Wunderkind

Saved by the Bell

"Welcome back for another year. I am Mr. Saunders, and I look forward to teaching you kids Spanish II. Now turn to page xiii and start looking over what you learned in Spanish I." Mr. Saunders lifted his belly up as he spoke in a monotone voice. There was no expression on his, or the students' faces. All except Mari's.

She was the only sophomore at R. Day High School who was ecstatic for the new school year. After all, it was her first time at public school, or any school. Her previous 'school' life consisted of her mom paying tutors to come and teach Mari different lessons. She was debriefed about math, English, Spanish, and science, but most of her lessons consisted about music. So far, this was so different than all the tutoring sessions she had.

All the students, except the eager Mari and the few kids who actually liked school, sighed to themselves as they read in silence, glancing up at the clock every other second. Mr. Saunders sat at his desk, twiddling his fingers over the top, lost in the maze of clutter on his desk.

"Once you're done reading, sit there quietly." He said once he picked up some sort of paper airplane, vandalized by red ink. "And would the owner of the white and red paper airplane please find some better pranks. If you're going to do a prank, you might as well make it a good one."

Some girls in the back of the class giggled, earning a glare from the teacher. Mari, along with her classmates, turned to glare at them. The red ink on the paper airplane must not be ink, but instead red lipstick.

Mari finished reading early, and sat there tracing the wood on the desk. When most of her classmates finished too, the class broke out in a global discussion. Mr. Saunders seemed not to care, as he was half asleep himself.

"Hey, I'm Aubrey. Who did you have for homeroom last year?" The girl next to Mari poked her.

"I'm Mari. This is my first year here." She replied to the brunette next to her.

"Really? You look so familiar." The brunette sighed. So what school did you come from?

"I was homeschooled." Aubrey gasped and tackled Mari while still in her seat.

"Homeschooled? This is like your first time at school! Don't worry-you can rely on me and my friends!" Mari was confused on what she meant by 'rely' as the taller girl strangled her in a bear hug. But she just smiled, realizing that she just made a friend.

She felt the eyes of her classmates on her and Aubrey. "Aubrey! Stop harassing people!" Someone snickered. She let go of Mari, feeling flushed.

"Oh shut up Terrence; you're already harassing me!" Aubrey stuck her tongue out at the boy behind her. Mari smiled, listening as the boy, Terrence, and Aubrey spit insults back at each other. She started giggling, hiding her mouth behind her hands. Then they both started to stare at her.

"What? You two are just so funny!" Mari wondered if she did anything wrong. Aubrey and Terrence froze, bug-eyed and there was a silence. The only sound was the awkwardness of the clock that was seven and a half minutes behind.

Aubrey smiled. "Mari! You're smiling! You are growing up so fast!"

"Growing up, eh?" Terrence said. "What are you? Her mother?"

"Of course I want to be her mother! She is just so precious and cute and shy! Like a rabbit. Or like a little kid. Or a kid rabbit!" Aubrey spoke with so much enthusiasm, only after seconds of talking to Mari. It made her happy, to have a new, yet spastic friend.

I've never had any real friends before, thought Mari. Mother never approved of anyone who wasn't in the same scenario as me. Well, Mother's not here...

"Did you say your name was Mari?" Terrence asked her, after rolling his eyes at Aubrey. He was acute to detail. Mari remembered her mom telling her that all boys never notice anything.

"Yea. And you're Terrence, right?" She smiled, hoping to be friends with Terrence. She had told Drew that she wanted to make friends with everyone in her class.

"Mari Arnold, eh?" He bit onto his pencil eraser. Mari was caught by surprise. She was pretty sure that the teacher just called Mari, not Mari Arnold in the beginning of class attendance. But, he couldn't know. Could he?

"How'd you know?" She tried to smile through her goosebumps, but it came out shaky.

The bell rang. The students all stood up, collecting their belongings, and running out the door. Mr. Saunders looked at the class. It was obvious that he was asleep before when he wiped slobber from his chin.

"I have to get to class, bye!" Mari dodged his response, thanking God that she was saved by the bell.