Chapter 34

Samantha's POV

Ms. Tracey walked me to my first class, English, and pointed out some of the corridors where my other classes would be.

"At the end of the day, before you leave, come by the office okay?  I have some papers your parents, uh, the Josephs, will need to fill out. PE forms and stuff. Okay?" She said as we stood in front of a classroom door.

I nodded.

"And Samantha, I know you've had it rough, but you're safe here, okay?  It's a good school, and if you have any questions or problems, you come see me, okay?"

I nodded again. It's easier to agree. Adults never mean what they say.

Ms. Tracey knocked on the classroom door and the teacher came to the door. She was tall and had blonde hair and blue eyes. She kind of reminded me of Jenna. She had a really nice smile.

"Good morning, Mrs. Wilson. You have a new student joining you today. This is Samantha Deitz. She's just transferred from Maple Middle School. Samantha, this is your English teacher, Mrs. Wilson. She'll get you all set up, okay?"

Ms. Tracey lightly pushed me forward towards the classroom.

"Good morning Samantha. Welcome to Appleton Middle School. Come on in. Would you like to tell us a little bit about yourself?" She asked. I looked in the room and 30 pairs of eyes stared back at me. I shook my head.

"That's alright, it's intimidating starting a new school in the middle of the term. You can take that desk there, by the window, middle of the row, okay? We're discussing the book "The Giver". Have you read it?"

I shook my head. Great. I was already behind.

"That's alright. We just started it. I'll get you a copy and you can catch up to us. It's not a long book. You'll be caught up in no time, I bet."

I doubted that. As much as I love to read, my dad always told me reading was a waste of time for a girl.

Mrs. Wilson walked me to my seat and went back to the front of the room. I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I took off my back pack and jacket and sat down. Mrs. Wilson came back with a copy of the book everyone had out on their desks.

"You just listen to the discussion for now, and if you can read the first two chapters before tomorrow's class, you'll be caught up and you can join the discussion," she smiled at me.

She returned to the front of the room. I flipped through the book. It wasn't very long. The girl beside me kept staring at me.

"Hi," she whispered. I smiled at her.

"Jill! Focus, please," Mrs. Wilson said. The girl turned her head back to the front.

The class discussed the first chapter of the book. So far all I could gather was that it took place in the future and no one could remember anything. And apparently the world is in black and white. Weird.

The bell rang at the end of the class so I put the book in my back pack and gathered my jacket and the bag and looked at the schedule Ms. Tracey had pressed into my hand. Science.

I started out of the room. The girl, Jill, came up to me.

"Hi again. What do you have next?" She asked.

I showed her my schedule.

"I have the same class! I'll show you where it is." She smiled. I shrugged and followed her. She chattered the whole way to the science wing and showed me different things around the school.

"You don't talk a lot, do you?" She finally asked as we stopped in front of a classroom. I shrugged. "That's okay. My mom says I talk enough for two people. She says it's annoying but that at least she almost always knows where I am. You don't have to talk if you don't want to. But I could be your friend, if you want."

I shrugged again. I'd learned long ago not to commit to anything. Especially friendships. They end pretty fast. Especially when you can't ever go over to the other persons house. And they can never come to yours.

I walked into the classroom with Jill and she introduced me to the teacher.

"Hi, Samantha. I'm Mr Cowan. Welcome to Appleton. I'll get you a textbook in just a minute. Why don't you go sit with Jill?"

Jill grinned at me and patted the stool beside her at the lab table. I shrugged and went to sit down.

"We can be lab partners," she smiled. I smiled meekly back.

Mr. Cowan came over with a textbook and handed it to me. He put his hand on my shoulder and I jumped.

"Hey, hey, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," he said. "It's okay."

He kneeled down beside me and spoke quietly.

"If you need to talk to someone about anything, you can come to me, or your guidance counsellor or even Ms. Tracey, okay?"

I nodded, embarrassed by my overreaction.

Jill was looking at me as Mr. Cowan walked away.

"Are you okay?" She asked. I nodded.

I pulled out my binder and a pen and got ready for class.

Mr. Cowan went over what they'd learned the previous class and told me which chapters to read to catch up, and then went on to discuss the lifecycle of plants. I followed along easily and took some notes.

