Edited Version: 06-29-05
Chapter four: The Upper Hand
He turned on his heel towards the direction of the office and stopped at the door, motioning with his hand for Joy to follow.
She hastily strode over to the office and entered after him. "Close the door please" he directed Joy and she did as told, cringing slightly as the shutting of the heavy door created a booming noise as it slammed shut.
Then all of a sudden the room became very dim in contrast to the office lobby. When Joy turned away from the door to face the principle, she saw that he had already taken a seat in his tall red-leather chair behind the desk.
He hadn't seemed to notice the noise from the door and instead was hurriedly sorting out and neatening his messy desk. Joy observed some papers and office supplies on the floor beside the desk, and tried not to think what or who could have caused them to fall off, and in what circumstance.
She scrunched up her face slightly in mild disgust, deciding to keep her distance from the corrupt desk. Who knew what himself and the young teacher could have been doing on it.
However, she immediately wiped the expression from her face as the plump looking man sat up after he had in mind declared the desk clean enough for that time being.
He created a small number of phoney coughs to clear his throat, covering his mouth slightly with the back of his hand, straightening out a few sheets of paper. After quickly reading over a few of them, he sat up and looked forward to Joy, who was still standing near the door.
"Come come, sit down – uhh… Jocelyn Feu Lee." He addressed her, reading her full name off the sheet in front of him.
Her name sounded so different to her now, she could hardly recognize it enough for it to grasp her attention.
Jocelyn May Foster… Joy's thoughts lingered absent-mindedly on that sadly as she slowly drifted towards the chair seated on the opposite side of the desk from the principle.
"I'm, um, sorry for the wait Miss. Lee, I, uh, had some important business to attend to…" He mumbled quickly, trailing off at the end of his sentence, then spurting out a few more coughs.
Joy tried to suppress her grin; all this seemed like too much of a joke for her, this guy was just digging himself deeper and deeper.
"Yes, well… Let me be the first to welcome you to Redwood High!" He spoke boldly and proudly, giving a nod as he broadly smiled.
"Actually, the secretary welcomed me too." Joy began, in a serious tone, nodding slowly "She beat you to it." Joy added with a straight face, not thinking before she opened her mouth.
"Oh…" Spoke the Principle, a little dumbfounded at what she had just said, he looked a little disappointed as well, which made it all the more humorous. She learned by then that he wasn't very bright, and she'd bet that was used against him quite a bit as the principle of a high school.
Joy spotted a tiny bowl near her on the edge of his table. She reached forward and grasped a few jellybeans from the bowl, pooping a few into her mouth as she leaned back in her seat comfortably.
She had no need to impress him now by being composed and polite, he had already tossed his dignity out the window and he had nothing to hold against her. She was sure the school board wouldn't appreciate a teacher-principle affair, so she automatically had the upper hand, and just on her first day too.
She mentally patted herself on the back.
Joy always liked to have back up, even if that security involved some blackmail, just in case. It was probably one of her best features, the know-how on ways to sneak through even the stickiest of predicaments, her key to survival through all the tough times she faced to be where she was then. Safe, and free; or as free as she could get considering previous circumstances.
She wasn't too content about spending over a month in child services just a while before, but her life was finally getting back on track with her new family. She had a completely fresh start, and unlike her past attempts, she promised herself this time she wasn't going to screw this up. There were just too many things going for her this time.
She couldn't keep bringing herself down worrying about what could happen again. Though every new chance for her started out quite like this one, not exactly, but similar enough that the fear was brought out for Joy to agonize on. The fear, that this new chance, may end as those before had.
She was brought out of her thoughts when the principle began to speak again "well, um, Welcome and I hope you have a great learning experience here, yes, well. Um, you can pick your uniform up from the secretary, she'll get you one from the supply closet, here is your timetable for the semester, and your locker number. I believe that's all you'll need for now; do you have any questions about the school?"
"Nope, I think you pretty much covered it" Joy spoke as she clasped her hands together, moving slightly forward in her seat, preparing to leave as soon as he gave the notion to.
