*Hey guys this is the reviewed version enjoy! (A lot more might come if it doesn't feel right)
Fear struck me as my head shot up and met the eyes of the teachers through her stone-age glasses. The almost black eyes behind them glared back with disgust, threatening to strike me with a lightning bolt. I was in for it this time. Heck, she would strike me with lightening bolt if she could! The smell of cigaret smoke flamed from her breath as she clicked her dirty tongue. Even with her height, she still manages to scare the life out of the students at Raccoon High. Her degree says she could run a collage campus with just one word. All we can do is sit here and listen to the devil lash out curses at us.
When sitting down in a small classic schoolhouse desk, you and her are about eye level. It makes her gaze even more petrifying. With the classic gold chain necklace glasses and the big dark blue earrings, she could easily pass as an eighty year old. Although, if the rumors are correct, she is only in her early fifties. Some kids say she will do anything to look good and make students look like soon-to-be drop outs. Miley overheard one kid say that to stay out of trouble she put a lighter in some Junior boys desk last year to cover up her bad smoking habits. And what a coincidence... that Miley and I just happened to get her this year.
With the instant flick of the wrist the thick metal ruler struck me on the knuckles. The sting traveled through my hand and there was a red mark in its place. I reacted with a jerk, roughly rubbing it as the pain quickly spread. This was going to be another bruise soon...curse my delicate skin! Over time, we all learned that she enjoys punishing us like this and all the stories from the upperclassmen were nothing but the truth. It's her way of showing that she cares...if that makes sense. I mean, why would she spend most off her life focussed on us if she didn't? Looking down I noticed that she had a different ruler than last time. This one was metal. Yay, no more splinters.
Since my mom works the afternoon shifts, the gruesome things that happen at school she seems to be completely oblivious to. The boss at the chemical plant has been pushing them harder lately on finding a vaccine. Something about a virus that broke out in the area not too long ago. She said they were lucky that the outbreak was so close so she didn't haft to travel halfway across the U.S. to find it. Believe me, I would love nothing more than to tell her what's going on in English 1. But that would distract her from her job and I can't let that happen. It's what gave us a home after dad left. I have survived all these years without an adult around, so there is no excuse to need one now.
When I was little and my dad was still around, Mom was always home. She would be in the kitchen making dinner while he finished filing some papers in the office. It was your average perfect family that you see in the movies...then again, doesn't it always seem like that when your a four year old in preschool? After I turned five, Mom got promoted to work in the research lab with one of their top scientists. That's when she and dad started fighting. He had worked with her under the same company for years, and then that happened. Soon after he left, never coming back again.
Mom's job paid for us a new house and in a new location on the other side of town. Without the job from the Umbrella Corporation, we would have nothing and be on the streets. She works hard and I can't let my mistakes at school distract her. Besides, all I have to do is work harder and everything will be okay. It always is.
Opening my small book to the correct page I began to search for what scene on Romeo and Juliet we left off on. The classmates stared at me, seeing that the teacher hadn't left. The teacher, Ms. Webber, gave off a little smirk and sharply turned around to go back to her cold metal desk. Suddenly the ruler flicked up and knocked the book out of my hands and onto the floor. My right foot ached. Great day to wear flip flops! Not before glancing back with a malicious grin, she continued to walk back to her desk.
This is exactly what got me a demerit last quarter. Having a project in History due I stayed up all night to finish it with Miley. She offered to finish it, but I couldn't let her do it. I had all the sources and there was no way she could have found them all in time. And I refused to get us a failing grade. But, if I get one more, it will be a detention and I can't got into collage with that. Next year the testing begins, according to Timmy. He got a letter within a week after results and it wasn't even the actual test. It was a practice preparation test!
Like Mom always said, "Work hard and everything will fall into place!"
Picking up the book I avoided eye contact with everyone else and quickly found my place again. I didn't want to see what everyone else thought, the cackling of their voices around me said enough on the embarrassing matter. Back in Junior High, the teachers would talk about high school as they went over the yearly test reviews. This was definitely not what they said high school would be. So far I've broken down from pressure ten-ish times in the last semester; at least Miley can keep her cool. I glanced over in her direction, who was giving death glares to the whispering group of girls two rows ahead of mine. She looked back at me with a look of pure dread.
Miley, a shapely fifteen year old with to the waist long blond hair, and I have know each other since Mom and I moved. At first, I thought she was a bad example and heard she was once in a gang. I thought she was going to kill me! When she found out that I was moving in several blocks down, she sat by me on the bus and explained everything. Turns out, her father and mom worked with my mom so she had heard a lot about my family. She also wasn't in a gang nor had ever affiliated with one, those were just rumors the snobs had made up. We became friends shortly afterwards.
