Simplicity

Chapter 3

  "Where were you? You're late." Mr.Doran said it in the same irritated tone Edith used. He was a short, round man with bald patches on the sides of his head. He always reminded me of a stressed out parrot.

  "Sorry sir" Alex awkwardly scratched his head and smiled. "I slept in this morning. I was up late writing my speech for today's teacher orientation." He always covered for me when I got us late but since he's Alex everyone buys what he says. Mr.Doran nodded in response and let us in for morning registration. We were a class of about twenty-four and we were loud. No wonder Mr.Doran was going bald, he dealt with this mess everyday.

  Alex and I made our way to the back but even before we passed the third row he was surrounded by student council members. It hadn't always been like this, a few years back no one would have even known his name. Alex had been involved in a seriously bad crowd. He's started doing drugs and shit and ended up owing people a lot of money. One time he barged into my my house completely wasted, he was too ashamed to go home so he stayed with me, crying until he eventually passed out ;his head resting in my lap. After that he decided to change. He cleaned himself up and told his parents everything. They gave him hell but he took it without a word. He gradually improved his grades and became more social and that's how he ended up like this. He came to the conclusion that if he put on a 'social mask' he'd be able to hide his shameful past. He started to act differently around others and eventually I stopped hanging out with him at school. He's a great guy, but he's just not the same Alex I grew up with.

"Class, please settle down. I have an announcement." The chatter died down and everyone took their seats. Mr.Doran cleared his throat "Thank you. Right, well before all that noise starts again, I'd like to inform you of a newcomer in our class. Everyone exploded into conversation.

 "Is it a boy or a girl?"

  "I reckon it's a girl"

  "Did you guys hear about this?"

Mr.Doran banged his book on the table and it all went silent. He grunted and waddled over to the door, opening it and ushering the newbie in.

  "Everyone, I'd like you to welcome Jasper Hense into 12-D. Go and take a seat wherever you like, Jasper."

The class erupted ; people calling for him from all directions and introducing themselves. Alex stood up and they both just stared at each other, a some-what mocking smile on Jasper's face. He pushed past Alex, saying something to make him go rigid. No one else seemed to notice so I'm probably just imagining it but, there was a tense atmosphere around those two. Jasper was about an inch taller than Alex and he looked tanned in comparison to Alex's pale complexion. His hair was short, brown and scruffy and stood up slightly at the front in a sort of quiff. He was wearing a maroon T-shirt and a black hoodie with dark blue jeans and skater shoes.

He made the move any new guy would and he chose the table with  the one person in the room who wasn't hounding him with questions; me. He dropped his bag half way down his arm, his hand resting on the chair as if waiting for persmission.

  "Go ahead, it's free." he nodded in reply and slid into the chair with a sigh, accepting the long day ahead of him. Now that I think about it he's actually quite attractive. He has a sort of rugged feel to him. His ears were pierced twice on the left with black studs and he was wearing two bracelets ; black and silver bands and white beads.

"Ah great, You're with someone reliable. Isla, You'll show him around wont you?" Mr.Doran was hovering over us, looking at me with a look of hope. "Wonderful, I knew you wouldn't say no. I'll leave you in her care then, Jasper."

  "I didn't exactly say yes either." I muttered. I leaned my chair against the wall, balancing it on it's back legs. "I guess I'll be showing you around then." I said, turning to Jasper who just nodded in response. I suppose he's more of the strong, silent type. "Where's your subject sheet?" I asked. He didn't respond so I added "I can't show you around properly without knowing what blocks you're in." He raised his eyebrows and pulled out a crumpled sheet from his back pocket.