Hello! This work is abandoned. However, it is up for adoption, so if by the end of this you are inspired, feel free to check out my profile and PM me, and we can work something out :)
Mr. Lancer, English. First period.
That's where Dakota was supposed to be. Instead, she was running through the hall, with her bangs falling in her eyes, and brown hair trapped under her bright green headphones. Her matching green bag beat against her back with each step she took, and her black boots echoed each time their soles met the tile. She prayed this Lancer guy was a cool teacher, and wouldn't mind her showing up late on her first day.
Dakota slid around a corner, and gasped when a head of black hair slammed into her, knocking her to the floor, and sending her glasses flying.
"Oh, great," she moaned. "My first day here, and I'm going to get detention."
Her hands fumbled aimlessly, in a vain attempt to find her glasses, when they were suddenly being slid on her face with a gentle touch. She sighed in relief, and looked up at the kid who had slammed into her.
He was of average height, she supposed, with messy, black hair and blue eyes. It took her a second to realize the guy was offering her a hand. She gladly accepted, and let him help her up.
"I'm so sorry," he apologized. "I wasn't looking."
"No, no, you're fine," Dakota assured. "It's my fault for being late and all. Thanks, though, for helping me with my glasses. I can't see a foot away from me without 'em. I'm Dakota, by the way."
They guy smiled. "I'm Danny. I'm guessing you're new?"
"What was your first clue?" she chuckled. "The fact that I'm almost ten minutes late to class, or that I'm running through the halls like a lunatic?"
"You're not the only one," Danny reminded. "Where are you headed? Maybe if I show you the way, it'll save the both of us."
Dakota grinned. "I'm supposed to be a Mr. Lancers class."
Danny did a double take, and furrowed his brow. "Then why were you running in the opposite direction?"
The brunette blinked, and suppressed a groan. "Well... why don't you guys have a map of this place?"
Danny laughed, and started walking. "Come on," he told her, "I have Lancer, too."
Dakota grinned and put a skip in her step to catch up to the raven haired boy.
"So, where are you from?" Danny asked, and Dakota assumed it was the usual New Kid Interview.
"Originally, Bliss City," she answered. "But we have to move around a lot because of my dads job, so before here, we were in DC."
"Isn't Bliss just a couple of towns over?" Danny asked. "Why'd you choose Amity Park?"
"I didn't," she huffed. "My dads did."
Danny nodded, and Dakota was thankful he didn't question her parents job. It was usually the first thing people asked about, and the first thing she tried to forget with each move.
Danny stopped in front of a door, and Dakota had to backtrack. "Thanks," she told him, giving a goofy grin. "I seriously owe you."
"It's no problem," he assured. "But, uh, do you want to have lunch with me and a couple of friends? I mean, since you're new, I thought... Not that you won't meet anyone else, but..."
Dakota laughed. "I'd love to," she grinned. "It gives me one less thing to worry about today."
Danny opened his mouth to respond, but the classroom door slammed open, making the two teenagers jump. In the doorway stood a blading man in a blue shirt and black tie, and quite a big tummy.
"Mr. Fenton, late again?" the teacher asked, and Dakota assumed he was Mr. Lancer. "What's your excuse this time?"
Definitely not a cool teacher. "He was helping me," Dakota told the teacher, stepping forward and sticking out her hand for a shake. "My name is Dakota Shepard, sir, and today's my first day. I was kind of going the opposite way when Danny set me straight."
"Is this true, Mr. Fenton?" Lancer asked.
After a quick nudge to the ribs, Danny was nodding furiously.
"Very well," Lancer sighed. "I won't count you tardy - this time. Now sit down. We haven't got all day."
Dakota silently thanked him for not forcing her to introduce herself.
The two kids rushed inside, taking the last two available seats. Danny sat next to an African American boy with glasses and a pale girl decked in black and purple. Dakota was left with the option of sitting in between a Latina girl who was admiring herself in a compact mirror, and a blond jock who looked as if he were falling asleep.
Mr. Lancer stood at the chalk board, writing the day's assignment.
Ten page research paper on topic of your choice.
Underneath was the due date (two weeks from now) and some options like Shakespeare, American Authors, and poetry.
Great, Dakota thought. My first day here, and I'm late and have a ten page essay.
Mr. Lancer turned around and leaned against his desk with a smirk. "As I was saying, this is a partner assignment. Now, look to the person next to you."
Dakota glanced at the jock next to her, and shrugged. There could be worse partners, and she always got along with her fellow peers. She supposed-
"Say hello, then forget them. They're not your partner." Lancer smirked at the startled cries that erupted around the room. "Front row, turn around and meet your partner. Third row, do the same."
