A/N: As always, Me Likey Reviews. But here for you is a table of Who-Has-What-Classes when, so a) I don't get confused while writing b) You can correct me if I make a mistake c) You don't get confused.
First Period: Alex, Clear, George, Tod - Algebra; Terry, Billy - History
Second Period: Alex, Billy - Science; Clear, Terry - Computers; George, Tod - English
Third Period: Alex - English; Clear - Instrumental Music; George - History; Tod - Gym; Terry - Spanish; Billy - Algebra
Fourth Period: Alex - Music History; Clear, George, Tod - French; Terry, Billy - Shop
Chapter Five
Fourth period was French for Clear. That meant that she had to face Tod and George. She walked into the room trying not to be noticed. That wasn't hard, since there were only two people in there at the moment, Kimberly Corman and Shania Reeves, two girls she hardly knew.
Kimberly and Shania were conversing about something obviously very funny, but Clear didn't bother getting into it. She slumped into a seat at the back of the room, two seats away from Kimberly. She certainly wasn't execting Kimberly to lean over and begin speaking to her.
"Hey, Clear!" she said eagerly.
"Oh, hi, Kimberly," Clear said softly.
Kimberly reached into her purse and pulled out two school photos. "I have a question for you. We've been arguing for two hours. Who do you think is hotter? Dano, or Frankie?"
Dano and Frankie weren't familiar names or faces to Clear. Judging by their pictures, they must have been older by a year or two. Reluctantly, she pointed to the one on the left, the one with the pudgy face. "Him," she said confidently.
Kim beamed and laughed. "All right!" she exclaimed. She turned to Shania, a tall, skinny blonde that had more than a glint of mischief in her face. "See, I told you more people think Dano's hotter."
"No way!" Shania cried, snatching the pictures, "Look at Frankie's eyes. They're so--"
"Glazed over," Kimberly put in half-sourly, half joking.
Clear had to laugh.
"See? Clear hears me!"
Clear laughed harder.
"So," Kim asked slowly to Shania, "What's the latest from student council?"
Shania's blue eyes twinkled in excitement. Clear could tell she had been dying to say something. "We've planned out everything for Frosh Week." She referred to the events that began next Monday, when freshmen were put to the test with events such as Siamese Donuts, Don't Look Up, Mount Aberham Record Book, Mystery Box and many more disgusting games. Shania had been the most active ninth grader in Frosh Week last year.
"What've they got this year?" Kim asked, snatching Shania's notebook. She read over it. "Saltwater chugging contest... Weelbarrow race down the stairs... eating cat food? Who thought of these things?"
Shania grinned with pride. "Your's truly!"
"I've never had a Frosh Week," Clear spoke up suddenly. Shania looked at her curiously. "I mean, well, I moved here last Christmas, and my old school didn't have one. What's it like?"
Kimberly burst out laughing, ready to tell a story. By now, the class was filling up, but no one payed attention to them. "You wanna hear some of Shania's tales?"
Clear nodded.
"Okay... in 'Don't Look Up,' someone drops a bucketfull of... well, a bucketfull of something on your head from the main stairwell. Shania got sour cream. I got Prego spaghetti sauce. Then in 'Siamese Donuts' we were tied together and had to eat a donut on a string."
Clear burst out laughing. A homely boy in front of them turned around and glared at them. This time, they all laughed.
"Then she went for the Record Book. She won for Most Freakishly Long Toes and the Biggest Belch."
"First time a girl ever won!" Shania put in proudly.
"And on Friday was the event that got everyone to vote her into student council.. she ate..." Kimberly's face got green. "A live minnow."
Clear grimmaced. "Ew. This sounds like the craziest, most classless event in the world."
Kimberly grinned. "That's why it's so much fun!"
***
Clear couldn't believe how easy it was to have fun even after leaving her boyfriend. For awhile chatting with Kimberly and Shania helped.
She was sorting through the things in her locker when she came across a picture of her and her dad at the park when she was little. Suddenly, a memory from her childhood came to her. The memory was not all that important, but vivid in her memory. It was not a childhood tragedy or a landmark in her life, but it stuck out like a sore thumb.
---
"Higher, Daddy!" she cried, gripping the chains of the swing tightly.
Her father kept pushing her. "It won't go any higher, Clear!" he called to his daughter, "You're the the tallest kid on the playground!"
"But I wanna go to the moon!" Clear insisted. The five-year-old pried a single hand away and pointed out at the forming moon in the late evening sky. It seemed so close, so within reach, like a shiny marble. She could reach the moon. She could take it down and bring it home with her.
