Going Nowhere

Waiting for Wonderland - 4

~~~~~

That's all, folks

~~~~~

“Miss Lourdes!”

I jumped as the sound of my name tore me from my daydreams, and I swung my head away from the window to see my physics teacher, Mr. Hoover, glaring at me. I couldn’t help but feel like I’d completely ignored something he’d just said to me, especially since I could practically see the smoke blowing from his ears.

“Yes?” I asked, trying and failing to make it appear like I’d been paying attention.

“Please stop clicking your pen!” he snapped, and I swear, Mr. Hoover’s watery eyes looked like they were going to pop from his head.

“Sorry,” I said hurriedly, and I dropped my pen on the notebook on my desk. Clicking a pen was Mr. Hoover’s biggest pet peeve, and I seemed to only do it when I was sitting in his class. I wasn’t purposely trying to annoy him; I just did it subconsciously.

Mr. Hoover gave me a lingering, angry look, and then he turned around and continued his lecture about centripetal forces. As captivating as this boring topic was, I found myself starting to zone out again.

Just as I felt my hand reaching for the pen, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Unlike the rest of the students in the classroom, I got up slowly from my chair and lazily slung my backpack over my shoulder. I grabbed my notebook up in my arms and filed out of the room, behind the mass of teenagers.

Yes, usually when class was over, I was the first to book it out of the classroom. However, it was time for lunch, and I hate the cafeteria. When a girl didn’t really associate with anyone, and I mean anyone, in her school, the thirty minutes dedicated to socializing was something to dread.

After grabbing the books I would need after lunch from my locker, I slipped down to the cafeteria and into the lunch line. I grabbed a cellophane wrapped sandwich and a bruised apple, and I paid for my lunch with a handful of crumpled dollar bills.

Instead of sitting in the main lunch room with the rest of the student body, I headed for the courtyard just outside. Students were allowed to eat and hangout there, but in the middle of the fall, when the air was getting colder, people tended to stay inside. There was the occasionally pothead smoking a blunt, but I was pretty much alone. 

I sat down at one of the stone picnic tables, and I crossed my legs under me. I unwrapped my sandwich, and as I took a bite, I pulled my half-completed history homework out of my backpack. I started to scribble words onto the worksheet, and just as I got to the last set of questions, a dark shadow was cast over the page.

“There you are, Alice.”

My head snapped up, and I squinted in the face of the sun to see Christian standing on the other side of the table. “What do you want?” I asked hostilely.

“I’ve been looking for you since math,” Christian stated, and he sat down with an invitation and took a bite of his pepperoni pizza. Unfortunately, Christian had been put in my math class, so he decided it would be a good idea to try and get my attention…for the entire class period.

“Why?” I blurted, completely taken aback. “I talked to you for less than four minutes.”

“Exactly,” Christian replied, looking at me like I was slow, “We barely talked, and I really want to get to know you.” I snorted and put my elbows on the tabletop, which seemed to take Christian by surprise. “What’s so funny?” he asked defensively.