When the kids get to school the bus pulls into its spot, class will be starting in only two minutes, and as soon as the doors open, the kids run off to find their friends in the line to get into class. All but Karoline that is. She walks slowly off the bus as always, waiting to be the last off. As she does, Jeffrey turns into view from his hiding spot behind the pillars before the main entrance. A sickly pale and skinny child, second shortest in the class, and Karoline's friend since grade four when he moved to the city. He glares at her, standing there in his blue jeans and hoodie that he always wore to make himself look bulky to stop adults from saying they could see his ribs and he should eat more. "Twenty-three, point twelve, point two." He says in a frustrated voice. "What are you talking about?" "that's how long you're late by. The bus gets here at seven thirty sharp and it takes you three minutes to get off it, but it,s already eight thirty three." "Really? REA;LY? I had no idea." Karoline gives a smile as she laughs and walks off to get in line, Jeffrey right on her heels.
"Well are you not going to tell me why your bus is late?" Jeffrey huffs as he falls into line behind her. "Nope" she says as they file into class.
The students quickly find their seats as the final bell rings, and Principal Hoffman greets them all over the intercom with yet another greeting from one of the many diverse cultures in the school, quickly followed by the request to stand for the national anthem and a moment of silence.
As always, Jeffrey is the only kid in the class who sings the anthem (much to the rest of the class' dislike) even though it's played over the intercom.
Ms. Lemon collects the homework and starts her lesson.
"Today class …."
"Miss, you for got it again." Jeffrey says as his hand shoots up. With a disgruntled look on her face, she makes her way back to her desk and pulls out the FM learning system and clicks it into place before turning it on. As she does, Jeffrey pulls out a headset that resembles a bulky blue Walkman.
"As I was saying, today class we have a new student." She gestures to The New Kid. "This, class, is Bradley Carter and I expect you all to get along."
"That's the kid that made the bus explode!" some kid shot out from the other end of the class room. Karoline gives a smirk as Jeffrey looks to Bradley and then to her with a look of shock.
"Told you, that you would find out." She whispers so Ms. Lemon wills not hear.
The rest of the lesson goes on as normal. Kids whisper and pass notes as Ms. Lemon's back is to them, and Jeffrey, trying to figure out what happened on the bus, intercepts several as they make their way from one clique to another. 'They don't need to know now - they'll find out at the bell.' He justifies his actions to himself. After a time, the first recess bell rings and the class quickly empties.
Karoline and Jeffrey manage to break away from the rest of the kids during recess. Their questions and opinions have been incessant this morning. Whispered words between desks, notes passed when the teacher's back was turned. A quick glance about ensures them that nobody's near.
Jeffery pulls out a handful of notes from his kangaroo pouch on his hoodie. Sifting through them, he pulls out the one written in pink ink. Pink ink - the only person in the class who writes with it was Rebecca, and then only when she was writing something to pass to Brittney. As if being in pink ink somehow made it so others could not see what was written.
"So is this new dork magic or something? Like did he really break the bus or was it just coincidence?" Jeffrey reads the note making his best Rebecca impression.
"All that I know is that he yelled 'stop' and the bus did. Other than that, what do you care about it for?" Karoline says as they make their way to their favorite spot on the playground. A set of tires, half-buried in the ground to make a bench of sorts, a quiet, secluded corner of the playground that Karoline and Jeffrey laid claim to as their hangout spot.
A figure rounds the corner of the building. They recognize his slouching posture and wire-frame glasses immediately. Bradley doesn't seem to notice them, walking past without any form of greeting. He makes his way over to a line of three car tires buried halfway in the dirt to form an arching bench and sinks onto it. He stares forward at the wall.
As Karoline and Jeffrey approach Bradley, he does not acknowledge them, his lips moving slightly as he mutters under his breath. His eyes move across the wall. Listening closely; they can make out his words: "Fifty-three, fifty-four, fifty-five," counting as if intoning a careful chant. As they come to a stop near him, he falls into silence. His head turns towards them, his eyes shifting to take each of them in.
"Hey there, I'm Jeffrey. I was the new kid before. Where you from?" Jeffrey says as he steps forward extending his hand. Bradley slinks away from the two of them, then his eyes meets Jeffrey's and he says, "It was nice to meet you, but the bell will be ringing soon and I don't want to be late for class."