Breathe

chapter three

Chapter 3

As soon as I took my first step into first period, the bell rang, echoing of the cinderblock walls of the crowded classroom.

Not wanting to attract any more attention than I already have for being one of the last ones into class, I quickly searched the room for an open seat. It was a pretty full class, and there were only two open seats left by the window in the back corner of the room. I took the one right next to the window, as it would give me something to do when I didn't want to listen to Mrs. Wilkes drone on and on about Shakespeare.

"Hello, class. I'm Mrs. Wilkes, for those of you who don't know me already..." Mrs. Wilkes continued to give the class her entire life story.

Uninterested, I stared out the window. We were on the second level of the school, and the classroom overlooked the large courtyard in the middle of the school. Students had the opportunity to eat lunch outside on picnic tables or relax in between classes. Occasionally, depending on the teacher, physical education classes did yoga in the sunshine.

"Ms. Archer?" a shrill, expecting voice calls from the front of the classroom.

"Yes? I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you said." I responded.

"I was just informing the class of the award you won last year for creative writing. Quite an accomplishment, it was. Do you have any tips for the rest of the class?"

"Um, uh no. Not really." I said nervously. Mrs. Wilkes gave me a glare and returned to whatever she was doing on the board. This is going to be a great class, I can already tell.

First hour ended fifty painstaking minutes after it began, sending me shooting off to second hour to get a decent seat for the rest of the year. Campaign posters along with posters depicting wars that American was involved in covered the walls and the ceiling. AP United States History was a class I had actually been looking forward to this year. I had only taken one American history class prior to this year, and I had really enjoyed it.

As I walked into the room, there were many open seats. I picked one in the row before the back row, where I could easily see the screen but also not have lots of attention drawn to me.

The rest of the six minute passing period went quickly, with some students coming into the room and sitting down in a desk, and others coming in and realizing they were in the wrong place, rushing out to get to the right class.

About a minute before the bell was to ring, a new, familiar face walked in. He scanned the room looking for an open seat, but most were filled. There was one open in the back corner on the other side of the room, but it was right behind a particularly large, and particularly sweaty football player. I could see almost see the stench rolling off of him.

There was also a seat open directly behind me. The boy quickly glanced at the seat behind me, then met my eyes, glaring, for what felt like hours, but was probably a second, then looked down.

Realizing his fate if he chose to sit behind smelly McGee over there, the boy strode to the desk behind me, avoiding eye contact the whole time, and sat down quietly.

The bell rang and Advanced Placement United States History began.