I stared at the horrifying sight before me. It wasn’t scary horrifying, or heart breaking horrifying, although it most certainly did induce immense pity. It was like driving down the road next to a horrible accident. While you drive by, you feel bad for those injured, but the longing to just stare and take the entire scene in takes you over as you drink in the glorious gore of the fascinatingly distracting spectacle, almost getting into a wreck yourself. “Whack!” My eyes slightly closed as I winced. The sound was so loud. “Whack!” This time my shoulders jolted forward a bit too. This was ridiculous. Why did this sound keep surprising me?! “Whack!” There I go again. There was a certain rhythm to the smacks of the stern man’s wooden paddle. So, I shouldn’t have been so surprised. But, it was just the look on both their faces. The look of the Catholic teacher, and the young boy on his knees before him. The way his eyes would flutter shut a bit, each time the paddle made contact with his body. Yet there was a light smirk in the corner of his lips. He didn’t enjoy what was happening to him, but he was trying to appear as though he did. This was only my first day at this Catholic high school. It’s not like it was the first one I had ever been to, but the first one in New York. The streets outside were rough and untamed, but the people that came inside here were transformed for a few hours. Their dingy clothes were traded for prim and proper uniforms. I actually thought most of the guys looked pretty cute in them. “Whack!” I flinched again. Even the boy up front. I just kept staring at his eyes, though I wasn’t sure why. Was it because they were so blue? Or was it because they seemed so familiar? Or both? They were just too familiar though…
That morning, I had been feeling very nervous in my new surroundings. I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was walking and I had accidentally bumped into him. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” I had exclaimed, as I watched a small, folded notebook fall from his back pocket. “Oh, it’s fine.” he had said, with a slight smile and a laugh. I was sure he could see right through me. How scared I was. He picked up his notebook, quickly shoving it back in his pocket, and smiled at me as he walked away. I was too in a daze due to what had happened to start walking again right away, and stop staring at him. Once I snapped out of it, I headed to my first class. The whole day went pretty well, except for the fact that my navy blue knee socks kept falling down, and the girls there either acted like total sluts or snobs. But there were, plenty of cute guys, so this place couldn’t be all bad. “Whack!” I jolted again in my seat. Apparently he was done, for he lifted the boy up by his shoulder. The small smirk that had rested in the corners of his mouth earlier, now spread across his face. “Too bad Father. I was just beginning to enjoy myself…” he mumbled slyly through his teeth. I couldn’t help but look down, stifling a laugh. “You can come back tomorrow and we’ll do it again if you’d like, Mr. Carroll.” the man stated in a thick accent, I couldn’t quite identify. Just then the bell rang. Thank god…
I quickly gathered my things and dispersed out into the hallway with the floods of all the other people. Making my way through the sea of bodies, I grabbed my things from my locker. As I slung my Jansport back pack over my shoulder, I noticed a group of four guys running and laughing loudly, jostling into each other as they moved behind me. I laughed as I watched them. They all looked at me. I hadn’t realized that I had turned around, pressing my back against my locker, and was loudly giggling at them as they passed. A few of them even smiled at me as they ran down the front stairs. One of them was that Carroll boy from earlier. There was something about him that I just liked. I wasn’t sure what it was yet, but I couldn’t wait to find out.