I laid back in my cold hard chair and sighed restlessly, worrying about the demerit. How do I know that I got one?
"That'll be a demerit, Sharon." 's voice boomed, making me jump ten feet into the air.
This specific teacher is what other kids call "demerit crazy". She is the only teacher who still uses the old way of punishment and it's nothing but a mark on a piece of paper. If only it didn't show up on college papers. That is why when she isn't looking every once in a while you'll see a kid give her the finger. Sometimes kids will also mutter fowl words to her under their breath, but I try to stay away from that crowd as much as possible. Miley's language is enough. Now, that girl does cuss but she doesn't act like a drugy unlike the others. It always unsettles me a bit when the teachers at school miss my name, but after a while they finally chose one to stick with.
In this class, my name is Sharon.
Now I have two demerits, and I really wanted to keep from getting them this quarter. I will never pass sophomore year at this rate. Gosh I really need to watch it and be more responsible! If I'm going to collage then I will need a scholarship to make it possible. The local college is the biggest on in the area and costs a minimum of twenty-five thousand. Moms pay does cover the house, food, and utilities, but it leaves nothing for my educational fund. And a career as a writer could get pricey, along with the fact I need a plan B in case it fails. Being a writer always sounded fun though...
I looked at the clock, wondering when I could escape the torture.
After sitting there a second I realized that I hadn't been paying attention at all these past couple of minutes. They were on a totally different page and the class was silent. I looked up to see my teacher staring at me, along with everyone else. It had been my turn to read. Fumbling nervously through the pages for my spot I braced myself for the worst, and waited to get smacked again. The teacher stood up and opened her mouth, prepared to spat out at me. "Shar-"
The old bell cut her off and the classmates jumped up rushing to the door between us hands full.
I got up out of my seat and quickly gathered my things. Maybe the horde could keep us separated. Hurrying out the door before she could stop me, I walked down the hall towards my locker. It was several hallways over near the main stairwell but luckily on the same floor. Being on the second floor had its advantages. It was catty corner from my math class and gave me time to gather my things before the kids from the third floor got to that area. Now all there was to deal with was the first wave of students. After squeezing through the crowd to my side of the hall, I remembered that Miley was still back in the classroom.
A couple seconds later her hair came into view along with her green backpack. She shoved her way through the crowd towards me. If our school had a dress code and valued manners, she'd be expelled forever by now. With an irritated look she crossed the hall while mumbling things to the people in her way. I guess you can say she is a tomboy, but she sure can pull together an outfit. She would hold back in a fight when it's not worth it, although if you push her enough she can flatten you with just a glare. She sometimes dresses like a girl and does the whole makeup routine in the mornings before school if she feels like it. It's very rare though. So, it makes her a tomboy-ish kind of person.
That girl always hated her name and according to her it was girly. A while after high school started, she began trying to get another name stick with everyone. She eventually had to give up and stick with the original. Although I told her that she looked like a Miley anyways as much a possible. But, I guess her parents picked out an easy name that they wouldn't have to work so hard to remember, even though any parent wouldn't have trouble remembering their own kids name. Since her mom and dad both work full time, they don't get to see or talk to her much. When I mentioned it, all she told me was that it would surprise her if they even knew they had a kid.
Even though she says she completely doesn't care, her actions speak otherwise.
She saw me standing patiently and a big grin spread across her light colored face, the strands of blond hair hanging in her eyes. Last week as a birthday present she got her hair layered and trimmed, since her parents relied on her to pick out the present for them. They have even more hours than my mom, making days at home even duller then mine. I jumped at the high pitched squeal and Miley looked over after hearing yells and screams coming from the main stairwell. Quickening her pace she rushed over to see what was wrong and/or hilarious. Suddenly everyone moved away from the railing and a thick black skateboard tumbled down with a black backpack following right behind. Miley immediately rolled her eyes while I let out a giggle. His entrances were always...different. The dark brown hair, green eyed boy swung around the rough corner and slid down the tiny rail.
That kid over there is a friend of mine. Miley and I met him back at the Junior High in seventh grade. He most of the time is a huge show off, but can be serious... When he wants to be. He ran his long fingers through his hair as he picked up his stuff. Once he saw us, he happily jogged over. I gave him a kind wave, but it was nothing compared to the strange looks the kids on the stairs were giving him. He didn't seem to notice until he got here, but when I didn't acknowledge his presence Miley pointed to the stairwell. He followed my gaze and her finger and looked back at the kids on the stairs. A group of girls looked appalled while their boyfriends sent him mental death threats. With a smile he jokingly waved and hastily called back, "Sorry!"
