I've been thinking...and decided to post this...
:3 Shoutout to Venusgurl5 for inspiring me some..! Much love to ya, gurl!
"It is only at the first encounter that a face makes its full impression on us."
-Arthur Schopenhauer
The Impression
So, this is what it was like inside a public school.
The faded smell of cleansing agents. Candy wrappers, crumpled paper balls and other random debris littering the cafe' hall and tables. The murmured greetings between janitorial faculty and other staff who were subject to the laze of the education system. A few random visitors to and from one of the few safehavens for the faculty - the teacher's lounge. A girl dressed in a pastel spaghetti-strap shirt and a short denim skirt carelessly swinging an elementary-looking colorful wooden slab the size of a ruler adorned with the words HALL PASS meandering into the girl's restroom while texting on her cellphone. The rank smell of bad aim as one passed near the boy's restroom. A random student here or there wandering around the halls to pass the time. A couple making out in a corner in the common's area. Another couple emerging from a broom closet, looking rather ruffled, giggling and immediately going their seperate ways.
Yes, public high school at it's finest. Namely New Calibre High School.
Big brown eyes absorbed all this with undisclosed interest, earning confused looks from some individuals who noticed. A pair of plaits the color of darkened pine needles bounced as the beholder looked left, right, and all around her surroundings, absorbing all of what she saw as if everything were made of the finest and most expensive material man could ever come by. Even the water fountains held her interest; petite bronzed hands reached out and pressed the two large silver buttons labeled Press Here on either side of the fountain and she gasped in wonder when she was rewarded with an arc of (deceivingly) clear water. She tried this again and again, smiling at the stocatto-styled shots of water that spurt from the fountain's faucet. Another random passerby glanced at her while she stared in wonder and slowed their walk as they witnessed her puzzling actions. The still smiling girl noticed her onlooker and turned to them with a wave.
"Oh, hello! I'm new the this school."
The guy seemed relieved to know that she had legit sense; he was under the impression that he might have had to find a special education teacher. He took in her choice of wear and her hair color, tanned skin, even her short height as she stepped closer to him and figured what she'd had to deal with all day. She rummaged through her green satchel bag and pulled out an orchid sheet of paper.
"Umm...could you tell me where my next class is? I've gotten a little...lost, I guess."
A little embarrassed, she chuckled as she handed the paper to the boy who listlessly read her classes. He blinked lamely as he regarded her Honors and AP ridden schedule. She was a sophomore taking senior classes, which guaranteed her an early graduation and being subject to the ignorance of some of her less determined peers. His lips curled a little at her sucky luck. He glanced at her again as she resumed looking around in unashamed wonder. Judging from her looks and getup, she wasn't from Edge, or the country for that matter, and that was probably another thing she'd get teased about. She was kind of cute though. In a ridiculously innocent way. Probably the type of way that could cause a middle-aged, twisted man to end up on T.V. for the wrong reason. The teen smirked.
'Why don't you take a seat over there. Can you tell me why you're here, sir? Well, I'm here with Dateline NBC...'
Deciding to stop with his musings so he could get back to the matter in hand, then his own doings, he looked back at the schedule for her last class of the day.
Talim on the other hand, had gone back to gazing around the hall with unabashed wonder. During the rather short time she'd been in the school, she'd spent most of her time in the student information center. As most busy three-out-of-five star schools go, they couldn't find her schedule for the semester. It had nothing to do with the fact that she'd arrived after the winter holidays (or, maybe it did since much of the staff slacked off around that time and probably misplaced her records when they were sent overseas to the school) and everyone was receiving their schedules for the new semester, some later than others. It was simply somewhere in someone else's office (and someone else's fault). This disconcerted Talim, but after it was explained to her that she would still be a student at the public school and be able to explore everything the place had to offer (she earned many raised eyebrows at that question), she was calmed and sat contently in a chair next to the wrap around desk. Not everyone was as frazzled and grouchy about the holidays being over. The woman sitting behind the desk was very warm with Talim and asked her questions about where she came from as other staff rushed around to retrieve her documents. Talim answered her questions courteously, but didn't relay too much information. She'd been sent from her homeland to stretch her wings, sample the winds and broaden her horizons, she reminded herself, not heavy her heart with how much she'd miss her family, friends and close-knit community. And her father, especially.
