Chapt. 7

All the boys tried to avoid changing uniforms for days. They kept wearing the uniform that they had on the day Tori dyed the rest of their clothes, but after a couple of days it became apparent that they wouldn't be able to wear the same thing for much longer. The cadets all smelt so bad they could attract skunks.

Fortunately for them, though, training wasn't until the end of the day. So at least they could avoid being seen in pink until then.

The first class Tori had that day was English. She'd already had English two times that week so she didn't have any trouble finding her way.

When she got there, the classroom had already been filled. Tori was told when she first had English that this happened a lot so she had to get there quick.

"There's a seat up the back." Mrs Cloris, the English teacher, said as Tori tried to look over the heads of students.

Tori walked straight to the back but stopped when she saw who the spare seat was next to.

"Is anyone sitting here?" Tori asked, knowing in the back of her mind what the answer was going to come out like.

"Does it look like…?" Alex answered, the expression on his face saying 'duh'.

Tori didn't say another word until she sat down. "Where's Deak?" She wondered aloud.

"He's sick." Alex rolled his eyes at the front of the classroom.

'Sorry for asking' Tori cocked her eyebrows before getting out her book and pen.

She looked to the board which had the words Personal Development in Literature written on it. The topic was completely different to what she was learning at Winston, which was How Prejudice is Presented in Fiction.

"We're going to be looking at the personal development of the main character in Great Expectations." Cloris spoke quietly as though she was talking to herself.

Tori felt relieved when she heard the words 'Great Expectations'. Great Expectations was one of her favourite books. When her family were going through a rough time, Tori read anything she could find to take her mind elsewhere.

"Does anyone…" Cloris sounded hopeless as she put a lot of emphasis on that last word, "know who wrote Great Expectations or maybe who the main character in the book was?"

Tori looked around at the whole class, who just stared blankly at the front, obviously not knowing the answer. Rolling her eyes, she raised her hand slowly and held it just above her head. The teacher's eyes widened.

"Uh, y-you know the answer?" The pitch of her voice went high from shock. The entire class turned to look at Tori.

'Now I know how a goldfish feels,' Tori thought as she couldn't escape the attention.

"Um, Charles Dickens wrote Great Expectations." Tori answered just loud enough for the teacher to hear. "And the main character was Philip Pirrip, Pip was his nick…" Tori stopped there, thinking she had said too much, as the class just gawked at her as though she'd just said the worst swear word known to man over and over again.

Tori looked down at her desk when she couldn't take the attention anymore.

"That's right." Cloris said. Not saying another word, she turned to the board to write some notes.

Alex's eyes kept going back to Tori as she copied the notes from the board into her book. Tori felt his eyes beaming into her so she turned just as he did.

"What?" Tori barked. She touched her face thinking she had something gross on it.

Alex smiled smugly and looked away. "Nothing," He said shortly. "I just didn't think you were the type of person to read anything that doesn't have style tips. Or anything that had over a hundred pages with no pictures."

"Ha ha." Tori laughed bitterly then rolled her eyes. "Why are you insulting me when you didn't even know who Charles Dickens is?" She joked.

"I don't read at all." Alex poked fun at himself. Tori grinned genuinely. "I do know who Charles Dickens is anyway. I just didn't know that he wrote Great Expectations."

"Uh huh," Tori found trouble buying what he said as truth.

"He wrote Oliver Twist, I know that." Alex proved himself, only slightly.

"Duh," Tori said. She laughed at herself as though she just said an inside joke. She stopped laughing when she realised something. "This is the only proper conversation we've had."

"That's because you're always too busy dying our clothes pink and soaking my bed." Alex said. Though he was only joking, it took Alex just a few seconds to realise that the tone in his voice made him sound serious. He went to apologise but saw the look on Tori's face.

Tori couldn't tell if that was a joke or not. 'Why do I even try?' Tori wondered as she went back to her work.

*

Everyone rushed from the class when the bell rang so quickly that Tori didn't even have time to pack before they all left had already gone.

