5th Generation

Episode 8: Just South Of Strange

Hazel sat at the lunch table. Alone. Usually, she was with her three friends, but for some reason, none of them had shown up to lunch. She checked her phone to see it had only been about 10 minutes since lunch had started. Impatiently, she played with her hair. She had never really cared too much for appearance. Today, she wore some leggings and her usual 'Keep Calm And Ship It' sweatshirt over a tee, no doubt with a fandom reference on it. She always kept her messy, unbrushed blonde hair in a ponytail and today was no exception. Where is everyone? She wondered. Another phone check told her it had been one minute since she'd last looked. This time, she didn't set it down again. Her phone screen was a fan art of a guy wearing a purple suit, an eyepatch, a bow tie and a top hat. It was from her favorite tv show Gravity Slides. How could she explain it? Hazel had been obsessed with the cartoon for months and it was all she could talk about. It was all she wanted to talk about. She looked around the lunchroom. No sign of her friends. Now she was getting nervous. Hazel hated being on her own. It was...uncomfortable. What if people were looking at her? She knew they weren't, but still! It was awkward. She didn't have many friends and she was sure she weirded out people who were not. Now she was anxious. And still lonely. Then she recalled something one of the characters, Ariel Fir, had said. 'Hi! I'm Ariel! I'm 13 and own a goat! Wanna get married?' it had nothing to do with her current, situation but it was something and it made her smile. It's been fifteen minutes. Where were they? 

To occupy herself, she listed the name, season and episode number of every episode of Gravity Slides in her head. Most of her friends dismissed her love for the show because she 'had a new obsession every year'. In 6th grade it was film. She had created a MeTube channel and posted a video nearly every day. She only got up to 20 subscribers, but still. Even if she never talked about it anymore, and never asked her friends to make a video with her, she still loved it. She had an ILM coffee table book she's read cover to cover multiple times and just made a new channel to start fresh. In 7th grade it was Vampires. She had went around telling people she was from the 1800s. Her quote for the year was 'Well I've been dead for 200 years, so......' Even though she stopped claiming she was one, Vampires still had a spot in her heart. Just last year was The Wizard of Oz. Despite the fact she no longer skipped places while humming 'We're off to see the Wizard', it was still one of her all time favorite movies. Twenty minutes. Still no one. She began to tap her foot. That morphed into the theme song to Gravity Slides. It's funny how a simple tune could be so comforting. Well, they probably weren't coming, she realized with a sigh. With one last glance at the cafeteria door, she unlocked her phone and pulled up some fan fiction to read.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

No one looked at her. That was probably a good thing, considering she was sneaking into English fifteen minutes late. She was able to sit down without trouble just as the teacher was explaining what they were going to do today. Unfortunately, after she finished addressing the class, she made her way to Hazel's desk.

 "Care to tell me why you are so late?" 

"uhhh" she didn't have a pass. 

"I......lost track of time. Sorry"

"Please be on time tomorrow."

"Ok." Well that could have gone better. At least she had accepted her excuse. The truth was, she had been so into what she was reading, she hadn't heard the bell. How could she not have heard it? It's very loud. At least it's over now. And she was only fifteen minutes late. Today, they had to read the next few chapters in their books and answer some comprehension questions. Ugh. Not everything is a metaphor for life! Despite what english class says. And she stood by it. The 'hand closes around the book like a mouth' NOT because it symbolizes their hunger for reading, but because hey, mouths close! Everyone knows that! Simile! Ugh. If only they could write about whatever they wanted. She could probably write at least 10 pages on Gravity Slides. Episode summaries, fan theories, fan fiction, fan art, AUs, season one, season two, the creator, book companions, and so much more. But that wasn't an option. Chapters 12 & 13, and questions 1-18 were in her inevitable future. Ugh.