mermaid 》 alemanda ✔

chapter one.

alesha

I looked around the naked office. Simon, the band director hadn’t brought his stuff into the office we were going to share yet as he was typically late. I had packed up all of our stuff when we had moved office from a tiny, cramped former costume closet to a much larger room that had originally been instrument storage. The office was more than double the size of our old one. All of the heavy furniture had been moved by the custodians for us, luckily. It wouldn’t do to meet the new drama teacher in a messy office, granted I had heard that her classroom was a mess as she was moving everything around for flexible seating for the students and to create a good atmosphere for learning acting.

I had heard that she looked a little different from other teachers but I hadn’t met her yet as we were going to have an arts subjects meeting once Simon arrived as he was the head of the arts department but he wasn’t here yet. I knew everyone else in the department, Paula, the American art teacher, Ryan, the American woodshop teacher, and then there was the new drama teacher who had taken over Louis job after he had a stroke over the summer hols. I knew Simon the best out of all of them though. He had been the one to push for me to be hired at the school we worked at now and told the headmaster not to worry about the fact I had a prosthetic leg and it could be seen during the interview.

I had osteosarcoma when I had been fifteen but the doctors treating me had thought it would be better to amputate since the cancer had spread past my knee. I walked funny because of the prosthetic being my knee joint as well. I had a stump of my leg that was left after amputation that ended mid thigh. My main chemotherapy doctor had said that I was lucky that the entire leg didn’t need to be amputated.

I didn’t feel lucky about having a stump of a leg. It caused problems in the bedroom with my boyfriend, Azuka. He had never once said he loved me in bed after sex, never said it once and we had been together for almost two years but I stayed with him because he always called me beautiful instead of saying he was in love with me. Every night when the prosthetic, which I lovingly called my stump holder, came off, Azuka would pull a disgusted face. I couldn’t blame him. The scar wasn’t that pretty and it traveled up what was left of my left leg but I could hide it with fabric in the bedroom so Azuka wouldn’t see it. Our relationship wasn’t that perfect as Azuka was always busy with trying to get a career with singing and her had many late nights from playing in clubs for gigs and I was often home alone. I had asked him if he ever wanted children and he didn’t and we didn’t have any pets either. We made our relationship work though.

“I’m here!” Simon announced, striding into the office and grinning when he saw me in my tank top and skinny jeans sitting on top of what was going to be my desk.

“Took you long enough. I’m dying to get somewhere air conditioned. Our office is broiling and the meeting was supposed to start half an hour ago in Paula’s room!” I reprimanded. “Why must you always be late?”

Simon gave me a cheeky smile in response and helped me off of the desk that I was sitting on. “Why aren’t you wearing shorts? It’s way too hot for jeans.”

“The new teacher can’t know that I’m disabled right off the bat!” I replied as we walked to the art classroom. I was greeted by the scent of one of Paula’s many teas being brewed on the hot plate. The woman was addicted to teas and I couldn’t blame her. Paula had gotten addicted to teas when she moved to London five years ago and she constantly had a pot of tea in her classroom, whether it was just for the constant pain she was in or for stress, it was always there. We greeted Paula and sat down at one of the tabled, Simon sitting across from me, Paula at the head of the table, and Ryan sitting next to Simon. That left only one seat open, right next to me as it was Paula’s desk. Paula jumped up to answer the door when the new teacher knocked, specifically the new drama teacher.

amanda

I gulped as I straightened my dress in front of the door to the art classroom. I knew no one that was going to be at the meeting for drama club. I barely knew Simon, the band director, much less the other three teachers that were going to be helping me with the drama club and department. I knew that it was Ryan Seacrest and Paula Abdul that were going to make the sets once the musical was chosen, although I truly had no idea what I was going to decide on and it was going to be the pit band that would play all of the music. I didn’t know who was going to be in charge of the singing for the musical though but I had heard things about her. I heard the basic things that she was nice and sweet and pretty but I had also heard the hurtful things that were said about her.

The fact she wore jeans everyday to work, no matter how hot it was outside. She never showed off her legs in dresses during concerts for the school band and chorus. She only had one leg and was called pegleg, pirate, and other things behind her back. She probably knew about the nicknames because hurtful things have a way of coming back to the person that they’re about.

I’ve had more than my fair share of hurtful nicknames since I was born. My parents didn’t know that I was going to be born with a port-wine stain that took up over half of my face and that it would spread down my neck as I grew older. Alien, freak, and other things I was called from as far back as I could remember. And as far back as I could remember, only my parents ever called me beautiful and parents are supposed to do that for their children, no matter what they look like when they make their entrance into the world.

I knocked on the door to the art classroom and was greeted by a short woman wearing shorts and a green t-shirt that made her eyes seem brighter as she gave me a once over, her eyes lingering on my birthmark. Her forehead shone with sweat from the heat of the school and she wiped it off with her forearm.

“You must be Amanda! I’m Paula, the art teacher here,” she greeted as she led me into the art room and then pointed at each person as she said their name. “That’s Simon. He’s the band director. That one is Ryan and he’s the woodshop teacher. And our chorus director is the lovely Alesha.”

Alesha glanced up as her name was said and her eyes flitted from my face back down to her lap. She could see the port-wine stain. Everyone could because my makeup was starting to fail from the heat in my classroom and in the school. The redness of the birthmark could be seen. I sat down next to Alesha and she set her hand on the table.

Her fingernails were painted red and they appeared to be chewed on by her. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat as Paula spoke again as she sat down, “tell us a little about yourself, Amanda. Interests, interesting things about you, how long you’ve been teaching for example.”

I gulped again. My throat was dry as I spoke but I didn’t sound hoarse, “I’ve been teaching for eight years now and drama has always been one of my passions. I’ve always dreamt about going on West End ever since I was a little girl but I could never find an acting job so I had to give it up last year and I decided it was time for a fresh start. I moved to London officially about a month ago.” I avoided the question about what was interesting about me because I didn’t want to mention the birthmark on my face although the group had noticed it. Ryan was staring at it and once he realised he was, his glance went down into his lap.

“We need to decide on an Autumn term musical now. Have you given it any thought, Amanda?” Simon interrupted, saving me from an awkward silence after I had finished speaking about myself. Simon gave me a kind smile and set his hands on the desk.

“Not really,” I admitted. “I always have trouble with it.”

“We can help with it. I’ll help you with picking it,” Alesha blurted out. She blushed as we made eye contact and her gaze went to the desk again. Alesha seemed to be awkward around me and I couldn’t blame her. It was just the way that people acted around me.

[] hey guys! So it sounds like Simon and Paula might end up being a couple because of Simon's crush on her but he's flirting with Amanda. What do you think is going to happen next and what did you love about this chapter? Bye until the next chapter!