Chapter 2
The next morning was the first day of school, and it did not start out well. I was having a really weird dream, when all of a sudden, I felt something poking me.
I slowly opened my eyes to see a blurry yet obvious Delilah leaning over me. "Get up, Buckinator. Mom's been calling you for, like, twenty minutes," she said.
I looked over at my clock; it read 7:30. "Delilah, go away," I groaned, still half asleep, "Can't you see I'm trying to get some sleep here?"
"Buckinator, if you don't get up now, you're going to miss the bus," Delilah replied.
That's when my brain must have started functioning properly, because that's when I remembered what today was. I scooted Delilah out of my room, got dressed, ate breakfast, grabbed my bag, and got the heck out of there!
When I jumped on the bus, I scooted to the last row, and tossed my bag onto the seat next to me. At the next stop, Chris got on, quickly found me, and sat down next to me. "Man, my morning was crazy," Chris said, "I had to drag myself out of bed. Then, as I was running around the house like a maniac to find all my books, I burnt my toast. Honestly, why does my mom allow me to make my own breakfast? This is toast we're talking about here. Toast! Anyways, I'm really glad I got here on time," he sighed, slumping back into the seat.
"And I thought I had it bad! Compared to your morning, my story is like breathing," I replied, and told him the few things that had gotten on my nerves in the hour that I had been up so far.
The bus had already completed two stops. Seconds after I told my story, the bus pulled up in front of one of the most familiar looking houses I know. I saw Justin get on.
"Chris, quick, get down!" I whispered, and we ducked under the seat. I could hear a few girls pretending to faint as Justin passed them.
Finally, I assumed he saw our empty chair, because he asked one of the girls, in front of our seat: "Hey have you seen Chris or Bucky?"
The girl, Carly, pulled out one of her earphones out of her ears. When Justin wasn't looking, she stole a peek behind her chair and caught my eye. Chris and I hand-motioned for her not to give us away.
"Umm, no…I haven't actually. Then again, I wasn't really paying attention," Carly said cleverly, and slipped the earphone back into her ear. She was one of the only girls who wasn't charmed by Justin.
Falling for Carly's lie, Justin walked straight back to our seat. He slipped his bag next to mine, (which, or course, he assumed was someone else's), and was about to sit down. I find it odd how he didn't notice two of his best friends literally right below him. We tried not to laugh. Just as he sat down, we made our move.
"BOO!" Chris and I shouted, jumping up. Justin fell back in surprise, landing in the seat across the aisle. That's when Chris and I lost it. I laughed so hard I fell over. Justin groaned as half the bus turned around to see what all the fuss was about.
After hearing from Carly what had happened, the whole bus was filled with laughter.
When we got to school, all of the girls in front of us made way for Justin to get off before them. As he passed them, they all started following. Justin stopped and turned around. "Hey, could you let my friends pass too?" Seeing me and Chris, they all quickly moved out of the way.
"We're so sorry Bucky," they said as I walked by, as if not letting the kids in the front get of first somehow made sense.
"Oh, it's alright," I smiled at them, letting them know that it wasn't a big deal. The girls smiled back, and one giggled.
"He's cute," I heard one of them whisper.
It was hard not to smile at that.
When we all got off the bus, Justin groaned. He jerked his head towards the bus parked in front of ours. "Here comes Julie," I said to Chris. She scoffed at Justin, gave a quick smile to me, and didn't even look at Chris as she passed.
With that night still fresh in my mind, it was hard to concentrate during any of my classes at school that day. I had a feeling that I completely failed that math test, (which I had studied my butt off for, obviously…that was entirely sarcastic. What kind of teacher gives a test on the first day of school?) When lunch came around, I finally had the guts to pull my friends aside.
Chris Seville and Justin Cook were my closest friends. The two were practically opposites.
Chris was a very quiet, light brown haired kid. Justin, on the other hand, was a blonde, popularity superstar. He was like the thing that wouldn't shut up!
Anyway, when I told them about the night before, Justin gulped. Chris groaned; he already had a pretty good idea of what was coming. Not wanting to have to listen, Chris immediately excused himself, and hurried off.
When I asked Justin what the fuss was about, he whispered, "Follow me, and I'll show you," and I obeyed.
He led me back to the doors of the science room, where Justin and I had been right before lunch. "Do you see the kid in there?" he asked silently.
I looked, and I saw Mae Redwood. Mae was an attractive blonde. She was one of the new girls.
