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CHAPTER TWENTY ONE! ( RIDGEWAY HIGH. )
JOAN STEPPED THROUGH the painted doorway into the mess of public school. The masses of teenagers just talking in disorderly clusters perplexed her. Where was the staff? Just then a teacher stepped out of a doorway and made their way down the hall. No reprimanding. Not even shushing. Jo suddenly felt out of place in your plaid skirt and blazer, everyone else looked much more casual.
She awkwardly walked through the groups of people, trying not to draw too much attention to herself. That didn't work. It seemed like everyone found her fascinating, or at least strange. Jo pushed through as eyes followed her down the hallway.
"Hey! Joan!" A voice called out. Jo snapped her head around to see Chris Noel waving at her.
"Hi," she replied with a relieved smile to finally see someone she knew.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming here? Knox told me you got expelled, but he never told me where you'd be going. Y'know, he's been trying to talk to you."
"Yeah, well I've sorta been grounded since then," Jo explained.
"Oh, that sucks. Well, I'm glad to see you," she smiled.
"And it's nice for me to see a familiar face. I don't know how I feel about this. I mean, on one hand it's liberating to be out of that godawful private school, but I also don't really fit in here. I mean, I don't really know the first thing about public school, or making friends," Jo said, surveying the students.
"What do you mean? You have plenty of friends."
"That doesn't mean I'm good at making them, sometimes friendships are just circumstantial," Jo countered.
"Oh, stop worrying so much. You'll be fine," Chris patted Jo's shoulder as she played with her sleeve. "Here, I'll give you a tip. Lose the blazer, and loosen up your hair," Chris nodded.
"Thanks, Chris," Jo smiled gratefully. "I'll see you later, I gotta go find my class."
"Alright, good luck." Chris returned to her large circle of friends with a beautiful grin on her face. Oh, to be Chris Noel.
Jo tugged off her blazer and stuffed it in her backpack. She ruffled your hair, but not too much, then continued walking. Where is Charlie? She kept scanning the faces of the people. She didn't recognize anyone. She sighed and decided to just look at the room numbers on the doors until she found her class. She glanced down at her watch to see that there was only nine minutes left until class started. Maybe he was already in class? Jo and Charlie never talked about their classes, so there was a chance he'd be in hers.
The entrance to Jo's left swung open to a group of a few guys. She tried to avoid them, just keeping her eyes trained on the space ahead of her. After all these years she still didn't like groups of teenage boys. Of course, there were exceptions. A small smile crept onto her face in memory of Todd and Neil, and Meeks, Pitts and Knox. Jo missed Violet. This would be so much more bearable if her soft smile and sparkly eyes were walking down this hallway with her.