Bravely, she took her other hand away and reached further. The next thing she remembered was soaring not to gracefully, legs and arms flailing, to the ground. She landed on her knees with a thud.
A sharp pain was in her shin. Her father bent down to tend to his fallen daughter. A big kid from the swing set also knelt down beside and asked if she was okay.
"I'm fine," she said shakily. She felt a stickiness in the knee of her jeans. Was she bleeding? She didn't want her daddy to know. "I just fell. I didn't die."
Her dad chuckled slightly at his daughter's joke. He pulled her up. "Come on, pumpkin," he said, "Let's go home and get you cleaned up."
"But I don't need to be cleaned up," Clear insisted. "I wanna stay and play."
"Sorry, Cleary," her dad said sadly. He took her hand. "We have to go."
Clear was embarassed how. "I don't need to hold your hand!" she shouted.
"Clear, please, I know you feel okay, but it's getting late." he held out his hand expectantly, a smile on his face.
Clear looked at the outstretched hand, and reluctantly took it.
But she wasn't happy.
---
All the bad stuff came back to her. She closed her eyes for a second, and everything, all the fun she had talking with Kim and Shania was gone and the pain of her dad, Colin, George, it was all back. Tears sprung out of her eyes.
Quickly, she grabbed her bag and shut the door. She spun around and made her way to the back door of the school. No one hardly left out of there. Sure, she would have to go out of her way to get to the path to her house, but it was the less populated rout.
She finally reached the doors. She opened them and the sunlight hit her like a slap. She groaned angrily and kept walking.
A hand fell on her shoulder.
She screamed and turned around to see the shocked face of Alex Browning.
"Holy shit, Clear," he said, trying to catch his breath, "You don't have to scream!"
Her clenched fists loosened inside the sleeves of her brown suede jacket. "Alex. I thought you were..."
"George? Tod?" She didn't have to say anything to agree. "Believe me, it could have been worse. What the hell are you doing walking this way? Do you know how many psychos hang around this place? Do you wanna go and get yourself attacked?"
"It's four in the afternoon," she groaned, "I'm just going home."
He smirked and held out something shiny. "Can't walk through the doors without your keys." He gave her the ring full of keys and chains. "You dropped it on the way out."
She was about to snarl, but smiled instead. She accepted the keys and slipped them into her pocket. "Going this way?" she asked.
"Sure," he shrugged. "Someone's got to keep you safe."
She looked at him strangely. "Huh?"
It must have been a joke.
***
Terry burst through her back door. Billy followed behind, nearly knocking her down the basement steps. "Watch it!" she laughed. She kicked her shoes down the steps into the basement. She was about to lead Billy downstairs into her room when she smelled the air.
"Uh-oh," she said suddenly. She peeked her head through the kitchen door to see a boiling pot on the stove. "Spaghetti."
Billy raised an eyebrow. "You love spaghetti."
"Mom only makes my favourite meals with alterior motives," she explained. Terry didn't exactly get along with her parents very well. And why not? Her mom's high expectations and her dad's success always made Terry seem like the fat pig daughter. Her mom never let her forget it. "Overweight" was what she called it when she was being politically correct or talking to a friend. "How's Terry doing?" "She hasn't lost any weight yet." Her size wasn't the only thing about her!
Her mom, not a hair out of place, walked into the kitchen. "Hello Terry," she greeted with a smile, "Hi, Billy."
As far as the Chaneys knew, Billy was just a friend. Terry wasn't allowed to have a boyfriend until she was sixteen.
Billy felt that he could slice the tension in the room with a knife. He motioned the pot of sauce. "The spaghetti smells great, Mrs. C."
Mrs. Chaney smiled a little at the abreviation. "Thank you Billy. You're welcome to stay for supper if you would like?"
Billy looked back at Terry. Her eyes said 'no.' "Er, I don't want to impose on you. You shouldn't have to give any to me--it's your food."
"We have plenty extra," Terry's mom insisted, "We're having the Hannamns over for supper."
Terry's eyes widened and she dropped her keys. "Erica, too?" she asked.
"Oh course," her mom said cheerfully as she walked over to the stove. She stuck a wooden spoon in the sauce and began stirring. "You two haven't gotten together in so long. It will be good for you."
Terry groaned internally. Her mom didn't know about their fight!
She looked at Billy and forced a smile. "Billy," she said tightly, "I think you should stay. I insist."
~~
*Extra note #1 - All Shania's frosh week adventures are actually my own. Everything down to the minnow. But I didn't make student council. DAMN YOU, ANTHONY!
*Extra note #2 - This one freaked me out. I was in geography and our teacher wrote our assignment on the board--it was number 1 a-d. Keegan, my friend and another FD freak, was like "Hey, one a-d--180!" and I was like, "Haha." Then two minutes later a book fell on my head.
