The bell rang and everyone filed out of the classroom. Richie and Virgil were talking about Rai again. Richie felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Rai smiling up at him. She was a lot shorter up close like this. "I was wundrin' if you could give me directions to my locker," she asked him. "Uh, sure," he replied nervously. Virgil gave him a look and went to class. "So, what's your locker number?" he asked. She looked at a piece of paper in her hand. "Three twuny-eight," she said. He guided her to her locker, which, luckily was close to his next class. "Thanks," she said. "Uh, you're welcome," Richie said. "Yuh know, I ain't stalkin' yuh. I just tapped the first person uh saw," she said. "Oh," he said, a bit embarrassed. "We should get tuh class 'fore the bell gits'us," she said, "Um, one last question. Where's this?" She pointed to the schedule in her hand. "That's my next class too. You can just follow me," he said. That girl had every class with him! This was going to be a weird day.
She had yet another class with Richie. At least she knew someone. That's good. She followed him through the crowds to the next class they had together. Once they were in the room, he sat next to his friend and she found an empty seat near the front. "Yes," she said to herself. She liked the front row best because you never had to worry about someone's head being in your way, and she needed to sit near the front. Everyone was close to a foot taller than her, so seeing was bound to be an obstacle in other classes. Thankfully, no one had asked any personal questions yet. People back home always looked at her funny because of her height…although it was really the reason she was short that made them develop distaste for her. As long as it remained only the teachers and staff that knew her secrets, she felt safer. The teacher began class and she once again took her systemized notes in her special notation and listened halfheartedly as she followed his instructions for their assignments. The teacher asked a couple of questions and Rai's hand went up instinctively. She answered both questions exactly right. She had seen this material before last semester at her old school. "You're off to a great start, Miss Martin," the teacher said.
Richie looked at her. Rai was smarter than she looked. Much smarter. "Thank ya sir," she said. "Well, it's been a while since I was called sir. I have a feeling you'll really excel here," he said. Richie and Virgil looked at each other. Not that they really cared about being the top students in class, but they couldn't help but feel a bit worried. "I think we might need to watch out for her, or she might bring up the curve," Virgil said. "A little competition doesn't seem so bad," Richie said. "What are you talking about?" he asked. Richie blushed for a second. "Well, sometimes don't you wish that we had some better competition and that it wasn't as easy?" Richie asked. "Sometimes, I guess," Virgil said. "Who knows, she's pretty nice. We might even be friends with her, like we were friends with Daisy when she first came here from the institute," Richie said. "Yeah, maybe," Virgil said. "He's got it bad for the girl," Virgil thought.
Rai was quickly becoming bored. What they were covering was practically old news to her. After answering a couple more questions, she was bored and decided to stick to her notes. She played with a thread on her jeans. Most of her pants were a bit worn out and some had holes in them, like the ones she had on today. She still fit most of them, which her mother was always surprised about, so she saw no point in throwing them out. After all, a lot of people paid good money for jeans like hers, but she got them cheap and wore them out the old-fashioned way. A lot of people questioned her strange fashion sense, but if it's not broke, why fix it? She stopped playing with her jeans when she felt the sudden onset of a headache. "Not now," she whined in her head. She raised her hand. "Yes, Rai, do you have a question?" the teacher acknowledged her. "Um, could I go tuh the nurse? I have a headache," she said. One of those headaches. Now. Here. Why? Another thing to add to the list of reasons Rai Martin is weird. Those freakish déjà vu headaches. "Yes, you can," he said. "Um, I don't know where it is," she said with a nervous smile. "Any volunteers to show Rai to the nurse's office?" the teacher asked the students. "We'll do it," said the friend Richie and sat beside. He and Richie stood up and walked over to Rai. "To the nurse's office and right back, you three," the teacher said. "Alright," said Richie's friend. "Let's go," said Richie. They proceeded out the door. "Thanks," Rai said. "No problem," Richie's friend said. "I'm sorry for bein rude, uh don't think uh asked yer name earlier," she said. "I'm Virgil Hawkins," he said. Rai smiled then grabbed her head. "Ow," she whispered. "God Dammit," she said in frustration. "So, what's with the headache?" Virgil asked. "If uh said anything you'd never believe it, and my momma would lecture me inta next week," she said, still holding her head. "Trust me, a lot of unbelievable stuff's happened in this town," Virgil said. "Do y'all believe in tha paranormal?" she asked. "You could say that," Richie said. "I have what they call ESP. I looked it up online," she said. Virgil and Richie exchanged another look. "How is that related to your headache?" Virgil asked. "I have these weird dreams about stuff that's gonna happen in tha future, and whenever somethin from one of my dreams is about to happen, I git these weird symptoms," she explained. "So you get a headache when one of your dreams is about to come true?" Richie asked. "Naw, I git a headache when somethin' bad's bout tuh happen. If somethin good's bout tuh happen, I git a pins'n'needles feelin' on my skin. Then I re-see what uh already saw, like déjà vu," she said. "So, do you know what's gonna happen?" Richie asked. "A couple'a gangs are 'bout tuh git into it," she said, "I don't know 'bout what, though. Probly just another fight," she said casually. Virgil and Richie looked at each other.
I've noticed that my writing skills in the first few chapters are lacking and sort of non-detailed in the beginning but can't think of a way to redo anything without changing all the chapters I've written out so far. Gomen nasai...but flamers will be thrown into a pit of evil toddlers wielding sharp pointy weapons.
