and this should be a long-term posting. No more moving around at the drop of a hat, at least anytime soon, plus I did some looking into this school before enrolling you, it's very prestigious. They have an amazing athletics department, cutting-edge academics, and a very diverse exchange program. I think if you give this an honest try you'll come to like it here."

Emily scoffed at his little talk. It wasn't bad honestly, as far as his first-day heart to hearts went it was probably about a seven or eight out of ten, but she didn't want to admit that to him. No matter how much he tried to sell this he was still uprooting their lives yet again. Emily didn't speak again until he pulled up in front of the school.

"I'll give it a try," she sighed, after all, it wasn't his fault they had to move around so much he was just on a bad career path, "I love you, dad"

"I love you too," he responded, offering a weak smile, "I'll see you at home tonight." With those parting words, Emily shut the door and her father drove off.

She took a deep breath before turning around and reading the engraving above the school. Tekhartha Mondatta Memorial High School: Mundus Semper Uti Heroibus 'Ugh.' Emily thought, 'What kind of school has a motto in Latin? Maybe this place will have fewer burnouts and more preps.'

With a final glance back to see her father pull out of the parking lot, Emily began walking toward the front door.

(A/N): Well that's part one. I'm going to do my best to update this weekly but no promises. Thanks for reading so far!