Zenon arrived at the physics lab 5 minutes late, and skidded to a stop inside-right in front of the teacher. The class snickered.
Zenon laughed sheepishly. "Um, hi," she said, sticking her hand out. "I'm Zenon Carr and I'm new, which I'm guessing is very obvious." The class laughed outright.
The teacher shook her hand bemusedly and said, "Hello, Ms. Carr. I'm Mr. Hanson, and you have detention after school." The class roared with laughter now as Zenon blushed slightly.
"Um. Sorry I'm late," she murmured. Mr. Hanson smiled. "Please take your seat there in the back. Here are your books." Zenon, now loaded with textbooks and notebooks, stumbled to the back of the room and collapsed into her chair and tried to sort through her books.
"Please turn in your textbooks to page 21," Mr. Hanson directed. Zenon flipped through her textbook and stared with despair at the symbols of the Table of Periodic Elements. As Mr. Hanson started talking rapidly about whatever he was talking about which Zenon had no clue about, a girl leaned over and whispered, "Hey. You know, Mr. Hanson is the strictest teacher in the school?"
"I had no clue," Zenon said sarcastically and tried to focus on what the teacher was saying but the girl persisted. "Listen, if you need help with your homework I can help you with it." "I'll think about it," Zenon answered.
There was a pause then the girl introduced herself. "I'm Tasha," she said. Zenon didn't bother to reply. "Do you-"Tasha started, but Zenon interrupted impatiently, "Listen, I'm already in trouble, just talk to me after class, please?"
"Okay," Tasha grinned, and turned her attention back to Mr. Hanson. He droned on for the next 35 minutes and finally the bell rang and class was dismissed. Zenon shoved her books into her bag and Tasha came over to her.
"Hi!" she said cheerily. "Hi," Zenon said. "What room are you in?" Tasha asked. "Room 11," Zenon answered as she shoved extra hard to zip it up. "Cool!" Tasha said excitedly. "I'm in Room 12, so we're right next to each other!" "Yay," Zenon said unemotionally.
"Hey, listen," Tasha said. "If you need any help with your homework, I'm your girl. Physics is my strong-hold." "Thanks," Zenon said, starting to warm to the girl.
"Do you have study hall 7th period?" Tasha asked as they walked out of the room. "Yeah," Zenon answered after consulting her schedule. "Cool! Me, too!" Tasha said, jumping up and down. "This is great!"
"Yeah, superb," Zenon answered. "Do you know where locker 48 is?" she asked. Tasha's eyes widened. "That is so major freaky," she said. "My locker is number 47!" "Come on!" she dragged Zenon down the hall, where Zenon gratefully stored her text and notebooks, and Tasha zipped off to algebra as Zenon blindly headed to her 2nd period class: World Civ.
All day was pretty much like 1st period: she was late to every class as she didn't know where they were, and so she either got more detention or extra homework. Lunch was the best part of the day. She and Tasha ate together and Zenon started liking Tasha more than ever. Truth was, Tasha was actually a really stellar person once you got past her rich girl looks.
5th period was physical education. Zenon died a thousand times of exhaustion and humiliation. 6th period was fun, but it was all stuff she already knew so mostly she zoned out and wondered how Neb was doing in the Spay-Stay.
7th period, Tasha explained physics and algebra homework so well, that Zenon actually understood it clearly for once, which was a huge miracle.
8th period, Zenon agonized over which club to join. Chess was so boring. She couldn't sing if her life depended on it. And she hated photography. On the plus side, chess was a game, she loved to sing but sounded horrible at it, that was all, and being on the yearbook staff would mean that she could get out of classes and arrange photos beautifully on paper. She chose yearbook staff, and was handed a camera and given her own computer, and told that she would be called out of classes if she was needed to photograph somebody.
Zenon loved that part of it. She and Tasha hung out after Zenon completed her 2 hours of detention and her extra homework. Tasha helped Zenon complete her other homework, and then they just talked in Zenon's room as Zenon's roommate hadn't arrived yet.
"So, where are you from?" Zenon asked. "Everywhere," Tasha answered, toying with the bedspread on the other bed. "Just...everywhere." "What do you mean?" Zenon asked, rolling over on her bed to face her. "You have to be from somewhere in particular."
"I was born in Oklahoma," Tasha answered, "but my dad was in the Secret Service, so we moved a lot. I've lived in Spain, Hong Kong, Alaska, California, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, Turkey, Louisiana, and Hawaii, all in 14 years. Recently we lived in Iceland, and that was when my mom and dad decided I needed security, and their idea of security was a boarding school. So I was sent here. The best place I ever lived was Hawaii. It was when I was 9, and I loved to explore. I often went into Do Not Trespass areas, even though I was punished for it later. I found beautiful things within them, orchids, REAL orchids, not the ones you put in a pot. I found flowers that had been considered extinct, and animals that are now in zoos. But the best thing I found was a cliff that I found after I stumbled out of the jungle when I was chasing a butterfly. It was sunset, and I could see the ocean, just undulating, you know? The sky was a gorgeous shade of red, pink, and gold, all mixed together, and I could see rain clouds on another island, and a waterfall only a few miles from where I was. It was the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen. We moved after only being there 6 months." Tasha sighed. "The worst place we ever went to was Turkey. It was when the war was going on, and everybody hated the Americans, you know? Well, my little sister was kidnapped and held hostage. We eventually got her back, but she didn't speak for three years after that. We were all constantly in fear that one of us would be captured or killed or worse. It was crazy. I was so glad that I came here."
Zenon was still for a moment as she chewed over what Tasha had told her. "Wow," she said softly. "You had a horrid major childhood." "Yeah," Tasha smiled.
"But it's over now. Oh my gosh, we're gonna be late for supper! Let's go!" The girls dashed out of the room and to the cafeteria, unaware of what would happen next.
