I sighed when I heard the loud screech of chalk scrapping against the board. I hadn't been in an actual class in a long time so I had forgotten how class would drag on forever, how the teachers were giving out assignments like it was water and the piles of homework that we had to get done with before tomorrow. School was draining and it hadn't helped that this school seemed to take its education very seriously from the lack of colorful posters, plants or life amongst its students.
It was English, the second period of school and the students were already half dead. Some slept on their desks with drool dripping down their mouths, others were slipping from their perched up arm that they slept on and others who were a handful paid close attention to the teacher who rambled about a poem that she promised was the most interesting one that she had ever read.
The teacher, Miss Angela Sari, was the usual English teacher that every school had to have and loved. She was a petite lady who was just 5 feet tall. She looked quite young for her age as she had no wrinkles around her face but you could see that she was an older woman from the way she carried herself and the overall style that she had. She wore a peach blouse and a very baggy jeans that covered her thin legs. Her feet were covered with brown sandles which showcased the white painted nails that looked like they were done recently. Her hair was in a pixie cut and was dyed completely blonde which showed the large pendent earrings that she wore.
I was fighting sleep as well as she explained the poem in great detail never forgetting to add her own dry jokes and stories that never linked to the poem that we done. I couldn't sleep, it was impossible to because Miss Sari focused her attention on me. I knew it was because she wanted me to understand the work thoroughly but I really needed her to look away for just a few minutes so that I can rest my eyes.
I turned slightly to my left to my new friend and wondered how he wasn't already asleep like the rest of us. He seemed that he had energy as he drummed the blue pen against the table softly and drew many doodles on small pieces of paper that the previous class left. He bobbed his head slightly and paused when he felt my gaze on him. I quickly turned my head towards the front of the class when I saw him turn his head slightly towards me. I knew I was irritating him, I saw it from his movements but I wanted to be his friend and I would try with all my might to be just that.
I rummaged through my large pencilcase and smiled when I saw the familiar booklet of my sticky notes. I patted the blue pen against my lips as I thought of questions to ask my new friend. Asking questions on pages wasn't a good idea, I knew that but my boredom and the intrigue in the mysterious boy made me want do it even though I knew the consequences that would come with it if I was caught by the teacher.
"What's your name?" I wrote and folded the small sticky note so that it could not be seen from afar. I moved slightly to the left when the teacher turned around to write a definition to a word that we needed to know, tapped the corner of his table slightly and placed the folded paper where my fingers were tapping. I looked discreetly at the boy through my peripheral vision and saw as he took the page from the table with a tired sigh.
Just when I thought that he would crumble it away, he moved his pen to the small piece of paper and wrote. I began to feel excited when he passed it back to me and continued the drawing that he was engrossed in before I troubled him. "Myeol, you?" He wrote with pretty neat cursive writing which was impressive since most of the boys his age were used to writing like blind people.
"Diane. Do you like the sweet that I gave you? I have more in my bag if you want one." I passed it back to him and turned towards the teacher that gave us a glare to stop whatever we were doing. I gave a small smile and looked down at the paper that was placed on the table.
"It was okay. Focus on the board because the work is important." I was offended. I knew I wasn't focusing but it was wrong for him to point it out because he was doing the same thing. He should've taken his own advice and not listen to the music that he was listening to.
I wanted to jump in joy when I heard the beautiful sound of the bell ringing and Miss Sari who stopped talking. Groans echoed in the class as the students woke up from their slumber. "Diane, can I see you for a moment?" I nodded and walked towards the kind teacher. Miss Sari sat on her desk with her legs crossed over each other with a few pages in hand. "Since you joined us a few weeks later there is a poetry essay that I want you to do and an assignment. Everything you need to know is explained in these papers and if you need any explanation on anything confusing, you are more than welcome to visit me. Since this is your first task of the year, you can have a partner to help you with everything. I can see that Myeol and you are getting close so you can do it with him."
"Thank you, ma'am." I said as I took the pages from her hand and rushed out of the classroom when I saw that Myeol was nowhere in sight. I sighed when I reached the hallways to see a bunch of teenagers rushing to different classes and didn't see the black hoodie that I wanted to see. I was hoping that he would be the one who showed me all of my classes because he allowed me to follow him around and ask him questions even though he answered them with a sigh and when I'm lucky just the rolling of the eyes. I guess I have to figure out where is my science class myself.
I walked around the hallways completely confused on where I was supposed to go. Woodcreek High was a very odd school that had many buildings that focused on whatever subjects that it had which was unlike any other school I've been to where it was a really big building where there were different classes. The school's buildings were decorated to a point that it gave off the vibe of the subject. I loved the Biology building the most as it resembled a Greenhouse with its large sliding doors, the many plants that gave off a wonderful fragrance and the skeletons that were placed like decorations around the building. I passed the building when I was walking aimlessly trying to figure out where was the English class and was hypnotized by the beautiful building. I heard from the teacher that they also kept different reptiles which students liked to take care of and I made it a point to come and visit whenever I had the chance to see the animals.
I almost cried when I saw the science building after walking for 15 minutes as my feet were pounding from walking for too long. The building was just as I expected, depressing. It was a fairly small building that looked like an ancient building with its dark coloured stone and large oak door that was wide open and showed the hallway that lead to the many mathematics classrooms. As I walked through the hallway to my class I saw large clocks that had science symbols, equations and phrases.
I frowned when I reached the classroom to see that everyone was seated and focused on the board. I was late it seemed and I didn't like it. "Diane, is it?" I nodded at the question, looking at my feet as the maths teacher was glaring at me. "I don't accept late comers. I know this is your first day but if you are late from tomorrow onwards, you rather not come at all because I don't teach people who aren't serious about this subject. Go sit."
I hated looking for seats whenever I was late because my eyes would be blurry and I wouldn't see anything even if there was an empty table that was right infront of me. I walked towards the girl that called me towards her by the very end of the class and thanked the heavens that she saved me from looking around the class like an idiot. "Hi, I'm Christine." She said with a small smile before looking back at her notes in concentration. I guess I found another friend.
