I don't consider myself very pretty. I mean, I'm not ugly, but not pretty either. I stare into my freckled face's reflection in the window. The school bus hits a bump and jolts me back to reality. Snow swirls outside, relentless and covering every bare inch of ground. Last day of school until Christmas break. I breathe heavily as the kids around me chatter rowdily. One more day.
Teenagers of various sizes litter the hallways as I fight to reach my locker. I stow my music and gym bag in the locker, which is bigger than me, and slam it to find Ricky, the quarterback, leaning on the locker beside mine. "Umm, hi," I say shyly.
"Hey," he grins. I frown the tiniest bit.
"What do you want?" I ask as I head down the hallway. He trails after me.
"I wanted to invite you to sit with my group at lunch." He slings his arm around my shoulders. I shrug it off.
"No, thanks. I have to go. See ya, Ricky." I feel him freeze behind me angrily. I smirk as I walk to class. I'm not wearing the best outfit, simply some tight leggings with a V-neck crimson shirt, with a black choker and, of course, my leather jacket. I swing into classroom 435, which is the Science Lab, and am surprised to see another person sitting at my two person lab table. No one sits there. Ever.
In fact, several people now fill the once empty tables in the back. This is an advanced class, barely anyone gets into it. How did they get here? I recognize the person at my table as a girl and sit by her. She has black hair that hangs in perfect waves and pale, pale skin. She looks over at me and smiles.
"Hi, I'm Jane."
"America. Nice to meet you, Jane."
"America? What a cool name. Wish I had a better name," she sighs wistfully.
"I bet you do! But I don't, because my name is the best!" One of the new guys from the back with black hair rises. The boy next to him, also with black hair, bursts out laughing. Another dude behind him with white eyes and brown hair rolls his eyes and continues reading his book about the human anatomy. "Jane, who are they?" I ask her in a whisper.
"The cocky son of a gun is Jeff, the tall one with black hair who cannot control his laughter is Jack, and the one reading the book is also Jack. We call them LJ and EJ, as to not confuse them," she answers.
"What do they stand for?"
"Laughing Jack and… erm…. Ecstatic Jack."
"He doesn't look ecstatic."
"It's meant to be sarcastic. Anyways, EJ and Jeff are from one family, and LJ, Ben, Sally and I are from another." She says.
"Then why do you act like brother and sister?"
"Well, we moved into the same house when both our parents died with a foster dad named… Clover."
"Alright. Seems really interesting, actually."
"Not really. Jeff is a jerk, LJ is a maniac in disguise, Sally and EJ are boring to be around and Ben does nothing but play video games."
"Who is Sally and Ben?"
"Oh, Sally goes to elementary school and Ben is sick today," she says.
Just then, the bell rings to announce the beginning of class. Everybody but Jeff and LJ silence. Mr. Hartsfield begins to talk over the whispering voices of the two cackling teens. Today, we're beginning the projects on the reproductive system. Everyone groans as we have toAs he is about to let us pick our partners, and Jane and I reach for each other, he speaks.
"Since some of our friends cannot choose wisely, I am going to switch Jane and Jeff's tables. Therefore, Jeff will be partnered with America, and Jane will be with Jack." Jane shoots me a terrified look. But she doesn't look sarcastic. She looks genuinely worried. About me? Why? I know that Jeff is an intense character, but what's the worst that could happen?
As Jane walks over to switch tables, she grabs Jeff's hoodie sleeve and whispers something into his ear. He laughs and says, "No promises, sweetie, but I'll try my best." He plops down next to me and picks up the sheet of paper that holds our instructions for the project. I realize that he is pale white, paler than Jane, paper almost. He grins.
"Okay, it says here that we can do male or female reproductive parts. I vote female," he says.
"Why?" I ask.
"Easier than males, trust me," he winks. This, of course, does not make any sense. For females you have to explain the fallopian tubes, uterus and ovaries as well as the breasts. I haven't even mentioned periods and babies yet. For males, it's just the testicle. Is this the weirdest paragraph I have written? Yes, it is.
"Okay," I say suspiciously. He checks the box for female, and for poster.
"Poster okay?" He checked it before asking me.
"Sure," I shrug. He continues filling out the paper, checking other necessities such as the largest poster size and glitter. I giggle slightly when he checks the glitter.
"What?" He smiles. He seems to be addicted to smiling. Like his personal marijuana.
"Nothing," I stare out the window. Snow is still swirling around like little flakes of coconut. I watch them flutter to the ground and join the masses in the two foot high ice. Luckily, the streets were heavily covered with salt the night before, so the streets are only slightly frosted with white. I look at the streets, the ugly slush marked with tire tracks.