"Who, the new kid?" I asked Justin.
"No, I'm talking about the wall; she the only one in the room, idiot!" he said.
I groaned.
"Well, anyway, there's a rumor going around that Mae is…well…not like the other girls in our grade," Justin continued, and when he saw that I was interested, he kept talking. "I personally think she totally matches the girl you saw last night."
"Now that's just plain stupid!" I exclaimed, "Why the heck would it be someone like her?"
Justin shushed me. "Keep it down, will you! Someone will hear you, possibly Mae!" he hissed. He then told me all he knew about her, and how when I had told him what I had seen last night, he had a thought that he "knew" was right: It was Mae!
"You're just making this up as you go, aren't you?" I asked. He didn't reply to that, so I knew I was right.
Justin liked making fun of new kids, pretending they've got something wrong with them. My encounter the night before was a golden opportunity for Justin to make fun of Mae. I suppose that's what I had to deal with, if I was going to be friends with the guy competing for the coolest in school.
The three of us got back together a little before the last lunch bell chimed. "So, have you guys figured out what song we're doing for the school talent show this year?" Chris asked the two of us.
The talent show at our school was pretty much the biggest event in town. The entire town arrived and celebrated ever year around the time of the show. The talent show was so big, it was actually televised worldwide!
Bridgeville wasn't the biggest town in New York, but it certainly was a popular one! Even a few celebrities lived in Bridgeville. There were a few big towns around us, though: Scarsdale, White Plains, and Tarrytown, so we were squashed in the middle.
The sports season was pretty big in Bridgeville, too. Our school colors were blue and white, and our mascot was the bear. I didn't really participate in the sports, except for baseball, but Justin sure did. He was a big basketball, baseball, and football player.
For me, I was actually into singing, and I wasn't embarrassed by it. There were many popular male singers in 2011, like Jesse McCartney, Usher, and Bruno Mars. At the time, and still now, I really didn't understand why Justin Bieber or the Jonas Brothers were such girl magnets (no offense to them!)
I was thinking about singing for the talent show, and maybe have Justin play the guitar and Chris hit the drums. They had agreed on that idea, too.
After school, Justin, Chris and I decided to gather at Chris's house to hang out, plus talk more about my crazy night. At first, my parents didn't allow me to go over to his house, (after all, it was a school night, and I still had a load of homework to do), but for once, the kid won the battle. When I got there, Chris filled in all the things that Justin had left out, which was basically everything.
He said that Mae was a girl from out of town who had just moved in. She is a softball player and apparently multi-talented. She doesn't talk much, but when she does, it's usually to correctly answer a question in the classes that Chris shares with her. To support Justin's point, she is concealed and a bit mysterious, but nothing too crazy.
The last thing Chris mentioned is that Mae's best friends were Julie Ryans and Sabrina Miller, two cool yet intimidating girls in our grade.
Julie was the most popular girl in Bridgeville Middle School, and she knew it! There was a competition between her and Justin for the most popular kid in school, which is why they hated each other.
Julie seemed really sweet sometimes, but she could be really vicious, too. She bragged a lot, for the record.
She didn't really talk to me very much. I wasn't sure, but she didn't seem to have some sort of interest in me, but it's not like I was hoping she, you know, liked me…I didn't have a crush on her, Ok? Don't even think about starting any rumors.
Sabrina…well…let's just say she wasn't someone you wanted to mess with…at all. Tougher than all the boys, she must have been the meanest bully in the history of bullies on Earth!
Well, she's mean to almost everyone. I remembered that on that first day of school, Sabrina had been walking down the hall. Everyone cleared as she passed.
Except Justin, who teased: "Hey Sabrina. How are you?" And he didn't say that in a nice way. Sabrina gave him a look, and he backed away, as if accused of something he hadn't done.
When she walked by Chris, he immediately started backing up. Sabrina just rolled her eyes. Sabrina didn't really like it when people acted all scared of her; sure, it made her feel powerful, but I could tell that she still hated it.
Something changed when she passed me however.
"Um, hey Sabrina. Did you have a good summer?" I asked nervously, trying hard not to show any fear. I knew if what I said even sounded wrong, I could get seriously hurt.
She stopped walking. "Oh, hey Bucky. I had an O.K. summer, I guess. What about you?" she replied sweetly. I couldn't believe it. Sabrina actually smiled at me! I told her that my summer was cool, and she nodded, smiled again, and walked away.
I didn't understand why all the meaner girls seemed to act nicer to me. I couldn't see how I was different from anyone else.
