Something There: Chapter 1
Dusty was walking home on a Friday evening from being in detention for 3 hours, for something completely irrelevant. She could have been at home doing something much more important with her time. Her mother was possibly outraged because she didn't know where her daughter had gone, but Dusty didn't really care anymore. She was used to it. She had already been bullied at school enough, she didn't need her mother yelling at her, too.
Just as Dusty was getting home, it started to rain. Dusty groaned. She had forgotten to bring an umbrella or something to protect herself with, so she just used her navy blue hoodie. Even though she was wearing a hoodie, jeans, and boots, she was still freezing. She began to sob quietly to herself. She glanced over to the house across from her. It appeared to be a purple, suburban house. Dusty sighed. Suddenly, she saw a light turn on from inside of the residence. Dusty looked rather surprised, and tried to see what was inside the house. She didn't consider it as sneaky, she just considered it as…an investigation. She saw that it was actually one of her classmates, Jeff, squinting outside, looking directly at her.
Dusty started to look at him too a little. She gave a slight wave, and Jeff's eyes grew wider. He turned away from the window for about 15 seconds, probably to talk to someone, and later came outside for Dusty in the pouring rain.
"Uh.." Jeff muttered. "Hi."
Dusty looked at Jeff before saying, "Hello."
Jeff looked back at Dusty. "So, uh…" he started. "What are you doing out here, in the rain, in front of my house?"
Dusty looked at Jeff's home, and back at Jeff. "I was just walking home from school." she replied.
Jeff looked at her in shock. "At this hour?" he said. "You could have been home by now! Isn't your mom probably worried about you?"
Dusty shrugged. "Yeah, I was walking home from detention," she said. "And it was for something completely ridiculous!"
Jeff tilted his square head in confusion. "What did you do?" he asked.
"I was questioning Ms. Bernstein's method of teaching about a subject," Dusty said. "She was doing it completely wrong! It didn't make sense at all!"
Jeff looked surprised, and said "Wow, I must not have been there, because usually Ms. Bernstein calls out students when they're in trouble."
Dusty rolls her eyes in annoyance, and says "So I'm hearing. She has a weird way of punishing kids."
"I'll say," Jeff said.
Dusty chuckled. "What do you know about being in trouble?" she said. "You're the one who has the most Buddy Stars in the whole class!"
Jeff smiled. "Come on," he said. "Let's get you inside before you get even more wet from this dreadful weather."
Dusty was hesitant. "But I-"
"No questions asked," Jeff interrupted. "We'll call your mom in a few minutes."