First Period: Alex, Clear, George, Tod - Algebra; Terry, Billy - History
Second Period: Alex, Billy - Science; Clear, Terry - Computers; George, Tod - English
Third Period: Alex - English; Clear - Instrumental Music; George - History; Tod - Gym; Terry - Spanish; Billy - Algebra
Fourth Period: Alex - Music History; Clear, George, Tod - French; Terry, Billy - Shop
Chapter Five
Fourth period was French for Clear. That meant that she had to face Tod and George. She walked into the room trying not to be noticed. That wasn't hard, since there were only two people in there at the moment, Kimberly Corman and Shania Reeves, two girls she hardly knew.
Kimberly and Shania were conversing about something obviously very funny, but Clear didn't bother getting into it. She slumped into a seat at the back of the room, two seats away from Kimberly. She certainly wasn't execting Kimberly to lean over and begin speaking to her.
"Hey, Clear!" she said eagerly.
"Oh, hi, Kimberly," Clear said softly.
Kimberly reached into her purse and pulled out two school photos. "I have a question for you. We've been arguing for two hours. Who do you think is hotter? Dano, or Frankie?"
Dano and Frankie weren't familiar names or faces to Clear. Judging by their pictures, they must have been older by a year or two. Reluctantly, she pointed to the one on the left, the one with the pudgy face. "Him," she said confidently.
Kim beamed and laughed. "All right!" she exclaimed. She turned to Shania, a tall, skinny blonde that had more than a glint of mischief in her face. "See, I told you more people think Dano's hotter."
"No way!" Shania cried, snatching the pictures, "Look at Frankie's eyes. They're so--"
"Glazed over," Kimberly put in half-sourly, half joking.
Clear had to laugh.
"See? Clear hears me!"
Clear laughed harder.
"So," Kim asked slowly to Shania, "What's the latest from student council?"
Shania's blue eyes twinkled in excitement. Clear could tell she had been dying to say something. "We've planned out everything for Frosh Week." She referred to the events that began next Monday, when freshmen were put to the test with events such as Siamese Donuts, Don't Look Up, Mount Aberham Record Book, Mystery Box and many more disgusting games. Shania had been the most active ninth grader in Frosh Week last year.
"What've they got this year?" Kim asked, snatching Shania's notebook. She read over it. "Saltwater chugging contest... Weelbarrow race down the stairs... eating cat food? Who thought of these things?"
Shania grinned with pride. "Your's truly!"
"I've never had a Frosh Week," Clear spoke up suddenly. Shania looked at her curiously. "I mean, well, I moved here last Christmas, and my old school didn't have one. What's it like?"
Kimberly burst out laughing, ready to tell a story. By now, the class was filling up, but no one payed attention to them. "You wanna hear some of Shania's tales?"
Clear nodded.
"Okay... in 'Don't Look Up,' someone drops a bucketfull of... well, a bucketfull of something on your head from the main stairwell. Shania got sour cream. I got Prego spaghetti sauce. Then in 'Siamese Donuts' we were tied together and had to eat a donut on a string."
Clear burst out laughing. A homely boy in front of them turned around and glared at them. This time, they all laughed.
"Then she went for the Record Book. She won for Most Freakishly Long Toes and the Biggest Belch."
"First time a girl ever won!" Shania put in proudly.
"And on Friday was the event that got everyone to vote her into student council.. she ate..." Kimberly's face got green. "A live minnow."
Clear grimmaced. "Ew. This sounds like the craziest, most classless event in the world."
Kimberly grinned. "That's why it's so much fun!"
***
Clear couldn't believe how easy it was to have fun even after leaving her boyfriend. For awhile chatting with Kimberly and Shania helped.
She was sorting through the things in her locker when she came across a picture of her and her dad at the park when she was little. Suddenly, a memory from her childhood came to her. The memory was not all that important, but vivid in her memory. It was not a childhood tragedy or a landmark in her life, but it stuck out like a sore thumb.
---
"Higher, Daddy!" she cried, gripping the chains of the swing tightly.
Her father kept pushing her. "It won't go any higher, Clear!" he called to his daughter, "You're the the tallest kid on the playground!"
"But I wanna go to the moon!" Clear insisted. The five-year-old pried a single hand away and pointed out at the forming moon in the late evening sky. It seemed so close, so within reach, like a shiny marble. She could reach the moon. She could take it down and bring it home with her.
Bravely, she took her other hand away and reached further. The next thing she remembered was soaring not to gracefully, legs and arms flailing, to the ground. She landed on her knees with a thud.
