Bear Child (Book 1)

Chapter 3

          3. Friends &    Enemies

          Mr. Frank was giving a lecture on all the different things that owls eat and basically the food chain. I checked the clock and there were still about 5 or 10 minutes left of class. I looked over to Sonia. She had a sheet of paper at the corner of the table. It was full of notes. I assumed she was done taking notes since she was playing with one of her beaded braids.

          I looked over to my notebook and tore out a page. Taking out my pen, I began to scribble down something and passed it to Sonia. She took a side glance at me and looked down at the sheet of paper.

          Does he ALWAYS talk and nag this much???

          She giggled as she scribbled something else on the paper with her blue pen.

            Usually. I don't know if back in New York City you have a nagging teacher, but here in Alaska, we've got more than we need. Hahaha

          Her handwriting seemed so neat compared to mine. Perfect, in my opinion. It was like her version of calligraphy. I glanced at my sloppy writing and continued to write, feeling ashamed for how badly it looked.

          HELL yeah. We’ve got braggers and naggers over there. Way more than we need! Take Mr. Diaz for instance. He always made the class be quiet and tell him we “appreciated him sharing his knowledge with us” and that he is the most handsome human in the whole damn UNIVERSE!!! Hah, yeah RIGHT!!! And he was BALD!!!

          Haha. You make it sound horrible. So, do you have any plans for Nutrition and Lunch? If you want, you could hang out with me and my friend Alex. And what's your next class?

          No, not any plans at all. It'll be cool hanging out with you guys. Beats being a loner. And I have my elective next. Any idea what to do since we don’t have any classes for that period yet? And how about you?

          I'm happy you want to hang out!! And I have elective next, too!!! You're supposed to go to the auditorium and they pass a slide show to help you decide what elective you want. Which one are you going to choose?                                                                                  

          Just as I was about to reply to the note, the bell for 2nd Period rung. "Finally!" I groan. Sonia let out a giggle as we walked out together. "You're not at all that diva, drama queen, conceited brat I keep hearing about." I stare at her as I laughed. "Well, who on earth ever put that idea in your head? I can be pretty nice . . . that is, if I want to.” We both had a good laugh. “I am just glad you are not that kind of person.” Sonia said in relief. “Or am I . . . ?” I said suspiciously, trying to get her to laugh again, which I successfully did.

Her laugh was so sweet and quiet, just like her personality was so far. It reminded me of birds cheerfully chirping in the trees. I smiled to myself as we walked together to the auditorium. I knew that I was going to be alright, now that I had a new friend.

Sonia didn’t strike me as the lazy or mean or rude kind of girl. She seemed like those perfect friends you saw in movies or read in books: the quiet type that will always listen to you and help you through your problems. She seemed like the kind of friend that will always be loyal to you and is there no matter what. Of course, that was just a theory. Which, in the position I was now, I hoped was true.

          "So which elective are you going to want to choose? I want to pick art." Sonia tells me as we enter the giant auditorium. I looked around the auditorium. There was a giant logo on the east wall. Looks like Palmer High School’s mascot was the moose. I tried to hold back a laugh as I took in the image of the mascot. I would love to see the fool in the school mascot costume at the football games. That is, if they even had football games.