“Kim! Kim! Kim!”
“What?!”
“Hi.”
“Yeah, hi.” It was Thursday morning and I was on the bus with Mark and Tom. Mark was already trying to get my attention. They were both sitting in the seat across from me. Mark in a black shirt that said, “Halo” and a pair of blue jeans, and Tom in a black shirt and also blue jeans. They dressed alike. It was weird. Mark had a pair of green Converse today, and Tom’s shoes just the same as yesterday. I liked how they dressed, it amused me.
“The word is that there’s a new girl in my English class coming today!” Mark exclaimed. Tom and I nodded at him, still asleep. I was actually starting to like them surprisingly. They were okay guys. At least I had someone else to hang out with besides Lee.
“Really?” Tom asked. “Hopefully, she’s hot.”
Mark laughed. “That’d be nice. Kim’s pretty hot.” I shot my head towards them. “Oh, hi Kim!” Mark grinned widely at me. I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed.
“But, she’s Kim,” Tom said quieter and smiled at Mark. They both burst out laughing.
“Dude, shut up.” I told them and they continued to laugh.
“Watch out, Mark, she might get mad at us again,” Tom smiled at Mark and then coughed to stop his laughter. Mark continued to laugh till I smacked his shoulder.
Everyone started moving and we assumed we had arrived at school. We gathered our backpacks and slowly got off the bus and onto the cement. I walked next to Mark instead of in between Mark and Tom, I felt safer next to Mark strangely. We entered the school and went our way to our lockers. I quickly gathered my stuff and walked to geometry by myself; Lee wasn’t here today. I took a seat near the window where I usually sit and a few minutes later Tom walked in and sat next to me. He slid into the seat and put his backpack on the floor. I watched him smoothly, trying not to make a loud noise to distract the other fifteen kids in the classroom so far.
“Hey, Kim,” he said and started to chew on his pencil. I still didn’t like him very much.
“Don’t chew on your pencil; that’s gross,” I said and took my pencils out.
“Oh? Someone’s bossy today,” he laughed a little as the bell rang. I tried to focus on the board again. Everything felt okay right now. Everything was going okay. I had friends now, or at least somewhat friends, that were more fucked up than me. It was kind of a self-esteem boost at times. Before I knew it I was in biology with Mark sitting at a lab table.
“Kim, Kim, Kim, Kim, Kim!” Mark screamed when I entered the room. I felt my face turn red. He grinned at me and patted the table he was sitting at, signaling me to come to him. I stumbled over to him and put my backpack on the floor. “Kim, Kim, Kim, Kim, Kim!”
“Jesus Christ Mark, what?!”
“… Hi,” he grinned at me and I was about ready to smack him, “I’m kidding. Anyway, are you and Thomas okay now?”
“Yeah, we’re okay for now,” I replied to him and watched the other kids enter the classroom.
“That’s good,” he said and looked at his folder, “Oh!” his head shot up, “I have the new girl in my class next!”
“Great,” I said to him. He frowned.
“Be excited, Kim! My friends, are your friends,” he smiled at me “That’s why Tom’s your friend and no one else, hah…. So, she’ll be your friend too. So you can talk about girl stuff to her. Like, like, periods and cramps and whose dick looks better in pajama pants!”
