Travis and I are in front of the gym, about enter the club social with the other students. We were talking about what our middle schools were like and I just told him about me being homeschooled.
"Homeschool huh?" Why does everyone always sound shocked?
"Yeah" I reply
"That sounds awesome!"
"Uh, not really, but then again it depends on how you go about it. I honestly just wanted to be alone and play video games. I kind of regret doing that now because I don't have any friends in real life."
"Real life? What does that mean?" How did he pick up on that?
"Well, I do have this one friend that I met online who I message every now and then. We've been talking for a while, and they're really cool".
"That's cool. Glad you're not totally alone." That sounded kind of condescending Travis.
"What about you?"
He looks excited. "I have one friend that attends this school. He's a sophomore and he's really cool! He dated two girls at one time!"
"Wow, two girls? Do you think that's cool? He sounds like a total player," And not the good kind.
"He is. I mean, I'm girl crazy but I'm not that girl crazy. I don't think I'd ever be that confident to approach one girl, let alone ask two on a date."
"Yeah. That sounds like a lot of effort."
"Definitely. So, when do you think they're going to let us in?"
"Alright class." The teacher says before I can reply. Well, there's his answer. "It's our turn to head into the gymnasium. You guys are free to mingle and get to know more about the school clubs and meet your upperclassmen until the bell rings."
"Sir?" A girl asks. Her name is Nicole, I think?
"Yes, Ms. Von Rosenberg?"
"Once the bell rings do we head back to homeroom?"
"Ah, great question. When the bell rings you will all be going to your last class of the day listed on your schedule. Then after that, congratulations! Your first day of high school will be over."
"Really?" I ask. That's it?
"Wow. That went by fast." No kidding Travis.
Won't we miss something? "Excuse me, sir. What about our other classes?" I ask.
"Tomorrow," he replies, "you'll meet your homeroom first, then you'll head to your other classes from there, but for now into the gymnasium you go. Don't worry, the upperclassmen won't bite. Come on."
"We're staying together right?" *I'm scared*
"Of course! We're Not-Alone Buddies, right? We'll just stay close together. Strength in numbers you know."
"Perfect!" *oh, thank Irene* "Let's go!"
Travis and I enter the gym where a sign with streamers hanging from it reading "Welcome Freshmen" in big blue letters hangs over the door. The students are checking out the clubs.
"Wow. There are so many clubs." Travis says looking excited and kind of nervous
"They have an anime club!" I've found my people!
"Oh, you're that kind of nerd huh?"
I am all kinds of nerd Travis. "You really know how to flatter a girl don't you?"
"I was just joking. I like anime too."
Then, out of nowhere a volleyball hits Travis in the face and I think he's out cold
"Travis! Are you alright?"
He moans. Okay, he's not alright.
A blue haired girl walks up to us "Nice catch dork. You caught the ball with your face!"
Why is she laughing? He could be hurt. Stand up for him Aphmau you're Not-Alone Buddies now. "Hey! That's not very nice of you!
She's still laughing "You have to admit that looked hilarious."
"No, it doesn't! He might be hurt! Travis!"
Another upperclassman walks into view. And he's cute? Light brown hair, blue eyes, and a soothing voice. He looks upset with her but still amused at the situation. "Katelyn don't tease the freshman."
"Hey, come on I'm teaching them tough love! I didn't mean any harm in it."
Now I'm mad. "Tell that to Travis's face! What if he has a concussion or brain damage? You're an athlete, aren't you? You should know how bad these things can get! Look at him! does he look unharmed to you?
Travis moans in pain and the cute boy sighs "I'll go get the nurse."
"Oh, come on it's just a scratch!" She continues to try to defend herself.
Then Garroth? I think, from this morning walks over. This situation keeps getting worse and worse.
"Katelyn, come on, leave them alone. Not everyone is as tough as you."
"Well if it isn't the charming prince."
He chuckles. "I have a name you know."
"Tell that to all the female freshmen gawking over you. They don't even care if you have a name."
"Jealous?"
"Of you? No way. You're too annoying."
"Don't you have a booth to run?"
"Oh crud that's right! Hey! Little freshman." So she's panicking because of a booth and not because she almost killed Travis.
"What?"
"Sorry about your friend there. Stop by the volleyball club's booth if you need someone to hang out with." At least she said sorry.
"There's the sweet Katelyn I know." Said Garroth smugly
"Shut up pretty boy! Jeez. Oops! My girls need me, see ya." Katelyn heads off in the direction of the volleyball club booth. Now it's just me and Gareth. Send help, please.
"Sorry about her. Are you ok?" He asks.
"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm just worried about Travis"
"You sure? You're drooling."
"No, I'm not!" I check just in case.
Now he's laughing. That wasn't a good joke.
"I'm perfectly fine, but-" Then Travis sits up. He looks okay.