"Yes yes, well, have a nice day" He spoke, grinning as he nodded his head lightly.
"And you too" Joy smiled, taking hold of the sheets of paper as she headed for the door to leave the small office room.
After Joy had received her uniform from the secretary, she decided that, unless she wanted to look like a complete moron, she would have to change into the uniform inside a bathroom.
Joy exited the office, bidding one last farewell to the kind secretary before leaving in search of a bathroom, locker 4050, and her homeroom number 104.
Joy came to realize just how large Redwood high was, she was sure she had passed the same drinking fountain before and was worried that she had become lost. But after she had reached the end of the hallway she had found it, on her way receiving a few slightly odd stares from some students who were wandering the hallways, and had seen her, without a uniform.
She pushed the door open and entered the spacious washroom, realizing there was someone in there besides herself. The girl was washing her hands, and looked up at Joy when she had heard her enter. She stared for a moment, then returned her gaze to the sink.
When Joy entered the stall before locking it, she hung up her backpack on the hook placed inside the door and set down the sheets of paper on the floor.
She changed into the uniform, brushing the surface of any link or dust with her palms. She left the stall to stand in front of a full-sized mirror, observing the uniform, detecting that something wasn't exactly in place.
"The skirt's on backwards" Spoke the other girl suddenly, startling Joy. She didn't know there was anybody still in the washroom with her. The other girl gave a small chuckle at Joy's reaction, walking over beside her. "The uniform's skirt rim curves up at the front, I can practically see your underwear."
"Oh ok…" Joy spoke, twisting around to see the backside of the skirt slightly higher than the rest, a bit embarrassed with herself. She then began to adjust it, pulling the top around so the back would face the front.
"Don't worry about it, just be a little careful with these uniforms. I swear, our pervert principle must have designed the girl's uniforms himself cause they could not be any sluttier." She mocked, as a smile grew on her face.
Joy laughed a bit as she finished fine-tuning her outfit. The girl's words were definitely true to that, the uniform consisted of black leather 2 inch heel shoes, knee-high bleach white socks, a frilled short black skirt, a white three-quarter sleeved shirt with the school's badge on the left side, and a black silk tie.
"Are you a transfer from Loyola or something? I've never seen you around here before." The girl questioned Joy, her brow furrowed slightly at the thought.
"No, I moved here just recently, over the summer" Joy spoke as she shook her head, giving the girl a short version of what her real circumstances for arriving there were.
"Ah I see. Well, I'm Alexia Ross. And you are…?" She smiled at Joy with a nod.
"I'm Jocelyn Lee, but you can call me Joy if you'd like" Joy answered with a light shrug, returning the smile.
"Sure. Well, It's nice to meet you Joy." Alexia held out her hand.
"You too" Joy grinned, clasping her hand in a friendly shake.
They both left the washroom together as Joy explained what a hard time she was having finding her homeroom in a very unfamiliar school. So Alexia agreed to help her locate it since she wasn't exactly in any hurry to get back to her class.
"So, who's your homeroom teacher Joy?" Alexia questioned as she came to a halt, realizing she didn't know which way to go.
"Ummm…" Joy hesitated, sifting through her papers trying to find her schedule, "Ms. Evans class, room- 104"
Alexia laughed, "Well, this should be easy to find, Ms. Evans is my homeroom too" She beamed, looking over Joy onto her schedule paper.
"Really? That's convenient," Joy laughed with her as Alexia pointed behind them in the direction of their home form class.
"So, I'm guessing you don't know very many people here huh?" Alexia asked a moment later.
"Nope, none at all." Joy responded, shaking her head.
"Well, would you like to spend lunch with me and my friends?"
"That would be great! Thanks" Joy spoke, showing her gratitude with a bright smile. Her day was just getting better and better, the awkwardness of being alone had now passed, and she then felt relived at last.
"Here we are" Alexia stated, stopping suddenly. Joy looked up to the door closest to her, reading the plaque on the door that read "Room 104" Underneath stating "Ms. Evans". It was definitely her room, and out of the blue Joy felt a rush of anxiety.