The Monster and the Stones

Four

So, within a week Alex finds herself walking to her new school. She is honestly very glad that Michael doesn't have to tag along, after all he is going to be a junior and he has the perfect grades, Alex doesn't. The sun almost beats ten times hotter in Northbrook, making the walk seem much longer than it actually is.

Alex's shortcut takes her through the main street a few blocks downtown. While the walk to the school is a bit longer than it was for Riverview East, it isn't too far of a walk. As she walks through the blocks of the city, she notices just a few teenagers sitting outside one particular shop. They look like the typical "rebel" type of kids, two of them have skateboards while another is wearing chains. They look over at her as if they can tell she is new. They probably do, it is a smaller town after all, and Alex's father mentioned that "everyone knows everyone". She knows this can draw a lot of attention to herself, so she looks away to avoid eye contact and picks up the pace.

As she approaches the school, she notices that the general campus is a lot larger than her old school despite it being in a smaller town. She stops in front of it to take it all in. She looks around, then takes a deep breath and starts towards the front doors.

When she enters, she realizes that yes, this is a whole new school, and she doesn't know where to go. She surveys the lobby; the office appears to be closed which causes further confusion. She decides that as usual, she should take care of this herself. She enters through a set of double doors and looks down the long hallway of classrooms. For being a small town, this really is a large school. She looks at the number plates on the doors. They're all in the single digits, the social studies class is in the thirties. She looks at the staircase and assumes that it is upstairs, so she proceeds up.

Her class is right at the top of the stairs. The door is wide open and the warm summer air breezes through, the teacher has their windows open. She slowly approaches the door and peers inside. A young man is sitting at the teacher desk, writing on a clipboard, while a small group of about seven students are spread out across the room. They all look up at Alex as she enters.

Alex is startled. She analyzes the room and decides which corner to sit at and decides that the farthest corner from the teacher's desk is the way to go, not many people are sitting over there. She sits down and sets her bag down next to her and looks up. Everyone seems to have looked from her away except for one kid. He has dark brown hair, medium length, and he is smirking at Alex.

From her experience, she knows that people have a hard time looking away, so she stares right back. He notices, and smiles wider, twisting back around to the teacher.

"Hello!" The teacher says happily to Alex. "Are you shy?" He asks. He must be referring to the fact that Alex sat away from everyone. There must be a reason why everyone chose to sit the closest to the teacher. Everyone turns to glimpse at Alex who is torn to move just a bit closer.

"Name?" The teacher asks.

Alex sets her stuff down at her new desk, "Alex," she says. A few of the other students share whispers among each other for a second.

"Ah, you must be the new kid," he scribbles something on his clipboard and sets his glasses on his desk. "I hope you find this school to be welcoming, at least my classroom," He says with a smile. "My name is Mr. Rowell. I teach US history, world history, and geography."

All the students murmur to each other. Alex is caught off guard, are they talking about me? She looks down at her desk and shuffles her feet until the teacher speaks again. "For these next few weeks you will be learning about the world," Mr. Rowell speaks enthusiastically. He turns, picks up a globe and spins it quickly. "We are going to be talking about where things are, how things are, and why things are." He smirks and scans his students who are all entertained, looking as enthused as Mr. Rowell. Alex assumes that she got lucky with a very friendly teacher who builds strong relationships with his students.

Mr. Rowley sets the globe on his desk and picks up a small stack of papers. "We are going to jump right into things and start a quick warmup, on this sheet of paper I want you to write down three to five locations around the world. We will share them when you are done..."

For the rest of class, Alex feels herself become slightly more comfortable. The classroom is pretty bright and has different decorations and colors that reflect the teacher's happy and welcoming attitude. The other students are also very positive and happy, they seem to want to be here, somehow finding school to be a fun time, even in the classroom.

By the time noon hits, the class is over, and all the students walk with Mr. Rowell down to the main lobby. They all joke with each other and push each other around playfully. Alex is amused; however she keeps her distance behind everyone as they parade out of the school, enjoying the socializing from a distance.

The small class leave together. Two boys stay behind at the front of the school, conversing among themselves and joking around. Alex decides it's best to just head home, so she follows the rest of the kids to the main street toward downtown. As they turn the corner and start making their way among the shops, everyone splits up slowly. The boy with the dark brown hair who was eyeing Alex at the beginning of class approaches a blonde girl standing at a tree. She embraces him, smiling up at him and fixing his shirt, must be his girlfriend.

However as if he isn't standing right in front of his girlfriend, he looks back at Alex, giving her the same look he gave her before. Alex stares back but regrets it as soon as his girlfriend notices. She lowers her head as she passes, however this wasn't enough for the girl as she approaches her quickly and shoves her aside.

"I see you looking at my boyfriend," She says. Alex backs against the wall, taken by surprise. "Do you have something to say?" She says loudly to Alex who looks shakily from her to her boyfriend, and back at her.

"Let me guess," she starts. "You like the way he looks, huh? Well, in case you haven't noticed, he is taken, he is all mine," she gestures towards herself, getting right up in Alex's face.

"That's nice," Alex says quickly, hoping that she expresses the very small amount of care for both of them, however this only makes the girl angrier.

She pushes her against the wall again, "what, so you just thought you could just take him right from his girlfriend?" She yells louder. Alex is worried that this girl wants to fight. Every fight Alex has been forced into ended with her having a bloody nose and an angry stepmom.

"Hey, girl, you can have him. I don't want any of that."
The girl growls at Alex, but before she gets a chance to do anything physical a girl from Alex's class turns back and gets between them. "Lay off, Jesse," she says, protecting Alex. "Maybe you should teach your mutt to not look at other girls if he is so in love with you."

Jesse huffs. Apparently, this isn't the first time she has heard this; however this one remark gets her to back down and walk back to her boyfriend, who takes her by the hand and heads down the opposite direction.

"Sorry about her," the girl says to Alex. She steps back, giving Alex enough room to step away from the wall. "I'm Skylar," she says finally, "Sky for short," and politely reaches her hand out to Alex.

Alex takes her hand and looks at her carefully, "Alex," she replies.

"I heard you were new?" Skylar says happily. "I can show you around if you'd like. I don't know if you know anyone around, but I would be happy to help you get settled in."

Alex is taken aback by this polite and friendly gesture; she hasn't had this in a while. "It- It's fine," she stutters innocently, "I don't mean to waste your time or anything."

"Oh no, I insist! If you want, we can go get ice cream? Leo's Ice Cream Parlor is a few blocks down, best ice cream in town! I can also hook you up with some free scoops," Skylar winks at her, it's enough to make Alex smile.

"Sure, it sounds fun." For the first time in about five years, Alex is making a new friend.