Clingford High

Chapter 6

I walked into my new homeroom. There were already a few boys lingering at the back. The female teacher just stared at her phone, taking no notice of the students entering her classroom. I do not want to draw attention to myself, yet I do not want to be too far back - I still got to learn my materials. I choose the seat in the middle row, closest to the window. Vana was in another class and grade, so she headed a different direction than me. I have no idea where Avery was, much less what grade she is in.

I gazed out the window as students filed into the classroom around me. The view overlooked the carpark, which was full today. Two flags whipped in the wind: America and state. Gotta stay loyal to your country.

I heard someone sit down at the desk next to mine. I was not in the mood to communicate with anyone, so I continued staring out the window. The bustling got louder. A loud shove interrupted the atmosphere. I whipped my head around to find the source only to be greeted by a guy hurtling towards my table. Instinctively, I set my right arm out, taking in the impact of the body. 

The other guy must have shoved him hard, I thought. My minor workout once a week was not enough to accommodate the weight being thrown at me. The guy being shoved stretched out his arm, looking for support, one of which found my shoulder. He looked at me, but I spoke first.

"Watch it next time," I said flatly. "I won't be around to break the impact again." He flashed a cheeky grin.

"The name's Ryder."

"Great to know," I said, crossing my arms.

"Yo stop flirting dude,  get your pretty ass over here!" Someone yelled across the classroom.

"I think that is enough. Settle down, students!" I looked around, searching for the source of the voice. As students started sitting down, it was clear that it was from the female teacher at the front. She does her job when the bell rings apparently. Ryder spun out of view.

"Hello everyone, my name is Mary Turman, your homeroom for this year. You may address me as Mrs. Turman. Welcome to the freshman class! I know everyone is excited for the new school year, am I right?" A boy at the back stood up.

"That is absolutely correct Mrs. Turman," he declared, standing up. The chestnut slicked back brown hair stood out to me as if I just seen it. I had a feeling it was Ryder from the side features of his face. The cheekbones, sharp nose... Was it the same guy, or did I mistake him for someone else? The guys snickered as he sat down, giving him pats on the back. I could not help but roll my eyes, boys will always be boys.

"I am teaching History and Literature so most of you have classes with me this year. With that being said, I have all of your schedules in my hand, all according to the selections you made last year or during the summer, if you are a new student," she said as she looked at her watch. She handed those out, along with our locker numbers. She also informed us to head to the art room to pick up our textbooks as according to the classes we had.

"So we finished earlier than scheduled, so we have thirty minutes before you head to your lessons. In this time, why not we all have a brief icebreaker to get to know each other." We were the freshman class. Only a few groups with two or three people knew each other, possibly from the middle school down the street, but most of us were strangers like me. As instructed, we wrote down something interesting about ourselves on a piece of paper before putting it in a basket being passed around. Mrs. Turman explained how the game was going to be played. She was going to randomly pick a student off the roll call list. That student was then going to pick out a piece of paper, read it aloud, then guess who wrote it.

A boy named James Lee was picked first. He read it out, only to receive giggles from the girls. I had no interest in the activity whatsoever, but I appreciate Mrs. Turman making good use of the time. At least she used the extra time to do something that would benefit us all as a whole, rather than just sitting back at her desk and giving the student free time and letting them run wild. I was daydreaming when I heard my name escape from Mrs. Turman's lips.

"Would you come up here, Miss Jones?" she asked me politely. I walked to the front, feeling all eyes on me. First impressions are key, but what do I want people to view who I am? I could be a shy girl, then suddenly become really sociable. I could be conservative and hide my personality from others, I do not want to get hurt. I could just be overall sociable with a hint of conservation, like an outgoing person where no one knows my true self. My posture of walking is important. My walk! I cannot slouch for sure, it shows signs of weakness and tiredness - don't need to give bullies here a target.

All thoughts aside, I reached into the hat and pulled out a piece of paper. It read:

"I lost seven pounds after having a dump."

I could not help but giggle a little while scrunching up my face a little. It was a little hilarious yet disgusting, but who shares this with other classmates in school? It must be a person with a lot of gut, probably a jock. Call me sexist, but I feel like a boy would do such a thing.

"Yo girl, what does it say that got you worked up?"

I looked up and said, "Someone lost seven pounds after having a dump." The whole class erupted into laughter - even Mrs. Turman smiled.

"Alright, alright, who do you think wrote this?" she asked. I instantly replied with the first thought that came to mind.

"A nasty lil someone."

There goes my reputation.

I'm going to go and dig a hole to bury myself in now.

As if on cue, the bell rang, saving me from my embarrassment. "Saved by the bell," I said immediately. Mrs. Turman just nodded, rolling her eyes as if to say, "Fine, yeah, go do you."

I rushed to my seat, grabbing and shouldered my bag while snatching my schedule from my table. I headed in the same direction as everyone else, as I was assuming they were all going to the art room. While walking, I felt self-conscious about my walking stance. As I reminded myself I was not going to be that shy girl, I straightened my back and taking long strides.

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Hello again readers!

I think this is the first time I ever updated in less than a week (and hopefully not the only time). To be honest, I have no idea what motivated me to do so. On another note, I have finals next week so good luck to me I guess?

I'm gonna leave now before this gets any more awkward.