Scarlet's Mate

Part Two

After Rayne's weird exit I closed my locker and decided to head to class.  Might as well be early and make a good first impression.  Just have to figure out exactly where it is I have to go.  Looking at my map, I see that the room is just down the hall on the left, that's easy enough. 

Entering the room I notice how instead of desks, there's just those two person tables, like what you'd see in a science lab room or something.  My old school was different, from elementary school to highschool it was all just desks, the same kind of desks.  I'll miss that.  These tables are a new kid's worst nightmare.  Full of questions like who will sit with me?  They are almost teasing.

Up in the front of the classroom is a man, and like most of the people at this school, he is freakishly tall and extremely muscular.  He's definitely older though, with his salt & pepper hair, and the way he's mumbling to himself as he writes today's lesson on the board.  He doesn't seem to have noticed me, too caught up in his own head.  Reminds me of how dad used to get when he worked...

"Excuse me," he turns and looks down at me, "hi, I'm Scarlet John, I'm new," I walk over and reach my hand out.

"Yes! Scarlet! Welcome!"  He grabs my hand and shakes it once before dropping it, "I'm Mr.Adams, the famous math wizard."  He laughs to himself and looks around the empty classroom, "you're early, must be here for the worm, go ahead and grab a seat."

I laughed nervously at his joke and looked away, feeling awkward.  Now it's time to overthink on where I should sit.  If I pick a seat up front, I'll stick out like a sore thumb, but if I choose a seat in the back, I may seem like a slacker.  The dilemma of wanting to fit in and wanting to be a good student. 

The nerves ended up deciding for me as I made my way to the back of the classroom.  At least back here I'll be able to be more comfortable, and if I'm comfortable then I'll be a better student.  Perfect logic. 

As I sat down and pulled out my notebook, other students started filing in.  Talking amongst themselves about anything they can think of.  I overheard one girl rambling on about the school dance at the end of the month.  Apparently the school dance is a big deal here, it determines your social standing.  I never minded school dances, I enjoyed getting ready with my friends and dancing the night away to the horrible songs the school deemed appropriate.  Then everyone goes to the party house afterwards and stays up all night doing things our parents forbid us to do. 

Something about that energy was exciting.  I wonder how the dances around here end up, will there be that same excitement?  Or is that just another thing I'll add to the list of my past life. 

"Hello."

I flinch and look up and see a boy, he's tall, which seems to be a continuing theme around here.  But he isn't as muscular as everyone else, he's a bit lean.  His hair is buzzed to the scalp which must've been a recent thing, since he keeps going to push his hair out of the way, forgetting there isn't anything there to push. 

"Hi," I smile, trying to play it off like I wasn't just checking him out.

"You're new," he said it like a statement rather than a question but I still answered.

"Yes, I'm Scarlet."

"I know," there was a slight pause then he added, "can I sit?"  He gestured to the open seat next to me.

"Sure–" I started to reply but he had already taken the seat.

"I'm Derek," he smiled and pointed up to Mr.Adams, "I'm his kid, he told me a little about you and asked me to be nice."

My face grew warm again as I realized he's only talking to me as a favor to his dad.  At least he was honest enough to tell me, still it hurt a little.

"If you'd rather sit with your friends, that's okay, you don't have to babysit me," it came out a little harsher than I had intended.

He looked serious for a moment before bursting out laughing, "you're funny, I like that.  I didn't mean to offend you, I would've sat back here anyway.  Just now I actually have someone interesting to talk to."

I smiled and looked back at my notebook, realizing I had grabbed the wrong one.  I was about to put it back when suddenly it was ripped out of my hands.

"You draw?"  He said examining the doodles on the cover.  I tried to reach for it but he held it up out of my reach, "now wait a moment, I want to see your masterpieces."

He laughed and opened up the notebook, when he saw my drawing his laughing stopped.  He had a serious look again as he traced his finger over the black wolf I had drawn.  He studied it, then flipped to the next page, and the next.  He seemed shocked that all my drawings seemed to be related to wolves. 

"Does someone have a wolf fetish?"  He forced a laugh and closed the notebook.

"No, it's not like that, I usually just draw what I see in my dreams, and recently it's been wolves."  I grab my notebook and replace it with the one I had bought for this class. 

"Why did you come here?"  His voice was quiet but his words were harsh.

I opened my mouth but I couldn't find the words.  Luckily Mr.Adams cleared his throat and started talking.  Despite trying to listen, I couldn't stop thinking about Derek's question.  Who asks someone that?  Not only is it none of his business but the way he asked..  Ugh! How can someone just be that openly rude?

The rest of class was uneventful, Derek didn't say another word to me, and when class ended he practically ran out of the room.  English, with Mrs.Bridge, was a nice class.  Rayne was in it, though she didn't talk to me but she did wave and smile.  Gym, with Mrs.June, was boring.  We watched safety videos for the entire hour, and if you were caught not paying attention she'd replay the entire video.  History, with Mr.Smith, was horrible.  He made me stand up and introduce myself.  He definitely is going to make this year hell.  And art, with Mrs.Smalldeno, has proved to be my favorite class thus far.

Finally it was time for lunch.  I make my way to the cafeteria and go to stand in line for food.  I am starving.  I grab two slices of pizza, a small salad, and an iced tea.  After paying for my food I scan the tables, trying to find an empty one where I can sit and eat in peace.  I spot one empty table in the far corner, I make my way towards it, trying to avoid all the stares and whispers.  Once seated I start devouring my first slice of pizza.  It's cheesy and it's amazing, which is surprising for school food. 

I finish both my slices and pick at my salad, I probably should've eaten the salad first seeing as now I'm too full to enjoy it.  I push the tray aside and grab my notebook, flip to a new page and start drawing the wolf from last night's dream.

The wolf was huge, he had flowy black fur and piercing golden eyes.  He stared at me, like he was trying to tell me something, then he looked past me and growled.  I don't remember anything else but I remember his eyes almost looked scared, like he was losing someone he loved.

The bell rang, making me jump, I put my notebook away and gathered my tray.  I set it on the return table and headed to my last class of the day.  Study Hall.