Rule #15: Don't Make Favors
Especially for your little sister
- () -
The rest of summer vacation passes by quickly.
Mostly, I spent the days in my room, applying for jobs, researching animal majors and skyping with my limited amount of friends from Chicago. In fact, the only reason I left the house was when mom forced me.
But I'd relive it all over if I could get of what comes next.
The first day of school.
After weeks of following Melody around in back-to-school shopping, begging mom to let me skip school, applying to colleges, complaining to my friends, the time has finally come. Needless to say, I'm not very happy about it. The first day of school has never treated me kindly.
But, that's okay.
Because this year, I've got a plan.
Peyton's Guide on How to Have a Successful First Day of School
1) First, the basics. My outfit should scream 'get away from me' as much as it can. I think my black boots, my black leather (fake, of course) jacket, my black jeans and my black eyeliner should work fine. I wanted my black lip piercing too, but mom said no.
2) Next, transportation. Melody's taking her bike. I'm taking my skateboard. Easy enough.
3) Then, when I get to school, I'll drop Melody off at her first class and after that, I'll find my locker so I can drop my skateboard inside. If there's some time before class starts, I can go into the girl's bathroom and have a good cry.
4) Lunch should be simple. I'll just go to Subway and eat my ready-made lunch (a veggie sandwich).
5) For my classes, I'll do what I usually do (sit in the back and say nothing), except for gym, which I will ditch. When I'm outside of class, I'll strengthen my reputation by glaring at anybody who looks at me.
"That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard," Melody scoffs, hugging her empty binder closer to her chest. She doesn't seem to notice the curious glances everybody seems to give us as we move through the hallways, but I do.
"What's wrong with it?" I ask, slightly distracted.
"Well, first of all, crying in the girl's bathroom? Didn't you do that last year?"
"It's a cherished tradition."
"Okay, fine, I guess I can appreciate that. But, what's this about ditching gym? I thought mom said you couldn't ditch any classes this year unless you want to kiss your college tuition good-bye."
"Gym isn't a class, it's a period where teenagers rank each other on how well they play kickball and how good they look in a school uniform."
Melody thinks for a minute. "Oh - I got one - what about going out for lunch at Subway? Not that Subway is a bad thing, it's actually pretty good. But, you do know we're not allowed to go off campus during school hours, right?"
Actually, I did not know this.
"Great," I grumble. There goes the one part I was actually looking forward to today. "Maybe I'll just eat in the library or something."
"Or, and this just an idea, you could eat in the cafeteria, with the rest of the normal, non-insane, people. Why don't you just ask Archer? I mean, sure, you haven't talked to him all summer, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't care. He's even asked about you some times."
"Non-insane?"
"Not the point," We come to a stop next the art room. Melody throws her golden hair behind her shoulder. It flashes in the light. A group of boys stops to gawk at her. "Room two-oh-eight, this is me. I'll see you after school."
"I'll pick you up again later."
"Fine. Don't hide in the library," She calls, then enters the classroom. The last thing I hear before the door shuts close again is Melody greeting her teacher enthusiastically.
Now that Melody's gone, I expect people to turn away. Instead, they just turn their gaze from the spot where Melody was to me. This is strange. Back in my old school, nobody gave a damn about me after I dyed my hair black and changed into darker clothes.
Time to put my plan into action.
"Is there something you need?" I say loudly.
Everybody shakes their heads and turn back to their lockers. A group of girls start to giggle, but shut up once they notice my glare. I roll my shoulders back.
Satisfied, I head into the maze of hallways to find my locker. My locker isn't too hard to find since this school is way smaller than my last one. It's getting to the point where I feel suffocated, from the people and the low ceilings.
As if to make my life worse, just as I round the corner, I find a crowd of people surrounding the area where my locker should be. In the middle, stands Archer. He says something and the rest of the group laughs.
I take a step back, groaning internally.
There goes number three of plan.
