At Aunt Amy's

Chapter 6

 I only had two classes before lunch, the latter of which was spent doing nothing but "write three things about yourself and share it with the person next to you." Meaning I wrote down my three favorite movies (Black Panther, The Breakfast Club, and Sixteen Candles) and told that Jenna. Of course, the teacher was like, "C'mon, you hafta like something else. Any sports."

"I liked soccer-" I began.

"Great, who's next?" the teacher interrupted.

"...for three weeks when I was ten," I finished, mumbling under my breath. Other than that, pretty much nothing of value happened. Except for a giant migraine, I got from sitting in front of Charlie and her friend. They took a big group selfie, giggled about a Disney Channel movie, and the following conversation took place: "Gretel, how do you like this shirt?"

"Beige is ugly."

"Oh my GOD!" At that point, the teacher had to stop the "icebreakers" just to tell them to "hush up."

Apparently, in high school, you don't have to eat in the noisy cafeteria, so I gladly sat in a nook in the hallway near the band and chorus rooms with Jenna. I didn't pack a lunch but didn't want to venture into the cafeteria either, so Jenna just gave me a sandwich crust and I dealt. Hell, I wasn't even hungry. It was only 10 in the morning, anyway!

But I stopped eating and stared in a mixture of shock and fear when Brenda approached with two girls that looked like they came right out of Catholic school. One of them squealed, "Hello!"

I almost shuddered. Jenna glanced at me, confused, mouthing, These people again?

"How was ya first day, sweetie?" Brenda asked. Don't choke her, don't choke her, don't choke her, I reminded myself as he voice boomed through the hallway.

"Nothing, sis," I uttered.

"That girl's your sister?" Jenna scoffed. "You look nothing a-okay maybe a little, but you act nothing alike."

"Yep," I approved.

"Oh, we have some things in common," Brenda said. "I mean, remember when we'd bond over Hunger Games?"

"You still like that stuff?"

"You don't."

"I saw that movie when I was nine! Meaning Hazel was five..."
"Eh, she wouldn't understand it anyway."

"But...it does explain a lot." I glanced over at Jenna, who was trying to exchange a look with Amanda. A look that the somehow older girl did not return.

"So, did you make any friends?" Brenda asked.

"I made an enemy," I responded.

"Hey, don't do that!"

"She took a group selfie when she walked into econ."

"That...is actually really obnoxious, but not enough if you just met-"

"She's met her." I pointed over to Jenna, but she pushed my hand away.

"Not opening that can of worms," Jenna stated, firmly. "Also, we have another two classes with, her so..."

"Oh God," I sighed.

"I mean, at least it's a half-day," Brenda pointed out. My head whipped in her direction.

"What?" I squeaked.

"Yeah, it's a half-day. They're letting us out-"

"So I have to spend twice as much time with this girl on a daily basis?"

"Yes, and?"

Long story short, I pressed my forehead against Jenna's shoulder and groaned for just about a minute straight. When I finished my break down, I looked up to see that Brenda and her little friends had (finally walked off).

"Is it bad I already hate this place?" I sighed.

"Welp, I hate it too," Jenna responded, putting a hand on top of mine. "How 'bout we hate it together?"

It turns out that two hour-long classes of nothing could be the tedious thing if you're sitting in front of two girls taken straight from a movie about cliques made by adults who don't do their research.

Health and art (wait sorry, family life and fine arts) pretty much consisted of the same, boring "getting to know you" routine that made me want to tear my own eyeballs out. I don't think people understand how hard it is to think about everything that you like when you're in a place that you hate. I mean, I'm pretty much devoid of interests, so I digress. But even Jenna was like, "If I have to say that I like watching not playing football one more time, I gonna-"

"What team?" the health teacher (can't remember the name) asked.

Hesitantly, Jenna replied, "Eagles?"

Have you ever seen about ten pairs of confused eyes all turn and stare at something right next to you? I have. And I could assure you it's very uncomfortable. And probably very embarrassing for the person being stared at.

"I was born in Philly. I had no choice," Jenna muttered under her breath. The class slowly drew their attention away from Jenna. But not before that girl with the purple hair uttered, "An Eagle's fan broke my window last February."

I stared at the clock above the door, which said "10:25" in red letters. I could've sworn it hadn't changed in five minutes. How long was this class? When did the day end? How the hell was is it not afternoon yet?

Our health teacher, who looked like the kind of guy that probably would almost get a girl pregnant in high school, started to explain how we would be learning all the stuff that boys giggle about when mentioned. Our teacher had this deep voice, strained, bland voice that could only belong to a gym teacher. Not to mention he always talked like he had no idea what he was talking about. And he probably didn't, because he would be teaching to an all girl class.

And the funny thing is: nothing he read off to us had anything to do with families.

When the next class came along, I felt relieved. I sat down in "fine arts" class next to Jenna, ready to fall right asleep. But I wasn't alone. No one was even talking in that class. Even you-know-whos! But the brunette teacher stood up right in front of the class, marched to the whiteboard, and aggressively yanked the cap off a marker.

"Today's lesson is on..." she bellowed, scribbling on the board. "Chicken!"

And that was the moment where I spaced right out for who knows how long. For a while, I could make out was her deep voice rambling on and on and on and on. After what felt like a decade I nudged Jenna and asked, "What's happening now?"

"She's asking what everyone had for lunch," Jenna groaned. "Also, she doesn't know how plurals work."

Almost banging my chin against the table, I stared right back into space. Time seemed to just drop by. I glanced up at the clock, which read 11:30. Just a little longer, I thought, anxiously. I tried to listen in on whatever our teacher was talking about, but it just sounded like nonsense to me. The minutes passed by tediously. I could feel sweat building up on my forehead. My brain felt like it was about to break in half. Maybe if I just waited a little longer...

The bell finally rang, and I sighed in relief so loud the teacher announced, "Now everyone sits back down."