WELCOME TO CHAPTER TWO OF SENIOR LIFE :) Thank you all so much for reading the first chapter. It really made my day to see all those review and follows :) Anyway, enjoy :) :) :) :) :)
"402, 403, 404, ahh. Here it is. 405," I thought, beginning to push the classroom door open.
"Do you always talk to your self?" I heard someone ask from behind me.
I whipped around and came face to face with tall boy who had sandy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. I blushed and stammered, "I-I said that out loud?"
The mystery boy chuckled and held out his hand. "Derek. Derek Anderson."
I smiled and shook his hand. "Kimberly Crawford, but call me Kim. Are you new? I don't remember seeing you last year." I questioned, pushing open the door.
"Yeah," Derek answered. "I moved from Tennessee."
"Really?" I exclaimed. "I used to live in Tennessee, too! I moved to Seaford when I was four."
Derek nodded and said, "That's cool. So, uh, Kim, do you think maybe you could show me around the school a bit. Don't want to get lost."
I smiled and said, "Sure! Let me see your schedule." Derek sat in the seat next to me and handed me his schedule. 'He's cute,' I thought. 'Yeah, I know I like Jack, but it can't hurt to find someone else cute. And anyway, I'm friendless at the moment. I could use a friend in AP Physics.' I glanced over Derek's schedule.
Derek Anderson
Grade 12, Senior
Period 1: AP Physics- Mr. Colt (Room 405)
Period 2: Elective Art- Ms. Anderson (Room 503)
Period 3: P.E.- Coach Kenny (Gym)
Lunch B
Period 4: AP Calculus- Mr. Flitch (Room 459)
Period 5: Advanced English- Mrs. Garrison (Room 663)
'Or I could use a friend in all my classes,' I thought. "Wow," I said, handing him back his schedule. "We have all our classes together?"
"Really? Wow, that's awesome! At least I'll know someone!" Derek said happily.
"I'll introduce you to my other friends, Grace and Jack."
"Okay. Do you think-"
Derek got cut off when Mr. Colt, an middle-aged man with black hair, walked into the room. "Morning, seniors. I am Mr. Colt and welcome to AP Physics."
Groaning quietly, I slumped down in my chair, preparing for the torture of physics. Next to me, Derek chuckled and pet my head. "Not a big fan of physics?" he asked, with a hint of amusement in his voice.
I just groaned again and muttered a quiet, "Don't pet me."
After an hour and fifteen minutes of Mr. Colt blabbering on and on, Derek and I exited the classroom. "See, that wasn't so bad!" Derek reasoned with me.
I turned my head and glared at my new friend. "Not so bad? Well, yeah, it wasn't horrible. But still, I hate physics." I crossed my arms and pouted like a little girl.
Derek laughed and uncrossed my arms. "Well, lucky for you. Your new friend happens to be a genius when it comes to physics. Now let's get to art."
We started walking in the direction of 503 and I confirmed, "So does that mean you'll help me with all my work?"
Derek bit his lip and thought for a moment. "How about this. Are you good at Advanced English?" When I nodded, he continued, "If I help you out with AP Physics, then you have to help me with Advanved English. I happen to suck at writing and grammar and all that. Deal?"
"Deal." We stuck out our hands and shook them. Before we knew it, we were standing outside our art class. Derek pushed open the door and we walked inside. I scanned the students for Grace and spotted her setting up an easel.
"Kim!" she called, waving her paintbrush around.
I dragged Derek over and I introduced them. "Derek, this is one of my best friends, Grace. And Grace, this is Derek. I met him in AP Physics and he's new. Plus, we have all our classes together." Derek and Grace greeted each other with a smile and a nod.
"Well, I'm going to get the drawing utensils," Derek said, walking away. He turned back and offered, "Kim, should I get some more you?"
I smiled and said, "That would be great."
After he was out of earshot, Grace immediately jumped on me. Not literally, but you get the point. "Wow, he's cute! Total date-worthy!"
"I know, I know." I smirked.
"And he seems interested in you!" she whispered loudly, raising her eyebrows at me.
I sat down on the bench and hugged me knees before responding. "I know. I don't know though. Maybe I like him, too."
Grace took a seat beside me. "What about Jack?"
Sighing, I answered, "Maybe Jack and I are just meant to be friends. We've been best friends for six years now. I think if he liked me, he would've made a move by now. I obviously still like him, but it doesn't hurt to take a chance on Derek. You know what I mean?"
Grace nodded, understandingly, and was about to speak when Derek came up to us. "Here you go, Kim," he said, handing my the paintbrushes and pencils and papers and all that.
"Thanks," I responded, smiling at him.
"No problem," he replied, smiling at me, too.
We just smiled at each other for a few seconds until Grace awkwardly coughed. "Sooo," she said. "Where's our teacher?"