I consider my options. I could a) push my way through the crowd and get rid of my skateboard, although it would probably mean that a dozen people, including Archer and Sebastian, would see me or b) throw my skateboard into a bush and get away without having to talk with anybody.
I decide to go with plan B.
It takes me five minutes to find a bushy enough bush to hide my skateboard in. By that time, class is about to start, so I walk in with two minutes to spare.
Even the classroom is pretty crowded, I still manage to find a seat in the back. Unfortunately, that seat is right next to a group of senior boys. They eye me curiously as I sit down, but I manage to stare forwards and ignore them. Even though they're whispering, I can each word they say.
"...new girl. Everybody's talking about her."
"Christ, I can see why. Freak, much?"
"I don't know, man. She looks pretty cute to me. Just think about what'd she look like under all those clothes."
"Are you high-"
"No, dude, he's right. TK saw her with her sister earlier and said they were the hottest things he's seen in a long time..."
I close my eyes and massage my forehead. But I can still here their whispers in the background. They press onto me, crushing me against the desk. I press my head down on the cool wood, trying to drown out the voices.
The bell rings.
I open my eyes in time to see the teacher walk in. Without so much as a glance at us, she starts scribbling words on the board. I put my chin on my hand, trying to listen to what she has to say. Thankfully, the boys behind me become silent.
Still, by the glances they give me every now and then, I feel like this isn't the last I hear of them.
- () -
By the time I finish my last class of the day, AP Biology, people nearly trip over their feet in order to get away from me. Even the teachers seem to get ahold of my reputation. Some of them eye me warily as I enter their classes.
If it wasn't for the fact that I have a giant migraine, I'd consider this a good day. But, because of the fact that I had to skip lunch because they wouldn't let me eat in the library, carrying around all my stuff all day and the constant whispering behind my back, my head hurts as twice as much as it did before.
Still, ss per mom's wishes, I manage to find Melody's class before she leaves.
She's talking with two of her friends when I approach her. One of them, dark skinned and light-haired, grabs her other's arm. Both of their eyes widen once she spots me.
"Well, Melody, it's nice to meet you, but we gotta go. Bye!"
They're gone within seconds.
Melody seems confused at first, but when she spots me, her expression turns dark. "I see you haven't changed. Do you know how many rumors I've heard about you already? Melanie told me that she heard that you've killed your ex-boyfriend and that's we moved."
"Nonsense, he wasn't my ex."
"Peyton."
"I'm kidding," I massage my temples. "If Melanie really believes that, you shouldn't even be friends with her."
"I'm not."
"Good. Now that's settled, let's go to the parking lot and-"
"Parking lot? Don't you need your skateboard?"
"My skateboard is in the parking lot." I tell her, feeling my face warm up. At her confused look, I elaborate. "I threw it in a bush because I couldn't find my locker."
"Oh," Melody blinks. "Then, let's find it now. I don't mind exploring this school more, I mean it's so neat and cozy and uh, never mind. What's your locker number?"
I hesitate, then respond, "M111."
"M-one-one-tone? Hey, I don't think that's too far from here," She chirps. "Here, come on. I'm pretty sure it's right upstairs. Aha, I think I found them. Man, I can't believe you didn't. It's like right in front of where we just - oh, hey, look it's Archer!"
Melody waves. I have to physically restrain myself from running in the other direction.
This is a good thing, I tell myself as I follow Melody. Now I don't have to carry five-hundred page textbooks everywhere. Archer, who's alone at his locker, waves back. His lips curl up once he notices me. I try not to look at him.
"Is this your locker? That's so cool that you two are right next to each other, like locker neighbors. It's just like in real life," Melody chirps while I dial in my combination.
"Actually, that's my locker," Another, deeper, voice comes from behind them.
Sebastian and another girl, I recognize her as Archer's little sister, walk up to us. Archer tries giving the girl a hug, but she pushes him away.
Meanwhile, Sebastian starts to open his locker. Melody tells Sebastian something and he laughs. When I step aside to give him more room, my hand slips. With an annoyed sigh, I start to redo the combo.