Jeff and Jack are not in any other of my classes in the first half of the day. Jane is in my Math and History classes and EJ sits with me in Study Hall. He showed me how to correctly refill a mechanical pencil. Maybe it was my responsibility to have learned that. Oh, well. I guess I just wasn't a good student.
At lunch, I steer myself away from Ricky's table and sit next to Jane, who is discussing what seems like blades with EJ. I plop next to her. "America! I've been waiting," she says.
"Sorry, I had to grab lunch from my locker," I say. It's fun to have a friend who waits impatiently for you at lunch.
"No problem. I'm hoping Jeff and LJ will sit somewhere else, but I doubt it. LJ is an idiot. He does not understand the human body." Jane whispers something into EJ's ear and they laugh. I ignore it and grab my fork and stab my salad.
"You healthy or something?" EJ nods at the greens.
"I'm doing theatre and I have to be super skinny for my part, so I'm trying to lose about ten pounds."
"How much do you weigh?" EJ asks.
"About a hundred five. Why?" I ask.
"You're going to be unhealthily underweight. Just wear tight clothing or a corset."
"No, thanks. It'll be good for me. I'll just gain it back," I say shrugging it off.
Jeff and LJ sit down next to each other and pull out cards and a packet of peanuts. They deal the cards and use the peanuts as poker chips. They seem to be playing Texas Hold 'Em. I drizzle strawberry vinaigrette over the salad and continue eating. Jane munches on a bag of chips while glowering at Jeff for unknown reasons. LJ sucks on a lollipop and chuckling softly while looking at his hand. I take a peek. Not a good hand. Nothing to be joking about.
I finish my salad quickly. EJ is eating a piece of meat shaped suspiciously like a kidney. "What's that?" I ask him.
"Kidney of horse. Interesting taste." I decide not to judge him. I am the one going unhealthily underweight. Jane hands me her bag of chips. I dive in and grab a few. I don't care. Diet or no diet, I am going to eat chips. Because chips are amazing.
"Are you guys done?" Jane asks as the bell rings. Jeff and LJ groan as they eat their poker chips before packing up. LJ giggles slightly as they walk off to their next class. Jane looks at her schedule.
"What do you have next?" I ask.
"Honors Computers and Graphical Design. I took it because Clover wants me to keep an eye on Ben, whenever that lunatic finally comes to school."
"Oh. I have that sixth period. Right now, I'm headed to Honors Spanish. I'm trilingual," I say proudly.
"Lemme guess. Spanish and French?"
"Spanish and Japanese. I'm in love with anime."
"Wow. Good job," she says.
"Thanks! I'd better go," I say as I walk away.
"Bye!" Jane exclaims as she jogs off to the computer lab.
Once I get to the Spanish class, it is evident I am not going to enjoy it. LJ sits at my table, along with Ricky and… Jeff. I sit down in my normal spot. Ricky winks at me and LJ snickers. Jeff grins one of his sadistic grins. "What's so funny, smile boy?" He asks Jeff, who sits beside me.
"Your life." Jeff smirks. LJ bursts out laughing as he unwraps a caramel and pops it into his mouth. I never noticed his outfit. A white and black striped long shirt and black baggy pants. He looks like a hippy. Ricky, however, wears a football jersey and athletic shorts that go down to his knees with black tennis shoes. The jock, the hippy, the lunatic and the depressed at one table. What's sad is that I am the most mentally stable of the group.
I grab our assignment from the middle of the table. It's a conjugation sheet. I groan. I always flunk conjugation worksheets. I get to work, using the rules of conjugation to conjugate jump, walk and cry in past, present, future irregular and perfection. I look over at Jeff's paper. He has written his name in all three slots for perfection. I almost laugh at his ego. It's normally enough to tick me off to the point of arrogance myself, but Jeff seems so genuine as to be real.
I check and double check my answers but I cannot find fault in them. I frown before turning my page over and pulling out my phone to watch a few episodes of anime. I just pull up a random Sword Art Online episode. When it happens to be Gilded Hero, I roll my eyes before selecting Phantom Bullet, plugging in my earphones and diving into the intriguing story of VR terror and pressure about true bravery and love. Jeff peeks over my shoulder to see what I am watching.
"VR?" He asks through the earphones. I nod my head. He smiles bigger than he already is before leaning back and stealing one of LJ's candy, who frowns while giggling at the same time. It is almost menacing. He slides one diagonally across the table to me. It's cherry. My favorite. I pop it into my mouth. The sugary taste of the sweet slowly spreads across my tongue. I smirk and pause my video as I close my eyes and relax.
I am awoken by a ringing bell. Everyone rises and leaves the classroom. I scramble to assemble my stuff and jog out of the room. I feel uptight. I swing into the computer lab. Mr. Hernandez wastes no time to have us seated with Photoshop and Paint Tool SAI already in separate tabs on our Xidax computers. A Word Document has our assignment task.
