Wouldn't it be Funny?

Chapter 4

By second hour, the whole school was in an uproar. Finally, my art teacher had enough of the chaos and straightened us all out. Apparently, graduated students HAD broken in last night.

They entered through a broken window and proceeded to toss all the books to the floor. There was even some spray paint on the walls and on a school relic, done by the class of 1997 art committee. The poor statue was desecrated and then skewered with a broomstick.

How they thought they wouldn't get caught and arrested by the police is beyond me.

None of us were surprised that the criminals were apart of the graduated class. In general, half of the class was either pregnant, on drugs, or regularly participated in sacrilegious acts.

It made me sick to the stomach that someone would to that. According to the constant whispering around me, everyone agreed. A shadow passed over me, and I absentmindedly scooted my chair forward to let the person pass.

The large desks in the art room were arranged perfectly so if you needed to go anywhere, there would be a lot of chairs screeching. It was almost to the point that it was a safety hazard. I couldn't say how many times I've had a paint tray, inkwell, or a person dumped on me because someone tripped on a chair. It would destroy whatever project I was working on, not that it was any good in the first place. Some of my best works had other students dumpings all over them.

The shadow didn't move. In fact, it sat in the empty desks right beside me. They didn't say anything.

"So...Are there usually break-ins in this school? Or is that a new development?"

I pretended that I hadn't been fully aware that they were there. "Hmm?"

The boy next to me brought his hands to his ears, motioning for me to take my headphones out. I had forgotten that they were even in.

Probably because nothing was playing, ya dimwit...

He repeated himself, physically turning his body towards mine.

Oh no, I'm not getting out of this conversation anytime soon.

I chuckled nervously, "No..." I fidgeted with my pencil and slightly turned to face him. With my genius display of physical communication, I hoped he got the message that I was trying to be polite... without being too invested in the conversation.

"I sure hope not, my sister and I just moved here from the city. We saw that kind of stuff every day." I internally groaned as he continued.

This is so forced. Think of something to break this awkward tension already!!

"Your name is Emily right?" I couldn't help the pained expression that flashed across my face.

"Ember, my name is actually Ember." I cringed at how irritated I sounded. I didn't blame him for this one-sided conversation. Last night was riddled with nightmares, and I hardly slept. By 4:00 am I said "screw it" and brewed a cup of black tea, determined to make it through the day fueled by caffeine and anxiety.

"Oh, right..." He trailed off. It broke my heart to see how down and about he was. I really didn't mean to snap at him. "Well, I actually wanted to talk to you about lessons... band help... Er, I mean, band lessons. Section stuff? I'll need some help. Mr. Donner had talked about you. And... Um..." Sweat was beading on his forehead as his conversation slowly disintegrated. He was probably baking in that thick jacket of his.