Rewind

Chapter 2 A Second Chance Squandered

I got to my first-period class with no trouble at all. My original first day here I got here early so I would have plenty of time to find all my classes so that I wouldn't be late because I got lost. Only to not even be able to find my first period. All the hallways looked the same and the map they gave me was indecipherable. In the end, after being half an hour I finally found my first period, only to find out that my first period is the strictest teacher on campus and I got sent to the office for being so late. The faculty was more understanding, and assigned me, someone, to show me around. 

But this time, I didn't need someone to help me around. I know where my classes are, the fastest route to them, so much so that I can trust my autopilot to get me there. I got to my first period 10 minutes early. I was the first one there, so I got first dibs on seats.

"Oh hello!" A ninety-year-old looking lady said acknowledging, from her desk in the back. She looked at the clock across the room and said: "Arriving 10 minutes early. A very respectful decision sir," She said respectful as it was me showing her respect, "You may pick any seat, but keep in mind I will move you if you cause trouble."

"Yes, ma'am," I said as I sat down in a nice chair near the back.

Once I choose this seat, the teacher looked at me distastefully, as if I just tried to poison her sister,  and then went back to her work. Her name is Mrs. Myrtle. She may look ninety-years-old, but I learned the hard way she's in her early sixties. She's the stereotypical mean, strict teacher, just a lot more of a bag of bones though.

I kicked my feet up on the desk and played on my phone, with my AirPods in. A few minutes later a girl came in. She was naturally drop-dead gorgeous. She was the type to radiate a goody-two-shoes act but is really just the typical popular bitch. Her name is Rachel. Her type is the emo bad boy stereotype look. Sadly I fit that category really well. With a punk-looking haircut and dark hair color to my numerous piercings on each ear to my black wardrobe, I was pretty emo looking. Rachel was quick to make a move on me, but I just kept declining her, which got me on her bad side. She turned into a nasty enemy real quick.

When she looked in she instantly spotted me. I could see the gleam in her eyes from across the room. Saying they found another victim. She walked over to me all fashion diva style and sat in the seat next to me.

"Hi, my name is Rachel! What's like, your name?" She asked me with a bubbly tone that was really annoying.

"Ash," I say nonchalantly, saying as few words as possible.

Rachel was about to open her mouth again when the bell rang and people started pouring in.

I sigh internally. Saved by the bell. Literally.

The rest of the day went pretty much the same as it did originally. In fact, for the next few months, everything was the same as it had happened before. Except for a few minor inconveniences, that I avoided like being late to class because I got lost.

That was when the ignorant bliss ended though. 

A typical jock looking guy approached me during study hall. "Hey. Do you like Rachel?" He asked me seriously.

"Who?" I ask him, not knowing who he was referring to.

"The girl who sat next to you on the first day of school in first period." He calmly explained.

"Oh. No, I don't care for her. You can have her." I told him with extreme disinterest.

"Bastard!" The guy yelled as he flipped the table I had propped my feet on.

I looked at him confused, "What did that table ever do to you?"

The guy ignored my question and went off on me. "Rachel won't stop talking about you! Even when it's just the two of us! So you must have been putting the moves on her and playing with her feelings!"

I replied in confusion, "Um... no... I have zero interest in her. I've just been tolerating her and I haven't let her on either. So... maybe the problem is that I'm just hotter than you."

The guy groaned in irritation. That clearly pissed him off. Before I knew it, there was a fist swinging at me. There were no teachers around. The supervisor had left to go do something, so I had no choice, but to fight back.

"Man, this is such a pain," I said as I dodged his next punch and then landed mine square in his nose.

The guy staggered and when he looked back up to face me, he was sporting a bloody, crooked nose. By now a crowd was starting to gather.

"Ooofff... Yeah. That ruined your pretty boy look." I told him honestly.

That pissed him off. "Screw you!" He shouted before he charged at me with a flurry of punches. I protected my face with my arms. By now there was a large crowd whooping and cheering. Yeah. I'm might get into trouble, I need to wrap this up.

Once he was tired of throwing punches at me I kicked him in the gut. Hard. He doubled over on the ground and started wretching up his breakfast and lunch.

I used him emptying his stomach on the ground as a prime time to make my getaway before any teachers saw. I pulled my hood over my head and began to walk off when I felt a yank on the collar of my hoodie. As I stumbled backward and reared my head back to see the offender, my hoodie fell off.

"Heyyy. Mr. Brucely. Fancy seeing you here!" I said enthusiastically.

Mr. Brucely sighed. "Why is it always you?" 

Mr. Brucely gripped onto the hood of my hoodie and started hauling me in the direction of the office as I said: "Because trouble is my middle name!" I say jokingly, letting my heels drag as I was being hauled. 

As I was being dragged to the office I saw Mrs. Jewelly helping the guy who had just threw up and leading him in the direction I was going. The office. Darn it. Momma's gonna be disappointed in me.

"Three days of In-School Suspension! What were you thinking, Ash??" Momma lectured me. Momma got called up to take me home early, so now we're here in the kitchen. I'm sitting in a chair while Mamma is pacing back and forth half-hazardly. 

"In all honesty Mamma, I was thinking self-defense," I replied back.

Mamma continued to lecture me, ignore my side-bar comments. Overall she was just worried about me getting hurt. After she lectured me I got sent to my room for the night.

I sigh thinking about the fight. I got this odd feeling about how the other guy became so aggressive and flipped the table out of the blue. Well, it wasn't really out of the blue, but I feel like he was exaggerating matters too much. I mean I never talked to Rachel. I just let her babble on while I pretended to listen. How could she have that much to talk about me? That girl is bonkers. But I couldn't shake the feeling of ominous uneasiness I got from that guy. 

Something was going on, and I needed to get to the bottom of it.