Chapter 2
Invitation Rejected
Aria felt as though the day should be at least half way over but in reality, the homeroom bell had only just rung. Since their teacher had not yet arrived, students continued to chat blatantly. Aria overheard people around discussing the hottest party coming up this weekend, which just happens to be at Kendal's, of course. Remembering last year when Kendal threw this party, Aria recalled how much she desired an invitation but did not receive one. All the cool people would be guaranteed an invite but, unfortunately, it was up to the party hostess to decide who's in.
Aria put her elbow on her desk so she could rest her head on her hand, and sighed, looking at Vanessa, who sat in front of her. "Do you think we'll get invited to Kendal's party this year?"
Vanessa shot a brief glance at Kendal, and shrugged. "Who cares. If we were, then we would be stuck in the same place as Kendal."
"Yeah, but it would be nice to be included, don't you think?" Aria asked as she gazed longingly at the popular crowd. "Do you think maybe if I'm nice to Kendal then she'll invite me?"
Vanessa snorted. "Are you serious? This is Kendal we are talking about. She doesn't respond to nice."
Aria could not help but laugh. "You make it sound as though she's not even human."
"You have to wonder," Vanessa muttered.
Aria opened her mouth to reply, but at that moment the door opened and a woman, appearing to be in her thirties entered the room, with a pleasant smile on her face. She had thick shoulder length light brown hair and wore wiry oval glasses similar to Walter's. Aria assumed this must be their homeroom teacher. The first thing she noticed about this teacher was that she appeared to be about eight months pregnant.
"Hello, class," the teacher greeted as she set down her bag and seated herself on the stool by the teachers desk. "Sorry I am a few minutes late. I am Mrs. Norbert. Many of you will have me again later for English so I will go ahead and inform you now, the first piece of literature we will read is Romeo and Juliet."
Most of the boys groaned, not thrilled about reading a love story. Aria did not mind the romance, but she was not entirely comfortable with Shakespeare as she had major difficulty with old English.
"Now class," Mrs. Norbert pleaded in a sweet voice. "This is a beautiful story about true love, the passion two people around your age felt for each other, as well as the consequences these bold feelings brought to them. For those of you who have never read the play, please, at least give it a chance."
Mrs. Norbert then spent the rest of the ten minutes of homeroom discussing the school's policy, academic honesty, and when tryouts for sports and cheerleading would be.
When the bell rang, most of the class got up and left. Aria noticed Vanessa remained seated.
"Aren't you coming?" Aria asked.
"I have English this period," Vanessa replied with a shrug and a half smile.
"Oh yeah, that's right." Aria let out a disappointed breath. "Well, see you later."
Aria and Vanessa had compared schedules and found that this year besides homeroom, they only had biology together. Aria just hoped that Derek and Kendal were not in many of her classes, but knowing her luck they would be. At least she knew for sure she would be safe from them in Band. Neither of them would step foot near the Band Hall. That was one of Aria's favorite things about that particular class and it was one of the few she had with Walter. The only thing that would make it better was if Vanessa was in it, but due to Vanessa's lack of interest in music, Aria knew that would never happen.
As Aria walked to her locker, she overheard Ian and Kendal.
"So we're reading Romeo and Juliet. It will be like reading about our future, won't it?" Ian winked at Kendal. "We're going to end up just as happy they were."
Kendal looked at him sharply. "You know they both die at the end."
Ian looked up, scratching his head. "Oh Really? Well, I never actually read it."
"It's common knowledge, you idiot," Kendal snapped impatiently.
"Hey, either way, I just meant the fact that they were so deeply in love," Ian defended.
Kendal's expression softened and even smiled, or at least Aria thought she saw her smile. She then gently kissed her boyfriends cheek before heading off to her next class. As Aria watched her grow smaller in the distance, she made a mental not to inform Vanessa she observed a brief flash of humanity in Kendal. Aria just wished that humanity extended to Kendal inviting her to her party.
"Aria, are you going to class now? You have Latin now, right?"
Aria snapped out of her daydream and turned around to see Walter approaching her.
"Oh, yeah, I do," Aria answered and then asked hopefully, "Do you have Latin this period?"
Walter nodded. Aria then wondered what else they had together so Walter hander her his schedule to look. Aria groaned as appeared that after this, they only had Biology and Band together. She supposed at least that was something.
The rest of the day went by rather slowly. All the teachers talked about what there class was going to be like and went over some rules. The boredom seemed to numb Aria's mind. She had hoped they would at least play something in Band, but it turned out she just had to listen to yet another jaded lecture about the class activities of the year. Aria found herself daydreaming about having her own party and suddenly becoming more popular than Kendal, and telling Derek off with a clever comeback in front of everyone, humiliating him. She could not help but grin at the prospect.
