"Babcock?"
"Here"
"Downe?"
"Here!"
"Erickson?"
"Present"
"Jones...Caroline Jones?"
Mr. Jason glanced from behind the computer screen briefly to scan the classroom for any uncalled students. Not that he was expecting a reply; there was still a handful of kids who were either skipping school or still on vacation somewhere. Within a few seconds he turned back to the monitor to mark Miss Jones absent, when the sound of heavy shuffling was heard outside as if someone were struggling. The noise amplified up the hallway until a muffled voice could be heard along with the sound of sneakers skidding across the tile. A sudden BANG rung out through the entire classroom and startled the entire class, a few expletives that could all be heard right outside of the Social Studies class door. The doorknob rustled and in a split second three students barged in; a girl with blue hair, a tall boy with pale skin and a boy in a dirty, grey uniform. The girl and the messy boy struggled to pull the tall boy into class who made an effort to free himself of their grip, all of them were making a commotion.
"Let me go, dammit!"
"You're making this harder than it has to be!"
"Maybe this wouldn't be so hard if you would've just left me in bed!"
"None of us want to be here, Isaac! It's seven in the morning and it's raining outside, trust me you're not the only one who wants to sleep in. But you know what? Life is about doing things we don't wanna do, so just shut up and sit down!"
The blue haired girl shoved Isaac into one of the empty seats. She sat in a seat across from the other boy who embarrassedly had his face in his palm. "Are you Caroline Jones?" The teacher was talking to her and he did not look amused, despite the giggling echoing about the room.
"It's Coraline."
"Oh, sorry." Mr. J uttered half-heartedly as he checked her off.
"Kazagura?"
"Eh-"
Isaac lifelessly threw a hand in the air, face plastered onto his desk.
"Lovat?"
"Here" Wybie replied with his hand still on his forehead.
It would be an hour before moving on to the next class, and six and a half hours before any of them could go home. Even the teachers grew less and less uninterested with each class; they were all just as sarcastic and condescending with their students as the next. In the end the students just sat in their seats, bored out of their minds while adults mindlessly played their powerpoints and handed out syllabuses that the children would never read.
After what seemed an eternity, the final bell rang for the students to parade on home. Isaac drowsily lifted his head from his desk. He could hear Wybie's voice from what sounded like a lengths away. "Isaac…Isaac! It's over." He instantly shook himself awake, eager to return to his bed as soon as possible.
"Thank God, finally!"
The three children walked outside behind a crowd of kids scurrying around to where ever they needed to be to get home. Coraline and Isaac complained to each other about their classes and poked fun at their teachers while walking over to the bike rack, Wybie only wanted to think about what happened after school.
"So what do you guys want to do now?" He asked while grabbing his dirt bike.
"You kidding? I'm going home to get some shut eye."
"Well Isaac, you only slept through all of your classes."
"I know, and now I have enough energy to ride myself back home and drag my lazy butt to bed. See you guys tomorrow."
"Yeah, we better!" Coraline called out as Isaac rode off on his two-wheeler.
"So Jonsey, do you feel like doing anything?"
"Hmmm…well actually I-ow!"
Coraline jumped back as something heavy placed its entire weight on her toes. Her feet were now sore, thanks to some kid that just ran over her boots with their bike without a single apology.
"Hey! Watch it!"
The kid with the bike turned her head and glared at young Coraline as if she was the one with the nerve. This "kid" was actually an eighth grader and had Coraline beat by a couple inches.
"Watch yourself! Don't you ever talk that way to me, punk-ass kid!" She had a deep, coarse voice that roared throughout the courtyard.
"Excuse me? Who do you think you are!?" Wybie tugged on Coraline's sleeve "Jonsey, let's just go!" he whined under his breath.
"No way!" She yanked her arm from his hands and cracked her knuckles. "I think I just made my first rival."
The weather had changed drastically when the sun began to make its way westward. That morning the clouds were grey and lumpy, but as the afternoon rolled in they became rosy and fluffy. Lightning bugs had begun their dance around the trees as a soft whisper of a breeze hummed against the window Coraline was sitting next to, she sighed while blissfully watching the clouds drift by. Normally around this hour she was outdoors playing, but she would be grounded for a while so she figured she might as well make the best out of being locked in her room all day. At least the view is nice
She eventually noticed the cat was sitting over at the edge of the roof, impatiently flicking its tail left and right. Some company would be nice too.
She was about to open the window to let it in but was caught off guard when she thought she saw Isaac's pale face peer over the ledge of the roof. He smiled casually and waved at her, Coraline only smirked and giggled to herself. He climbed onto the second story followed by Wybie who seemed to be thinking twice about crawling onto someone's roof top. Coraline hastily pushed open her window.
"What are you guys doing?" She was so ecstatic she almost chuckled. She pulled down the frame while the boys made their way steadily into Coraline's room.
"We're here to see you, duh!"
"Damn, Corey! Look at your eye!" Isaac hunched over to get a better look at Coraline's swollen black eye.
"I told you not to call me Corey."
Coraline and Wybie had a seat on the cushioned window ledge while Isaac continued to examine the eye as though he were a doctor.
"Does it hurt?"
"Not unless you touch it." The cat hopped up onto Coraline's lap.
"Do you think you won?" Wybie asked as Isaac had a seat between the two.
"Well, I gave her a bloody nose, but I wound up with a busted lip and this ugly ol' thing." She pointed at her eye.
"But she's been suspended for two weeks, so yeah. I would call this a victory."
"Huh, sounds like I actually missed out on something at Ashland Middle. I think I might go to school tomorrow to make sure I don't miss anything else."
"I'm suspended until Thursday."
"Oh, never mind."
knock! knock! knock! "Coraline!" Her mother was right outside her door.
"Hide!"
The two boys scurried around in a desperate attempt to take cover. Without thinking twice Wybie sealed himself inside Coraline's closet while Isaac ducked under the bed. Coraline reached over to her shelf and grabbed the first book she saw. She hopped on the window ledge and opened the book to any page, pretending to seem interested. The cat nonchalantly had a seat at Coraline's feet. She peered over the pages as soon as she heard the door creak open.
"Who were you talking to?" Her mother placed her hands on her hips.
"My friend" Coraline leaned over to stroke the cat's head.
"Hmm, dinner's almost ready. Be sure to take out the garbage and clean the dishes before you eat."
Isaac and Wybie remained still for another second or two after the door had closed until the sound of footsteps had ceased. The boys peeped their heads from their hiding places. Isaac dusted himself off as he got to his feet.
"Well, I think we should get going."
"Yeah, Isaac's right. It's getting dark."
Wybie pushed open the window and crawled to the roof with a cat on his back, followed by Isaac. Coraline poked her head outside as her friends steadied themselves down the roof top.
"Make sure my parents don't catch you!"
"Uh-huh."
"Bye Jonsey!"
They began climbing down the crooked oak tree, disappearing under the roof's edge.
"And make sure he goes to class!"
"I will!" Wybie's reply sounded distant even though he was only at the bottom of her house.
"Hey, shut up!"
Coraline chuckled to herself as she listened to their faded bickering. Eventually all she could hear was the wind rustling through the trees. The autumn gust gently brushed against her face. Between the blissful, pink sky and the pines blowing in the wind it was difficult not to doze off a bit. Her mother would nag a little, but she didn't mind. Besides, she didn't have to worry about getting up early tomorrow so she had all night to do those chores. She rested her eyes and dreamt about laughter and the nights of summer.