Prep School

Chapter 9

The next day, I woke up earlier than usual.
I shuffled into the bathroom, yawning.
I quickly brushed my teeth and combed out my hair. My gray eyes locked on the eyes in the mirror.
Day 2, let's go.
I pinned my bangs back and French-braided my hair.
I pulled out a white uniform shirt out of my dresser and pulled on some jeans.
I ran downstairs quickly, pulling on some Converses as I hopped down the stairs.
I grabbed some toast, kissed my mom on the cheek, then raced outside to Dad's car.

I walked to my locker slowly. I went over my schedule in my head and pulled out my phone to text Gianna.
Hey, where are you?
" Awww..." Someone whined behind me.
"How come I didn't get your number?" The voice continues.
Oh great. First thing in the morning...
"Hey Zane," I say, turning around.
He grins at me, his blue eyes bright.
"So how about I get those digits now?" He asks as he wags his phone at me.
His messy black hair hangs in his eyes , making his eyes seem even bluer.
I grab the phone and enter my number.
"Now gimme your phone so I can enter mine," he says.
I roll my eyes and hand him my phone.
"Can you hurry up? I have to get to class."
"So impatient. Tsk,tsk,tsk," he says, shaking his head.
He hands me my phone and I get a text from Gianna.
By the lockers. Whr r u?
Coming, I quickly reply.
When I get to my locker, Gianna's already waiting there.
"Hey, what took you so long?" she asks.
"Zane."
"Oooh, what did he want?" She giggles.
"My number," I grumble.
She giggles some more while I unpack.

We walk into English and sit down.
"Ok class," Mrs.Hucks begins," I was thinking that it was time for a little pre-assessment. I'm going to hand out a prompt and you will, to the best of your ability, answer the following questions...."
I zone out as she explains everything we need to do.
I'm sure it'll be in the packet....
We all pull out pencils and begin to write our answers. It's all very boring. I can feel myself zoning out every time my pencil moves.

Finally, I hear the bell ring overhead. I jump out of my seat and pull Gianna up with me.
We rush down the hall and into music class. This time, Mr.Cogges is perched up on his desk and is setting up a projector that's being angled at the wall behind him.
I look at the CD cover that's propped against the projector.
"The Beatles: A History ," I read aloud.
"No. Freaking. Way," Gianna says behind me.
"Way."
We sit down as Mr. Cogges stands up and announces "Class! Today we shall delve into the history of the greatest music group in living memory! This video is the introduction to these people that you shall be researching. You and four other individuals shall research about the members of the Beatles and how their extraordinary lives affected their extraordinary music! We're all in this together, as it were! Now darling children, someone turn off the lights and cue the video!"
"Is he seriously gonna do this every morning?" I mutter.
"Apparently," Gianna whispers.
The video starts and I can already hear snoring in the back of the class..
I cup my chin in my hands and zone out.

"Agh!" I screech after we get out of the dark classroom.
"What is that orb in the sky, I wonder?" Gianna says behind me.
"It's like a firecracker went off behind my eyes," I complain.
We stagger around until we can see again without complaining.
We stumble into math and clamber into our seats.
"Hey guys!" A cheery voice says behind me.
"Hey Sofia."
"Damn, what happened to you guys?"
"The Beatles."
"Ah, Mr.Cogges?"
"Yup."
Suddenly, I hear Sofia gasp.
"Guys! Look who it is!"
Gianna and I look at each other and shake our heads.
"I'm afraid to see who it is," I say to Gianna.
Gianna just sighs."We both know who it is. Sadly."
We look up and (surprise,surprise!) it's Zane. He's standing with a group of friends laughing about something.
Gianna and I shake our heads again and go sit down in our seats.

A few minutes later, Mr. Harmswell walks into the room, looking agitated. We all quiet down, looking at him as he paces around his desk. He looks up as if he's just realized he has a class waiting.
"Oh, hello students. Open your textbooks to page 244 and discuss the information with your partners," he says, distracted. His beady eyes dart around and his hands pull at his greasy hair.
Everyone shuffles around, going to meet their assigned partners.
Zane walks across the room and sits at the desk in front of me.
He turns his body around around so he's facing me.
Somewhere in the room, I hear a girl whisper,"Thats her partner?! For real?! Damn, that's so not fair!".
I blush red as I face the textbook and open it up.
"Do you want me to read first?"
"What?"
"Do you want me to read the page first?" Zane asks again, looking at me seriously.
"Ok. Sure."
He begins reading about FOIL method. His voice is deep, like it was designed to read math textbooks, and his hair hangs in front of his face as he reads.
His hair is the perfect shade black, like Indian ink, I thought to myself as I zoned out.
He looks up at me. I look away quickly, pretending that I'm looking at my shoes.
"Your turn to read." I could practically hear the grin in his voice.
He propped his face between his hands and looked at me expectantly.
I read the page and we start answering the questions. We finish early and go back to our regular seats while everyone else is still talking.
Gianna and Sofia are busy talking about some new dress that came out. Something blue and black I think.
As I pull out my sketchbook, my phone buzzes in my pocket.
Can I sit with u during lunch?
I look up and see Zane grinning at me from across the room.