"Oh no." He moans in pain "What happened?"
"Travis you're ok!"
"Looks like you guys are fine here. I need to walk around see if I need to help out the other freshman. Don't be afraid to come and ask me for help if you get lost or overwhelmed." Garroth says turning to walk away.
"Sure!" He's so dreamy.
"Have fun!" he says and walks away.
"Who's the dreamboat you're drooling over?" asks Travis.
"What?" Deny, deny, deny "I'm not drooling. Wait, why are we talking about that? Travis are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just feel like I got hit by a truck."
Yeah, an evil blue haired truck. "Man, I'm so sorry. It must've been so embarrassing for you."
"Normally it would have been embarrassing, but this time I had someone here who cared about me. So. thanks for that." Travis is such a sweetie* "So come on! let's go check out the clubs"
Phoenix Drop High has all the basic clubs and sports' teams plus a Werewolf and Meif'wa club. There are at most, 20 in this room. And I think there are more sports outside. It's probably because the school has a lot of electives you can take during school instead of after.
"Wow, there's so much to choose from!" I turn to Travis "What do you want to do?"
"Well, I'm kind of interested in theatre."
"Wow, so you're that kind of nerd." Haha, I stole his words.
"Well," he stuttered "It's kind of cliché but I've always kind of wanted to be in Romeo and Juliet."
"Wow," I laugh, "Is it cause you want to kiss a pretty girl?" I say, thinking back to how he tried to flirt with me in homeroom
"No!" he said defensively " I just think it'd be cool"
He's such a bad liar "Right. So." I drag out. "You should go talk to them!"
"Will-will you go with me?" He's so cute when he's nervous
"Sure! I've got your back. Come on, let's go!" I've got to show support for Travis. If they don't accept him I'll make them. "They're two aisles over. Right here! Do you want me to talk to them with you?" If they hurt your feelings, I'll destroy them.
"I'll do it by myself. Just, stay here in case I become a nervous wreck"
"Ok. you got this Travis you can do this!"
"Right. I can do this. I can do this" He'll be fine.
"Hi," he stuttered out. "My name is Travis" He's such a sweetie pie. You got this Travis! Just muster up some courage. I hear a notification from my phone that someone just texted me, and it's FC my internet friend.
FC: Hey, how's your first day of HS going?
Me: well, I'm not dead yet LOL
Me: I'm still really nervous 'how do you spell nervous?'
FC: Nervous? You? Come on. If you talked to ppl the way u talk to me u
'finish texting before you send'
FC: should be the most popular girl in school by now
'that's a funny joke'
Me: PFFT
Me: This is real life we're talking about here :P
Me: how is ur first day going?
FC: Meh... it's going
FC: Shouldn't you get off the phone and go back to class or whatever?
Me: LOL
Me: LOOK WHO'S TALKING
As I wait for his reply I sense someone walking up to me. I look up and see Teony with a disapproving yet amused look on her face. "Hey, cutie! You know it's against the rules to text during class hours? But, since you're new and this isn't a class I'll let it slide" Did she just wink at me?
"Thanks for not getting me in trouble," I say relieved.
"Looks like you're still jumpy, huh? Even after you made that friend I saw you talking to over there?"
I'm not jumpy, you upperclassmen just like to pop out of nowhere. "yeah. A little."
"Aw. well cheer up you're doing better than I did on my first day. When I was a freshman I couldn't make a single friend until the second week!"
"That can't be true! you're so cool and pretty!"
"Aw!" Now she's laughing at me. "You flatter me too much. So what clubs have you talked to?"
"None yet. I'm waiting for Travis. I want to join witchcraft club, and magic's club, and science club, and math club, and debate club, and LGBT club, and music club, and-"
"Wow, that's a lot of clubs cutie! are you sure you'll have time for all of that?"
"Well I'll probably cut it down to my top eight, and some of them only meet every other week. Plus, I could spend an hour at each club if they meet on the same day. It's just, they all sound so interesting!"
"Well if you say so. Anyway, I have to get back to the volleyball booth before captain Katelyn tries to kill me for 'slacking off.' you and your little friend over there take care ok?"
Teony leaves as Travis runs over. "Aphmau! I did it!"
"Yay! You joined the theater club?!"
"No! But I kind of almost talked to them!"
"Travis! You should've called me over I would have helped!" The bell rings before I can berate him for chickening out. "Looks like we have to go."
"So, what's your last class?" he asks me
I read my schedule and it says WWLF107. Should I tell him I have werewolf class? No, he might judge me I just got him as a friend, so I'll try to avoid weirding him out. "It's something called WWLF107?"
"Huh weird," he says "I haven't heard of it before. I have Bio101," he groans out. I don't get why I love science.
"So," I say, dragging out the o "I'll see you later?"
"Yeah! Maybe we'll have class together tomorrow?"