Eventually, her schedule was found (or quickly and rather expertly created on the spot) and since it was so late in the day, she only had to go to her last class: Trigonometry. After receiving a late lunch courtesy of the counselor, the filipina was given a staff escort and they were off down the halls in search of her last class of the day. On the way though, her escort got sidetracked by two students necking against a wall in plain sight and with an exasperated sigh left her to find her own way without a word. Talim had been dumbfounded, but decided to find her own way to class and enjoy a self-guided tour while she was at it.
She'd gotten sidetracked by a few things on the way, mainly the way the other students acted, dressed, and looked. At her academy school, public displays of affection and were pretty much unheard of, what with it being an all-girls academy. Her school might not have had many amenities like that of an American school, but their codes were strict. It was natural for things to be different here she thought when one couple responded to her outright stare at their french-kissing with a few coarse words. She'd have to respect the ways of this place, and she had no problem with that. She was a very respecting girl and she'd had many a person compliment her on her gentille manners in her home country. It prided her parents to know they'd done well in raising her, and it prided her to know that they looked at her with pride. Surely she wouldn't forget herself just because she was in a new country. She wouldn't allow it.
After a few minutes of wandering aimlessly around the cafe' and common's area, she had decided to head into what she guessed was the right direction of her class. That was before she'd gotten caught up by the water fountain. Now she was playing with the combination lock on a locker.
"Uuuhhh...," The boy finally spoke up, catching Talim's attention. "Your class is down that-a-way. Make a left and it's right at the end."
Talim smiled brightly as she took back her schedule.
"Thank you!"
The guy nodded and shuffled away. It was then that Talim noticed the pungent odor that trailed after him as he made his way to a set of double-doors ahead of them and outside of the building. She looked for a few seconds more and turned to make her way to class. Maybe he had a class that required him to be outside. Judging from his appearance though, and the smell that accompanied, he had other things in mind. Talim shook off the thought. It wasn't right to judge...though her assumption might be true when another whiff of cannabis slapped her in the nose.
She meandered down the hall and made her way to her first and last class's door.
Her first ever public school class.
Suddenly, she didn't feel so calm. The zeal that pumped through her body moments ago turned cold. She smiled nervously as she stood in front of the door and listened to the chorus of voices- her new classmates. Public school classmates whom she had no idea about. Adrenaline pumped from her chest to the rest of her body, instantly warming her, and she poised her little fist near the cold door, preparing to knock. Earlier in the day, she had so looked forward to experiencing this very thing. Why was she so intimidated now? A loud racket of laughter made her jump from her frozen position and she curled her hands into fists at her side, frustrated at her nerve.
"It's just Trigonometry class," she steeled herself, quietly. "Calm down, Talim! It's just Trig class...in a public school. With new public school peers. You've never been to public school...but it'll be ok-"
She was silenced when the door abruptly swung open revealing a bored looking girl with chin-length hair of varying colors and an outfit to match. She quirked a pierced eyebrow at Talim, who was still poised to knock on the door. Her blood rushed to her feet and she suddenly felt like a gawking corpse, which she might as well had been. Her mouth was open and her eyes were wide as they moved to look at eyebrow piercing. It was a bar stuck through with two multi-coloured balls on either end. Talim shut her mouth and brought her hand down, feeling the most awkward she could possibly have felt at the moment, which was the maximum. She laughed nervously and stammered and stuttered as the girl looked on with a bored expression, smacking on her gum.
"I-I...I'm...I-I'm..."
"Mrs. Matt. Some kid's at your door."
With that, the vibrantly colored girl with the opposing attitude opened the door wide enough for curious eyes to peer out the door as she walked out of the class to who knows where. Some students further to the back of the class stood or leaned over their desks, angling their bodies so that they could get a better eye full of the curious individual standing in the doorway. Talim stood as still as a statue, brown eyes wide. Everyone in the front of the class who could see her stared back, some people whispering and others snickering amongst themselves. Someone coughed. After what felt like more than an hour when in actuality, it was not even a minute, Talim heard some hurried footsteps from the back of the classroom. With the way the desks were positioned (facing to her left), she really couldn't get a good look at the back of the class where the teacher's desk most likely lie. Talim just stood there like a deer in headlights until the teacher came into her view, looking flustered and surprisingly not much older than some of the kids in her class. She had long black hair plaited in a single braid down her back, dark, yet lively eyes and a thick pair of glasses on her face. She was dressed conservatively in a long brown skirt and a long sleeved button up that had 'NCHS' stitched on the breast pocket.
