A Sky Without Stars

Part 3-October

Even though I was loving school, one person was making things a little difficult for me. That person, believe it or not, was Miss Hawthorne.

At the beginning of the year, Miss Hawthorne had seemed so kind. She was such a nice teacher for the first month or so of school, but now she was starting to verge on mean. She was also a bit of a creep; her husband had divorced her a few years ago, and she was rather bitter. Furthermore, our class believed she actually...well...had a thing for Mark Anderson. It was obvious that she favored him, at the very least. In short, Miss Hawthorne was kind of a bad teacher.

Mark was literally the definition of perfect. He had some of the best grades in the school and was in honors sophomore math already. Not to mention he was extremely athletic, doing several sports at once, and attended the fundraisers.

Poor Mark was probably freaked out by Miss Hawthorne. I honestly felt sorry for the guy, even though he was about a billion times more popular than me.

There was one other issue, besides Mrs. Hawthorne, and that issue had a name: Austin Myers.

Austin was a kid from my old school that I wished did not go to St. Barnabas. If it were up to me, Austin would have been thrown out long ago. In the words of Sierra, Austin was a, "first-class douche bag that needs a swift kick to the ass, not to mention a scheduled meeting with my two fists." Ever since I'd met him, Austin was mean, but he'd always had friends. This year was sadly no different, but people were starting to recognize that maybe there was more to him than what meets the eye.

Unfortunately, Austin was in my religion class, and I was sitting next right to him. This meant getting cussed out daily, sometimes by collections of swear words I'd never even heard used before. On the extremely bright side, Mrs. Ernest was a very understanding teacher. One day, I had sent her the email, saying:

Hi, Mrs. Ernest. I know this might be a lot to ask, but can I change seats? I know there is a empty seat next to Andrew in front. You see, Austin and I went to grade school together are not on the best of terms, and I don't know how much longer I can sit next to him. I don't want to me mean, of course. I really would hate to come off sounding mean! But I'd just really love to change seats. Sorry to bother you. Thanks for reading this. Sincerely, Pearl.

The next day, she moved me up to the front of the room, next to Andrew. Since I was good friends with Andrew, I was thrilled. Austin was moved to the other side of the room, and I couldn't help but smile. Mrs. Ernest gave me a knowing look, and I nodded in approval. After school, she asked me if my new seat was okay, and I said it was perfect.

With Austin out of the way, I was beyond excited. Because, in less than a week, my friends and I were going to homecoming!

October 12th. The faster the date approached, the more excited I got. I couldn't stop thinking about it, I was so excited. Sure, I didn't have a date, but I wasn't expecting to get one, either.

Homecoming was the only topic everywhere. What dress? Which shoes? Date or no date?

A lot of people actually didn't have a date, and I usually found out as soon as a girl was asked. Which is why I was surprised to see two freshman girls I knew laughing by the vending machine, talking about an unknown girl who had just gotten asked to the dance.

"I can't believe it," one groaned. "Taylor is so far our of his league. He's such a nerd, and she is way better than him."

"I know, right? He went to my grade school. Poor Taylor, she's going to be so embarrassed at the dance. They are not a good couple."

I had no idea who they were even talking about, but they were being mean, so I glared at them. Both of the girls saw me and widened their eyes, embarrassed that they had been caught talking trash about them. I saluted sarcastically to them then walked away, head held him.