Melody turns to the girl. "Hey, Julia, I didn't know you were a freshman."
"Yeah, just turned fourteen," Julia crosses her arms.
Sebastian gets out a sweatshirt from his locker and slams it shut. I wince and try to open my locker, but it stubbornly remains shut. With a frustrated sigh, I spin the dial again. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Archer lean against the lockers.
"Are you sure that's your locker?"
"Positive." I didn't spend half an hour memorizing it for nothing.
"I usually meet up with Sebastian at his locker and I didn't you see at all today."
"Didn't have to time to find it."
I try to unlatch the lock. It doesn't budge, even when I yank on it a couple of times.
"Why don't I try?" Archer offers, advancing. I yank on the lock one more time before stepping away to let him through. "What's your locker combination?"
The last thing I want to do right now is give Archer Raine, the most popular guy in school, my locker combination. But everybody's looking at me, so I quietly tell it to him anyway. What's the worst he can do anyways?
Then, of course, Archer unlocks my locker in one try.
Figures.
"Thanks," I mutter.
He nods and steps aside, sharing a look with Sebastian. He turns to Melody and strikes up a conversation, while I examine my locker. It's one large hole in the wall, with only shelf.
I put the textbooks that I'm carrying on the top shelf. Then, I examine the leftover books in my backpack, trying to decide which ones to keep. In the end, I just tip my backpack over and let them fall against the metal. Then, I kick my locker shut.
When I turn around, everybody's watching me.
"Let's go." I start walking down the corridor.
I manage to make it two feet before Melody cries out "Wait."
With a roll of my eyes, I turn around. Julia leans against the locker, picking at her nails while Sebastian and Archer both stare at me, with completely different expression. Melody crosses her arms.
"Archer offered us a ride home, in his Audi," Melody tells me.
"Oh," I say. "I'm good."
Then, I start walking down the corridor again. Melody excuses herself while somebody, probably Julia, laughs, and catches up to me. She grabs my elbow and drags me into the girl's bathroom, which reeks of moldy soap and tears.
"You can go with him if you want," I say before she can. "But I refuse to come."
"Why not? We live right next door to each other, he's in your grade, he's friendly and," Melody lowers her voice. "He's pretty good-looking too. Besides, if I come and you don't, it'll be rude."
"I don't care."
"Are you seriously going to walk home in this heat? And drag me along with you?"
My head throbs in protest. "Yes. And you can go without me."
"What about my bike? Who's going to take it home?"
I hesitate. "Me."
She raises an eyebrow. "You? You hate the heat and you hate my bike. What's so wrong with Archer that you don't want a ride with him?"
"Nothing," I groan. "Can't you just leave me alone?"
Melody scowls and crosses her arms. "Fine. I guess I'll just go tell Archer, Sebastian and Julia that you decided not to go with them because you didn't feel like it. They won't be offended at all."
"Great, thanks Melody," I walk outside.
"Not the point!" She calls after me.
I ignore her. My headache gets worse as I storm downstairs and go out in the hot Florida air. It feels like my skin is sizzling. Unfortunately, my skateboard is tangled up in the bushes so it takes me a while to get it out. I get to the front of the school just in time to a see a red Audi fly by.
It should take me ten minutes to skateboard home. But, because of the heat, my headache and the fact that I'm carrying Melody's bike, it takes me twenty five.
I shove the vehicles into the garage and storm through the front door. The air conditioning feels amazing on my skin. Suddenly light-headed, I stumble my way towards the kitchen. Mom watches me as I collapse on the nearest chair I can find.
"Why is so hot?" I groan, putting my head on the table.
"Maybe you wouldn't be so hot if you didn't put on all that black," Mom points out. "Besides, I thought Archer was going to take you home. What happened?"
"I had to stay after school for something," I sigh. "Hey. Do we have any aspirin?"
"How about a glass of lemonade?"
"That'll do."
- () -
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QotC: What was the most memorable "first day" for you?