"Oh, hello there," she greeted jovially, "Do you need something, dear?"
Her friendliness eased Talim's nerves and she smiled back, her cheeriness renewed.
"Hello! My name is Talim and I'm new here. I think this is my class...," she trailed off as she handed her schedule to the young teacher who adjusted her glasses and read. She blinked a little incredulously, looked at Talim, then back at the schedule, blinking some more.
"It says here that you're a sophomore taking senior classes," she murmured and studied her schedule again for a moment before adding, "...Advanced Economics? I didn't even know there was a class for that here... That's really something else."
Talim smiled shyly. Though she was by no means a braggart, she did appreciate it when her intelligence was complimented. After she explained that this was her first class in a public school ever, the nice teacher smiled brightly, guiding her into the classroom with a hand on her shoulder and introducing herself to her. Talim glanced at the body of twenty or so students who stared back at her, her new classmates.
"Well, dear, welcome to New Calibre High School! I really hope you'll like it here. Here, things can get a little...rough-," she started as she ushered Talim to the back of the class, and as if on cue, one of the students at the front of the class somehow had their desk tipped over to the side. A loud crash followed as desk and body hit the ground. Laughter ensued, and Mrs. Matt rushed over to the student. "Dear, are you okay?"
The student got up and set his desk on all four legs, laughing at the boy next to him who had obviously been the one to knock him over in his desk. The trigonometry teacher sighed as they told her everything was cool. She got flustered so easily, she should be used to the sort of thing since it happened regularly. Adjusting her glasses, she made her way back behind her desk with Talim standing in front looking a little startled at the antics of the students.
"Those two always joke around like that," Mrs. Matt said, sighing and trying to calm her own nerves. Talim looked at her with her eyes a fraction wider. She chose to laugh nervously at the 'joke'.
'That's joking around...? What if he'd gotten hurt?'
"Well anyway," the teacher resumed, "Here things can get a little difficult...not so much with academics for you dear, but...probably with your peers. I think a slight little thing like yourself can deal with it though. What do you think, dear?"
Talim nodded with a smile, sure of herself. She'd stood up for herself in the past before. Despite her size, she was a pretty strong girl.
"Mm-hmm. I'm pretty sure I can handle it."
Mrs. Matt smiled back, satisfied with her answer, but inwardly a little worried about what was to come for the girl. She'd been in the teaching field for a while (though she didn't look it) and she knew how cruel kids could be, especially in high school.
"Well, let me get you a textbook and a course syllabus then, miss Talim. While I do that, why don't you go to the front of the class and introduce yourself?"
"Okay," Talim replied, making her way to the front of the class rather quickly before her nerves caused her to freeze on the spot. She made it to the front of the class, and her nerves caught up with her. The class was socializing, laughing and loud and she was standing in front of the chalkboard with her mouth parted as if she were caught saying something mid-sentence. Her throat wasn't working. The kids in the front row were too busy chattering to notice her, thank goodness. Talim shut her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. Her hands, sweaty and clammy suddenly, balled at her sides. She tried to calm herself from the inside out.
'Calm down Talim. Calm down Talim. It's only school. They're only classmates- people, the same as you. Just...introduce yourself...'
"Hey, why is she standing up there anyway?"
A question from the rows of desks caused her eyes to snap open. All eyes were on her now. Her tan face reddened. Well, she might as well get it over with while she had their attention.
"H-Hello everyone. M-My...name is Talim...and I'm new h-here..."
Everyone just watched her, so she continued a little more confidently.
"This is my first time ever attending a public school and I hope that things go smoothly. I-I came here from the Philipines and..-"
"Hey, doesn't she look like she's ...twelve?"
Talim's eyes rounded in shock. What did he just say?
"Maybe she's one of those really smart kids who study 24/7. She probably got bumped from fifth grade to high school."
The whole class erupted into laughter once again at the random question. Talim, on the other hand, frowned.
