Warning: I have just had a horrible week, and it's reflected in my writing. Pretty much all filler, maybe a tiny bit of foreshadowing. . . who knows. I promise there's more coming, and it'll get better. . . I'll try and get it out soon.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Paige, how are you feeling?" my English teacher, Mrs. Hewitt asked as I came into class. I put my books down, then went to the front to the class to talk to her quietly, as opposed to the whole class listening in on our conversation. Mrs. Hewitt, despite her best intentions, came off as a loud, intrusive, annoying. She was a fairly large woman with long, frizzy black hair she always wore in a messy bun.
"Good," I told her, trying not to stare at her oversized hot pink sweater. . . thing she was wearing.
"The holidays must have been hard for you."
"A bit. Um, could I get the work I've missed?"
But she wasn't done. "Holidays are hard as it is, and I can't imagine what you've been through. Did you have family come?"
The classroom had filled up, and I noticed a couple of girls whispering. Mrs. Hewitt finally seemed to notice. She picked up a pile of papers from her desk. "This is what we've been working on. You need to do five of the comprehension questions from each chapter. We're starting the essay tomorrow, but you don't have to worry about that. We've also done a reflection on the movie we watched, but you don't need to do that. There's an oral presentation next week on any Shakespearian play, and a short story due in the theme of your choice. One thousand to three thousand words. If this gets too much, please, let me know."
I stared at the inch thick book in front of me. "No, this is fine." I took the stack from her and silently went to my desk. It was going to be a very, very long day.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Hey," Spinner said, coming up behind me in the lunch line. "How's everything going?"
I shrugged. "Okay, I guess." We walked into the cafeteria and found our usual table, though no one was there yet.
"Teachers aren't overloading you?"
"Not more than I had expected," I lied. All morning I had recurring fantasies of beating them with the homework they were assigning me, all the while telling me how sorry they were. And the due dates.
I looked down at the tray in front of me and picked at the green blob. "What's this supposed to be?" I started to picked at it with my fork. It was somewhere between crumbly and stringy, and a small river of oil ran down the side. I put my fork down and picked up the fruit. Ashley came over to our table. I stood up, and she hugged me for a long time.
"I'm so sorry," she said, still not letting go. "We left before it happened and we just got in this morning." She had been all over the place for Christmas, a week down south, a week skiing, and a week back down south. We let go, and I looked at her. She was definitely tanned, and her hair was braided with beads at the bottom. "How are you doing?"
I shrugged as we sat down. "Better."
"I'm so sorry I wasn't here."
"It's okay. Seriously. Now tell me about your vacation."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was finally last period. The day had been excruciatingly long. All my teachers had been sympathetic, but had piled on the work nonetheless. Last period was math, and I couldn't begin to imagine how much work was coming. My teacher, Mr. Larsen, had told me when we came in to see him after he gave the lesson. I went and sat down, grateful for the break after the science class I'd just had. He gave the lesson quickly, and I barely understood a word of what he said. He called me to the back of the room and handed me a small package.
"I'm sure the other teachers have already piled the homework on," he began.
I nodded. "Oh, yeah."
He smiled. "So I'm going to try to make this easy on you. I gave them a bunch of work before Christmas that I'm sure maybe three of them actually got done. So you have the option of doing however much or little as you want. We've had two lessons, both of which you have photocopies of in there, as well as some handouts that you have to do. There's a unit test next Friday, and I want you to write it then, if you've been able to catch up by then. I'll be available almost everyday before and after school."
"Sure," I said, trying to process all that he had said.
"You're doing okay?"
I was surprised when he asked. Mr. Larsen was a good teacher and a nice guy, but not interested in the lives of his students. I hadn't been expecting him to ask.
"Yeah," I replied too quickly.
He studied me for a second. "Good." Momentary awkward silence. "Will you be able to come tomorrow?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Do you want to go to The Dot or something?" Hazel asked me after school that day. I was crouched down beside my locker, desperately trying to stuff all my homework in my bag, but wasn't really getting anywhere.
"I've got a lot of homework, Haze," I told her, stuffing one last book in, then hearing something rip. "Damn it."
"So do I. There's enough time tonight."
I looked up at and unintentionally gave her a deadly look. "I've got two weeks worth to catch up."
"Oh, right. Sorry. Maybe tomorrow?"
I didn't feel like arguing with her. "Sure. Maybe tomorrow."
"Okay. Bye." I pulled the books out of my bag and tried to find the rip.
"You look like you've had a long day," Spinner said, crouching down beside me. I looked up at him.
"How could you guess?"
"Rhetorical question?"
"Absolutely."
"Good. How'd it go? Need me to hurt anyone?"
I smiled lightly. "I'd love you to, but I don't have time to list them off."
"Okay. Then will you at least let me give you a ride home?"
"I think I can do that." I started putting some books in, then closed it and shoved more books into a plastic bag.
"They really did load you down with it."
"Just a bit." I picked up my bags. They were heavy. Spinner noticed me flinch as I pulled them. He quickly took them from me, in addition to his own.
"They loaded you down with English?"
I shrugged. "I guess it's to be expected." After everything that had happened in the past month, I wasn't feeling like myself. I didn't see the use in whining about something I couldn't help.
"Everyone being good to you?"
"Yeah." They all had been pretty good. We walked out into the parking lot, into his car in silence.
"How'd you spend new year's?" I asked.
"Party at Jimmy's. Nothing big." I knew what was coming next. I didn't want to tell him. I didn't celebrate. I went to bed early and cried myself to sleep. I wasn't happy. I quickly changed the subject. I was making desperate conversation, trying to avoid more awkward conversation. I suddenly felt uncomfortable around him, like I was afraid of him knowing what I was feeling.