Once Band let out, Aria and Walter walked together to their lockers.
"Well, today wasn't so bad, was it?" Walter began to pack up his backpack while talking.
"Maybe not for you. It turns out I have every single class except Band and Gym with either Derek or Kendal, some with both of them. They are the very two people I want to avoid more than anyone."
"If you want to avoid Kendal so much, then why were you disappointed when you didn't get invited to her party?"
Aria looked over to see that Walter honestly look befuddled by this. He just did not get why it seemed so important to be popular. "It's just that…uh, oh I don't know… hey Vanessa!"
Thank goodness Vanessa showed up at that moment. Aria had no idea how to explain to Walter why it was so important to to receiver an invitation to a party hosted by someone she detested, or well, at least detested her. It honestly did not even make much sense to her.
The girls bid Walter farewell before heading towards the exit.
"Hey, lets go out the side door," Aria said as she noticed Derek by the front door.
Vanessa nodded and followed Aria, but pointed out, "You know you can't avoid him the whole year. Maybe if you start standing up to him, he won't bother you anymore."
Aria let out a deep breath as she glanced glumly at Derek. "Somehow I doubt that."
xXx
The first week of school dragged on like a snail, strolling through the prairie. Aria still found herself putting a lot of effort into avoiding Derek. It was starting to seem that every time she came into his presence he would call her names and either make fun of her hair or extremely fair skin tone. It real got old after awhile. At least Kendal ignored her most of the time though she actually desired something from her, or well, at least an invite.
Aria walked into her history class and sat by herself close to the back. She went ahead and got out her homework, when Ian sat down in the desk next to her.
"Hey, did you get number 3?"
When Aria realized her was talking to her, she quickly glanced at her own paper. 'What year was the Declaration of Independence signed?' It did not seem like a difficult question to her.
"1776," Aria answered politely.
"Thanks! You're awesome." Ian scribbled down the year and then turned his head back to her. "Hey, you're coming to the party at Kendal's tomorrow night?"
"No, I didn't get an invite." Aria shrugged as she figured Kendal must not have bothered to inform Ian of who was invited and who was not.
Ian just looked at her, utterly bewildered. "What do mean you didn't get invited? I thought everyone was coming. You should come anyway. Kendal won't care."
Derek strolled in the room and sat on the other side of Ian. "Hey, dude, why are you talking to Pippy Longstocking, here?"
Aria rolled her eyes. In elementary school, Aria's mom would always do her hair in pig-tails which indeed led to this particular overused nickname for her.
"I was just inviting her to the party," Ian explained. "Come on, dude, she's cool."
Derek raised his eyebrow. "Without asking Kendal? Are you sure you want to do that? You know how she gets."
"Hey, I don't need to ask Kendal for permission on every little thing."
Derek just shrugged and turned back to face the front. "Okay then. It's your funeral."
Ian put his hand on his desk and turned to face Derek. "Look, man. I know it may seem like Kendal is in control but behind the scenes, I'm the one who steers the wheel."
"Whatever you say, man," Derek answered in an unconvinced tone.
Before Ian had a chance for another defense, Mr. Mosby ordered the class to silence and began the lecture. Aria tried her best to pay attention but she just could not concentrate as her mind spun like a playground spinning wheel.
I can't believe Ian actually invited me to the party, Aria thought in glee. This has to be the best Friday ever!
When the bell rang, Aria practically galloped to Biology and sat between Vanessa and Walter with a broad grin across her face.
"Guess what!" Aria squealed as she faced Vanessa. "Ian just invited me to the party tomorrow night!"
"Really! When did that happen?" Vanessa asked, enthused, while Walter sighed and went back to reading his text book.
"Just last period. He asked me what year the Declaration of Independence was signed and then after I gave him the answer he asked me if I was going to the party and when I said I wasn't invited he said I could come!"
"You mean he didn't know what year the Declaration of Independence was signed?" Walter looked up from his book.
Vanessa rolled her eyes. "That's not the point Walter!" She then looked back at Aria. "So are you going to go?"
"Of coarse! You know how much I wanted to be invited. You should come, too. Since I got a last minute invite, it's probably not a big deal if you come too."
Vanessa shifted her eyes down to her hands. "Well, I don't know. Its really not my kind of thing."
"Come on please!" Aria looked at her with her sad crystalline eyes. "I can't go by myself. I won't have anyone to talk to."