"N-no...I'm fifteen!" Talim replied automatically with her fists at her side, taken aback at the random outburst from the class. She was used to being teased about her height and very young looks, but not on this scale, with everyone laughing at her, not with her.
"Why do you have on that uniform shirt? We don't wear uniforms here."
Talim looked down at her button up shirt and her maroon tie, the uniform top from her academy in her homeland. She had to for-go the long skirt for a pair of unoposing khaki pants; she didn't know how things were done here. She had to admit though, it wasn't helping her to dress that way, but she felt it was appropriate for her to wear it to school. Her other clothes were for hot weather anyway, so she was lucky she had brought along her long sleeved button ups and a few pairs of pants. The truth was she didn't have anything else to wear for school except those.
Speechless and more than embarrassed, Talim just stood there dumbly. It wasn't until she was rescued by Mrs. Matt, who had stepped out shortly to find an extra Trigonometry textbook in one of the neighboring classes, that her classmates ceased their joking. Talim was given the textbook and syllabus and now all she needed was a desk. Talim heaved a small sigh in the small moment it took the teacher to locate an empty desk in the back of the class. She wouldn't let her classmates get to her, but their lack of respect did bother her. Just a little bit. Well, she only had half a school year to deal with it, so she brightened up, vowing to keep her attitude a positive one.
"You can sit in that desk right behind that fellow with the red hair," her new teacher pointed with a sigh. "Looks like he's sleeping again. It hasn't even been twenty minutes in here," she muttered hopelessly as she made her way to the chalkboard, preparing to start the lesson. Talim looked over at the 'fellow with the red-hair' and he was indeed in a heavy sleep judging from his audible snoring. His head was face down on his desk with his arms serving as a pillow. Talim made her way to the back of the class carefully, apologizing when her satchel bag hit someone or something on their desk. Finally, she arrived to her desk and took her seat behind to slumbering giant of a student. His legs were jutting out from under his desk; it looked like he barely fit. He was wearing rather fitted black hoodie and some dark blue jeans. His hair reminded her of embers. Vaguely, she wondered if it was dyed as she pulled out a notebook and a pencil. As she recorded the notes that the teacher wrote on the chalk board (things that she'd already learned), she found herself watching the steady rise and fall of the guy's wide back. She began to grow curious about how he looked.
...Wait.
She shook her head at her wondering and sighed as she began writing again. What was she thinking. He was most likely just like the rest of her new peers, so what did it matter what he looked like. Talim shook her head again. She had to remain positive! Maybe he was a little friendlier than she was thinking. It wasn't right to judge someone before she had the chance to get to know them anyway. Her thoughts were interrupted when the teacher spoke up.
"Now I'll give you guys five minutes to tell me what the answer to the function of 'X' is," Mrs Matt told the class. "If you need help, I give you permission to ask your peers."
Talim looked around, a little surprised yet at the same time unsurprised that everyone in the class began chattering loudly amongst themselves before she could finish her second sentence. Everyone was doing the opposite of their work, she saw when she looked over the slumbering guy's back. She looked back up at the teacher who simply sighed and returned to her desk. Even though the second half of the school year had just begun, it must be something she was used to all year around. Talim watched with much fascination how ...uncontrolled things were in the classroom. It was a little bewildering.
Much sooner than later (even though the teacher allowed five extra minutes upon questioning the class's progress with their one problem), Mrs. Matt returned to the front of the classroom, an expectant look on her features. After quieting the class down (which took a moment), she asked them all.
"So...does anyone have the answer to the function of X?"
Nobody said anything. Talim looked around her and some of her classmates hadn't even written anything on their papers. Some had only written the problem, their name, and the date. She had to hide the incredulous look on her face.
"Anyone...?"
The classroom was silent. No one knew the answer or cared to try. She did though. Talim fidgeted in her seat, swallowed, and blinked a few times, slowly letting her hand rise into the air. Just as she'd thought, all eyes turned to her when the teacher acknowledged her.
"Oh! Talim, dear? Yes? Do you need something?" Mrs. Matt asked.
"No ma'am," Talim began a little sheepishly, everyone's stares were beginning to heat up her face, "Umm...is the answer five?"
Surprise shown on the teachers face before a joyful smile broke out onto her face. "Why, yes it is! Great job, dear. You must have already learned this stuff."