A sharp pain was in her shin. Her father bent down to tend to his fallen daughter. A big kid from the swing set also knelt down beside and asked if she was okay.
"I'm fine," she said shakily. She felt a stickiness in the knee of her jeans. Was she bleeding? She didn't want her daddy to know. "I just fell. I didn't die."
Her dad chuckled slightly at his daughter's joke. He pulled her up. "Come on, pumpkin," he said, "Let's go home and get you cleaned up."
"But I don't need to be cleaned up," Clear insisted. "I wanna stay and play."
"Sorry, Cleary," her dad said sadly. He took her hand. "We have to go."
Clear was embarassed how. "I don't need to hold your hand!" she shouted.
"Clear, please, I know you feel okay, but it's getting late." he held out his hand expectantly, a smile on his face.
Clear looked at the outstretched hand, and reluctantly took it.
But she wasn't happy.
---
All the bad stuff came back to her. She closed her eyes for a second, and everything, all the fun she had talking with Kim and Shania was gone and the pain of her dad, Colin, George, it was all back. Tears sprung out of her eyes.
Quickly, she grabbed her bag and shut the door. She spun around and made her way to the back door of the school. No one hardly left out of there. Sure, she would have to go out of her way to get to the path to her house, but it was the less populated rout.
She finally reached the doors. She opened them and the sunlight hit her like a slap. She groaned angrily and kept walking.
A hand fell on her shoulder.
She screamed and turned around to see the shocked face of Alex Browning.
"Holy shit, Clear," he said, trying to catch his breath, "You don't have to scream!"
Her clenched fists loosened inside the sleeves of her brown suede jacket. "Alex. I thought you were..."
"George? Tod?" She didn't have to say anything to agree. "Believe me, it could have been worse. What the hell are you doing walking this way? Do you know how many psychos hang around this place? Do you wanna go and get yourself attacked?"
"It's four in the afternoon," she groaned, "I'm just going home."
He smirked and held out something shiny. "Can't walk through the doors without your keys." He gave her the ring full of keys and chains. "You dropped it on the way out."
She was about to snarl, but smiled instead. She accepted the keys and slipped them into her pocket. "Going this way?" she asked.
"Sure," he shrugged. "Someone's got to keep you safe."
She looked at him strangely. "Huh?"
It must have been a joke.
***
Terry burst through her back door. Billy followed behind, nearly knocking her down the basement steps. "Watch it!" she laughed. She kicked her shoes down the steps into the basement. She was about to lead Billy downstairs into her room when she smelled the air.
"Uh-oh," she said suddenly. She peeked her head through the kitchen door to see a boiling pot on the stove. "Spaghetti."
Billy raised an eyebrow. "You love spaghetti."
"Mom only makes my favourite meals with alterior motives," she explained. Terry didn't exactly get along with her parents very well. And why not? Her mom's high expectations and her dad's success always made Terry seem like the fat pig daughter. Her mom never let her forget it. "Overweight" was what she called it when she was being politically correct or talking to a friend. "How's Terry doing?" "She hasn't lost any weight yet." Her size wasn't the only thing about her!
Her mom, not a hair out of place, walked into the kitchen. "Hello Terry," she greeted with a smile, "Hi, Billy."
As far as the Chaneys knew, Billy was just a friend. Terry wasn't allowed to have a boyfriend until she was sixteen.
Billy felt that he could slice the tension in the room with a knife. He motioned the pot of sauce. "The spaghetti smells great, Mrs. C."
Mrs. Chaney smiled a little at the abreviation. "Thank you Billy. You're welcome to stay for supper if you would like?"
Billy looked back at Terry. Her eyes said 'no.' "Er, I don't want to impose on you. You shouldn't have to give any to me--it's your food."
"We have plenty extra," Terry's mom insisted, "We're having the Hannamns over for supper."
Terry's eyes widened and she dropped her keys. "Erica, too?" she asked.
"Oh course," her mom said cheerfully as she walked over to the stove. She stuck a wooden spoon in the sauce and began stirring. "You two haven't gotten together in so long. It will be good for you."
Terry groaned internally. Her mom didn't know about their fight!
She looked at Billy and forced a smile. "Billy," she said tightly, "I think you should stay. I insist."
~~
*Extra note #1 - All Shania's frosh week adventures are actually my own. Everything down to the minnow. But I didn't make student council. DAMN YOU, ANTHONY!
*Extra note #2 - This one freaked me out. I was in geography and our teacher wrote our assignment on the board--it was number 1 a-d. Keegan, my friend and another FD freak, was like "Hey, one a-d--180!" and I was like, "Haha." Then two minutes later a book fell on my head.
