Project D

Chapter 4- And failing

And failing

“Thank you sir” I say to the teacher before I walk through the walkway passing everyone. Rick is making a paper airplane using his homework; Jacqueline is watching him playing with her auburn locks twirling them around her finger. I see Rose drawing in her sketchbook, and she waves uncovering it so I can see. She’s added detail to the drawing of Rick that I saw earlier; he’s smiling and she drew him to seem like an innocent guy. He looks like he’s nice, and I really do hope maybe one day that will be the truth.

She smiles and continues to sketch her blue hair covering the neon blue contacts. She changes hair color, nail polish and eye color every week.

I say to her, “Like the hair, and eyes” she smiles and says, “Yeah, it’s the Bionicca treatment” and then she tucks the graphite -pencil out from behind her ear and goes back to sketching Rick.

I go past her desk and see Dominique checking herself in the mirror again. She puckers her lips and scrunches her bottle blonde hair before she puts the compact back and turns towards me. For the first time I see real emotion behind the dark blue eyes and that emotion is disgust. She crinkles her eyebrows and her nose and then gives me a sinister scowl before turning back in her chair and acting like nothing has happened.

I stop confused for a second and then go back on towards the back where my ‘partner’ is waiting.

“Took you long enough” He says the moment I get to the desk and sit down on the stool.

“Yeah, well I was delayed, so you shut it” I retaliate. I try to ignore him and look around the room. There are the normal encouraging posters that teachers put up around the room, and the tables are the types of lab tables that everyone works at.

It’s long and can sit two maybe three people together. There is a bunson burner on every table and a few stations in the back. We sit on stools and there is a blackboard in the front of the room. The teacher is currently writing his name on it.

“Mr.Tek, that, students is what you will call me. There will be no Mr.T, Tek, Tekno, or any of the sort. There is only Mr.Tek. Now I want you to get to know your partner because they are going to be half of your grade in this class. They will be your left hand person, so good luck” He then turns and sits down at his desk. He pulls out a leather notebook and starts to write in it while he observes the class.

I turn to C and he looks at me. I open my mouth to speak but he beats me to it, “So.....About me. I’m an adoptive child living with my adoptive father and my annoying also adopted brother. My name is Chip but I prefer to be called C for some reason” He goes on, “My brother is an incompetent flirt and I should know this class very well since my father taught me all about it by the time I started middle school” He stops and looks at me, “Your turn”

I swallow and start, “I am Dawn with no real last name. I prefer to be called D. I live with my nineteen year old ‘brother’ Francis. I also was adopted. The reason being was that Francis found me roaming the streets about a year ago. When he did he took me home and his family decided to adopt me when nobody came to come and get me. He’s been my only real family ever since; it’s just that sometimes....” I pause.

“What is it. What were you going to say?” He asks me with an intense look on his face.

“It’s just that I get this feeling that I’m not...alone. Like I know I have a family somewhere; maybe even somewhere near” I look down not willing to face him.

“I know the drill. My father raised me and my siblings since we were young. What stinks is that we were supposed to have another member of the family but they....”