This chapter will seem more filler-ish, but it goes into the backgrounds of Zia and Walt and setting the scene up for the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it even the little fluffy-ish moments of it.
Once the bell rang, Carter grabbed the two textbooks he decided to keep from his large stack off his homeroom desk. He scrambled through the hall to his first class of the day, English. A familiar face soon joined him on the way. "Hey Carter, do you have English first too?" A girl with Arabic features asked, noticing him heading towards the English section of the building.
Carter smiled. "Hey, Zia. Yeah, I have English this period with Mrs. Garrett."
"I have the same teacher. It is strange how we always end up in the same English class," Zia commented. He nodded in response. The two kept walking until they reached a room at the end of the hall marked with the name Garrett, Room 45.
Carter opened the door to the class room for them, gesturing for her to walk in first. Zia rolled her eyes. "I can open the door just fine, Carter Kane."
"I know that. Can't I do something nice for my girlfriend?" He walked in instead, but left the door open for her. Zia followed in pursuit, taking the vacant seat next to the front corner desk Carter chose to sit at. She wouldn't have preferred to sit this close to the teacher, but it was better than sitting by herself in the back. In the very back of the room, Walt Stone shuffled into an empty seat, almost tardy.
Zia would never admit this to anyone, but English class was something she always struggled with. Before she was brought to America by her foster parents, she had lived in a small village called al-Hamrah Makhan. The village got destroyed by a massive sand storm when she was eight years old, killing everyone but her. Her mother had hidden her in their fire pit under some reeds so she would be safe. Some of the people who visited the village after the accident said it was the curse of an old stone artifact that caused the storm. Zia on the other hand thought that was the most ridiculous theory she had ever heard.
She had been taught the Arabic tongue by birth, making it a challenge to get accustomed to English. She was more comfortable with the language verbally; the written forms still gave her trouble along with the occasional mispronunciation of words. She realized she had sank into her own mind too deeply when the jolting sound of the late bell made her jump a bit.
Carter looked at her before turning back to what the teacher had to say. The plump woman was writing something on the white board in front of the classroom. "Now class, today I will be going over the rules and regulations of our class today," she began while continuing her writing, "I assume that all of you read the Great Gatsby over break?" Carter produced his copy of it as proof.
The teacher scanned the room before nodding in satisfaction. She then pulled out her attendance sheet and started calling out names. "Zia Rashid," the woman announced with horrible pronunciation.
"Zia Rashid," Zia corrected, "And present." Zia's adoptive parents let her use her birth surname instead of theirs for the sake of 'remembering her past' as the adoptive agency put it.
"Oh," the teacher replied after checking her name off. The rest of class was pretty dull to the students. A few of them even went to sleep, only to be jolted awake by the bell signaling the end of the period. Walt was one of the few, almost smacking his neighbor in the arm. Embarrassed, he left as soon as he could. "Have your parents or guardians sign your forms and turn them in tomorrow," Mrs. Garrett called out as the students exited her room.
Zia and Carter walked out of the small, white walled room. "I've got Physics for second," Carter said.
"I guess I will see you later possibly, I have Trigonometry next."
Carter nodded and waved. "See you later, Z." The two went their separate ways.
"Hey Jaz," Walt said when he spotted his girlfriend.
"Hi, I've got to go to Trig. What do you have?" Jaz asked, joining him by the stairwell.
"Biology," he groaned. "It sucks. Lucky for me, shop's next."
Jaz laughed. "Biology isn't so bad, but Trig's a nightmare."
Walt squeezed her hand. "Hey, at least we have the same lunch this year."
"I'll see you then," she replied before kissing his cheek. She went down the stairs to the math section of the school. He grinned while watching her leave.
Walt once again sat in the back of the class he went to that morning. The teacher was starting to hand out syllabuses when he arrived. Once she came to his desk, she placed a paper on his desk. He read what the units were going to be and paused at the section 'Heredity- Biological Diseases'. He pushed it aside. He honestly didn't want to be reminded again about the discovery that was made about him this past summer.
Over the summer, Walt was diagnosed with the disease that killed off many of the members of his father's side of the family. He has had to go to treatments on Saturdays, but they don't seem to be helping. God, he hasn't even told Jaz or his other friends about it… He shook the thought from his mind. He wanted to live his last days without all this drama. Walt decided to refocus on the teacher for the remainder of second period.
At least I have shop soon…, he reminded himself was sort of his place where he could just let his hands express himself. Though being the quarterback of the football team made him never able to say it out loud, of course. He liked working with his hands like his dad used to before he died at a young age. Once the bell rang, Walt was finally free to forget the stress in his life, if only for a short amount of time.
That Walt ending was a bit angsty. Leave some feedback in a review for what you liked and didn't. Happy Holidays to you all and see you next chapter for the return of Sadie and Mr. Blake and what will go down in Trig class.
