CHAPTER ONE: The Prelude: You Must Be New Here
"We the jury, find the defendant, Thomas James Oliver….Guilty, on all counts of.."
I didn't hear the rest of what the foeman said. All I needed to hear was the guilty verdict. There was so much noise and commotion in the courtroom. But in the midst of all of it, Evette and I sat quietly, embracing each other in an emotional hug. The tears fell silently down my cheek. We watched as they handcuffed Dr. Oliver and started to lead him out of the courtroom. The expression on his face showed no remorse, no fear….no emotion of any kind that said he was sorry for what he'd done. And as he walked past us around the table where he sat, he gave an evil smirk.
"Don't worry. I'll be outta here before you know it."
They dragged him away and Evette and I stood motionless. It was finally over…for now.
Reefside High, one year earlier
"I'll be fine mom, alright?"
I said to my mother as she pulled up in front of my new high school. We had to move all the way out to Reefside so my mom could start a new job. I didn't really mind. My old school was complete bullshit compared to this one. And my mom would be getting a lot more money anyway. So I adapted to my new surroundings better than she thought I would.
"I just don't want it to be like it was at your other school. Make some friends, have fun. Go out sometime."
She said in a worried tone. I didn't really have friends at my old high school. It didn't bother me too much either. She was always nagging me about going out and having a good time though.
"Don't worry, I'll make plenty of friends for you."
My sarcastic tone was evident.
"Alright, alright go ahead. You remember what street to take to get home?"
"Yeah I got it. Bye mom."
I started my journey walking up the stairs to the front door. People moved hurriedly around me. I pulled out the piece of paper in my pocket that had my schedule and my locker number written on it. And then I just started walking. If was late they had to cut me some slack, it was my first day. Just as I found my locker, the late bell rang and the hallways were deathly quiet. It was kind of creepy. I shrugged my shoulders and continued to try and open my locker. But of course, it was high school so it wasn't as easy as I wanted it to be. After about three minutes turning and banging it finally opened. I put up what I didn't need and began the journey towards my first class. Food Science, room 102. That class was pretty easy to find. It was right down the hall from where my locker was. I opened the door and every one was wearing aprons and hovering over hot plates. And the whole room smelled like brownies. The teacher walked over to me.
"Hello, I'm Mrs. Davidson. Are you new here?"
Her voice was so upbeat and happy. She smiled a lot too.
"Um, yeah, I just transferred."
"Okay let me just sign off on your schedule."
I gave her the piece of paper and she took it over to her desk.
"Alright, here you go. Just take that to the office at the end of the day, and welcome to Reefside. This is Food Science which as you see is basically home economics. And it looks like you came at the right time, we're baking this week. Take a seat over by the guy with the red shirt on and we'll get you started okay?"
I nodded and walked to the back. This guy looked like your average jock. Didn't look too smart either, though I may have been wrong.
"Hey, what's your name?" He said to me as I sat down.
"Ava Martin."
"Ava, that's pretty cool. I'm Conner, star athlete, you may have already heard of me."
I shook my head.
"Um, no not yet."
"Don't worry you will. I'm like, Brad Pitt around here."
I pinned him exactly right. Typical big-headed jock that couldn't see past his own reflection in the mirror. But he was pretty funny, and the other students appeared not to take to much notice of him. It was a good start to the day. My next class was Spanish and I didn't receive the warm friendly welcome that Mrs. Davidson had given me. Sra. Lopez was alright but she was really boring and dry with her teaching. The bell rang and up till now I hadn't had a class on the second floor. But I had to go to my locker, get my books and then try to find my class. Needless to say I was going to be late for this one. I roamed around the second floor for about three minutes until I saw an administrator.
"Excuse me, could you tell me where room two fourteen is?"
"You new here?"
"Yeah."
"I'll walk you down there. Did the hallways confuse you?"
He asked as I followed him. Every single hallway looked the same and the whole floor was a big square.
"Yeah a little."
"It gets like that. You probably passed it a dozen times. What's your name?"
"Ava Martin."
We walked up to the door and I saw that the teacher was already starting the lesson for the day.
"I'm Coach Campbell. Good to have you here."
"Thanks."
I smiled and he walked away. I was so nervous about going in. I hated being late. Especially if I was about to interrupt something. I took a deep breath, bit my lip and opened the door. Just like I thought, all eyes were on me. I could tell I was not going to have fun in this class. I already hated science. My teacher, Dr. Oliver was a tall guy and it looked like wasn't shy about being in the gym either. One of the better looking teachers I'd had.
"Do you have a pass miss?"
"Uh no, I'm new here."
