Ion Heart

Chapter 31: First Day Part 2

Betty leads me to my next class. English. What a waste of time. It takes even more willpower not to tear my hair out. I receive more stares as I walk along the corridor, including the wandering eyes of many boys.

Betty isn't in this class and I'm starting to wonder what the point of her actually is. I guess she's nice enough. A bit too perky though. 

'Hi, I'm Katherine Carter.' I repeat to my next teacher. 

'Ah yes, Katherine. Hello, I'm Ms. Hall. Welcome to English. If you want to take a seat, I will talk to you more about the course once everyone has settled. There's a spare seat next to Alice and Grace.'

I pull up the empty chair, smiling quietly at the two girls. They are an entirely different species of student. Where most have been lame and ordinary, pretty much what you would expect from academic students, Grace and Alice seem to flaunt their designer bags, perfectly coordinated outfits and manicured nails.  

'Hi, I'm Katherine.' I say meekly, intimated by their presence. 

'Hey, nice to meet you, I'm Grace.' The curly haired girl says, smiling widely. 

'Alice.' The other one says, barely looking up from her phone. This is going to be interesting. 

Ms. Hall is a small, quiescent lady who talks deeply about her subject even though no one, apart from a sullen looking girl with a constant frown on her face, cares. 

'So Katherine, in this class we will be covering a range of mediums including prose, poetry, drama and textual analysis. They'll be an exam at the end of term but don't worry about that just yet. Have you engaged much with the literary world?'

'Not really. Just enough to pass the homeschool exams. I'm more into science.' I half-lie.

'Hmm, another science lover. Well, we've started studying A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. You can borrow my copy for today and spend this class familiarising yourself with the text. I'm sure the girls will help you and I'm here to answer any questions.'

Her copy of the play is old and delicate and I worry it will disintegrate in my hands. When I open it up, I'm captivated by the scribbles lining the margins. Maybe I will learn something.

The girls next to me are nothing but rude and annoying. Alice is definitely not writing anything and spends most of the time checking her phone. Grace tries her best but I can tell she's struggling, distracted by Alice's constant whispering and sniggering. 

'Ugh, this is so boring!' Alice says a little too loudly. 

'You find everything boring.' Grace laughs back.

Alice flicks her curled hair behind her ears. 'So Katherine,' she purrs, 'tell us about you.'

'Em...' I glance over at Ms. Hall. She's talking to the moody girl. 'Well, I've been homeschooled up until now-'

'Homeschooled? Huh, that's weird.' Alice interrupts. Grace rolls her eyes playfully.

'I recently moved to Manhattan from LA...'

'Wait wait wait, you're from LA?' Alice leans back on her chair. 'OMG Grace she's from LA!'

'Were there hot boys?'

'Did you live in Beverly Hills?'

'Ohmygod is that a designer jacket?'

The two girls suddenly seem very interested in me. I find it hard to read and answer their questions. Ms. Hall frequently glances in our direction but, being the new girl, she lets me off. The bell doesn't ring fast enough.