How Bad Can High School Be? (Onceler x Reader)

Chapter 2

     Things were calm in the classroom until (Name) burst in. She was red in the face and panting from having run down the hallways to make it. All eyes were on the new girl as she closed the door. "Uhhm, I'm sorry I'm late," she paused to catch her breath. "And for interrupting class." (Name) felt a rush of embarrassment as she met the eyes of her classmates, then her teacher. She turned her gaze to the floor.

     "That's quite alright, dear," the older woman said with a small smile. "We're just taking roll. I assume you're our new student, and I won't hold it against you for being late. It is your first day after all." A flood of relief washed over (Name) as she looked up with a smile, though her face was still hot from lingering embarrassment. 

     "I'm Mrs. Wocket. You may take that empty seat there," she gestured to the said seat with her pen. It was towards the back right corner of the room.

     (Name) made her way to her seat, dreading the feeling of eyes on her back as she did. She let out a short sigh as she dropped herself into the seat. The hardest part is over now. Mrs. Wocket went on taking roll, and soon the class lost their interest in her and found other things to occupy their attention. That is everyone except for her desk neighbor. The gangly boy continued to eye her curiously. Their eyes met for a split second before he turned back to the front of the classroom. 

     Mrs. Wocket soon finished taking roll and stood at the front of the room. "First thing's first, as many of you already know, we will be having a pep rally after lunch today. And before someone asks, yes, this does mean all classes you have afterwards will be canceled." Most of the class seemed excited by the news. 

     "Second, your pop quizzes from yesterday have been graded. I will now be returning them all to you." This announcement seemed to kill the joy in the room. Was the quiz really that bad? From her scan of the room, it became apparent to (Name) that yes, the quiz really was that bad. It seemed the only one who had gotten a perfect grade was the boy next to her. He had a small, proud smirk at his achievement. 

     "Seeing as a lot of you struggled on that quiz, we're going to go over it," Mrs. Wocket announced.

~~~~~

     The rest of (Name)'s classes were largely uneventful. She slammed her locker, proud of herself for being able to get it open on her own in the first place. It was currently lunch time and (Name) needed to find a place to spend it. 

     Upon entering the cafeteria, she froze. Mulberry High may be a small school, smaller than her old one even, but it was also filled with complete strangers. There was an ever-growing ache in her chest as she found herself missing her old friends. 

     "(Name)!" 

     An arm suddenly wrapped itself around her shoulders. Norma grinned at the startled look on the taller girls' face. "Haha, you should see the look on your face!" (Name) chuckled awkwardly. 

     "Hey, Norma. What's up?" 

     "I saw you come in here and thought I'd come after you," Norma explained. "I want you to eat lunch with me and my friends so we can get to know each other better."

     A warm feeling spread through (Name)'s chest. This girl just met her and already wants to hang out with her? Maybe making new friends wouldn't be that hard after all.

     "Alright, cool! Where do you guys sit?" She looked around the cafeteria again, trying to scope out who Norma's friends could be. The other girl giggled at her a little. "Oh no, honey. We don't eat in here. Come on," she gestured with her hand as she started out the door. (Name) hesitated slightly before following.

     They walked in silence a little of the ways. That doesn't mean it was a quiet trip though. All while they walked, people came up to talk to Norma. That, or they waved or smiled at her. Norma must be pretty popular, (Name) concluded. She wasn't too sure how to feel about that. On one hand, good for Norma. It must be great to be so liked. But on the other, (Name) didn't like to be in the spotlight. It made her uncomfortable. She more preferred being the person in the corner of the room watching as things happened. Who knows though, maybe Norma and her friends will help get her out of her shell.

     Norma soon turned down a mostly empty hallway. "So, how has your first day been so far?" (Name) shrugged. "Honestly, pretty boring. I don't really know what I was expecting though." Norma chuckled. "Well it's school, I'd expect the boring most days." She opened a door and paused, holding it open. (Name) thanked her and walked through. "Although today should be more interesting, there is a pep rally."

      Silence fell upon the pair as they made their way to the sports fields. There was a group of teenagers sitting at the top of the bleachers surrounding the baseball field. "Norma!" A boy called, waving, as the groups' attention shifted to the two girls. "Ayye, Markyy!"  

     (Name) stood, watching as Norma hopped up the bleachers to meet her friends.

     "Say, who's the newbie?" Another dude asked. 

     "That, Josh, is (Name). She's the new student and I invited her to eat lunch with us." Norma gestured for the other girl to join the group. She gave a small smile and made her way up the bleachers, more carefully than Norma had.

     "Hey, (Name), as you may have heard, I'm Mark," the boy standing introduced. "That's Josh over there." The said Josh waved. "Then there's Autumn and Hailey." He pointed to the two other girls in the group. (Name) waved. "Hi, nice to meet you guys."

~~~~~

     The group laughed as Mark finished the punch line of a funny story from earlier that day. While (Name) was mostly silent up to this point, she really enjoyed the groups company. She felt they had a great dynamic.

      She gazed across the fields with a smile as Autumn went into a story of her own. Soon her eyes fell on an intriguing sight. Across a small plain and under a large tree sat a boy. (Name) recognized him as her seat neighbor from Mrs. Wocket's class. He was scribbling something in a notepad, his grey fedora hiding most of his face from sight. I wonder what he's doing out there alone...

     "So, (Name), what brings you to our small town?' Norma asked with a slight smile, turning the groups' attention to the girl. 

     "Oh, well, my parents both retired recently. They heard Mulberry was a really good retirement town, but also a good place for children at the same time. It sounded perfect to them, so we moved," (Name) explained with a light shrug.

     "Nice. Where did you live before you came here?"

     "Greenville. It's a town a while away from here, but it's not much bigger than Mulberry."

     "Ohh, I've heard of Greenville! It is pretty far away, huh?" Norma chuckled. (Name) nodded with a smile. 

     Soon the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. (Name) followed the group off the bleachers. Out of curiosity she looked back at the tree, but the boy who was sitting there was already gone.