Dakota, being in the last and fourth row, looked at the guy in front of her, who turned to face her as well.
He was Asian, but which Asain country, she couldn't tell. Korean, perhaps? He wore a varsity jacket, like the blond next to her, be this guy looked... more calm.
"Hi," she greeted. "I'm Dakota."
"Isn't that a state?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
Giggling, Dakota nodded. "It's also a name. What's yours?"
She noticed she had gained the attention of the jock and prep next to her.
"I'm Kwan," her partner introduced.
"And I'm Dash," the blondie jock said, skooching closer in his seat.
"It's nice to meet you guys," Dakota told them, pulling out a notebook and pencil.
If there was one thing she didn't like, it was people not participating in group projects.
"So, Kwan-"
"I'm Paulina," the girl next to her interrupted, and Dakota introduced herself to Paulina as well.
"So," Dash said, leaning forward in his seat like he had the newest gossip around. "I saw you walked in with Fen-toad. How embarrassing was that?"
Furrowing her eyebrows, Dakota set her eyes on the raven haired boy and his friends. They were staring at her, with mixtures of shock, disappointment and apologetic looks on their faces. Smiling widely, she waved at Danny, who blinked in confusion and cautiously waved back.
"Danny's really cool," Dakota told the small crowd around her. "I would still be walking around the halls if it weren't for him."
"He's such a dweeb," Dash insisted, leaning back and giving her a calculating look. "He's probably, like, the least popular guy in school."
Smirking, Dakota began doodling on a blank page. "I never cared much for the social ladder."
Everyone around her, excluding Kwan, turned away giving looks of disgust. Her partner looked less enthusiastic now, but still faced her.
"So," the brunette smiled, "what would you like to do our research paper on?"
"Sports." His answer was immediate, and Dakota smiled.
In her opinion, there were two types of jocks. Those who played for the high school fame, and those who truly loved it and worked their butts off to actually go somewhere with it. She figured this was her chance to determine which category Kwan fell into.
"Sports is such a broad topic," Dakota told him. "What's your favorite?"
Kwan looked startled, but tapped his fingers on the desk as he thought. "Well... I play football. But I like to watch hockey. And my brother played lacrosse when he was in highschool, and my little sister plays soccer."
"What kind of team is your sister on?" Dakota prodded, leaning forward. "Is it similar to a little league? Or is she older, and more experienced?"
A look of pride crossed the Asians features as he seemed to sit up straighter. "She's on a coed intermediate team. She's the best goalie they've ever had."
Bingo.
"That's great!" she gushed. "And that's so awesome how the guys would just accept her and acknowledge her being good at the sport."
Kwan deflated a bit and Dakota was startled at the upset look on his face.
"Kind of," he admitted. "The other kids on her team are really great. It's the coach that has a problem with all the girls."
"Wait. A coed coach has a problem with the coed part?" She shook her head, utterly surprised. "That... doesn't make sense."
"Tell me about it," her partner grumbled.
Dakota's mind turned, drawing up plans, and throwing the old ones away. Ten pages? Hardly reasonable. But if they could get ten sub-topics, and got Kwan on a rant...
"I got it," she grinned. "We can write our paper on women in sports. We can bring attention to your sister, and the unfair judgment she receives everyday just for being a girl. That way, we can mention all the sports you love, and even go into the history of them."
Kwan looked unsure, so Dakota clicked the end of her mechanical pencil until the lead popped out.
"Here," she showed, scribbling in messy handwriting. "The introduction will be just that - our opinion of girls in sports and the different standards we're held to. We can add in a brief history on the sports, and how they excluded all girls, and focused on the guys. If we rant long enough, and put in enough facts, we should be able to get a page. The conclusion will be similar, but instead of focusing on the past, we can look towards the future. Again, we could easily get another page with enough babbling."
"That's two whole pages," Kwan grinned. "We could ace this paper."
"Well, I'm not going to let you fail," she teased him. "I think you could do a really great job on this paper. All we need to do is work together."
Her partner grinned, before glancing at his fellow teammate, Dash. "Do... do you think we could make one of the sup-topics about high schools having teams for each gender, too? Like a girls football team, or a coed one?"
"Kwan," Dakota asked, "have you ever gotten an A on a big paper like this?"
Hesitantly, he shook his head.
"Well then, say hello to your first."
The two smiled widely, and by the time the bell rang to signal the end of the hour, half of their introduction page was finished.