Zenon laughed sheepishly. "Um, hi," she said, sticking her hand out. "I'm Zenon Carr and I'm new, which I'm guessing is very obvious." The class laughed outright.
The teacher shook her hand bemusedly and said, "Hello, Ms. Carr. I'm Mr. Hanson, and you have detention after school." The class roared with laughter now as Zenon blushed slightly.
"Um. Sorry I'm late," she murmured. Mr. Hanson smiled. "Please take your seat there in the back. Here are your books." Zenon, now loaded with textbooks and notebooks, stumbled to the back of the room and collapsed into her chair and tried to sort through her books.
"Please turn in your textbooks to page 21," Mr. Hanson directed. Zenon flipped through her textbook and stared with despair at the symbols of the Table of Periodic Elements. As Mr. Hanson started talking rapidly about whatever he was talking about which Zenon had no clue about, a girl leaned over and whispered, "Hey. You know, Mr. Hanson is the strictest teacher in the school?"
"I had no clue," Zenon said sarcastically and tried to focus on what the teacher was saying but the girl persisted. "Listen, if you need help with your homework I can help you with it." "I'll think about it," Zenon answered.
There was a pause then the girl introduced herself. "I'm Tasha," she said. Zenon didn't bother to reply. "Do you-"Tasha started, but Zenon interrupted impatiently, "Listen, I'm already in trouble, just talk to me after class, please?"
"Okay," Tasha grinned, and turned her attention back to Mr. Hanson. He droned on for the next 35 minutes and finally the bell rang and class was dismissed. Zenon shoved her books into her bag and Tasha came over to her.
"Hi!" she said cheerily. "Hi," Zenon said. "What room are you in?" Tasha asked. "Room 11," Zenon answered as she shoved extra hard to zip it up. "Cool!" Tasha said excitedly. "I'm in Room 12, so we're right next to each other!" "Yay," Zenon said unemotionally.
"Hey, listen," Tasha said. "If you need any help with your homework, I'm your girl. Physics is my strong-hold." "Thanks," Zenon said, starting to warm to the girl.
"Do you have study hall 7th period?" Tasha asked as they walked out of the room. "Yeah," Zenon answered after consulting her schedule. "Cool! Me, too!" Tasha said, jumping up and down. "This is great!"
"Yeah, superb," Zenon answered. "Do you know where locker 48 is?" she asked. Tasha's eyes widened. "That is so major freaky," she said. "My locker is number 47!" "Come on!" she dragged Zenon down the hall, where Zenon gratefully stored her text and notebooks, and Tasha zipped off to algebra as Zenon blindly headed to her 2nd period class: World Civ.
All day was pretty much like 1st period: she was late to every class as she didn't know where they were, and so she either got more detention or extra homework. Lunch was the best part of the day. She and Tasha ate together and Zenon started liking Tasha more than ever. Truth was, Tasha was actually a really stellar person once you got past her rich girl looks.
5th period was physical education. Zenon died a thousand times of exhaustion and humiliation. 6th period was fun, but it was all stuff she already knew so mostly she zoned out and wondered how Neb was doing in the Spay-Stay.
7th period, Tasha explained physics and algebra homework so well, that Zenon actually understood it clearly for once, which was a huge miracle.
8th period, Zenon agonized over which club to join. Chess was so boring. She couldn't sing if her life depended on it. And she hated photography. On the plus side, chess was a game, she loved to sing but sounded horrible at it, that was all, and being on the yearbook staff would mean that she could get out of classes and arrange photos beautifully on paper. She chose yearbook staff, and was handed a camera and given her own computer, and told that she would be called out of classes if she was needed to photograph somebody.
Zenon loved that part of it. She and Tasha hung out after Zenon completed her 2 hours of detention and her extra homework. Tasha helped Zenon complete her other homework, and then they just talked in Zenon's room as Zenon's roommate hadn't arrived yet.
"So, where are you from?" Zenon asked. "Everywhere," Tasha answered, toying with the bedspread on the other bed. "Just...everywhere." "What do you mean?" Zenon asked, rolling over on her bed to face her. "You have to be from somewhere in particular."
"I was born in Oklahoma," Tasha answered, "but my dad was in the Secret Service, so we moved a lot. I've lived in Spain, Hong Kong, Alaska, California, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, Turkey, Louisiana, and Hawaii, all in 14 years. Recently we lived in Iceland, and that was when my mom and dad decided I needed security, and their idea of security was a boarding school. So I was sent here. The best place I ever lived was Hawaii. It was when I was 9, and I loved to explore. I often went into Do Not Trespass areas, even though I was punished for it later. I found beautiful things within them, orchids, REAL orchids, not the ones you put in a pot. I found flowers that had been considered extinct, and animals that are now in zoos. But the best thing I found was a cliff that I found after I stumbled out of the jungle when I was chasing a butterfly. It was sunset, and I could see the ocean, just undulating, you know? The sky was a gorgeous shade of red, pink, and gold, all mixed together, and I could see rain clouds on another island, and a waterfall only a few miles from where I was. It was the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen. We moved after only being there 6 months." Tasha sighed. "The worst place we ever went to was Turkey. It was when the war was going on, and everybody hated the Americans, you know? Well, my little sister was kidnapped and held hostage. We eventually got her back, but she didn't speak for three years after that. We were all constantly in fear that one of us would be captured or killed or worse. It was crazy. I was so glad that I came here."
Zenon was still for a moment as she chewed over what Tasha had told her. "Wow," she said softly. "You had a horrid major childhood." "Yeah," Tasha smiled.
"But it's over now. Oh my gosh, we're gonna be late for supper! Let's go!" The girls dashed out of the room and to the cafeteria, unaware of what would happen next.