A couple of times he tried calling on me and I just shrugged. I knew the answer. But I didn't want anyone to hear me. In case I was wrong.

Mr. Cowan didn't seem too upset by my reluctance to speak.

"Hey, Freak," a boy said, pushing past me at the end of class. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Pffft. She's probably just stupid." Another boy said.

"Leave her alone! She's new!" Jill said. I rolled my eyes. I didn't need her to protect me.

"Shut up, Jelly Bear," the first boy said, pushing her into a locker.

She frowned after him.

"Most kids are nice here," she said to me. "But just like any school, there are some assholes. Adam and his buddies are it."

I shrugged and looked at my schedule. I had social studies next. Jill looked over my shoulder.

"Awww. I have music now. When do you have lunch?"

I showed her my schedule. Right after social studies.

"Me too. I'll meet you at your classroom, okay? Social studies is in B142. So, down that hallway and turn left."

I nodded and walked away.

I found the classroom pretty easily. The teacher was just in the doorway when I got there.

"You must be Samantha. The new student?" She asked. I nodded. "I'm Ms. Williams. Welcome."

"Oh great. The freak is in this class too?" I heard. And there was Adam and one of his buddies.

"Mr Jacobs, I'll remind you of our school code of conduct. Again," she said to him. "Samantha, why don't you take that seat by my desk. It's the only one left I'm afraid."

The class was set up like a U instead of in rows. I sat down. Ms. Williams handed me a textbook and told me they were discussing the Bill of Rights.

I listened and took notes. Ms. Williams seemed to know not to call on me. She may be a teacher but I'm sure she knew I'm just a stupid girl.

Near the end of class a voice came over the intercom asking Ms. Williams to send me to the nurse's office.

"Probably for her daily infusion of freak juice!" Adam whispered loudly. I could feel hot tears behind my eyes.

Ms. Williams gave me directions to the nurse's office and I left the classroom.

"Hi there, Samantha. I'm Nurse Taylor. Your parents asked me to give you a hand with your insulin. Did they pack you a lunch or are you buying?"

I realized I didn't have a lunch, and I didn't have any money. I shrugged. Not surprising. The Josephs forgot to give me lunch. It was probably the first sign they were ready to get rid of me.

"Let me just check and see if you have a school account," she said, taking my schedule from my hand and entering my name and student number into her computer.

"Oh. You're in luck. They set you up a lunch account. No need to worry," she smiled at me. I was surprised. My dad would never set up a lunch account. He said I'd just waste the money on crap anyway.

"I have the school menu here, and I understand you're pretty good at calculating carbs. So, take a look at the menu and decide what you'd like and let's calculate the carbs and your insulin, okay? But first, I guess we should test your sugar. Do you have your kit?"

I nodded and pulled it out of my bag. I checked my glucose and saw it was a little low.

"Okay, so I guess we'll hold off on a couple of units, huh?" Nurse Taylor asked. I shrugged. I looked at the menu and tried to find something that sounded decent. School lunches looked pretty horrible. I chose a salad and Mac and cheese, a milk and an apple.

"Those are pretty good and healthy choices. Don't forget the carbs for the dressing," she said.

I calculated about what I thought the carbs would be and pulled out my pen needle.

"You know how many units?"

I nodded. I turned the dial about halfway and then took a deep breath and turned it the rest of the way.

Nurse Taylor looked over at it.

"Is that enough?"

I nodded.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded again. My sugar was a little low. Too much insulin even if I was eating, could make me go low.

"Okay. Good job. You're already a little low, so you compensated for that. And you got there pretty quick. But I saw it was a bit hard. The Josephs told me sometimes you have trouble dosing properly?" She asked.

I nodded and gave myself my injection.

"Good job, Samantha. If you don't mind, I'm going to have you come in before lunch every day for a while, okay? The Josephs and I want to make sure you're taking the right dose. We want you to stay healthy, okay?"

I shrugged.

I packed up my stuff and left the office. Jill was looking up the hall when I came out.

"There you are! What happened? You needed the nurse already?"

I shrugged. She'd figure it out eventually. I was getting my freak juice.

After lunch I had math and then PE. Since I didn't have a PE kit yet, the teacher had me sit in the bleachers. I pulled out 'The Giver' and started reading that. I got through about four chapters before the bell rang.