Seeing it was just her and Mrs Cloris in the room, Tori attempted to move quicker as she wanted to avoid awkward conversation. She flung her bag over her shoulder and started to pace to the door when her plan failed.

"You've been a big surprise," Cloris spoke just before Tori put one foot out the door.

Tori pursed her lips and turned around. "What?" Tori furrowed her eyebrows.

"Well, the way your former principal described you, I thought you'd be one of those hopeless cases."

Tori's eyes widened. "Hopeless…"

"What I mean is... I thought you wouldn't even try."

Tori nodded slowly. "Did Hardy tell you what grades I got?" She asked sceptically.

"Yes, but getting good grades in exams and participating in class are two different things." Cloris said seriously. "Do you think you're going to get away with acting out in collage?"

Tori shook her head slowly. "I know," Tori couldn't think of anything else to say and spun around to leave again.

"And Tori," Cloris stopped Tori from leaving again. "Keep up the good work." She said wholeheartedly.

Tori smiled earnestly and stood still for a moment waiting for Cloris to speak again and then finally moved on to her next class.

As Tori walked to class, the last words Cloris had said kept replaying in her head. It was the first time in a while, probably years, which Tori had been praised for something, anything. Her own parents, when they're ever around, never say anything good when it came to her anymore. Not even something insignificant like saying congratulations on winning a soccer match.

Tori had maths with Mr Andrews. Even though Tori hated maths, it was the only class that she didn't share with Alex or Deak.

When Tori sat down on the far left a pretty, dark skinned girl sat down next to her.

"Hi," she greeted Tori enthusiastically.

"Hello," Tori beamed.

"You're the new girl, right?" The girl asked.

Tori nodded. "Yes, I started on Monday. I'm Tori." She acquainted herself.

"I know. I'm Alicia, most people call me Alice." Tori nodded slowly not knowing where this was going. "I'm the Student Body President. It's part of my duty to help new students settle in." Tori thought Alicia was quite bubbly.

"Oh, that's all right. I'm actually coping pretty well." That was a half lie. Tori still had trouble finding classes around the school and she hadn't really made any friends.

"Okay. Well, anytime you feel you need help, I'm your girl. Or if you just wanna talk." Alicia indicated to herself.

"Thanks," Tori said honestly. Just as she said that Jeremy walked past to take a seat at the back. Before he sat down he looked at Tori and smiled so Tori smiled back.

"Jeremy Walken, huh?" Even though Alicia whispered Tori still turned to check that Jeremy hadn't heard her. "He is good looking, I guess."

Tori smiled and shook her head.

"You're in that military program right?" Alicia inquired.

"Yes. That's the main reason I'm here." Tori answered.

"What's that like? Being the only girl in the group has gotta be tough."

"It's not that bad. I don't really pay much attention to that." Tori lied again. Being the only girl was probably the reason she wasn't getting along with the rest of the squad.

"It must be fun showing them up though." Alicia said with a mischievous smirk on her face as she nudged Tori with her elbow.

"Yeah. That's the best part." That part was entirely true.

When the bell rang for the end of class everyone rushed out just as they did after English. Tori hadn't learnt from last time as she packed up at a normal pace. She didn't realise that it wasn't just her and the teacher in the room this time though.

"Tori," the familiar, smooth as silk, voice spoke.

Tori looked up from her bag to see Jeremy standing in front of her. "Hi," she said placing an annoying, loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Hey, are you going to be busy tomorrow?" Jeremy asked confidently and Tori's eyes widened for a second until she calmed herself down.

"Uh, no. I don't have anything on tomorrow. Why?"

"Did you wanna go out to eat?" Jeremy asked the question Tori had been anticipating. "On weekends we're allowed out and there's a place just near here…"

"Yes," Tori realised she answered too quickly. "I mean yeah, I guess."

"Cool," Jeremy said before leaving the room.

'See this place ain't so bad,' said that voice in Tori's head as she left the room.