Mercy

Disclaimer: I don't own Jake Long. If I did it probably wouldn't be preferred for kids.

First Days

"I don't want to go. Nobody ever likes the new kid." Mercy complained.

"I know, honey, but this is your last time as the new kid." Rose tried to console her. Rose never had to worry about things like that. Even when she was new at school she made friends quickly. But for some reason, Mercy didn't have that luxury.

"That doesn't help me now." She griped. "Why don't we forget about this for now and go to the movies?"

"Nice try." She had to give the kid points for persistence. "Here we are," she said as she parked in front of the school.

Mercy stared out the window with her hand on the handle. She just sat there staring uncertainly at the front of the school.

Rose smiled comforting, resting her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "This is the last time. It'll be ok." She told her when Mercy looked up at her.

Mercy gave an audible sigh and gave a nod before stepping out of the jeep. She looked back at Rose and gave a weak smile. Rose wished she could help her. She wished she could go into school with her and make sure no one was mean to her; to help her make friends…

But for some reason, the image of her daughter walking around school holding her mother's hand would probably do more damage than good for Mercy's image. Rose nodded to herself; she would have to let Mercy handle this "New Kid" problem on her own. If Mommy came to the rescue Mercy would have a lot worse things to worry about than being new in school.

--

Mercy watched as her mother drove off. Her shoulders slumped forward as she turned towards the school and to the doors.

She walked in the school and immediately she saw groups of friends. Groups… her mom promised this was the last time but it didn't really help her at the moment.

Everyone belonged to their own groups. For once Mercy would become a part of one of these groups. Which one would she belong to?

She looked around and spotted a group of girls… the popular group. Would she fit in with them? She watched as they played with each other's hair… probably not… she wasn't nearly pretty enough.

She looked over to the other side. She spotted the obvious nerd group. Would she end up with them? No, she knew that one already. She wasn't smart enough for them.

Would she wind up an outcast? Not able to fit in with any one? These were things she didn't have to worry about when she was always new. But now, once she got used to the school and the school got used to her, she would be classified into a group.

She groaned mentally as she walked into her new class. The teacher was an old man with gray hair and seriously bad comb over. He wore glasses and he looked bitter and rather angry… Mercy doubted he had a fondness for kids.

She walked up to him and gave him the note that said she was in his class. "Very well, Miss Reynolds," he spoke in a very thick accent… was it German? Mercy wasn't sure. "I am Professor Rotwood. Not Mr. Rotwood, Professor Rotwood."

"Err… yes sir?"

Professor Rotwood nodded, "Mr. Lawson, raise your hand." He ordered, and a lightly skinned black boy raised his hand. "Ms. Reynolds, sit next to Mr. Lawson."

Mercy nodded her head and walked to the empty desk next to the boy who had his hand raised. When she sat down, he dropped his hand. Lawson? Was this the boy Mrs. Lawson was talking about?

He was cute boy; short buzz cut hair and nearly black eyes. He looked at her when Professor Rotwood turned around to the blackboard. "I'm Caleb."

"I'm Mercy." She replied.

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Really? That's a weird name."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "That's what people call me. My full name's Mercedes."

He smiled, "That's a pretty name, just like a car."

"I'm not a car." She said slightly irritably.

Professor Rotwood was grumbling as he wrote down page numbers they were to read on the board. "Is he always so angry?" she asked Caleb.

He grinned, "Yeah, my mom and dad had him when they were in middle school. He was, like, obsessed with magical creatures. The school board dudes took away Mythology class though, and Rotwood wound up teaching elementary school."

She nodded. She noticed that Caleb's speech was kind of slow, but she wasn't about to comment on it. She turned her attention back to the angry teacher. He was obsessed with magical creatures? Did that make him a danger to her? She decided not to tell her mom, if her mom knew then the promise would be broken and they'd have to move again. She began to read from her Science textbook.

"So do you want me to call you Mercy or can I call you Mercedes?" he asked, interrupting her from reading.

"Your choice."

"All right, Mercedes."

Her brows rose, "You know what? I lied, call me Mercy."

He just laughed at her. She groaned in anguish.

