Fern had just slipped out of the house and away from Shane, now she is on her way to school. The school gates were flooded with other students, not wanting to deal with that she climbed the tree in front of the school and waited for the bell to ring. Upon hearing the louder roar of several engines she peaks through the branches and sees three new vehicles. A dark blue motorbike, a big green jeep type of car and a black and yellow sports looking car as well. But what really surprised her was Raf getting out of the sports car and his two other friends get off slash out of the other two.
The jeep and sports car leave while the bike stays for obvious reasons. Raf's other friends talk with each other while Raf looks around for something. Fern silently dropped down next to her friend and nodded in greeting, but then Raf began to draw his friend's attention towards her. Her shoulders stiffened and the taller male held out a hand, "Um, I'm Jack. Raf talks a lot about you."
Obviously not enough, Fern thought as she withheld her hand, not really liking physical contact. Jack chuckles nervously at her refusal until Miko jumps into the conversation. "Hi, I'm Miko! So, what's your favourite kind of music? Do you have any hobbies? ..." As Miko continued her rapid-fire of questions, Fern started to shrink back on herself. Her shoulders up and her head down, giving her the appearance of a turtle. Jack took notice and pulled Miko away by her shoulders.
"Come on, Miko, we're going to be late for class." Miko scoffed and retorted that she couldn't care less about classes but still went along anyway.
Raf looked back at Fern to make sure she was okay before going inside. Waiting for the flow of students to calm, she entered after the flow slowed to a thin trickle.
Fern walked into her first class of the day, Biology. Luckily, Raf was the only one who ever sat next to her. The teacher walked in and announced that a pop quiz was today's lesson. Fern's inner excitement spiked as the rest of the class groaned. The loudest of them was Mikos, the girl who slept through half the classes, skipped all the tests, and never paid attention.
Fern breezed through the quiz, not fully understanding how others got some of the 'easy' questions wrong. Why didn't they know the word equation for photosynthesis? Or how to describe the two stages of protein synthesis? Furthermore, she was utterly confused as to why some didn't enjoy the class. Perhaps it was because they had realized the evolutionary disgrace that is the Human race?
Fern did not know, however, she did predict that Miko may receive detention for being on her phone during class.
"Miss Nakadia! No phones during the quiz, please see me after class." Miko huffed as Fern mentally congratulated herself on her correct evaluation.
Lunchtime came around and Fern once again climbed into her tree with her packed lunch. Nustled in the branches, Fern ate in comfortable silence as she watched other teens converse and socialize below. She didn't realize it at the time, but she was envious of their ability to interact with others so effortlessly. Fern looked down at her half-finished meal and sighed, not having the appetite to continue.
A faint chittering sound caught Ferns attention, looking up she finds Gerald the Squirrel staring down with expecting eyes. With a ghosted smile, she pulled out a small bag of nuts and picked two out, and hands them to Gerald. They stuff them into their cheeks and scurry off into their home. The bell rings and Fern jumps down after securing the remaining food into her bag.
The remainder of the day went by without incident. But a coincidence of events will lead Fern to the beginning of a life-changing, one-sided encounter.
Miko had a catch-up session with their Biology teacher, Jack was on the school monitor duty which included helping the remaining staff with any leftover tasks. Raf offered to help the ICT teacher, Mr Owens, with untangling the new shipment of electrical cables and Fern? Well, she didn't have any reason to stay behind other than not wanting to return to Shane. She did however enjoy the company of her Biology teacher, Miss. Conifer.
Miss. Conifer and Fern would often spend time together after school hours to talk with each other over things they had learned about the natural world. The pair loved the interesting facts the other learned over the week, in fact, that was Fern's first-ever proper conversation with the teacher.
But alas, the duo couldn't converse today, for one Miss Nakadia was not trusted to concentrate on her essay with distractions around. So Fern moved to what she liked to do in her spare time, practice her drawing. Fern's art was considered different from other styles, it was not hyper-realistic, nor abstract. The sketch was simple yet detailed, now keep in mind that the only works Fern deemed exceptional were usually of two things. The cartooney silhouette of some form of dog and eyes.
Fern was in the process of sketching the outline of an eye when Miss. Conifer excused herself to the bathroom. She trusted Fern not to let Miko leave early so said nothing as she left. The second the door lock clicked shut Miko sprinted to the window, having seen Bulkhead park outside moments ago. Miko vaulted through the window, but was pulled back by the collar by Fern, who dragged her back to her seat by the door, sat her down, then returned to her window seat and proceed to close and lock the said window.
Miko pouted at the quiet teen, Fern only stared back. This lead Miko to challenge her to a staring contest. The Japanese girl strained her eyes until tears until she finally caved. Fern merely blinked twice before continuing with her work.
[EDITED]
YOU ARE READING
Smoke and Ferns
FanfictionFern is an eighteen, Autistic and Dyslexic girl living in Jasper, Nevada. Her father isn't the best when tending to her needs, and it shows. She has only made one friend in her whole time here and that was Raf Esquivel, a fellow science nerd only in...