After ten minutes that feel like ten millenniums, the bell rings. I get out of my seat like everyone else and go into the hallway like I was normal. I get my gym uniform out of my locker just like all the other students because everyone in 8th grade at Redo Middle School has 1st period gym. I follow the crowd up to the gyms and into the girls’ locker room.
When I had to come last week, there weren’t any open lockers. My gym teacher, Mrs. Wood, was in the building and told me she’d have my lock ready and that she’d find a locker for me. I would just have to find her as soon as 1st period begins. I take a step into the gym office. Most likely, that’s where she’d be. Four teachers sit in office chairs, not really doing anything. A basket of gym uniforms rests in the corner.
“Mrs. Wood?” I ask quietly. The teachers look up. Mrs. Wood is farthest away from the door.
“Oh, hi, Becca,” she stands up, then turns to face the other gym teachers and introduces me, “This is Becca, she’s new. Becca, this is Mrs. Chimblo, Mr. Sartain and Mr. Kumar.”
“Were you able to find a locker?” That sounded awkward. Note to self, I’m really bad at talking to new people, especially adults.
“I was not. Let’s go find one,” Mrs. Wood leads me out of the office and into the locker room. There are four sections of lockers, I remember her telling me. The first two are for Mrs. Chimblo’s classes. The back two are for hers. “Are there any open lockers back here?” she yells, trying to get the many changing girls to hear her. They look around for only two seconds and can’t find one. Mrs. Wood leads me to the section furthest back and asks the same question. This time, the searching takes longer, but the same answer comes up. None.
“She can share with me,” someone says.
“Okay, that’s great, Gabi, thank you,” Mrs. Wood says and walks away. It was that simple.
“You’re Becca, right?” a girl says, waving me over.
“Yeah,” I nod. I recognize her from homeroom. She was the girl Nicole Gibbard was talking to.
“I’m Gabi,” she smiles. She’s already wearing her red and yellow gym uniform. “Just put your clothes in my locker when you’re done changing.”
I nod. Slowly, I change into my gym uniform. It doesn’t feel like a natural thing I should be doing. Changing in front of a bunch of girls I don’t even know? Uncomfortable. But of course, they’re changing too, so it can’t be that weird. I don’t know. I don’t like this.
Gabi doesn’t leave the locker room, which is kinda weird. Either she’s just standing there, watching everyone change, or waiting for someone. Thankfully, it’s the latter option. As soon as a girl with long dark hair finishes changing, they leave the room together. I’m not the last one to finish, but when I go out into the hallway to walk to the gym, Mrs. Wood calls me back into her office.
A/N
This was a really short chapter. I actually have a lot of this written, I just haven't been posting. Did I mention how thankful I am for any of you who are reading this? Because I am so thankful. You don't understand my thankfulness.
I don't have much for a question, but I'm going to ask one anyways because it actually gets all mah readers to comment.
Question of the Chapter: Who is Gabi? Is she a popular girl who's going to use Becca and then abandon her? Or will she end up her closest friend?
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What We Lost In The Winter
Teen FictionBecca Kingser almost died when she was eight years old. Ever since then, she's been homeschooled with her sisters. One of them is a bouncy, energetic little girl, the other is a closed-off mystery. But when Becca's mom finds a new job in Michigan, t...