Anyway, how Mae had found the good side in Julie, I'll never know.
I do, however, know how Mae became friends with Sabrina…I think. Early that day, Mae was walking down the hallway. I saw her turn the corner and crash into Sabrina, knocking both their books across the floor.
I heard a few gasps. Sabrina's eyes narrowed, and she folded her arms.
"Hey new girl, you'd better watch where you're going!" Sabrina snapped at her, with a familiar icy glare in her eyes. That never failed to make me shudder, even though it was never directed at me.
"I'm so sorry, really," Mae replied. You could hear her terrified breathing from across the room. Mae's books wobbled as her shaking grip as she picked them up, and she almost dropped them again.
"Yeah, you'd better be."
A crowd formed around the two. This was something that no one could miss, including me.
At first, Mae was too scared to say anything, but not long after, things started to change a bit. This time, when Sabrina insulted her, Mae completely back-fired it at her! This is what was said:
"Who else is that clumsy?" Sabrina snapped.
"Clearly not me…I wasn't the one staring at my cellphone."
A few gasps.
"Backfiring, huh? That's kind of dangerous around me, you know; plus, it's almost as pathetic as you are!"
"At least I know how to backfire…short and to the point," Mae shot back. She stuck her tongue out teasingly.
"Were you raised by 3-year-olds or something; how childish!"
"Is this how you get around every day; picking on some new kid like me? Seriously, get a LIFE!"
That stopped Sabrina in her tracks. Her eyes widened, and she stopped just as she started to say something.
A long, awkward pause followed.
"I gotta say I'm impressed!" Sabrina said finally. She smirked, (not in a mean way). Mae smiled back innocently.
"Hey, so what class do you have now?" I heard Sabrina whisper, pulling her aside.
"Um…English, I think," Mae replied quietly.
"Cool…me too. Come on let's go," Sabrina took hold of Mae's left arm, and led her towards Mr. Walters's English room. Everyone was in awe!
When it comes to Julie, however, I hadn't even known they were friends until now, so it was still a mystery to me.
What Justin, Chris and I did know was that Sabrina could have beaten us up with her hands tied behind her back, Julie was good at creating rumors when you insulted her, and that Mae was amazing at back-firing.
So now that the three of them were friends, there was no telling what they could've done.
After all of that, Justin whispered something in Chris's ear. He considered it for a few seconds, and then nodded slowly.
When I got home, I sped through dinner, and then rushed upstairs to my room. Delilah obviously spotted something weird, and I simply told her that I was exhausted, and left it at that.
"Whatever. Later Buckinator," she yawned.
What was really happening was that I had a plan that I had worked out with my friends at Chris's house (it was what Chris and Justin were whispering about). We decided that I would sneak out, in the middle of the night, (obviously I had no say in that!) and go to the exact spot that I had seen what could have possibly been Mae.
I had to stay there for exactly one hour. Justin had given me this really cool timer to keep track. If she showed up again, before that time was up, I would try to get a closer look, and possibly find out who she is. If an hour went by, and I didn't see her, I would head home, and then I could stick with the theory that magic wasn't real.
Perhaps it was just a normal cat, and the shadows made it look like a girl. Maybe it was the other way around. Well, I was about to find out. I said goodnight to my family, and when I was sure they were fast asleep, I snuck out my window. I retraced my steps to where the girl, or whatever it was, had leaped over my head, and waited.
It seemed like hours had gone by. Just when my timer was about to go off, I got that feeling that I was being watched again. I quickly turned around, just in time to see something racing towards me, and it was lightning fast! I thought it was going to smack into me, so I snapped my eyes shut…
…Nothing happened. I slowly opened my eyes again to see a figure in front of me…it was the girl! "Who are you?" she asked. Her voice sounded slightly high-pitched, out of nerve, I guess, and it reminded me of Delilah. "Who are you?" she repeated, more impatiently this time, and her voice more natural.
This time I recognized her. It was Mae!
"Uh, I'm Bucky-uh-Buck Anderson," I stuttered. "I-I think I go to school with you. Your name is Mae, right?"
She gasped. She was completely stunned, and I guess the girl recognized me. "H-How did you know?" she exclaimed, but she didn't wait for an answer. Within seconds, the girl turned and fled.
"WAIT!" I called after her, but she had disappeared. Still shocked at what I had discovered, I ran home, snuck back into my room, and got into bed. "That must have been Mae. But how?" I thought.