Jelly

Up In The Air

It's my first day at Largent and I'm already clumsy. I tried not making contact with anyone at all because whenever I do connect with others, I'm either judged or labeled as a geek or nerd. I'm not letting that happen. No, not this time. I look up and hope that nobody has seen me, but all I catch is the gaze of the guys eyes staring at me.
I grab my books and try to get up as fast as possible. This guys can't see the real me yet.
I get a good grip on my books as I try to stand up. I push on the floor with my free hand for me to be able to get up. The weight of my books knock me down to the ground, only this time it was a lot more embarrassing. I reach out for my books and realize that they're nowhere in sight. I start to panic and start to think that someone may have already taken them to tease me. I look up and hope that the books somehow managed to stick to the ceiling and not to someone else's hands. I tilt my head upward, only to see that the guy is carrying both my books and his own. That kind of ruins my idea of "no contact with others". But it's fine, I believe that I'll be fine. I cross my fingers and hope that he doesn't tease me.
"I think these are yours", the guy teases, "you'll need them for sure."
"Thanks...". He teased me, but it wasn't hurtful at all. Not a rough start. He stares at me a lot more. I don't usually fix myself up in the morning so I assume he is staring at my uneven hair or my undone makeup. He has obviously taken some time to fix himself up this morning. His hair seems to be smooth and rough in all the right places and there are no pimples in sight. I would say he didn't have anything wrong with him besides the fact that he wears glasses. I wear them too, so we're both a little blind, but only one of us looks good in them.
"What's your name? You're probably new here", he states. He's right, I am new. I'm speechless and nervous that I'll freak out and make a fool of myself, so I just look to my left and my right, hoping that an angel appears and helps me with my dilemma.
"Oh, I'm so sorry", he starts, "I didn't introduce myself. I'm Damian. Damian Califiore. I'm a freshman, and I can see from your schedule that you are too." Once again, right. I'm a freshman and I'm nervous to even talk and I'm already in a conversation with someone?
"I hope you're not deaf, because I don't see SIGN LANGUAGE IV on your schedule". He chuckles and I join in too. I haven't talked at all yet besides the small "thanks" I gave him. I need to decide on what to say. I'm thinking and I'm thinking but he beats me to it.
"I like your glasses. They're nice. Probably nicer than mine. They're pretty old and yours are as shiny as your eyes." When he says this, I laugh a lot louder than I did the last joke, because this joke was truly funny.
"Hah! I'm not deaf... just really shy. My name's Pilar and..." I get tongue tied as I try to introduce myself. My brain sends signals to my body that say "ABORT! ABORT!", but my muscles are too stiff to move.
"You're probably nervous. I'll take you to your next class. I assume you can't find your next class since this is your first day. Lucky for you, I could care less if I made it late to class. Let's go to...", he takes a quick look at my schedule, "Human History. Wow, I have that class too! Well, not this period, so I won't be able to see you there. Anyways, let's go!"
Thank goodness he came to help me. I didn't have any idea where to go to get to Human History class. Thanks to Damian, I won't be late to class. He's being so sweet and uplifting with me, and something in me tells me he's the opposite of this in school. We finally make it to class with a minute to spare.
"Thanks Damian", I mumble, "I probably wouldn't have made it on time without you."
"No problem. Hey... remember when I said that I didn't care if I was late?"
"Yeah?"
"I lied." At that moment, Damian storms away and runs to his next class. I stay behind and laugh hysterically. When I stop, I step into class and find a seat. When I sit down, I hear mumbling between classmates and I actually hear MY name! I'm so nervous and I know this means. I'm being judged and the teacher has talked about me before. I'm trembling and I am on the verge of screaming when the teacher walks in just 2 seconds before the bell rings. I know how this works now... And sadly, I've gotten the hang of it. I stand up and walk up to the front of the classroom as the teacher introduces me. I'm not even listening to him as I analyze the room. I examine all the cliques in the class, and I'm not surprised with the results. Human History in 9th grade is a hard class, especially since you are only allowed to take it in Advanced Placement, so all but one person in class are nerds.
Then there's the girl. There is a single popular in this class and she stares at me the whole time the teacher introduces me and so do I. She's the last person I want to start problems with, and it won't happen yet. At least not in freshman year.
The teacher finishes introducing me while she reaches into her desk to grab a piece of gum. She starts to chew and teach at the same time and I listen. The class finishes extremely fast and I'm relieved. I literally run out and try to find my next class as soon as possible. I can't let the popular girl see me again. I run and run and run to my next class. I walk into my next class, Public Services, and am surprised to see a familiar face inside.