Here goes chapter three --- if anyone knows Joey's last name please let me know…
Feeny sent me off to my first class. This time I got directions, and managed to find it without too much trouble. I peeked through the glass on the door, eyeing up what I was in store for. They all looked pretty harmless… it made me wonder if the information we'd had was accurate. The worst any of them were doing was writing each other notes ... hardly a criminal offence. The teacher seemed to be captivating most of the class. He sat on the edge of his desk, waving his arms about as he spoke. He really was quite handsome…
"What do you think you're doing out of class?" I jumped at the voice behind me, and spun around. There stood a blond woman, glaring at me.
"Uh, sorry, Miss…Won't happen again,' I replied, reaching for the door handle.
"Dead right it won't," she pulled out a pink detention slip book, and began to write. "Name?"
"Uh, Rachel. Rachel Walters. But Miss…"
"Thompkins, and don't but Miss me. You're out of class, unless you have a note excusing you from.."
"Look, I just came from Mr Feeny's office. I'm new here, on my way to my…."
"Yeah, and I'm Nicole Kidman. Nice try, Missy, but that one isn't going to work on me!"
What a snotty cow, I thought. And this is educating our youth?
"Look, if you would just listen for one second…"
"No, you listen to me, I …"
By now our voices were pretty loud, and a few kids had appeared from nowhere and gathered to watch us.
The door to the class I had been looking in flung open and there stood the teacher.
"IS there a problem here, because I am trying to teach…Oh, Kat. Hi." The expression on his face went from anger to 'oh, crap, wish I hadn't come out here'. He backed up, into his class, looking at Kat as if she were going to bite.
"Jonathan," she said curtly. "No problem, I'm just giving this girl a slip for being out of class."
"Right, just give me the slip then," I sighed. I looked at the form Feeny had given me to give to my new teachers, and comparing it to my timetable, looked up at the male teacher. "Mr Turner, I presume. Rachel Walters. I'm in your class." I handed him the form.
I saw Kat's shoulders literally sag. It was as if she really enjoyed giving out pink slips. Then her face started to go a little red, until she looked like an oversized tomato.
"Well, then, I guess that's sorted. Watch yourself Miss Walters," she snapped and rushed off.
"I'm really sorry too, cow," I muttered sarcastically under my breath. I think I caught the faint sign of a smile on Turner's face, but I couldn't be sure.
"Come on in then, Rachel."
I slipped into a seat at the back of the class, but this didn't stop everyone from staring at me. I don't think this was quite the "Calm and Quiet" that Bulldog had been looking for. And to make matters worse, instead of just letting me sit there…
"Class, this is Rachel Walters. Rachel, why don't you tell us a little about yourself?"
Now is this not the question that everyone dreads the first day at a new school? Trust me, it does not help when you are not you.
"Uh, right," I said, grasping for some words. "Um, I've just moved here from…Richmond….uh, with my family."
"Okay, how about telling us your interests?"
"Interests? Well…I like uh basketball…and um, partying," I replied. That got a laugh – nice save!
"Well then," Turner spoke "let's get back to the party I call English Lit."
As the class continued I began to watch the kids in the class. I really couldn't pick out of any of them any likely suspects. I'd taken a list of names from the computer at work, but they were only kids who'd been in trouble with the police before – not really much to go on, but it was at least a starting point. Among those on the list were Harley Keiner, Joseph _____, Frances Stuccino, Shawn Hunter and Topanga Lawrence. Topanga? What sort of name was that? No wonder the girl was trouble.
The bell rang marking the end of the period. "Yes! It's over!" Mr Turner announced, letting out a sigh of relief. "Rachel, Topanga, can I see you please?"
As I gathered my books I eyed up the girl who headed for the front of the room. She hardly looked the criminal type – in fact quite the opposite. She was neatly dressed, and had a completely innocent look about her. Surely there couldn't be two Topanga's in one school? This had to be the right one…
"Topanga, perhaps you could show Rachel around for the day," Mr Turner said to her.
"Sure," Topanga replied. "Not a problem."
"Great," I smiled. This was perfect!
"And if you have any trouble, Rachel, don't hesitate to come and see me."