----

Rose groaned in anguish. Rose had been a secretary for some pretty barbaric people but never someone as horrible as Brad Harrison. The man was just a larger version of the teen Rose went to school with.

Not that the power hungry entrepreneur knew he went to school with her. Much like everyone else she met who went to school with her, he was clueless and she just kept her mouth shut.

Brad had taken over his father's business. Auto Fix was a business that sold cars, new and used, and fixed broken ones. "Auto Fix; to fix all your auto needs." The slogan was lame and cliché just like the business. The entire place was nothing more than a glorified mechanics shop with some cars for sale. But it made Brad rich.

"Hey, there, Jewels." Said the voice of the very man who occupied her thoughts; honestly, he was more unbearable now than in middle school.

Rose looked up at him from her desk. "My name is Julie, Mr. Harrison, not Jewels. Although you should really consider calling me Ms. Reynolds, to save yourself from being unprofessional that could end up in a law suit."

Brad laughed and winked at her, "Feisty, aren't you? All right, Ms. Reynolds, whatever you say."

Rose fought the urge to roll her eyes. She had some rather… difficult bosses before but Brad was already the worst, and she only worked for him for a few hours so far!

She decided it was karma. Bad karma that came to bite her in the ass for everything bad she had done in her life. She had to leave her family, she had to move to the one place she never wanted to step foot in again, she worked for an overbearing man who she never wanted to be forced to deal with again, and it was only a matter of time before she saw Jake again. She already saw his best friend… she was not looking forward to it.

Not only was Brad unbearable, Rose had to deal with cat calls and wolf whistles from the mechanics, while receiving unwanted advances from the salesmen.

It was punishment. This torment was her own personal hell.

How was she going to survive this?

To forget about it momentarily she let her mind wander to her daughter. She wondered how Mercy's first day was going…

----

It was lunchtime… the dreaded lunchtime. At least in her classes she was assigned a seat by the teachers. But now it was the time of day where she would be rejected by multiple kids when she asked to sit at their table only to be isolated at a far corner table where no one would ever sit.

Still, she asked. Many of the tables were already filled, and then she got the excuses. "You can't sit there; I'm saving it for someone." Or "Someone's sitting there." Which was the same excuse except worded differently.

Then she was just shot down, "Like I'm gonna sit with a loser like you." And other kind phrases of the sort.

Mercy sighed. Why did she even bother?

"Yo, Mercy!" she heard her name called. She looked around and saw Caleb waving at her. She smiled; he wanted her to sit with him! She thought he didn't like her, maybe she was wrong…

She walked over to him and sat down beside him. "Hi, Caleb." She smiled at him.

He smiled back at her, "What's up?"

"Nothing."

"First day of school must be harsh, eh?" asked a girl sitting at the table. She was a pretty girl, curly reddish-brown hair and light blue eyes with freckles dancing across the bridge of her nose. Next to her sat a boy with shoulder length brown hair and bangs so long they hid his eyes from view.

Mercy nodded as Caleb smacked his forehead, "Dudes, I'm sorry. This is Mercy. Mercy, these dudes are my best buds T and Leah."

"Why do they call you T?" she asked the boy.

He shrugged, "Why do they call you Mercy?"

"T's name is Thomas and he feels that just T fits his personality a lot better." Leah answered for him.

"Oh, well, my name is Mercedes and Mercy's just for short… plus it doesn't make me sound like a car."

Leah and Caleb laughed and T nodded his head. Mercy found herself liking them. Could they be her new friends? Could she have found her group?

When T let out a loud belch it sent Caleb into another fit of laughter making the chocolate milk squirt out his nose, causing Leah, T and Mercy to begin laughing. And soon everyone in the cafeteria was staring at the table where the giggling goons were sitting.

This was the best first day Mercy had ever had in her life.

Well Leah and T were a last minute decision. A decision I hope was a good one. Anyway, this would've been up a long time ago but school is still school. On the plus side I've been accepted into Baker College, yay me! At first I was gonna have both Mercy and Rose to have bad first days but I decided to have mercy on Mercy… err, no pun intended. Hope you enjoyed it. Please review.