As if she overheard us, a young lady with dark brown hair and blonde highlights walked into the room. "Good morning class! I am Ms. Anderson and this is your art class. I'm just going to tell you a little about what we're doing this year and then you can get started. So before we start our activity, everyday at the beginning, each one of you must draw a five minute sketch. Just something small and simple. Then your activity will start. I will tell you your new activity each day and it could be anything like, draw something extinct, or draw an animal. Every two weeks, we have free day. You don't have to do the five minute warm up and you can go straight into your masterpiece, which can be anything at all. Today, is a free day. So get working everybody! Go, go, go!"
After Ms. Anderson's mini speech/lecture thing, everyone got up to gather their tools. Derek took a seat on the other side of me and the three of us began drawing, making little chit chat every now and then.
An hour and fifteen minutes later, I leaned back on my chair and admired my masterpiece. I wasn't much of an artist, but I wasn't terrible. I had painted the ocean with a sunset backdrop. Derek leaned over to see what I made and whistled softly. "Wow, you're pretty good, Kim."
"Thanks," I said, then scooted my chair closer to his to see what he had drawn. It was a zoomed in tree and birds were on the branches. Wow. He's amazing. I told him, "Woah, you're an amazing artist, Derek! That's so good!"
Derek chuckled and modestly replied, "I guess so. My grandma was an artist and she taught me a few things." I nodded, taking in the few details of his life.
I then switched sides to see Grace's painting. Grace had covered the entire easel in different clothing. There were skirts in one corner, dresses in the other, shoes occupying the top, and so on. I grinned and pointed to one of the tops. "I like that one," I said.
Grace laughed and teased, "I bet Jack would like you in that. Or maybe even Derek." I rolled my eyes and lightly whacked my friend's arm.
Ms. Anderson clapped her hands to get attention. "The period is almost over, so remember to sign your name on your masterpiece and leave it in the back to dry." Two minutes later, the bell rang. While Grace headed off in the direction of AP Biology, I showed Derek where the gym was.
"And here is the gym," I announced. "There is the girls' locker room and there is the boys'. We get our P.E. uniforms from those boxes over there, but we're not dressing out today. On the first day, the coaches just tell us about what we're doing this year and the rules. That is Coach Smith, that is Coach Melissa, and that is Coach Kenny, our coach. Okay?"
Derek nodded and said, "Awesome, thanks. So do we just drop off our bags in the locker room and get our clothes?"
"Yup," I confirmed, then set off in the direction of the girls' locker room. "See you in few minutes."
I pushed open the locker room door and walked through the rows of identical dark blue lockers, trying to find the perfect one for me. "Hey, Kim!" someone called.
I looked to my left and saw Claire run up to me. Claire, Grace, and I used to be friends in elementary school, but Claire joined another group of friends. But that doesn't mean we're enemies. I still talk to Claire a lot and she's still my friend. "Hey, Claire!" I greeted.
"You wanna get lockers next to each other?" she offered.
I grinned and nodded, happy to have a nice locker buddy. After stuffing in our backpacks and picking up our uniforms, Claire and I walked towards the middle of the gym, where some of the kids were waiting. I searched the crowd for Derek and spotted him coming out of the boys' locker room. After saying a quick bye to Claire, I ran and caught up with Derek. The two of us sat on the floor, waiting for the coach instructions. Once Coach Melissa started talking, Derek and I began endless games of Chopsticks. Needless to say, the time flew by very quickly.
Coach Smith clapped his hands twice so Derek and I turned our attention to the front. "Okay students. Bell will ring in two minutes, so get your bags and go to your next class." Everyone stood up at once and rushed to the rooms. I told Derek to meet my near the front entrance.
Two minutes later, Derek and I were at the front door of the gym. I started the conversation. "We have lunch next, so you wanna sit with Grace, Jack, and I? I'm sure Jack would finally be glad to have a guy at our table," I joked.
Derek answered, "Sure, thanks! But I gotta go to the office first. I'll meet you in the cafeteria. Where do you sit?"
"The far back table. I'll wave you over." The bell rang. "See ya, Derek!" I called.
"Thanks, Kim!" he called back, going in the direction of the office.
I smiled and quickly ran to the cafeteria. Lunch. My all time favorite subject. Well, if you can count it as a subject. Seaford High's cafeteria food isn't exactly good, so my friends and I always pack our own lunches. Opening the doors, I walk to the back of the room, waving to a few people along the way. I saw that Jack was already at our table, unpacking our lunch.
"Hey, Kimmy!" he greeted.
"Hey, Jack," I replied, but then whacked his arm. "And don't call me Kimmy! Haven't I been telling you that since sixth grade?"
Jack just chuckled and shrugged his shoulders while saying, "Oopsies?"
I laughed. "So, where's Grace? I thought you guys had the last class together."
"Yeah, but she forgot her lunch at home so she's buying."
We both looked back at the short line near the food. Catching Grace's disgusted face, I frowned. "Aww, sucks for her."
"So," Jack spoke. "I haven't seen you for four hours! How were your classes?"
