Jade pulls open the front doors to Hollywood Arts and takes a few steps into the school. As the doors close quietly behind her, she observes the bustling students, some trying to figure out where to go, others crowding by their lockers or talking to friends. They all seem vibrant and excited. Even the new freshmen who are obviously anxious seem to have a level of excitement she can't match. She looks down at the scrap of paper in her hands and reads the number written on it: 104, her locker assignment for the next nine months.
She starts walking down the few steps leading to the center of the hallway in search of her locker. Her long, brown hair sways from side to side with each step she takes, the blue streaks in it differentiating her from the other pretty brunettes walking around. Of course, her dark clothing serves the same purpose. As her boots click across the floor, she notices several kids glancing in her direction, but she decides to ignore them. Sure, she could try to be friendly and smile at them, try to be one of the nice girls for a change, but who is she kidding? There is no way she can tolerate most of these people if they decide to befriend her, so she might as well avoid giving off the impression that she cares to get to know them.
After scouting a row of lockers, she finally finds hers. She looks back at the paper where her combination is written and starts turning the lock. As soon as she pulls the metal door open, a lanky boy with curly hair stands next to her. Jade doesn't acknowledge him at first, but after a while, she senses his gaze on her. She turns her head to look at him. The boy is leaning against what she assumes is his locker, a slight smirk on his face and his eyes look dazed.
"Hey there good-looking" he starts off, following the comment with a wink which makes Jade's skin crawl. She rolls her eyes and turns back to her locker.
"I see we're neighbors. I'm a lucky man. Name's Sinjin" he says, extending his hand for her to shake. Jade turns and looks down at his hand which look sweaty and clammy. She shakes her head.
"Sinjin? Your parents named you Sinjin?" she finally exclaims, her brows raised in slight amusement. She's heard her fare share of strange names before but never to this degree.
"Alas, she speaks and sounds like an angel" he responds.
Jade furrows her forehead and closes her locker. "Okay then, bye" she says before turning away from him.
"Good bye my sweet neighbor. Til we meet again" he calls out, loud enough to garner a few looks from other students in the hallway.
Jade crosses the hallway quickly, trying to get away from her weird locker "neighbor." She turns on a narrow hallway and starts looking for her first class of high school: "Intro to Theater-Shakespeare 101." Jade sighs in relief when she manages to find the classroom without running into any other weird kids. When she pulls open the door, she is surprised to see the set up of the room. The chairs and lined in a semi-circle facing a stage. There are theater lights attached to the ceiling facing the stage and a few microphone stands off to the side. The classroom looks nothing like her middle school theater room which just had a small platform for students to stand on. This is better, what serious actors practice in.
There are already a few students sitting towards the right side of the room so Jade finds a seat on the left side. After a few minutes, more kids start pouring in and filling the seats. Soon, every seat in the room is filled except for the one next to her. Jade slings her arm on the back of the empty chair and waits silently for the teacher to enter.
About a minute or so later, the lights in the room start to flicker and suddenly, they are sitting in complete darkness. Jade smiles when a few girls in the room start shrieking. Just as her eyes adjust to the darkness, the bright stage lights come on and display a small, elderly woman standing center stage.
"Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them," she exclaims loudly. Jade stares intently as the teacher, Ms. Geoffreys, introduces herself and explains what the class will be about.
"I expect greatness, for Shakespeare represents the grandness of literature. You are actors, the players of which he spoke of...so play!" she yells excitedly. Jade tries to keep up with the rant and just as she's beginning to understand what the expectations are, the door opens and in walks in an out of breath boy holding on to a keyboard. He speed walks to the center of the room. "Sorry I'm late" he starts. trying to catch his breath. "I couldn't find the room."
While the rest of the class looks back towards the boy, Jade keeps her eyes on Ms. Geoffreys and smirks when she notices the annoyance on her face. "What is your name young man?" Ms. Geoffreys asks.
"André Harris ma'am" he says.
Ms. Geoffreys walks towards the side of the room where a folder lies on the floor. She picks it up and opens in. Her eyes skim up and down the content of the folder several times and she nods. She closes the folder and says "grab a seat Mr. Harris."
André looks around the room and starts walking towards the empty chair next to Jade. He makes eye contact with Jade who slowly nods her head and pulls her arm off the chair. André sits next to her and places his keyboard on the floor between his legs.
"Welcome to Shakespeare Mr. Harris" Ms. Geoffreys says.
"Thank-wait, Shakespeare?" André asks, his eyes widening.
"Yes, is there a problem?" Ms. Geoffreys asks.
"Um...I think there is a mistake on my schedule. I'm a music major."
"Music majors are required to take theater classes as well Mr. Harris" Ms. Geoffreys replies.
"I, uh, am...aware but, well, I didn't request um...your class" André says and Jade can't tell he's trying hard not to insult the teacher.
"Well, perhaps that's an issue you should take up with your academic adviser, but as long as you're on my roster, I suggest you try your best."
"Yes, of course. Absolutely man" he replies.
Jade smirks at how flustered the boy gets. For the next twenty minutes, Ms. Geoffreys continues explaining the class and why Shakespeare is the "master of language and theater."
"Now, for your first assignment. I will be distributing copies of Shakespeare's Hamlet. I would like you to read the first act and be ready to act it out in front of the class next time we meet. Be advised, I expect you to be creative in your presentation. Please spare us a dry reading of it, since that is what we will all be doing. Find ways to make it your own. You can choose any section from the first act that speaks to you. Whenever you are ready, come grab a copy."
Jade gets off her seat to grab a copy of the play and when she gets back to her seat. she sees André staring down at his schedule, shaking his head.
"You know, Shakespeare isn't too bad" she says nonchalantly while putting her book in her bag.
"Are you an actor?" he asks.
"Yes" she responds.
"Then of course you don't find him too bad. I'm a music man, King Lear isn't exactly my cup of tea" he says.
"It will be now" she says and smirks. He returns the smile and nods his head. "Guess you're right."
The rest of the day goes by about the same. Five classes with five eccentric teachers, all of which give long assignments.
"It's the first day of school, what's with all the work?" Jade overhears someone say and she agrees, internally of course because she wasn't about to strike a conversation with someone else. After her last period, Jade walks to her locker to grab her notebooks before going home.
"Neighbor" she hears a familiar voice yelling from a short distance away and she turns only to see Sinjin making his way towards her. Jade begins stuffing her books quicker into her bag and closes her locker before he can get to her. As she walks briskly, looking behind her to make sure he isn't following her, she bumps into a smaller girl running in her direction. The collision causes them both to fall in the middle of the hallway.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" the smaller girl asks, her voice a pitch higher than Jade can tolerate.
"Uh huh" Jade says, bringing herself back on her feet and picking her books off the floor.
"Oh look, you have blue hair and I have red hair. If we found someone with white hair we could be the American flag" the girl says. Before Jade can reply, the girl is waving good-bye and walking away. Jade stares after her, dumbfounded. This school is weird she thinks before making her way outside.