"Maybe?" I hope so. "At least we have homeroom together!"
"Right! Good luck Not-Alone Buddy!"
We go our separate ways. I'm trying to sprint to the door because I don't want to get trampled when this room empties out.
Room 303, Room 303, Room 3-0-3. Here it is! Good thing I'm not late
"What did you just say!" a male voice yells out
"Buzz off." a deeper voice replied. Did I walk into a fight? Please let werewolf anger issues be exaggerated.
"What's going on?" I ask the person closest to me. He's kind of plain looking with brown hair and eyes.
"Some new kid decided to get on Balto's bad side. So Balto's about to rip him apart," he replied. Please let that be an exaggeration.
"Should I go get a teacher?" I ask because now I'm kind of worried
"Nah, it's the first day of school and Balto's been itching for a fight. The last kid that got in his way was sent to the hospital for weeks." Please be exaggerating.
"That's kind of terrible"
"You don't get to be alpha by playing nice." Wow. That's cynical*
"That's my seat!" Balto yells
"The seats aren't assigned, just go find another one," That's the kid who bumped into me this morning! I didn't know he was a werewolf, or insane! Why is he challenging the alpha? I'm gonna trust he can handle himself. He's a big dude with a lot of scars from what I can see from here. Dark hair and eyes; he's also tanner than I am. I can't tell how tall he is from here because he's sitting down. But he looks at least 6' 4".
"Don't you know who I am?!" Balto says. He sounds like Draco Malfoy.
I hope he knows what he's doing. "Yeah, you're annoying."
"Is that supposed to be funny." It was pretty funny.
"Kinda"
"Oh, this is perfect. You have a death wish, don't you?" Balto then looks around to see he has an audience and smirks. As his eyes roam the crowd he spots me. The world hates me, doesn't it? First Insane Ivy then Ballistic Balto. "well lookie here. What's this? A human? What's a human doing in werewolf class?"
What's a dog doing in a human school? "Um-" I look around for anyone to help me and they all avoid my eyes so I guess I'm about to die.
"Hey!" Oh, thank Irene. Scary Boy has come to help. "Isn't your fight with me?"
"Don't worry," says Balto, "I'll get to you in a minute"
And then Scary Boy from this morning threw him out the window. Well crap. "Oh my god! Is he ok?" I scream out.
"He's a werewolf." Scary Boy says as if that answered my question.
Then the teacher walks in and looks around as if this is normal. "Looks like werewolf class is off to a great start this year"
"Is what happened so common that me, the homeschooled kid, is the only one who's confused?'
"Hello class. First day and we're already throwing each other out the window huh?" He chuckles. "I know tempers can run high in these classes, but the principal informed me that the school had to cut back on their window repair budget. So, we need to try our best to cut back on this kind of behavior, alright?"
'seriously? This is normal?'
"Okay, let's get started, shall we? Welcome everyone to 'Werewolf 107: Intro to Basic Transformation'. Now, I know some of you already know how to transform, but I'm here to explain the process in depth. Now, everyone partner up with a seat buddy we have an even number of students so anyone who doesn't get partnered up gets thrown out the window."
'mom, this was a mistake'
"I'm just kidding, kind of"
When I look around only the scary guy from this morning is left. At least he's human too, or maybe he can hide his ears. I don't know. Apparently, that takes a lot of concentration and he's only a few years older than me and looks like a thug, but I shouldn't assume. I sit down next to him and he immediately groans in anger. What's with the shitty attitude. I wanted to thank him for saving me and apologize for bumping into him this morning, but now I don't know. I can make conversation? I mean we'll probably be seat partners for the rest of the year and I don't want to make a bad first impression.
"Hey, um, it's nice to meet you" I mumble. Where'd the confidence go Aphmau? We want him to tolerate us! "My name is Aph-"
"Next time there's a fight," he says interrupting me. "You should stay out of the way."
That was mean. "I'm sorry." You can't cry here Aphmau, you don't want to know as a cry baby again do you? He probably didn't mean anything by it and if he did I'd be annoyed I had to defend a helpless little girl.
He looks even more annoyed, "Whatever."
I guess he assumed I can't defend myself? I may be a tiny coward, but I've taken self-defense before. I'm too tiny not to have attempted to learn how to defend myself.
We sat in silence as the teacher lectured. I was taking notes and he was brooding. A teacher and the cute blond hunk from this morning came to check out the broken window. I'm too upset to care about cute boys right now. Besides dating isn't important. I must excel.
I arrive home at around 3:30 and relax in my room until my mom gets home and prepares dinner.
"So," she says. "Was your first day of school as terrible as you imagined?"
I angered Scary-Maybe-Werewolf. Met Insane Ivy, Gorgeous Garroth, and Killer Katelyn. I also befriended Travis and maybe Teony. "No, it wasn't that bad compared to some of the things I thought up. It was actually really nice"
