Sincerely, Jonah

Chapter 4

I see kids at their lockers talking to one another. A few of them glance at me and continue what they're doing. The lights are dimmed, since there are way too many windows. I smell the hot , fresh breakfast from the cafeteria and expensive perfumes flow through the halls. Thank god it's warm here at least, now I can get my hands out of my pockets.

I move out the way, passed a group of jocks with their blond hair and football jackets  so I can look at my paper.

Dr. Larcom didn't get to tell me where to go, so I just go and find my locker so I can set a code for it. It says my number is 1046. I walk along the sides, looking for the number. 1038....1039....1040....
Gosh, this would be way easier if kids weren't just standing in the middle of the halls gossiping out people and smacking their gum. I stop to take a deep breath. I was already feeling overwhelmed.

"Arr hrrm."
I turn around to look down at a girl. Her arms were crossed.
"Yeah?"

"Get off my locker. I just decorated it and you'll peel the glitter off."
I immediately get back on my feet. "Oh, I'm sorry..." I run my fingers through my hair. "I'm just lost and I need-"

She begins opening twisting the combination to her locker. When it opens, she smiles a little at a picture of her kissing a boy. Then it fades when she looks at me again. She gives me a look, up and down.

"I really don't care. Go have an episode somewhere else, and maybe try telling that to someone who'll actually listen."
And with that, she grabs her books, slams the locker, and walks off to her friend group who's waiting for her. They all look back at me and giggle with their hands covering their mouths.

"Freak," I hear one of them say.
I stand there for a second again, frozen, But I'm guessing it wasn't for just a second, because a loud, squeaky bell rings through the intercom. 'Shoot,' I say as I check the time. It's already 7:20, and I haven't even made it to my locker yet.

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For first period I have English, Ms.Kern. She's a very short English teacher, with glasses and a long jacket that goes to her feet. I'm just barely making it through the door when the bell rings, out of breath. It took me 4 tries to unlock my locker. I don't understand how that was so difficult for me to do. Maybe it's because mine is at the bottom, so I have to squeeze in for the guy above me.

The classroom was already full. The teacher sees me when I walk in, looks down at her paper and then smiles.
"Jonah, right?"
I nod.
"That's just perfect! Larcom told me it'll be your first day here!" Her voice is jolly and energetic, calming me down and making me feel a little better.

I just smile and look down at the ground.
"You can sit right over there in front of Penelope. Penelope, raise your hand so Jonah can see."
A small hand raises in the back of the room. I trip on backpacks trying to get there. "Sorry, excuse me," I whisper. When I sit down, I let out a long sigh I've been holding in since I came in.

Penelope has her blond hair in 2 pigtails, with messy red lipstick on. She leans in to me and whispers, "Hi."
"Hi.."

"It's your first day here?" she says as she takes out her notebook and a black pen. I awkwardly smile. "Yeah.. it is. I'm guessing you can tell?"

She giggles. "Yeah. Quite obvious. Your long hair gave it away before the American accent." A pause. "And uh, you should probably get it cut."
I ignore her and look away.

Ms.Kern gets started on the lesson which is Essay writing.

"Okay so we're picking up where we left off last class. Everyone get out your rough draft...." Her eyes go to me. "The topic is on our favorite inventions in the world, how it affects our society today, and what if that invention never existed."