"They were good I guess," I answered, unpacking my lunch from the brown paper bag. "I met this guy named Derek in AP Physics. And guess what? He's also from Tennessee! And we have all our classes together so I have a new friend now!"
For some reason, Jack seemed to stiffen when I mentioned Derek. "Oh, that's nice. And he made other friends?" he asked, somewhat hopefully.
I nodded my head. "Yup. He met Grace during Art. I invited him to eat lunch with us, but he's dropping something off at the office. He should be here soon." Seeing Jack's uncertain look, I continued. "He's a really nice guy, Jack. He can join our little group. Won't it be nice to have another guy?"
Jack shrugged. "Sure, I guess."
It looked like he was going to say more, but he got cut off by Grace groaning and slumping into the seat on the other side of Jack. "Whyyyyy?!" she moaned. "WHY DID I HAVE TO FORGET MY LUNCH?!"
Jack chuckled. "Come on, Gracie. The first day of school lunches aren't usually as bad as the others."
Grace glared at Jack and picked up her tray, turned it over, and showed us how the food (or the excuse for food) stuck to her tray. "Yeeaahhh," she replied sarcastically. "Not bad at all."
I rolled my eyes and gave her half my sandwich. "Here, eat." Grace smiled gratefully at me and began devouring the food. "Oh, Grace. I told Derek he could sit with us during lunch."
Grace started talking, but the food in her mouth began spilling out onto the table. Jack and I rolled our eyes as Grace finished swallowing. When she was finally done, she lifted her hands and gave me two thumbs up.
"Hey, guys!" I heard a voice say from behind me. I turned around and saw Derek. I smiled at him and he plopped into the seat next to me.
"Hi, Derek," Grace greeted with a smile.
"Hey, Grace," Derek replied. He then nodded to Jack.
"Derek, this is Jack. And Jack, this is Derek." I introduced. I then shot Jack a 'be nice' look.
Derek stuck out his hand to Jack. "Hey, man." Jack hesitated at first, but then reluctantly shook Derek's hand. "I hope you guys don't mind that I'm joining."
"Oh no, not at all," Grace truthfully replied. "More than Kim and I, I'm sure Jack is more than happy to let in a guy to our group. He's been stuck with us girls for six years!"
"I'm thrilled," Jack sarcastically said, while tearing the peels of his orange.
Derek's cheery smile seemed to falter for a second. "Well, I'm glad you guys are taking me in," he said, ignoring the previous comment from Jack. "I absolutely hate being a loner, so thanks, Kim, for giving me friends," he thanked, grinning at me.
I smiled back and was ready to reply, when Jack rudely interrupted. "Yeah, Kim's just nice like that," he snapped. We all turned to him in surprise from his sudden outburst. "Well, I'm just going to sit by Jerry for lunch today. I feel like his table is getting a bit crowded." Jack pushed his chair in with a loud THUD and spent the rest of his lunch at Jerry's crowded table.
"Well," Derek started, with visible hurt written on his face. "Jack seems nice."
Frowning, I played with the tips of my hair. "Yeah, sorry about that. I don't know what's wrong with Jack. He's usually really friendly."
"Maybe he's just having an off day," Grace added. "Or maybe he's just jealous that there's another guy in our group," she offered.
"Or he's a jerk," Derek muttered, stabbing his fork at his salad.
I sighed and buried my head in my hands. "He's not a jerk. Really. You just got a bad first impression of him. I'll talk to him later." And the rest of lunch was quieter than usual.
I don't know what was going through my friends' heads, but I was trying to figure out what would be wrong with Jack. I thought about what Grace had said. But it didn't make sense for him to be jealous. Jerry would sometimes hang out with us, and other guys too, but Jack never had a problem with that. Before I knew it, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. I picked up the remains of my sandwich and passed them to Grace, who was sitting nearest to the trashcan.
Derek stood up. "Math next, right?"
I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder. "Yup. Come on, Grace. Let's get Jack and go to math."
Derek raised his eyebrows. "Jack? He's in our class, too?"
Grace nodded. "Uh huh. Don't worry. He'll get used to you."
"I sure hope so," I muttered under my breath, as the three of us walked towards Jack.
Jack's face lit up when he saw Grace and I, but quickly turned into a scowl when he spotted Derek between us. "What's he doing here?"
"Derek has math with us. Remember? I told you."
"Right. Let's go. Don't want to be late, we?" So the four of us headed towards the left side of the school. Grace and I shared a quick look of 'Math is going to be a looong class.'
WORD COUNT: 2835 words!
Okay, so for some reason, I'm not very happy with this chapter. I don't know why. I felt like it was just dragging. Anyway, thanks for reading :) And I hope you liked it :) Remember to review and favorite and follow and all that stuff. Also remember to read my Kick One-Shots. Thank you SO much for 13 reviews, 13 follows, and 6 favorites. It really means a lot. I'll try to update on Sunday. Or maybe earlier. Anyway, just for fun, in your review, include:
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