"Alright, let me have your schedule and you can take a seat. And just so you know I don't tolerate lateness in my class."
I nodded handing him the paper, walking to an open seat I saw at the table in the back. I noticed Conner and two of his friends were in this class too. He began his lesson again and the girl that was sitting next to me spoke.
"Hey."
"Hey."
I said back quietly. She looked like she was about 5'6", had long dark brown hair that had red streaks in it, and was wearing a dark blue tank top and black jeans.
"What's your name?"
"Ava."
"I'm Evette, everyone calls me Evee though. You should come and sit with me and my friends during lunch."
"Your friends won't mind?"
"Nah, they're cool. They like meeting new people."
"Miss Henderson!" Evee looked up at the sound of Dr. Oliver's voice.
"You wanna share your conversation with the class?"
"No, I don't."
"Then I suggest you keep your mouth shut while I'm talking. And uh,"
He looked down at my schedule that was still on his desk.
"Miss, Martin, same thing applies to you. Just because you're new doesn't mean you can get away with anything, you understand?"
"Yes sir."
A few minutes passed and I saw her slide me a little piece of paper that said 'Don't call him sir, he likes that.' I wrote her back and 'And that's a bad idea because…' She didn't look amused. Her face was stern and serious. Her next note read, 'Seriously Ava. Don't get hung up on his looks. He's a real asshole.' I didn't know what to think after I read that. But I let it go and finished out the class period. The bell rang or lunch and I went to the front to pick up my schedule. As I was walking away he called me back.
"Come here for a second Miss Martin."
I sighed and turned back around, standing in front of his desk. He was also standing up sort of, hovering over me with his arms folded across his chest.
"I understand that this is your first day here, and I'm glad you've made a friend. But there's no talking in my class. And just because I didn't say anything about the little notes you two were passing doesn't mean I didn't see it. Don't let it happen again."
"Got it Dr. Oliver."
I said in a sarcastic tone. He didn't look to happy about that as he licked his lips.
"I'll be watching you. Go to lunch before the line gets long."
CHAPTER TWO - The Regular People Sit here
I walked out into the hallway and made my way to the cafeteria. It was a lot bigger and brighter than at my previous school. Pretty nice. I waited in the taco line, and just as I'd gotten my food I heard Evee calling me.
"Ava! Over here!"
I saw here hand motioning for me to come sit with her and her friends. There were two other people there with her. A skinny girl with short black hair wearing a black long sleeved shirt and a purple and pink stripped scarf. The other was a guy with long dark hair and a tanned complexion. He didn't look like he was a stranger to the gym either. All the guys were so buff around here. I sat next to him and Evee introduced us.
"Ava this is Jacob and that's Alice."
"Ava, that's a nice name." Alice said to me.
"Thanks."
"What took you so long, couldn't find the cafeteria?"
I laughed with them.
"Dr. Oliver kept me after class. And no, I couldn't find the cafeteria."
"What'd he keep you after class for?" Evee asked me.
"He just said don't pass notes again and he's gonna be watching me or something."
"Hey, just some advice,"
She leaned closer to make sure Alice and Jacob didn't hear. Even though hey were engrossed in their own conversation.
"Watch yourself around him. Try not to give him any reason to keep you after class."
I nodded in confusion, but didn't ask any more questions about it.
"So um, what's the deal with this school? Where are all the off limit tables in here?" I said, trying to change the subject. Jacob looked up from his conversation.
"Well, you got your jocks and stuff at the table right there. The cheerleaders all sit right in the middle next to them so they can be seen."
"Hate those bitches." Alice interrupted.
"She's all anti-school spirit ever since she didn't make the team last year." Jacob continued.
"And the geeks and nerds all sit in the back talking about science or computers or whatever the hell gets them off." I laughed.
"And everyone else just kind of fills in. Oh and the band geeks all sit together a few tables from the nerds."
"So why isn't Conner sitting with his own kind?" I asked noticing he was at a different table.
"Well, Conner, Ethan, and Kira are the weird ones. Ethan's a computer geek and Kira's kind of a hippie non-conformist type. Technically they shouldn't even be looking at each other, But after Dr. Oliver got here they just started…I don't know, sitting together and hanging out. Kind of creepy if you ask me."
"Well I think they're some kind of secret group that no one knows about." Alice said.
"Whatever. Alice has this whole theory about them being a cult or the power rangers or something." I laughed.
"The Power Rangers?"
"Hey you never know these days. I just think it's weird how every single time there's a monster or some kind of big thing where the Power Rangers have to show up they're never here."
"Just a coincidence Alice."
"Who are all the cool teachers around here?"
