I walked at a slow pace listening to Mr. Conley as he guided me through the empty halls of my new school for the next few months…or longer. I made sure to take in every word the odd man said committing it to memory. This was the fourth time I switched schools in the last two years but it didn't make me any less nervous. Switching schools meant I started off as the little fish once more. It seemed that was all I was ever going to be. The only difference was that I didn't have my mom to hold my hand and tell me that everything was going to be ok. I looked down at my pocket which cuddled my phone and considered calling my mom and asking her how Africa was (and maybe perhaps…begging her to take me with her?). By the time I finally snapped out of my thoughts I looked up and noticed I was in the principal's office and apparently I was waiting to receive my class schedule.
"I hope you enjoy your next few years here" Mr. Conley said with an easy smile. He handed me a class schedule, my locker combination, and a ton of papers and pamphlets that he told me to make sure my dad saw although there was really no need. I politely told the aging man thank you and walked out of the office to stare at my schedule. I check the time on my watch and realized I already missed three classes and currently was supposed to be in drama. If only I paid more attention to the tour of this large school. I thought and sighed as I began to maneuver my way around.
It didn't take long for me to finally reach the fine arts section of the school; in fact it took me longer to enter the intimidating drama classroom than it did to actually find it. Walking into the room I was suddenly hit with a mixed emotion of comfort and nerves. The class was pretty small maybe fifteen or sixteen students at the most. They were all scattered around the fairly large room talking, laughing, texting, dancing, and anything of that sort. I walked over to the teacher, a petite redhead with glasses, and introduced myself. The lady smiled and stepped onto the mini stage pulling me and my nerves up.
"Class, this is Allyson Dawson! She's a new student here; I assume you all will treat her kind and warm up to her very quickly." As sweet as her gesture was, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed as the group of students stopped what they were doing just to look up at me for a split second and then continue on with their lives. The red headed lady gave me a little smile and walked back to her desk while I quickly scurried off stage to an open seat in the vacant corner. Reaching into my bag I grabbed my songbook/diary and scribbled random music symbols around a song I was writing.
"Nice treble clef!" I looked up to see a big brown eyed boy with pale peach skin and messy blonde hair. His tall figure overpowered me even when he sat down. "Allyson…right?" I nodded my head still unsure what to say. "I'm Austin but you can call me Austin!" he said smiling. I couldn't help but crack a smile myself even though I was still at a loss for words. A little laugh escaped from his lips, "Can you sing? Or speak?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.
"I can speak…" I said trailing my words off as I continued sketching. "And I…I kinda sing…but nothing really spectacular." I shrugged keeping my eyes down to avoid eye contact.
"Please, I bet you're an amazing singer! Can I hear you?" Austin asked looking into my songbook before I shut it closed. "Whoa...are those song lyrics?!" he grabbed my book before I could even dare put up a fight. "These are pretty good! Actually they're more than pretty good….they're really pretty good! Can you sing these?!"
I snatched my book away from the curious boy. "I can't…" I said my voice almost a whisper. He looked at me unsure of what I said.
"What? Of course you can…here I'll help you!" Austin stood up grabbing me by my hand and guiding me up on stage. "4th period drama class may I have your attention please!" the entire class stopped what they were doing to focus on Austin. "Ms. Allyson Dawson is going to sing a song for us!" the group of students clapped their hands excited to hear my voice. Austin turned and gave me a little smile before hopping off the stage and sitting in a seat close by, eager to watch me sing. I stood on the mini stage frozen. I tried to speak but nothing came out (except for the occasional 'um' and 'I'). Thankfully the bell rang preventing me from facing my worse fear. I ran off the stage to grab my bag and immediately ran out the room. Just my luck Austin would come running after me. "Hey…are you ok? You look like you were about to blow chunks!" a smile was seen on his face but I could tell he was actually concerned for my wellbeing…which was weird considering he had just met me.
"I'm fine", I muttered turning away still a little jittery from being forced onstage. "Thanks for checking on me though." I gave him a little smile and looked down at my paper to find my locker number; ECT-039. Austin nodded his head and began to walk away before I stopped him. "Um…Austin…right? Do you know where this locker is?" I showed Austin my locker number making him do a quick smile and a nod.
"As a matter of fact I do! I was just about to pass it." Austin put his arm around my shoulders and guided me to an outdoor hallway of sorts. "This is the sophomore hallway…it's where sophomores…hall…way?" he shook his head realizing his joke was pretty lame but I laughed anyway making him smile. Looking around I already knew this hallway would be my favorite place. The students who resided here all seemed calm, peaceful, and creative (although who could blame them with the smooth wooden benches and fresh green grass). He walked me over to a pale blue green locker leaning on the one next to it. "And here is your locker for the rest of the year, equipped with nice glossy finish and a beautiful black and white lock."
"Thanks…again." I said noticing his arm was still around my shoulders. I gently moved over and began to turn my lock so I could put my unneeded school supplies in my new home away from home. As I turned the lock three times to the left past the zero I noticed Austin was still leaning on the locker next to mine. "Um…thanks but I don't really need your help anymore."
Austin let out another laugh still leaning on the locker next to mines as he examined my fumbling with the lock. "Are you sure because you're in a battle with that lock and it looks like its winning." I gave him a little frown and turned back to the lock refusing to give up. "You know, anytime would be nice I do need to get my binder so I can finish my homework at lunch." Immediate suspicion overcame me with that comment. If he needs to go get his binder from his locker why doesn't he just go to his locker?
"I think they gave me the wrong combination or something." I said in a sigh of frustration. I gathered my things getting ready to go to the office and ask them to recheck the lock combination but Austin grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him as he looked at the paper with my lock combination (talk about a hands-on person).
"Here lemme see….no this is definitely right." Austin declared adjusting over to the locker and quickly opening it.
"How would you—" my jaw dropped and finally it made sense. The locker was messy and junky with notebooks, folders, and text books sloppily thrown in. Pictures of comic book characters plastered the locker door, and a grey wrinkled hoodie hung lazily on one of the locker hooks. "No way…" I said shaking my head as I turned to the blonde haired boy who just stared at me with his arms crossed and eyebrows raised.
"Since we're locker buddies now I guess I could tidy up for you a little bit" Or a lot of bit considering it looked like a hurricane blew pass. I thought still trying to process exactly what was happening.
"This has to be some kind of mistake; I mean there are plenty of lockers for sophomore's right?" I asked scared to put my things into a locker that even though it was completely junky and unorganized…smelled oddly pleasant…like Austin's cologne.
"Considering you're a transfer in the middle of the year…no." an obvious pout formed on my face making Austin giggle. "Come on perk up! I'm not that bad once you get to know me." He gave me a light nudge of the elbow and a wink. "And I already said I'll clean up." I glanced at the strips of comic book pages taped to the locker door. He guessed my obvious hint and sighed heavily. "Oh come on can't they stay?" I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms making him give in. "Ok can I at least keep some of them?" I realized I was being a tad bit unreasonable…especially since it was his locker in the first place. I shook my head yes making him jump for joy and give me a big hug (I was starting to think he was an overgrown five year old…). He quickly began grabbing some of his school supplies and straightening them up to make room for my stuff before he turned to me with a smile.
"What?" I asked confused. Was there something in my hair? On my face? In my teeth? I frantically began touching my hair and my face before he let out a little chuckle.
"It's ok you're fine but…" he shrugged his shoulders, the smile still painted on his face, "I think we're gonna be really great friends Allyson." He said nodding his head. I bit my lip, not exactly sure what to say. Sure Austin seemed very friendly, but did I really want to go through this again? Did I really want to make friends with someone just so I could leave them a few months later?