Living High School to the Fullest (Completed)

Chapter 16: At the School Pond

Chapter 16

On my way to second period, I quickly texted Aaron to let him know why Em and I hadn’t met him and Brian before class as usual that morning, and that no, we weren’t skipping and we hadn’t been abducted by aliens, either.

When I turned around the corner, I saw my biology teacher standing outside of his classroom with a knot of students. As I approached them, I could see that he was in fact hindering all us from going inside. Granted, Mr. Winston was a bit of an oddball. An oddball with a bad sense of fashion. Let’s just say if you’re really short, so short that most freshmen are towering over you, and you love to eat so many sausages that you end up having an enormous pot belly, vests might not be the best thing to wear. Especially if you can’t manage to button them up because of said sausage cemetery.

Nevertheless, he was a very nice person and good teacher. He was only a bit scatterbrained, always looking for something he had misplaced: glasses, chalk, copies, books; you name it. Still, keeping us from being educated was a first, even for him.

Confusion didn’t last long as Mr. Winston explained that we would be working at the school pond today and that we had to switch rooms with a freshman class to do so.

It never ceases to amaze me how impractical planners could be. What is the use of having a school pond when there was only one room where you could access it from in the whole school? On the other hand, maybe they had done that on purpose.

After all us biology students had arrived, we started to head towards the infamous pond, pride of Jefferson High’s biology department. Together. A few seconds later a very familiar tall guy with golden brown hair appeared at my side and grinned at me.

„Hey Sarah,“ Josh greeted me.

„Hi Josh.“

“Where’s your other half?” he joked and fell into step with me.

“Emma? She’s sick.” Uh, the rest of school was going to suck without her. Especially biology. I hate Mondays. “God, I miss her,” I mumbled under my breath.

Josh frowned. I think he was about to say something, but he just shook his head slightly. Guys. Toughen up and just say whatever you want to say. But he quickly recovered and kept on chatting. “Have you decided what you’re gonna do for your biology project yet? Cross-breeding flowers, perhaps?”

Now it was my turn to frown. Cross-breeding flowers? Do I look like the type of person who does that? Isn’t that something grey-haired women and bald men do, aged 70 and above, when they can’t walk anymore because of hip injuries or something?  Good to know that Josh seems to think I’m a senior citizen trapped in a teenage body. How the hell did that happen?

“No and no. I haven’t decided yet. And I most definitely won’t cross-breed flowers. My hip is still intact, you know.”

Another puzzled look on Josh’s face. This one I got. Why on earth did I have to mention my hip? I mentally slapped myself.

“Okay. I don’t know what you’re talking about, but whatever. Listen, I actually really have to talk to you about something in private,” the football player said.

Huh? That sounded serious.

“I’m all ears.” At that point we had reached our destination and were right outside Mr. Murdoch’s class room. A couple of freshmen were already standing there and we had to wait for the rest of that class to come outside. I simply don’t understand why the algebra teacher gets to keep the classroom with the only access to the school’s pond when he always has to swap classrooms as soon as the biology class needs it. But who am I to criticize the inner workings of our wonderful school administration.

“Okay, it’s about –“

“Sarah!” My brother suddenly was right in front of me and grabbed my arm. Right, Mr. Murdoch was his teacher; I should have known that he was in this class. Poor Brad.