Beyond the Sun

04

The ever annoying high pitched ring of the bell echoed out amongst the corridors of the school. The five minute warning for the students to get to their next class was an incentive to get a move on and hurry to the designated room for their lesson. Annie skidded along the corridor on her heel, the finely polished flooring of the school meant that whizzing about skidding was easy to accomplish. Naturally though with this came skid marks. And often, those skid marks did lead right to her locker. The cleaner on more than one occasion had gone to the principle and then the principle would come to her, and she'd get told to stop, and she would for a day, then return to scooting around on her heels.

Annie became less and less attentive to authority figures as she came into her teenage years. She supposed it was one of those phases that she heard grownups talk about when they thought no one else was listening. Annie listened, or rather she eavesdropped, and she took on board everything she had heard and filed it away in her mind. So yes, she supposed this opposition towards anyone in charge was a phase. The need to rebel against the authority and whatever else teenagers tended to do.

Stopping in front of her locker, she shook her head to come back to reality. She'd spent enough time daydreaming already today. She looked around at the other students who were milling about. They seemed as dismal as she felt, school did have a habit of destroying one's soul. Knocking on the door of her locker, she frowned. Pulling at the handle she winced when all she could hear was the painful groan of metal stuck on metal. She rebelled against adults, and her locker rebelled against her; she couldn't help but feel that this was some sort of odd karma.

"Pfft, karma is for losers." She muttered and resorted to hitting her locker door. "Come on, you piece of utter crap, open up!" She said irritated by the fact that her locker just wasn't having any of it.

"Hey," looking to the side she grinned sheepishly up at Clark. He looked from the locker to her and then back again. She had braced one foot against the bottom locker, the other foot firmly planted on the floor, both her hands were gripping the small locker handle and she had a look of utter annoyed determination on her face. Truly, it was quite a sight, a rather funny one. So, he naturally smiled at her moment, which caused her to glare up at him. "Need help?"

"Yes, because you're evidently the locker whisperer." Annie said sarcastically while stepping back and gesturing a hand to her stubborn locker.

Clark merely rolled his eyes at her sarcasm. When things didn't tend to go her way, or rather when she got real ticked off at something, sarcasm was her dominant disposition. He had grown used to it over the years, but other people didn't take too kindly to the sometimes patronising words and tone. He knew she meant nothing by it, but other people didn't. Watching as she put in the combination for the millionth time, he ushered her to the side and merely took to holding onto the handle and giving it a good old pull. Just like that, the locker door swung open and the mess that was Annie's locker was fully visible. "I think you need a clear out." Clark said while eyeing up all the stacked books, pieces of loose papers, wrappers, and other snacks. He looked at her, "How can you find anything in here?"

"It's organised chaos."

"Uh-huh," he said simply with a slow nod. "Somehow I don't believe you." He crossed his arms and watched as she rifled through all the, for the better word, junk in her locker before she managed to find her science homework.

"Thank you though, Clark...I'd still be punching the stupid door in if you didn't have such serious locker door opening skills." Annie's voice said quietly while smiling up at him before pulling a face at the mirror that hung in the door of her locker.

"Come on," he shook his head and nodded down the corridor. "Stop preening, you look fine." Clark said while looking at the reflection, Annie's eyes caught his in the mirror and she smiled somewhat shyly. Putting a hand to the door she slammed it shut and turned to him. "See, that's why your locker doesn't cooperate. You don't exactly take care of it."