They shook their heads in irritation while some of them cursed before returning to their usual after school routines. Yep, same reactions to my friends and I as always. Several minutes passed and everyone was heading out to the busses, leaving us in the middle of the hallway. Timmy looked from Miley to me, still chuckling from earlier. It's mostly me who finds his actions funny, Miley just tolerates it. Sometimes she will even yell at him...throwing in a punch or two as well. His eyes met mine and his smile slowly faded. Glancing in the direction of 's classroom he sighed in concern.
"Ms. Webber, again?"
Miley immediately nodded and threw her arm around me while Timmy placed his hand gently onto my shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about it. It was only a demerit. Just one. So don't beat yourself up over her problems."
I quietly nodded, and he returned it with a kind smile, "Trust me, I had that witch last year. Soon this year will be over and she won't be able to pick on you two anymore."
"But it's only me," I said with a sigh, "everyone else in the class enjoys my pain." He narrowed his eyes at Miley and glared back at the classroom.
"What did she do to you?"
Holding up my hand, I saw the red mark had turned a little purple. Bruising easily must be the worst curse imaginable, it makes me look like I purposely hurt myself or get beat at home! He took my hand in his and examined it. Miley told him that it was a new ruler, and when he asked if it was metal she nodded. "You might want to lay off doing anything with that hand, she got you pretty good. Any more and that left hand of yours could get swollen."
Miley muttered several choice words and walked to her small locker that was over and up one from mine. Timmy gave me one last grin before heading towards his that was one section down the hall from ours. Glancing down at my bruising hand I got on my knees to open my locker. Inside were several organized notebooks and a three-inch binder with homework tabs for every class. I looked over at Timmy who unzipped his bag revealing thousands of scattered papers. But his locker was even worse with notebooks and textbooks combined. He took a newspaper out of his backpack and laid the rest on the tile floor.
Walking towards us he had Miley and me both huddle in to read. Across the paper was the story on the murders and the relation to the new disease along with the police section. "STARS Team Suspended" was plastered across the top with a picture of the entire team. Miley glanced closer and squinted to read it. "So, they got fired." She said blankly walking back to her locker. He followed her and started to rant, which she never wants to deal with.
"Don't say it so calmly!" He said mouth hanging open. "They're Raccoon City's special task force team, S.T.A.R.S.!" He waved in front of her face and she slapped it away.
"They couldn't have came up with a better name?"
"Come on, Miley, this is serious! An entire team of S.T.A.R.S. members have gone missing, and the others are accusing Umbrella for the murders of them and several other deaths in the area!"
When she failed to respond he eventually gave up and shoved it back into the bag. Sighing slightly, he continued to pour endless mounts of paper into his locker. I giggled as the more he packed the more came toppling back out.
"You know Timmy, you really should clean out your locker." I said jokingly, watching him pile in more stuff.
Miley laughed and closed her locker door tightly shut. "He doesn't know what clean is. Spending all his time trying to be cool-"
Timmy finally forced his locker door closed and interrupted her harsh comment with a loud bang echoing throughout the hallways. He happily strode over to us and ended up patting her sweetly on the head. Laughing as she tried to slap his hand away he shot me a smile. Deep down I knew it was wrong to laugh, but eventually the giggles fought their way out of me. Since he was about five-ten and she was five-four, he towered over her like the Space Needle in Seattle. It's kind of cute, seeing them together like that. Almost like a couple.
"At least I don't look like a fresh-meat."
Her face turned red.
"It's not my fault everyone here is so damn tall!" She pointed at me, "She's five-three!"
Yeah...by the way...I'm not really all that tall. Taking the way I always look at the ground and walk hunched over, I probably appear shorter then that. Now I would be considered tall at any other school, but the fit people of Raccoon City are naturally tall. Everyone exercises and tries to work for the common good. Instead of being a five-three sophomore, everyone here is five-six during sophomore year. Think of it as an early growth spurt. But sometimes you'll come across a shorter kid, which in this case is Miley and me.
Timmy shook his head in disappointment, "Pointing out someone else's flaws to cover up your own?" He asked, then he shook his finger. "Tsk...Tsk...Tsk, honestly Miley, I thought you were better than that."
I open my mouth ready to interject, wanting to say that it was not (to me) a flaw of mine. Before I could get it out I quickly shut it after realizing that it would just make things worse. Everything goes right over their heads when fighting. It's like all they can hear or see is each other. She threw a punch at him in the arm and he dodged it happily laughing and accused her of being slow. Then she predicted his death in a apocalypse because he wasn't serious enough. He was using his Junior attitude once again to irritate the life out of her, and nothing good comes out of that.
