Roses aren't always Red

Always With the Pancakes

"Ari!"

I hear someone say my name and they start to shake my arm. I ignore it, burying my head deeper into my pillow, groaning.

"Ugh go away," I mumble when Isabelle sits on me trying to pull my pillow from my arms. I think about how she is a lot stronger now than she used to be. It must be the training and gym time at this school.

"Cmon. You are going to make us late, and breakfast is pancakes today! Your favorite," I hear Isabelle say trying to persuade me to actually get up. I lift my head when I hear pancakes. I push her off me and sit up in the bed.

"Pancakes?" I say childishly, smiling.

"Yes. And if you don't hurry up you'll be late and won't get any," Isabelle says harshly her hands on her hips staring down and me. She rolls her eyes when I jump up and start digging through my stuff to pull out clothes.

I would love to meet the inventor of the pancake. They should get some award. What? Pancakes are fantabulous, don't judge.

I throw on a dark blue t-shirt that isn't too tight, but still shows off my curves. I decide to wear cargo shorts because I figure I'll be sweating a lot and I would probably die wearing pants. I tie my hair up into a messy bun. There is a knock on the door as I tie the laces on my shoes.

"It's unlocked!" I hear Isabelle shout from her side of the room. The door swings open and I see Casey walk in and lean against the doorway.

"You two ready? It's pancakes today you know. I don't want to be late," Casey says smiling. I see Isabelle roll her eyes.

"What is with you two and your pancake obsessions?" She teases as I shove a new notebook and a couple pens into my backpack quickly. I do a once over checking myself out in the mirror quickly.

"You look fine Red,"she says to me. "And because They are awesome, duh," Casey says speaking my thoughts to Isabelle. I turn around and give her a high-five agreeing.

"What are we, twelve?" Isabelle comments as she grabs her bag and shoulders it quickly.

"Yup. You ready? Let's go!" I say smiling and head out the door. I nearly turn down the wrong hallway before Casey grabs the back of my backpack and turns me the other way.

"This way Red. You really have no sense of direction do you?" She asks holding back a laugh.

"Nope. She doesn't," Isabelle agrees giggling a little bit. I shrug not denying it and keep trudging along through the hallways until we reach the mess hall. We get there just as they open the doors. There is a small crowd already there.

"See. We're not the only ones obsessed with pancakes," Casey jokes and Isabelle jabs her in the side with her elbow,but Casey just grins at her.

A few minutes later we are all happily chatting away eating pancakes and fruit salad, (yummy yummy), when someone comes up behind us.

"Ms. Stroker?" The person says looking at me. I see his eyes looking at me judgingly, if that's even a word.

"Yes sir?" I say looking up at him.

"Here is your new ID card. You are going to need this to get into some of the rooms that the underclass can't use. Such as the alternate gym and the library after hours. I wish you ladies a good day," he says nodding to us and walking away.

When he is in safe distance I mutter quietly, "did you see his eyes? They were all 'I'm judging you'." Casey and Isabelle start laughing.

"That's Lieutenant Rolland. He's only like that around the new kids. He can be really cool when you get to know him," Casey explains when I look at them confused.

"He also is rumored to be gay and we all believe it," Isabelle adds. I smile realizing I would believe it too.

Breakfast continues until the bell rings. I look at my slightly crumpled schedule.

08:30: Per. 1- AP Chemistry science hall room 27 Ms. Adams

I shove it back in my pocket quickly seeing Isabelle and Casey starting to walk off. I jog to catch up with them.

"Where's room 25?" I ask having to constantly jog a little bit to keep up. They walk really fast I realize.

"Follow me. I'm in the same hall," Isabelle says. We say goodbye to Casey as she turns away for her first class of the day. I watch her walk off a little bit too long and Isabelle notices.

"Everything okay?" she asks me looking concerned.

"Uh, yeah. Just all this is overwhelming and hard to process," I reply realizing how true it is. She gives me a quick hug and I'm grateful for it. She points me towards my class.

"Odd numbers are on the left and even on the right. So you should look on the left hand side. 27 is towards the end of the hallway. Just keep walking straight," she says lingering her hand on my shoulder for a moment longer.

"Thank you so much. See you after class?" I say hopefully.

"Definitely. Go on, don't be late on your first day," she says smiling at me. For just a moment she looks like she is going to kiss me but she turns away quickly and goes off into her class. I sigh to myself confused and walk towards where my class is.

"Ah, ms. Stroker. Welcome to Advanced Placement Chemistry. Call me Ms. Adams. Do you have your schedule with you?" my teacher asks me with a big smile. I hand it to her and run my fingers through my hair as I look at some of the class out of the corner of my eye. I turn back to look at my new teacher. She is slightly taller than me and a lot skinnier. Her long Burnett hair is tied up in a simple pony tail.

"Okay. Thank you ms. Stroker. There is an empty seat next to Ms. Lock. Ms. Lock please raise your hand for me. There," I see a short Asian girl near the middle of the classroom raise her hand. I thank the teacher and walk towards the seat.

"Hey. Uh, I guess I'm your new lab partner," I say awkwardly as I sit down.

"Cool. Welcome. You can call me Mary. Have you taken this class anywhere else?" She asks me curiously turning to face me.

"Yeah, I was enrolled in it at my old school. I'm hoping it won't be too hard to catch up," I say looking at her while I pull out a pen and my notebook.

"Cool! I'll help you if I can. If you don't understand anything just ask!" Mary says enthusiastically.

"Thank you so much," I say truly grateful. The bell rings signifying the start of class interrupting our conversation.

For the rest of the period I furiously scribble notes onto my paper. when the bell rings I can't help but release a sigh of relief that class is over.

"Hey you. How was class?" I hear a voice next to me as I walk out of the classroom. I turn to see Isabelle walking toward me smiling.

"Hey, it was okay. I'm not too far behind actually," I say smiling at her as I pull out my schedule.

"That's good. Next class?"

"Uhh," I look at my schedule.

10:25 Per.2-Gym room: gym

"Gym," I say to Isabelle.

"Casey is in your period luckily. You won't be alone at least. Can you get there yourself or should I take you there?" She asks me looking like she doesn't want to leave.

"Arianna Stroker," a voice booms from near me and Isabelle. I turn around to see who it is.

"Come with me Stoker," the voice says loudly. I see a very tall, dark skinned male towering over me ominously.

"I, um. Yes sir," I stutter biting my lip a little, nervously. Isabelle looks at me confused and I shrug not sure what's happening.

"Now Ms. Stroker," he says and walks off when I start to follow. I nervously unsure of what to think.

[AN]. I know it's another short one. I've been doing a lot of stuff with my robotics team lately. I have a demonstration tomorrow, but I will try and get the next chapter up anyway. If not it will have to be Saturday. I promise it'll be soon (: