HARMONY

Part 39 "The world just keep spinning..."

Claire's red bug pulled into the school parking lot reserved for juniors.

"Does anything suck worse than the first day of school?" Claire said. She glossed on a fresh coat of purple pansy, gave her thick hair a toss and picked at hole in her jeans. "Look at all these wanna bees thinking they're totally hot shit seniors."

Unbuttoning, then rebuttoning, then unbuttoning the top button on her crisp white blouse, Sophia added a quick glance out the window. "You thought you'd see something different?"

"They're going to ask me about Drew," Claire said with a sigh.

"No they ain't," Sophia said. She grabbed her backpack from the backseat. "Cause they know you and me will kick their ass."

"I can't stand the thought of the, like, sugary smiles and 'how are yous?' from the teachers."

Sophia opened the door. "Then let's go see Mr. P."

The girls slung their backpacks, spoke to no one, and headed across campus to visit their AP Bio teacher. They walked in as he dropped a live mouse into the snake aquarium. In his white lab coat, he turned just in time to see Sophia put her hands to her mouth and hear Claire squeal.

"Happy first day of school," Mr. P said. "I was hoping you two would stop in before the circus starts."

"That poor snake should be able to roam free," Claire said. She sat on top of a lab table and swung her legs. "But like in the wild, not here."

"Roam free my ass," Sophia said. "Lock 'em in tight."

Mr. P snapped the lid and tapped the glass as the snake slithered around the perimeter in chase after the mouse. "They're more afraid of you than you are of them."

"Well," Sophia said. "Until I see one pee its pants, grow legs and run screaming down the road, I ain't believing that."

"That would be a sight," Mr. P said. He hoisted his small frame onto a table across from Claire and pulled off a rogue hair from his earlobe. "How are you?" he said.

"Well, let's see." Claire pushed the contingent of string bracelets up and down her arm. "Drew's in juvy awaiting trial for some crime he didn't even do, my house has been foreclosed so I, like, live with Sophia and my mom lives with my Uncle Russ and with my Nana who burned down her kitchen." She rubbed her hands along her jeans. "Oh, and here's a little fun tidbit. My dad is like totally MIA. I mean, like seriously missing. He ran away to be some roadie for Wicked Snicker, so we..." she glanced at Sophia whose eyes stayed focused on the snake, "...we tried to find him but the police sorta caught us and—"

"That's a story for another day," Sophia said. She settled in next to Claire.

"Ya, it was so whacked out," Claire continued. "So Sophia's pops came and drove us home, but then no one's heard from my dad except sometimes my Uncle Chad who he left to handle his business, that oh, by the way is totally bankrupt." She managed a smile. "How was your summer?"

"I'm sorry to hear all that," Mr. P said. "Especially about Drew."

Sophia's long red nails tapped across the desk. "One day we'll tell you about driving a big ass-eighteen wheeler across the desert."

Mr. P laughed. "I'm looking forward to it." The three remaining gray hairs on his head glistened under the fluorescent lights. "Do you mind if I ask what lies ahead for Drew?"

Claire bowed her head and swung her legs, so Sophia gave the update. "They got a real badass lawyer for him and she's pushing up all the dates, so he's gonna see a trial end of October."