Talim nodded, allowing herself to feel just enough pride. Not too much though. Never too much. "A little."
"Well, that's wonderful!" 'I wish I could the same the same about some others,' the teacher thought a little morosely with a glance at a certain red-haired student.
Talim nodded again and gave a small 'thank-you' to the teacher's compliment, fully aware of her peers' reactions. Some of them turned around to look at her for a while, to which she averted her own chocolate pair and studied her paper, and she heard others muttering and whispering, some loud enough for her to purposely hear, she guessed.
'Oh God, here we go. We got a know-it-all in here now.'
'Heh, at least I know where I'm gettin' my answers for the next test!'
'Kissin' up to the teacher already.'
'Geek alert!'
Pretending she didn't hear was outwardly easy, but inwardly disconcerting. What was so wrong with knowing the answer? Where she was from, it wasn't a big deal at all. Who didn't want to learn and apply what they learned? That's what school was for, right? Maybe in the Americas, it was just a place for fashion, jeers...public displays of affection, and a single-mindedness.
With a sigh, Mrs. Matt instructed the class to open their books and complete a few practice problems on a page. Apparently while Talim had been trying to figure her classmates out, an unconscious scowl had formed on her otherwise pleasant features and the teacher had drawn many pictures on the board pertaining to the lesson, probably trying her best to make things easier to the majority of the class. Talim cleared her expression, focusing on her earlier thoughts of not passing judgment so soon.
...Regardless of whether her first impression of the school could be spot on.
Instead, she began the preliminary problems on the page as the rest of class socialized. The problems were pretty easy, so her mind allowed itself to wander and so did her eyes as they fell on the head of fiery hair. The last time she checked, it was time for school, not time for a siesta. She was sure the rule 'No sleeping in class' applied to just about every school around the world, so there was no excuse in the way of culture. What was this guy's problem? Why wasn't the teacher doing anything about it? For some reason, this really annoyed Talim, causing her to shake her head as she resumed her classwork.
After a few moments, the teacher returned to the front of the class as she had before and asked for the answers to the assigned math problems. Of course, a majority of the class simply stared back at her in silence. Some students raised their hands with an answer, more announcing the wrong answer than right. Well, some were trying, Talim thought a little sympathetically, so she couldn't throw the whole New Calibre population under the bus. When people stopped answering questions with what little initiative there was, Talim raised her hand.
Correct. 'Yes!'
Correct. 'Yes!'
Correct. 'Yes!'
Correct. 'Quadruple yes!'
This was how it went as Talim went on and on to answer all of the problems correctly. She smiled to herself happily as she repeated the self-satisfying word over and over, firing out the answer quickly and easily. No matter how many times it went on, she always got a positive high out of answering questions correctly. Much to her almost unnoticed classmates sneers. Almost.
"When did you get here, brainiac?" There was a heavy sigh after the lethargic, muffled words. Talim started when the speaker lifted his shoulders slightly, flexing for a moment, and lifted his head from off of the desk. He stretched far back in his desk, bowing his body backwards in his desk so far, that Talim had to lean back some so his hair didn't tickle her nose. He held his position for a few moments and she could swear she smelled mountain pine coming from his hair. He scratched a hand vigorously through his volcanic locks, causing Talim to crinkle her nose a little at the movement(what if some dandruff got on her things? Yuck!). He groaned as if he'd just been roused from a year's length of hibernation, ignoring the dissatisfied look he received from his teacher. Talim was also giving him a similar look; he was still bowed backwards over her desk, and she was still leaned back away from him.
"Nice of you to rejoin us after your nap mister Yun Seong," Mrs. Matt greeted him with a hint of annoyance, "Now, if you could just get out your textbook, notebook, and find a pencil..." She let the sentence hang as she slammed a worksheet onto his desk whereas she gently passed the others out row by row, causing him to straighten his body quickly with a start. "I'm sure miss Talim doesn't appreciate half your body taking up half of her space."