3D Printer Project
Below are the lists of partners. You and your partner will make a small shield that can be 3D printed over the winter break through Photoshop and SAI. You will be graded on neatness, creativity and overall message.
Jeff-Jack
Ricky-America
Fallon-Drayton
Annie-Gracie
Dolores-Gordon
Garrison-Sam
Jason-Josh
I sigh when I see my name paired with Ricky's. Of course, he walks in late and when Mr. Hernandez points next to me, he gives me a flirtatious grin. It's not as if he's not attractive. He is actually ripped. I am just not interested in looks. I am interested in character. He sits down next to me and begins talking. "I think we should do something that represents passion and lust," he winks.
"I think we should do something that represents sadness and loneliness," I say seriously.
"Woah, when did you get all deep?"
"I have never been shallow. It's a transition I am not aware of, but maybe you should try it out for yourself, and tell me how the experience was."
Flaming, Ricky states, "Well, how about we both make a shield and the best one can be printed!"
"Fine by me!" I begin by pulling up the pre-set shield model and then going onto SAI, unsure of what to do. Loneliness? Sadness? I was quite obviously referencing my clinical depression. How do I represent sadness? I could ask the art teacher Mr. Lester, but chances are I will not see him in time to ask. Obviously blue. And maybe purple? But then it would look like an 80's skating rink slushee cup design.
The bell rings. I have been staring at my screen for fifty-five minutes. Ricky, on the other hand, wasted no time making a fiery red and orange tipped design. I sink a bit lower in my seat as I pack. This winter break is gonna suck. Two projects, and that is yet to count the inevitable song I will have to prepare for spring musical. I relax a bit as it sinks in that I am going to theatre class. The class where I can be myself.
I meet Jane outside the door. "Hey!" She says cheerfully.
"Hi, I greet. We walk in together and sit in the back row. The auditorium slowly fills. Jeff, EJ and LJ all sit in the front corner. Ricky and his fellow Varsity jocks sit rowdily in the front center row. I see as the preps, nerds, drama geeks, band kids, gothic kids, scene kids, emo kids (the past three are extremely distrustful of each other and sit as far away from each other as possible) and finally the lonely stragglers. I used to be one of them.
Mrs. Renee goes onto the stage. "Matthew, gimme some light, please!" Matthew is the light and sound guy. He slowly lifts a spotlight onto her spot. She smiles pleasantly before beggining to speak.
"Hello class! First, I would like to welcome all five of our newest students. One of them are absent, but you will be meeting him the first day of the next semester. That day we will also be holding pre-audition practices, so go ahead and spruce up on your singing. We will be performing Les Miserables. So, search it up, decide what part you want to be, and get ready!"
Of course, I already have my heart set on Eponine. Should be easy. Every other girl will want to be Cosette or Fantine. Not me. I cannot love normally. "Are you auditioning for Cosette?" Jane whispers into my ear.
"Eponine."
"Good. I really don't wanna compete for a part."
I knock on the door of the house Jeff addressed me to. It's a small condo. A very tall man with a bald head opens the door. He wears a neat tuxedo with a gray tie. "Hi, I'm America. I was assigned Jeff as a partner in Science Class. Is he home?"
"No, unfortunately. However, please come in." This must be Clover. He leads me to the couch and I sit down.
"Thank you," I say.
"Would you like a drink?"
"Coffee, please." Clover leaves to fix me the cup. I look around. The house is modern, the couch a luxurious white leather. Jane stomps down the stairs.
"Hey, Jane," I say. Her eyes widen with fear.
"H- Hi.." She runs back upstairs. I hear a lot of yelling from a male and Jane and finally a pleading. I hear a crash and then Jeff comes downstairs, trailed by Jane, who still looks very worried. "Jane, do you mind leaving us? We are working on a project." Jane reluctantly backs up the stairs.
"Hi," I say as I pull out my Science notebook.
"Hey," he says as he leans back. Clover comes in with a cup of coffee, complete with a tray of creamers, sugars and flavor powders and then a glass of crimson juice, the color of my deep red shirt. It must be for Jeff. It looks as thick as soup. He takes a sip before setting it down. I always drink my coffee black, so I gulp about a fourth down before setting it down.
"So, what would you like to start on?" I ask.
"This," he smiles menacingly. Someone from behind the couch tackles me as Jeff pulls me into a bag. The bag is zipped up and I hear a lock. "Nicely done," says a male voice.
"LET ME GO!" I punch the walls of the bag. Someone unzips a fraction and sticks me with a needle. I immediately go woozy. As I black out, I am rocked by the subtle movement of an experienced stealth mover. Jeff is not an arrogant, egoistic man. He is a dangerous, cunning, masochistic killer.
Then, I fall asleep.