Beyond the Ordinary

Chapter 6

A/N - Corey^^ 

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KATE 

The first thing I noticed when I entered the school was the long line of lockers along each side of the hallway. Each locker had a combination lock on it and a few were decorated with stickers. Without realizing it, I squeezed my father's hand tighter and he let out a low chuckle in response.

The students were already in class, so at least we didn't have to worry about dodging them. We slowly approached the principal's office and I sat in the seat furthest from the hallway, my father taking the seat right next to mine. I looked over to see a boy that, I thought, must be at least a few grades above me. He looked over at me and gave me a polite wave. I shyly waved back.

I heard a door squeak open and a girl about my age left the office, a notebook tucked tightly beneath her arm. I watched the girl go until I heard my name being called.

"Kate Ross?"

I turned in the direction of the woman's voice that had called my name, and judging by the tight lines around her eyes, I easily assumed that she was the principal.

"That's me," I said, standing up.

She gestured for me to follow her into a smaller office and I glanced nervously back at my father. He sent me a comforting smile and I turned my head back around as I entered the woman's office.

"I'm Mrs. Hannigan," she said, pulling out a large yellow folder that had my name written across the right-hand corner in black sharpie.

"Nice to meet you," I said politely and folded my hands into my lap.

Mrs. Hannigan smiled and I eased comfortably into the chair I was sitting in.

"Now, how old are you?" She asked me, her eyes meeting mine.

"I'm fifteen," I said, twisting the bracelet around my wrist nervously.

Mrs. Hannigan nodded as she scribbled my answer onto her notepad.

"Now, we have a schedule already made for you, but I'm giving you the opportunity to tell me if these seem correct to you," she said, handing me the yellow folder with my name on it.

I glanced at the schedule, nodding at the correct classes, but then frowned once I reached my math class.

"I've already taken algebra one," I told her.

Mrs. Hannigan looked surprised. "In what grade?"

"Eighth."

"I see. So, I should probably put you into algebra two then."

I shook my head. "I took that already too. In ninth grade."

Mrs. Hannigan raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "Really? That's a very advanced math class for a freshman," she said.

I nodded. "Yeah, I've been in advanced math since fifth grade."

Mrs. Hannigan smiled, the disbelief leaving her eyes. "You're a smart girl, Kate."

I blushed and squirmed uncomfortably in my seat. "Thank you."

"Well, I will move you into pre-calculus. I hope you like it here. I look forward to seeing you in our halls," she said and extended her hand for me to shake.

I shook her hand twice. "Thank you, Mrs. Hannigan."

She smiled and lead me back out to see my father. "You didn't tell me Kate is so advanced in her math classes," she said to my father.

My father smiled, putting his arm proudly around my shoulders. "I must have left that part out."

Mrs. Hannigan shook my father's free hand. "Well, we look forward to having Kate attend here. Her first class is music, which is a far walk, so I'll call one of her classmates to walk her over," Mrs. Hannigan says, before disappearing back into her office to use her phone.

She returned, giving me a polite smile. "She'll be here in a few minutes. If you could just wait here for her that would be awesome. Unfortunately, I will need to discuss some matters over with your father, but it won't be too long."

I nodded, watching as my father followed Mrs. Hannigan into her small office that I had just left not too long ago.

Just a few moments later, a tall girl with short brown hair and hazel eyes came up to me. "Hi, you must be Kate," she said to me, her tone friendly and polite.

I smiled shyly. "Yeah."

"I'm Corey!" The girl said excitedly, extending her hand for me to shake.

I shook it with a shy smile. "Nice to meet you."

I grabbed my backpack off the floor and Corey took my hand and pulled me out of the room, not even giving me the chance to say goodbye to my father.

She released my hand once we reached the hallway. "What locker number are you? I'm sure you don't want to be carrying all your books around everywhere."

I nodded, pulling the yellow folder out from under my arm. "Um, locker B39," I read.

"Oh, yay! That's so close to mine!" Corey exclaimed before she pulled me toward where the lockers were.

She opened the locker and helped to put some of my binders and supplies that I didn't currently need inside. Once we were finished, I handed her the combination lock that was inside the folder, and Corey locked it onto my new locker. "There. You're all set," she said, sounding proud.

I slipped the yellow folder inside my backpack and swung it back on, my shoulders silently thanking me for the lessened weight. I slowly followed behind Corey as we headed to music class.

"So, do you have a boyfriend?" Corey asked me, making conversation.

Remembering that I had to make a friend, I shook my head. "No, but I used to before we moved."

This was a lie, I had never had a boyfriend before. The most that I had done with a boy was a slow dance.

Corey smiled. "Oh, that's cool. Where'd you move here from?"

"New York," I responded.

Corey's eyes widened in surprise and awe. "Aw, man! You're so lucky! I've always wanted to go there!"

I nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty cool."

Corey looked at me for a second, like she was trying to figure out if I was being serious or not. "Cool? Dude, New York has some of the best plays in the world! Have you seen Hamilton?"

I nodded. "Yeah, three times."

The memory hit me. I had gone with my mom to the first one. It was the first weekend she'd had off of work in a while so she got us tickets. My father still had to work so we went just the two of us. She got us pretty good seats too. We sang along to most of the songs because we had listened to the soundtrack over ten times on the day before when I'd found out we were going.

I blinked the memory away and looked back at Corey who was still staring at me.

She pretended not to notice my change in mood and instead started talking about school and how I'm going to "fit right in", though, I couldn't tell if she was saying that honestly or if she was saying it just to be nice.

Finally, she was quiet for a few moments before she asked me a question. "Why'd you move here?"

I frowned as I struggled to think of a decent lie before I said, "A fresh start."

Corey smiled in understanding and put her arm around my shoulder like we were old friends and I found myself easing into her company. Maybe I was capable of making friends after all.