Miley quickly grabbed her shoulder bag and rolled her eyes. I watched her slam the locker door shut as he tossed his bag over his shoulder. The conversation when over again in my head, a laugh escaping my lips. They were just too funny.
"What's so funny?" Miley asked irritatedly.
"It's just," I began, regaining my voice. "You guys always fight just to win, and when someone's fixing to lose, they change the subject to something they can win."
They just stared at me, which made me giggle more. I guess I say some pretty stupid things sometimes. Turning away they began shouting insults at each other.
"Asshole-"
"BITCH!"
I smiled and made my way to the staircase with them loudly falling in behind me. We had the entire way home to walk, so hopefully that would be enough time for them to get everything off their chest. They always cheer me up, and it made me forget about my demerit-
I sighed while criticizing myself- "You just had to bring it up."
"Dude, that was deep." I heard from behind me, a loud painful smack shortly following.
When we got home, the door was already open and the fridge was stacked with snacks. I found a yellow sticky note letter stuck on the fridge from Mom, saying that something strange had happened at work and she was called in at the last minute. Taking the ordinary chance Timmy got the remote while I prepared some snacks. Miley took a seat next to me with the drinks. Once everything was set, we turned on the large flat screen TV hoping to find something good to watch. Miley eventually found herself sitting on the couch upside down, obviously bored, while Timmy sat on the couch's back with his feet on the cushion. Normally anyone would've been worried that he would break it, considering he is one hundred and eighty pounds of pure muscle. But the couch had a thick iron metal frame and was specially made so it wouldn't collapse so easily. Mom bought it for us about a year ago...after he broke our last one.
I ran into the kitchen to get more sodas, and as I did that I heard Miley scream something at Timmy. Eventually the sound of them arguing got louder almost busting my eardrums. It was a good thing Mom wasn't here to witness this. Glancing at the time I realized that it was five o'clock and she should've be home by now. But, there is no reason to worry. She works late a lot, since she works at Umbrella's lab and all. There she helps the main scientists create vaccines. This one is going to be for the sudden death virus animals have been getting. It seemed to work like rabies, so they've been studying the differences between the two.
There was a harsh knock on the door followed by the repeating doorbell. With three drinks in my hands I rushed in hoping one of them had got it. My fridge had been stocked with and there was no way we could not, not take advantage of that. I walked in with my hands full from head to toe. All hope failed when the sound of them arguing stayed excruciatingly constant, and I let out a groan. Another knock followed by the continuous ringing of the doorbell came again. Someone's getting impatient. I thought hurrying into the living room. Sitting the drinks down by Timmy and Miley who were almost at death point by now, I rushed into the entry. While reaching for the door I heard a THWACK!
"Find something to watch!" Timmy ordered Miley, grabbing his Dr. Pepper off the coffee table. She began to rub her knee.
"You hit my knee with the remote! THAT HURT!"
He sat up, "Oh look, the news!"
"Don't change the subject!"
Rolling my eyes I continued my way to the door. Their voices began to escalate louder, and louder, and while looking back again at them, I saw that they were entangled together, each others hair gripped tightly in hands with Miley on top. Hurrying back to them I yanked Miley by the shoulder and pulled her off of him. Immediately after I tossed her onto the wrinkled couch with all my strength.
"Awwww Shay!" Timmy loudly whined getting up off the floor. "You spoil all the fun."
"Be have, someone is at the door."
Making my way back ready to end the continuous ringing, I heard a click and some voices. I got to the stairs that were right in front of the door and reached for the doorknob. The door suddenly burst open in an instant which caused me to stumble back losing my balance. My butt landed hard on the corner of one of the carpeted steps sending a shudder throughout my body. My shoulder collided with the tip of the railing. Grabbing it for balance I clenched my jaw, trying to get past the pain and the feeling of being shot.
Looking up at the bright light I rubbed my shoulder, didn't work on easing the pain, and in front of me was a cop that seemed to tower over the largest of all Houston's skyscrapers. Like I said, Raccoon City people are tall. Behind him, was my now broken door blocking the way out. Paralyzed with fear I gasped and inched back quickly. A strange man is aiming a gun at me in my house...By this time, Miley and Timmy realized what had just happened and ran towards me.
The engine of a car and screams from the people running in the street overlapped the silence.
*Let me know how you liked it! Comment and vote!
~WonTahn-Chan