Chronicles of Estelle Tod: Freshman Fangs

School

  As they entered Bathory High for the first time, they both marveled at the beautiful restoration done. The high arched ceilings, the grand pillars, it looked like a cathedral. Estelle got through the crowd to the table, no problem. The girl at the table found Estelle's schedule and handed it to her. Estelle nodded to her, and made her way through the swarm of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. Her locker was right outside her first hour class. She slipped the lock out of her bag and into the slot on her locker. She hung her bag up and grabbed her Mythology book, then closed her locker and walked through the door of her class. "Good Morning, Miss Tod. Happy Birthday." said Otis. He smiled and winked at her. She returned it with a smile and nod as she approached her uncle's desk. "Thank you, Mister Otis."

"Remember to drop by my classroom after school."

"Oh, I almost forgot. Are we having a party for me at Tristian's house?" Otis nodded. "Did your father not tell you?" She shook her head, then turned and sat in the front row, next to the window. The bell rang, and Otis began his usual speech. "Hello, class. I am Mr. Otis. As my first name is the same as my last, you may call me by either, providing the obligatory title 'mister' precedes your choice." Estelle suppressed a giggle. "Now, this year, we will be studying different mythological creatures, as well as a report on the creature you draw out of this hat due at the end of the semester." Otis pulled his ugly and infamous purple hat out, filled to the brim with folded slips of paper. He walked to Estelle first. She stuck her hand in and shuffled around, then pulled out the paper she grabbed and unfolded it. She was rather amused with what she read, though she didn't know why.

"Vampire?" She stared up at Otis, who looked like he was trying to suppress a smirk and failing miserably. She felt rather clueless, meaning she didn't know what was so ironic. "Why is that so funny?" He just ignored her and moved on. Thinking on it, she realized her uncle probably knew something he wasn't telling her.

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After the bell rang, Estelle walked out of Mrs. Kalb's classroom and to her locker. She opened the door, put her book up, and grabbed her lunch. When she closed her locker, Tristian was there. "Hey, kid. How was your first day of High school?" He smiled and leaned against the wall.

"Half a day. And it was awesome. Mythology with Otis, priceless."

"You have Otis as a teacher?"

"Yeah. He's pretty cool."

"That's so nice of you to say, Estelle. I quite enjoyed having you in my class as well." Estelle turned at the sound of her uncle's voice. He had a smile on his face, as usual. He looked from Estelle to Tristian. "Its nice to see you again, Mr. McMillan."

"Good to see you too, Mr. Otis."

"Are you enjoying your first day?"

"Yeah. I'm looking forward to class with you. I'm sure it'll be entertaining." He turned to Estelle. "Are you ready?" Estelle nodded and followed him to the lunchroom. They sat down, and Estelle realized that she was the only girl at the table. The tall blond boy in the varsity jacket whispered to Tristian, "Hey, who's the babe?"

"Guys, this is Estelle. Estelle, this is Danny, the Senior quarterback," He pointed to the blond guy, "Tanner, the Sophomore," The equally as tall, red- headed, freckled guy, " and Will and BJ, the Junior Twins," They were identical twins. They had black hair, green eyes, and tattoos on their right hands, "and that's Aaron. He's a freshman, too." He pointed to the boy with the brown hair and reddish eyes, who glanced in her direction. She smiled, and in response, his lips curled up and he waved a little. Estelle turned back to everyone else, and Danny winked at her. "Sup, sweetheart? Freshman, right?" Estelle nodded and blushed like crazy. Danny smiled. "Great. I love freshmen girls." He moved from his seat across the table to right next to her.

"Come on, Danny. Leave the poor girl alone." Tristian didn't seem as amused as the rest of the guys. Tanner lightly punched him on the shoulder. "Come on, Tristian. We're just having a little fun. Lighten up." Estelle, meanwhile, felt kind of violated, as the Twins and Danny were getting up in her face. Danny was trying to hold her hand, put his arm around her, anything he could to get closer to her. She kept politely pushing him off. The Twins were on her other side, pushing her closer into Danny. Estelle hated being in this situation. 

Luckily, Tristian walked around the table and grabbed Danny by the collar, then pulled him away. The twins immediately retreated. Danny wasn't amused. He stood up and moved in front of Tristian, looming over him threateningly. Tristian just grabbed Estelle's hand, leading her away from his friends. When they sat down at another table, Tristian sat on one side and Estelle sat on the other. He seemed ashamed, though Estelle didn't think he should have been.

"Listen, I'm sorry about Danny. He's just... he's used to getting what he wants, and he thinks every girl in the school is crushing on him, and-" Estelle held up a hand, stopping him. "No apology necessary. There's no way to change others' behavior. You can't help it. I can't help it. We might as well forget the entire thing ever happened." She smiled at him. In need of a subject change- while trying to get her blushing under control- she asked, "So, how's your mom and dad?"

"Mom is sun burnt and Dad is missing his sunglasses, but other than that, I think they're happy to be home. How about your dad? How's he doing?"

"I still think he's crazy overprotective, but he is also doing fine." They laughed. He pulled his money out of his back pocket. "Crap! I don't have enough money for lunch."

"Problem solved." She pulled the Twinkie out of her bag and split it in half. She handed him one side. He gladly accepted it. They each took a bite. He unexpectedly took his part and squeezed a glob of frosting on her nose. She crossed her eyes to look at it, then took it off her nose with her finger and stuffed it in her mouth. She thought the frosting was the best part.

By the time lunch ended, everything in her lunch had been divided between them.