"Ladies, if don't don't mind, I would like to begin my lesson now." Mrs. Stevens looked down at them sternly.
"Sorry," they muttered and fell silent.
At they sat down for lunch, Aria had no intention of dropping the matter. She faced Vanessa with a determined look on her face.
"So?" Aria demanded the moment they sat at their usual table, "Will you go with me, please? I'm sure we'll have a good time. I mean, its a party."
"Oh, alright," Vanessa sighed in reluctance as she pulled out her history homework, "but just to get it out of our system, or well, your system. I think after this you'll realize that all it's only a bunch of kids that think they're cool gathered around dancing and drinking so much that they can barely put together a sentence."
"Well, we don't have to drink." Aria pointed out and then turned to Walter. "What about you? Are you going?"
Walter shook his head. "To a party full of people I don't like and don't like me? No thank you."
"Come on," Aria persisted. "Parties are a part of high school. Everyone should experience it."
"Yeah, we can be the only two people that don't want to be there," Vanessa chimed in but had her eyes on her assignment. "Hey, what did you get for number 6?"
Walter glanced at the question. "Which battle was the turning point for the American Revolution? The answer is stated clearly in the book, Vanessa."
Vanessa stared blankly at her textbook. "I don't see it."
"It's on the next page," Walter informed trying to sound as patient as possible.
"Oh." Vanessa quickly flipped the page. "Which paragraph?"
Walter looked at her with exasperation. "Really Vanessa? Why didn't you do this last night?"
"I had volleyball practice so there was no time," Vanessa protested, stressfully running her fingers through her light red hair. "Come on, Walter, which paragraph?"
"The third one," Walter muttered through gritted teeth. "What about after practice? I'm sure there was time then."
Without looking at him, Vanessa shrugged. "I was too tired after practice." After she finished writing she lifted her head towards him. "You know, Walter, not everyone can just glance at the book and suddenly spot the right answer like you can."
"Yeah, but you don't even seem to try," Walter pointed out to her in an irritated tone. "You always just barely skim the pages and if you don't immediately see the answer then you want me to just give it to you."
"That's not entirely true!" Vanessa defended, heated up, and then glanced at Aria. "Fine, how about this? You go to the party with us this weekend and I'll do my own homework all by myself. I won't ask you for a single answer."
"We don't have any homework this weekend," Walter reminded her.
"Oh." Vanessa scratched her head in remembrance, and then gave Walter an innocent smile. "Well, its the thought that counts, right? I would have done it." She turned her head to Aria. "You believe me, right Aria?"
"Um… yeah, sure," Aria agreed though not entirely convinced. She then turned back to Walter. "So, are you going?"
Walter sighed as he readjusted his glasses. "Oh, alright. I guess its like you say, Aria. Its part of the high school experience."
"Great!" Aria beamed to her reluctant friends. "I promise you, we will have a good time." Aria then opened her lunch box and groaned. "I forgot to pack something to drink. I'm going to go buy a soda. Be right back."
As she got up to leave, Aria heard Vanessa ask which sentence of the third paragraph the answer. She was fairly certain Walter's patience would soon evaporate and they would break out into a fight as the two often did. Aria just hoped that by the time she returned the fight would be over.
Aria walked to the vending machine and pressed the button for a Dr. Pepper. At that moment, Kendal approached her, flipping her bone straight hair behind her shoulders.
"Aria. I need to talk to you about tomorrow night," Kendal stated as she looked at her with icy ocean eyes.
"Okay, sure," Aria replied, brushing her hair behind her shoulders, as a dreadful feeling grew inside her.
"You see, Ian was confused. I have already planned this party for a certain amount of people and we just don't have enough plates, you know like for food, so you can't come." Kendal faked an apologetic smile at Aria though her tone did not sound sorry at all. "You understand, right?"
Aria thought about offering to bring her own plates and maybe some extra napkins along with then, but she knew that would only make her look desperate and make her even more uncool. She just nodded as apathetically as she possibly could and walked gloomily back to her table.
"You see, Walter, if you had just told me the answer was Saratoga in the first place, it would have saved us all this time, not to mention the argument," Vanessa was saying as Aria glumly sat back down beside her. "Now, where was the last battle of the… Aria, what's wrong?"
"We're not going to the party," Aria stated flatly. "Apparently there aren't enough plates."
Vanessa, immediately understanding, shot Kendal a dirty look before consoling, "You're probably not missing out on much. Besides, you don't want to hang out with someone like that anyway. Also, Derek will probably be there too so…"
"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Aria moaned trying not to come off as too depressed on the matter. "I guess parties are one high school experience I'm just not meant to have."