New Girl In Town

Chapter 4

2:15. I sighed in relief when I saw the clock and realized that I only had one more class left. I dug through my bag, pulled out my schedule, and smile when I saw that my last class of the day was art. At least my day would end on a high note.

I easily found the classroom and entered it, not exactly knowing what to expect; however, when a friendly looking man with messy hair and a beard approached me with a smile, I was grateful.

"Hello, you must be Asher Kingsman" he said, extending his hand. "I'm your art teacher, Mr. Moretti".

"Nice to meet you" I replied, shaking his hand firmly.

"So your classmates are just finishing up the projects that they're working on," he explained, "so for now, just find a spot and occupy yourself with something art related". I could tell immediately that I would get along great with Mr. Moretti. His laid back personality completely contrasted the strict personas of the other teachers I had met that day.

I looked around, taking a moment to fully soak in my surroundings. It was a relatively big room that had a ton of natural light pouring in through the huge windows on the back wall. The room was filled with colorful canvases on easels; other paintings, drawings, and posters were plastered all over the walls. The floors were a smooth, smokey grey concrete, and large wooden tables were scattered throughout the room. I also noticed the interesting mix of people who occupied the space. It was very obvious who the northsiders were and who the southsider were. One guy in particular caught my attention; he had a black, denim jacket on and he wore thick work boots. His hair was long and curly, and his shirt was covered in holes; however, it was the large 'G' tattooed on his neck that had caught my attention. Must be a Ghoulie.

A flash of red hair caught my eyes, and I turned to recognize that weird Cheryll girl from earlier strutting into the classroom; her stiletto heels clicked loudly as she made her way to a table and sat down. Not wanting to deal with her again, I swiftly grabbed an empty seat at a table on the opposite side of the room and began to pull my art supplies out of my bag. I never went anywhere without my sketchbook and my pens. I quickly got to work on my drawing, trying to zone out the rest of the rest of my surroundings.

"Hey stranger!" I looked up to see the girl who had given me the tour that morning standing across the table from me with an unfinished painting in her hands. I think her name was Betty. "How are you liking Riverdale High so far?" she asked me.

"It's fine" I replied with a small smile. "I just think I need a little time before I'm completely settled in."

"Understandable. Let me know if I can do anything to help make your time here easier" she offered as she pulled out a stool and sat down. She set down her painting, which was a beautiful watercolor piece, and I smiled at it admiringly as she got to work.

The bell rang, signaling the start of class, and a moment later, two people scurried into the room, hoping not to get caught for being tardy.

"You're late" sighed Mr. Moretti, not even bothering to look up from what he was working on to confront his culprits. I quickly recognized them to  be Toni and Sweet Pea. I wasn't surprised to see Toni in here. She seemed pretty artsy, with her colored hair and the camera slung around her neck. I definitely didn't peg Sweet Pea as the artistic type though. I guess you can't judge a book by its cover.

Sensing my stare, Sweet Pea gazed in my direction, and we made eye contact. I couldn't force myself to break the connection; something about him was just so mesmerizing to me. He gave me a smug little smirk as he looked away and moved towards what I assumed was his usual spot. On his way over there, he intentionally slammed his shoulder into the back of the curly haired boy as he passed the guy. Yup, definitely a Ghoulie, I thought to myself, recalling what Cheryll had told be about the gangs' rivalry earlier that day.

"So, what's the deal with them?" I asked Betty, nodding my head in their direction. She turned around to see who I was referring to.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about them" she replied sweetly with a smile; however, I could tell that she was subtly trying to tell me that it'd be best if I stayed out of their business.

The rest of the class went by relatively quickly. I was really happy with the direction that my drawing was going in, but I kept getting distracted by Sweet Pea and that ghoulie. They were constantly taunting each other and trying to get on the other's nerves. Finally, with ten minutes left of class, the ghoulie must have said something that made Sweet Pea snap.

"You better watch your mouth, ghoulie trash!" Sweet Pea shouted angrily. Everyone's attention turned to them as Toni quickly shot up from her seat and pulled Sweet Pea back, trying to get in between him and the ghoulie. Sweet Pea easily pushed past her tiny frame and made his way towards the ghoulie, who was now encouraging Sweet Pea's behavior by snapping back with an equally crude comment. Their dispute intensified quickly as Sweet Pea shoved the ghoulie off of his stool and onto the ground. Damn, he had no control over his temper. They began shouting foul insults and throwing threats at each other as Mr. Moretti rushed towards the newly erupted fight.

"Sweet Pea! Jax! Enough!" scolded Mr. Moretti loudly, pulling the boys apart from each other. "Both of you, go to the office. Now" he ordered sternly. I kind of felt bad for him; however, it seemed as though he had dealt with these two and their rivalry multiple times by now and that it was old news at this point.

The boys gave each other one last menacing look before reluctantly gathering their things and leaving the classroom. I looked at Betty in disbelief at the events that just unfolded, and she just shrugged at me and went back to painting. Just another day at Riverdale high, I guess.

The last few minutes of class went by quickly, and when the final bell rang, everyone packed up their bags and made their way into the hall. I followed suit and started heading towards my locker to put a few books away and to grab my skateboard.

"Hey Asher, wait up!" I turned around to find Betty jogging in my direction with a smile on her face. "A few of my friends and I are going to Pop's to hang out and work on some homework. Would you like to join us?"

"Yeah, I would love that" I replied gratefully despite not knowing what Pop's was; this meant that I didn't have to go home right away. It would spare me a few hours before I had to deal with my dad, and honestly, just about anything sounded better than being around him. 

We decided to meet by the front entrance, so I quickly exchanged a few things at my locker and waited for Betty outside of the main office. Through the window, I could see Sweet Pea sitting in front of the Principal's desk with his back facing me. The ghoulie he fought, Jax, was sitting along side him, and the three of them seemed to be having a heated discussion. I don't know why, but I couldn't stop staring; something about Sweet Pea just pulled me in. But why? I hardly knew him. It wasn't just his face or his height. I mean, it's not that I don't appreciate how nice he is to look at, but there was something else to it. I just couldn't put my finger on it.

"Hey, are you ready to go?" asked Betty, startling me from my deep thinking.

"Yup" I replied hastily, trying to remove all thoughts of Sweet Pea from my mind. Now, I had to focus on Betty and meeting her friends. But as we made our way to her car, images of him started popping into my head. What the hell was I letting this boy do to me?