"Well Mrs. Davidson is great, have you met her yet?" Evee asked
"Yeah I've got her first period."
"Savor it while you can, that's like the best class in the entire history of school." Jacob said.
"Mrs. Banks is nice. Coach Campbell, and Mr. Thomas are pretty cool. Just don't run into Principal Randall."
"What's up with her?"
"She's a total bitch. I got sent to her office one time." He shuddered.
"Scary as hell. It looks like something out of a Sci-Fi movie. She's one creepy ass bitch."
"What about Dr. Oliver?"
Jacob and Evee's facial expressions changed.
"You mean God's gift to high school girls every where?" Alice said. Jacob rolled his eyes.
"She's got a thing for him. But, truthfully I think he's an asshole. Plain and simple. Great teacher, but still an asshole. Supposed to be a martial arts freak or something. At least that's the rumor that's going around. No one really knows too much else about him. Him and principal Randall just showed up at Reefside one day."
We enjoyed the rest of lunch time and I felt like I had made some good friends. After school I walked home by myself. Jacob and Evee rode the bus home and Alice was in the drama club. I didn't mind the walk though. It was only a couple of blocks. I saw my mom's car parked out in the driveway as I made my way down the street. I could smell she was cooking dinner as I walked in the house. She was never going to leave me alone about school tonight.
CHAPTER THREE - Red Flags
About a month later, Evee, Alice, Jacob, and I had become quite the little group. I'd never really had friends like that before so it was a good experience for me. We hung out all the time. Going to the mall or to the movies or where ever. My mom was thrilled about it. It was too bad that I didn't have any classes with Jake though. I thought he was so cute. I took pleasure in every moment that we were alone together at lunch or walking in the hallway. Evee surprised me with a little secret before class one day.
"Ava Ava Ava, I've got something to tell you girl." She said with a smile.
"What?"
"Somebody wants to ask you out." I got excited.
"Who?"
"Somebody you know. Long hair, tan skin, rippling muscles…" I thought for a second.
"Jake?" She nodded. I stared in disbelief.
"No way. Are you serious?"
"Yep, he told me a couple of days ago. I wasn't supposed to tell but I couldn't keep it a secret forever."
"Ladies, would you mind taking you seats please."
Dr. Oliver's voice interrupted our conversation. Evee whispered back to me.
"I'll tell you about it later."
I nodded and we went to our seats. We were working on an individual assignment that day so Dr. Oliver was walking around checking peoples work. Evee had gotten up to go to the restroom so I was sitting alone when he came over to our table.
"How's it going over here Ava?" He stood behind me, looking over my shoulder. I hated it when teachers did that.
"Okay,"
"Mind if I check it?" I shook my head and he leaned over a little so he could see better. But as he was looking I felt a hand on my back. As he stood up his hand quickly swept down further almost to my butt. I didn't know what to think.
"Good job, keep it up."
He patted my shoulders then walked off and I sat there confused just as Evee came back from the restroom. She noticed my facial expression.
"What's up, you okay?"
"Yeah..yeah just spaced out for a minute."
"Thinking about Jake?" She joked.
We smiled and finished up our work for the rest of the class. That was the first time I had a bad feeling about Dr. Oliver. I didn't want to get to worked up about it, but it was just too weird. No male teacher had ever touched me like that. I figured I was making too big of deal out of it, so I didn't tell anybody. As I was walking through the hall on my way to lunch I felt a hand come down on my shoulder and I jumped.
"Whoa, chill out Ava, it's just me." Jacob said, walking beside me.
"Sorry. In another world I guess."
"Listen um, what are you doing, this weekend?"
My heart skipped a beat. I tried not to seem overly eager. Didn't want to make it seem to easy for him.
"Nothing, that I know of yet. What were you doing?"
"That's, kind of what I wanted to talk to you about."
He put his hands in his pockets and we stopped at the bottom of the stairs in the corner of the stairwell.
"I was wondering, if you wanted to uh, go to the movies or something. You know just, hang out, with me." I tried to hide my smile but it busted out of me.
"Sure, I'd love to."
"Great, I'll call you Saturday."
"Sounds good. Now can we uh, go to lunch before we starve to death?"
He smiled, and walked to cafeteria where Alice and Evee were already sitting down.
"So you two lovebirds done makin' out?" Alice said.
"Yes, as a matter of fact we are."
Jacob told her. We went out to the movies that Saturday and it was wonderful. He held my hand most the night. When he took me home he gave me a little kiss on the cheek and left. We never heard the end of it on Monday. Which was appropriate. We unconsciously sat closer to each other than normal so it was pretty obvious we had a good time.