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Chapter 5 - Warming

East High School was a confusing place. There were secret hallways and shortcuts that you needed to take. Freshmen ate lunch on the porch, even when it was cold, and they didn't buy lunch – they just didn't. The kids had their groups and they didn't generally intermingle. Nathan had figured out most of them by his last block class.

There was the group that liked to study, which was headed by a small blond girl whose name he didn't know. The musicians all sat together, although they were an odd looking group. There were a few kids that looked like skateboarding Tony Hawk wannabes, along kids that wore dress clothes and had reeds sticking out of their mouths. There were the kids he just assumed were the geeks, their group was small and they all had straws up their noses.

Then, the sports teams. They seemed to not have a strict seating plan in the cafeteria, but instead they went from table to table. The football players all had red and white letterman jackets. The soccer team wore sweatshirts that read 'EHS' with a soccer ball. There were kids with track jackets that had all types of sports on the back, but they were typically the same, EHS in red and a symbol for the sport underneath it.

There was one table in the middle with a group of kids that were wearing white jackets with a red wildcat on the back. This was the basketball team, but their table wasn't just sports. It had girls that weren't cheerleaders at it.

East High was different than his old high school, and it baffled Nathan. Each school had to work differently. Each place had their own set of rules, East High was no different.

But, what made his head hurt was Casey. She seemed sweet, but distant, as if something tragic had ruined her life. When she looked at him, it was almost as if she was staring through his body to something else. And she thought the students didn't like her, that she had a reputation.

He stood in the doorway of his class and found Casey sitting the the back near a window. Something inside him told him to run. It told him that Casey was bad news and he shouldn't get involved. But, the same thing was telling him that he needed to help her.

"Hey," he said enthusiastically as he sat in the vacant seat beside her. She turned her head to look at him, but then faced the window as she had been.

"You're not going to quit, are you?" she asked quietly.

Nathan didn't reply to her question. "What are you doing after school?" he asked. She turned to him and gave him a look. "Good. You can show me around."

"Nathan, I-"

"Ms. Bolton," the teacher said. She was stout with curly gray hair and had to be far past normal retirement age. "Is there a problem between you and, Mr. Hillier I assume?"

Nathan gave a small smile of both approval and embarrassment while Casey's eyes wandered to the floor, her cheeks reddening from being singled out. "No," she said quietly.

"Then, I believe this is my time. Now, last night's homework. . . ."

Nathan looked around as the students pulled out their homework. He didn't have anything to do, so he pulled out a piece of paper he'd gotten in science and started to doodle as the teacher began to explain to a girl in the front about polynomials.

A crumpled piece of notebook paper landed on his desk and very discreetly, he opened it. Fine, I'll show you around, if you really want me to – Casey.

I do he wrote back before passing it when the teacher wasn't looking. He knew this teacher didn't like note passing, just by his first impression of her. Within moments, the note landed on his desk.

Do you have a cell? Texting would be safer than passing notes with Ms. Turcotte. I don't even think she knows cellphones exist.

He smiled. Casey was warming up to him, or she was really bored. Either way, he wrote the seven digits of his cellphone number on the paper and sent it back. Then, just to make sure he wouldn't get in trouble, he put the phone on vibrate.

A few minutes later, his phone giggled in his hand. He flipped it open and read the messing that appeared on the small screen.

You're persistent. Did you know that?

He flashed a smile toward Casey before typing in his response. Yeah, so I've been told.

Where do you want to go? She wrote. We've got a fun place here in sunny New Mexico.

Where ever you want to take me? I don't know where I'm going. I'm new.

"Ms. Bolton!"

Nathan pressed the send button even as he looked up at the teacher. Casey lifted her head up from her phone and silently slipped it in her pocket. "Yes, Ms. Turcotte," she said quietly.

"I do realize that you've had a tough time lately, but when you're in my classroom, I would appreciate it if you pay attention and not stare off!" Ms. Turcotte said sternly. "Ms. Waynes, your answer for number 23, please."

Harsh. Nathan typed in.

Casey didn't reply. Instead she was doodling on a piece of paper. For a moment, Nathan thought she had begun to tune out the world around her again, but after she finished her picture she took a picture of it and sent it to Nathan.

All in all, the drawing looked more like a cow than a person. It was a large circle with a gray and white dress and a huge head. A thought bubble was coming from the mouth that read, "moo!" Under the drawing she had written Lucinda Turcotte – mother of all cows.

Nathan chuckled, but quickly regretted it. "Mr. Hillier! Nothing about the art of mathematics is funny! I realize that this is your first day, but laughing is not okay."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. His old math teacher had been fun, but this new teacher seemed like a witch. He looked up at the clock and groaned when he realized that there was another forty-five minutes left. He was really beginning to hate math. It was his last class and also the longest by five minutes.

He leaned back in his chair and watched as Ms. Turcotte wrote equations on the blackboard. It squeaked and Nathan thought he was in a old 1950's movie. Last block definitely wasn't going to be a favorite for him. He would have much rather been still in his last class conjugating Spanish verbs.

I don't like math. No me gusta matematicas.

He looked over to his right to see Casey almost asleep.

Math bores Casey. Le aburre matematicas.

He put his head in his hands. If Casey was warming up to him, she would be his first friend in Albuquerque. His eyes followed the hands on the clock. He couldn't wait for math to be over, then he could find out more about Casey. She seemed like she needed a friend too.

Now, the real question is how much will she tell him and will she tell him the truth? Hmm...

So, tell me what you think.

And, constructive criticism is always accepted. I will never get offended if you question something I do, because I feel when you question it improves my writing skill and my overall ability as a writer. So, if you have anything you want to say, say it because I'm no good at reading minds!

Review!