Fish Out of Water.

Chapter 3

Riley and I talked and talked and talked about our summers until finally we turned a corner and found Tyler, Em, and Joy talking by an open locker. As Riley and I got closer to them we could see the pictures of all the youtubers, book covers, and romance movies on the inside of the locker. Clearly Tyler had already been there and done that. As soon as Riley and I got close enough to the girls so that they could see us they flipped out. "OMG! OMG! OMG! You totally embarrassed yourself in front of him! I bet THAT made you feel stupid." Joy said. I frowned, something about Joy's comment bothered me, why was it so mean? Joy was generally a nice, hyper and excited person. I shook it off, maybe she was just nervous. "Sorry. It was my foot that you tripped on, are you okay?" Em asked. "Yeah, I'm fine thanks for asking." I replied. Em gave me a weird look, "I was asking my shoe, if it was okay. It had YOU tripping on it! My poor baby..." We laughed. "Em and I left right after you tripped, we wanted to meet you by your locker afterwards, but we forgot where it was. So we just came back here and you found us!" Tyler said smiling. Riley stood out from behind me, "Riley!" Tyler, Em, and Joy shouted at the same time. They all ran up to hug her and then began their own conversations. I caught parts of how Riley's summer went but honestly, all I could think about was the new kid. His name was Hiker I think... "It was Ryker." Em said giving me an accusing look. "Wait, how did you just read my mind?" I asked her getting curious. "Um... If listening to you talk to yourself over there counts as reading minds then yes, I read your mind." Oh, I was thinking out loud. The bell rang and we hurried off to our first classes. I entered Geometry and sat down at the back of the room, this class bored me to tears. I grabbed some gum and popped it in my mouth before the teacher began. "Alright, pull out your notebooks and start your warm-up." Mr. Huntlin was the worst. I had met brick walls with more personality than him. I pulled out my notebook and attempted the problems. The door to the classroom opened and I didn't look up; I was preoccupied. "Um, hey. Are you Mr. Huntlin?" I heard a familiar voice ask "Yes, I am. I presume that you're Mr. Hollister?" Mr. Huntlin's drawl of a voice replied. "Yup. But I go by Ryker." No. No no no no no. This could not be happening. He couldn't be joining the class that I struggled with most, no. I wouldn't believe it. "Okay. Find a seat." Mr. Huntlin said. I heard Ryker's footsteps going down the aisle between the row that I was sitting in. I refused to look up, "Look down, look down!" I whispered to myself. I dared a peek, I saw him about to sit down in the row next to me but he was two seats ahead of me! Yes, I was safe! He sat down and turned around, he raised his eyebrows. He had seen me, I had been spotted! He smirked when I glared at him. Okay, this would be easy. He was nowhere near me and I could focus now. "Okay class. Open your books to chapter one, page one and read the introduction. Then answer the questions on the board." There was a sound of many pages being turned and then quiet. Math had begun. I read the book; Geometry is the branch of mathematics- I was interrupted by a "Pssst!" I knew who it was and I refused to acknowledge him. I began again; Geometry is the branch of mathematics concerned- Pssst!- with the properties-Pssst!- and relations of points-Pssst!- lines and-PSSSSST!!!- I finally looked up, "What do you want?!" I whisper yelled. "Oh. You're one of THOSE girls." He turned around. "What? You can't just say something like that and turn around!" This time I raised my voice a little too loud. "Ms. Brewer? Do we have a problem?" "Oh you and I don't have a problem, Mr. Huntlin. Now other people in this class I may have a problem with." I smiled and Ryker laughed. It seemed that Mr. Huntlin understood, "Mr. Hollister? Is there something that you felt needed to be shared with the class since it was important enough to bother Ms. Brewer?" Ryker nodded and stood up. "Okay, well here goes. I was telling 'Ms. Brewer'," the class laughed at his air quotes, "That I'm near-sighted and need to be seated in the very back." He smirked straight at me. "Okay, please go sit by Ms. Brewer then, that's the only seat left in the back. Now back to the lesson..." Ryker set his stuff down at his desk, sat down, and put his feet on my desk like a leg rest, this was going to be a long year.