Talim smiled her thanks to the woman as she returned to the front of the class to resume the lesson and write a few more notes for the students to copy. As soon as she was a good distance away, the one who was slumbering so peacefully a few moments before turned so that his rather long legs were free from under the cramped confines of the desk and in the row's aisle. Talim leaned back a bit once again at his next action, a little caught off guard. He turned his top half toward her and Talim's nervous yet a little curious cocoa eyes finally met his tired yet sharp brown ones. Her eyes widened by a fraction. His brows matched his hair.
He sniffed and yawned. He didn't cover his mouth. He broke their eye contact momentarily to rub sleepily at his eyes the same way kids do with both hands. He repeated his question in a bored, boyishly cocky voice that made her brows furrow of their own accord and her hands fist in her lap.
"So when did you get here, brainiac?"
Brainiac?
He was looking at her condescendingly, his head tipped back a little, showing the masculine contours of his jawline, and something of a smirk was on his face. A few short strands of his mane hung over his forehead. Talim parted her mouth to speak, but before she could get more than a word in, he leaned closer to her over her desk. It was a good thing she was already unconsciously leaned away from him; his predatory eyes made her lean a little farther.
"My-"
"Where're ya from?"
Rude..! He'd interrupted her and invaded her personal space in the same second. Talim fluttered at his suddeness, stammering as he waited for her answer, still a bored look on his countenance. She didn't like his look. Deciding to ignore him, his eye-catching hair and his lack of manners, she looked down at her worksheet with all the means of returning her attention to the teacher and her notes.
His black hoodie's arm was in the way. Or rather his arm. His elbow was crooked on her desk as his hand hung on the back of his seat which he leaned against. Her paper was trapped underneath. His eyes followed hers, then returned to their original interest.
"You anti-social or somethin'? You talk, right?"
Anti-social?
Hadn't he heard her calling out the answers just minutes before? Did she talk? What kind of question was that? He had just cut her off! That's why she couldn't say anything! If he just wanted to make assumptions like the rest of the class, he shouldn't have even bothered her in the first place. Instead of answering his ...unreasonable questions, Talim shook her head and gave her paper a flat expression as she spoke down to it.
"I'm sorry...but could you move your arm, please," she asked in a smaller voice than she had intended. The guy had an intimidating affect. At least he'd think that it was because she didn't want to alert the teacher. That is, if he even cared about whether or not they alerted the teacher. Talim looked at him when he didn't budge. Who was she kidding? He had the nerve to sleep in class, so of course he didn't care.
"Ohhh, so you do talk," he said as if she'd been hiding it all along. "Are you smart?"
Oh, for the love of-
"Yun Seong!"
He lazily turned his head to look at his teacher. Lazily, as in Talim saw the way he verrrrrry slowly turned his head and cut his eyes from her to the front of the class.
"If you would stop pestering our new student, please? Heaven knows she's been participating more than you ever have and she just got here!"
"Okay, okay. Jeez, calm down," Yun Seong acquiesced, but not before giving Talim what she guessed was a 'calculating look'. Maybe calculating was too strong a word. 'Thoughtful' probably was too strong, too. She just looked at him as he stared for a few seconds, then finally turned around with the parting words,
"Must not be that smart with with clothes like that. Doesn't take a geek to see that we don't wear those things."
Talim's mouth parted just a little, but she caught herself before she let his words get to her. She'd heard it from her classmates for most of the period, so it was not a big deal at all. But honestly, she had hoped that first person who she'd be able to talk to one-on-one would be a little bit more...friendly. She had hoped that everything would have went much different than things had been going. She'd hoped that things would be easier to adjust to.
She sighed, straightening her back that had been bowed under the weight of negative emotion and erased the scowl from her face. Most of it. Like she had reminded herself time and time before, she had to make the best of her situation. Dwelling in the negative would only make things worse. She resumed jotting down notes and idly glanced across her desk. Yun Seong was sitting slouched in his seat, his neck almost leaning on the top half of his chair, and his legs were wide, jutting once again from underneath his desk. Well, at least he was paying attention now, Talim mused.
It wasn't long before she noticed his head bowed, supported by his chest and a quiet snore. Surrounding classmates snickered at him shortly and the young filipina breathed a short sigh, continuing her work.
Didn't mean for it to be so long...Let me know what you think? Review? Constructive criticism appreciated/wanted very much! -.- I could name a few things I need to work on, myself...
Also, I'm not done with my other fic, so if you've read it, don't worry! :]
Much love!