"So what's going on with Jimmy and Ashley? Together? Not?" I couldn't care less, but it seemed like the right thing to say.
Spinner laughed. "Last I heard, together, but that was an hour ago, so things may have changed by now."
"We're they talking while she was away?"
"Jimmy denies it, but. . ."
"Jimmy's the worst liar around."
"Bingo."
He pulled up in my driveway and turned to me. "You want a ride tomorrow morning?"
"Do you mind?"
"Nah. Any excuse to drive."
"I'll see you tomorrow." I picked up my bags, and struggled out of the car. I closed the door, and slowly made my way up to my front door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Paige, how are you feeling?" my English teacher, Mrs. Hewitt asked as I came into class. I put my books down, then went to the front to the class to talk to her quietly, as opposed to the whole class listening in on our conversation. Mrs. Hewitt, despite her best intentions, came off as a loud, intrusive, annoying. She was a fairly large woman with long, frizzy black hair she always wore in a messy bun.
"Good," I told her, trying not to stare at her oversized hot pink sweater. . . thing she was wearing.
"The holidays must have been hard for you."
"A bit. Um, could I get the work I've missed?"
But she wasn't done. "Holidays are hard as it is, and I can't imagine what you've been through. Did you have family come?"
The classroom had filled up, and I noticed a couple of girls whispering. Mrs. Hewitt finally seemed to notice. She picked up a pile of papers from her desk. "This is what we've been working on. You need to do five of the comprehension questions from each chapter. We're starting the essay tomorrow, but you don't have to worry about that. We've also done a reflection on the movie we watched, but you don't need to do that. There's an oral presentation next week on any Shakespearian play, and a short story due in the theme of your choice. One thousand to three thousand words. If this gets too much, please, let me know."
I stared at the inch thick book in front of me. "No, this is fine." I took the stack from her and silently went to my desk. It was going to be a very, very long day.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Hey," Spinner said, coming up behind me in the lunch line. "How's everything going?"
I shrugged. "Okay, I guess." We walked into the cafeteria and found our usual table, though no one was there yet.
"Teachers aren't overloading you?"
"Not more than I had expected," I lied. All morning I had recurring fantasies of beating them with the homework they were assigning me, all the while telling me how sorry they were. And the due dates.
I looked down at the tray in front of me and picked at the green blob. "What's this supposed to be?" I started to picked at it with my fork. It was somewhere between crumbly and stringy, and a small river of oil ran down the side. I put my fork down and picked up the fruit. Ashley came over to our table. I stood up, and she hugged me for a long time.
"I'm so sorry," she said, still not letting go. "We left before it happened and we just got in this morning." She had been all over the place for Christmas, a week down south, a week skiing, and a week back down south. We let go, and I looked at her. She was definitely tanned, and her hair was braided with beads at the bottom. "How are you doing?"
I shrugged as we sat down. "Better."
"I'm so sorry I wasn't here."
"It's okay. Seriously. Now tell me about your vacation."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was finally last period. The day had been excruciatingly long. All my teachers had been sympathetic, but had piled on the work nonetheless. Last period was math, and I couldn't begin to imagine how much work was coming. My teacher, Mr. Larsen, had told me when we came in to see him after he gave the lesson. I went and sat down, grateful for the break after the science class I'd just had. He gave the lesson quickly, and I barely understood a word of what he said. He called me to the back of the room and handed me a small package.
"I'm sure the other teachers have already piled the homework on," he began.
I nodded. "Oh, yeah."
He smiled. "So I'm going to try to make this easy on you. I gave them a bunch of work before Christmas that I'm sure maybe three of them actually got done. So you have the option of doing however much or little as you want. We've had two lessons, both of which you have photocopies of in there, as well as some handouts that you have to do. There's a unit test next Friday, and I want you to write it then, if you've been able to catch up by then. I'll be available almost everyday before and after school."
"Sure," I said, trying to process all that he had said.
"You're doing okay?"
I was surprised when he asked. Mr. Larsen was a good teacher and a nice guy, but not interested in the lives of his students. I hadn't been expecting him to ask.
"Yeah," I replied too quickly.
He studied me for a second. "Good." Momentary awkward silence. "Will you be able to come tomorrow?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Do you want to go to The Dot or something?" Hazel asked me after school that day. I was crouched down beside my locker, desperately trying to stuff all my homework in my bag, but wasn't really getting anywhere.
"I've got a lot of homework, Haze," I told her, stuffing one last book in, then hearing something rip. "Damn it."
"So do I. There's enough time tonight."
I looked up at and unintentionally gave her a deadly look. "I've got two weeks worth to catch up."
"Oh, right. Sorry. Maybe tomorrow?"
I didn't feel like arguing with her. "Sure. Maybe tomorrow."
"Okay. Bye." I pulled the books out of my bag and tried to find the rip.
"You look like you've had a long day," Spinner said, crouching down beside me. I looked up at him.
"How could you guess?"
"Rhetorical question?"
"Absolutely."
"Good. How'd it go? Need me to hurt anyone?"
I smiled lightly. "I'd love you to, but I don't have time to list them off."
"Okay. Then will you at least let me give you a ride home?"
"I think I can do that." I started putting some books in, then closed it and shoved more books into a plastic bag.
"They really did load you down with it."
"Just a bit." I picked up my bags. They were heavy. Spinner noticed me flinch as I pulled them. He quickly took them from me, in addition to his own.
"They loaded you down with English?"
I shrugged. "I guess it's to be expected." After everything that had happened in the past month, I wasn't feeling like myself. I didn't see the use in whining about something I couldn't help.
"Everyone being good to you?"
"Yeah." They all had been pretty good. We walked out into the parking lot, into his car in silence.
"How'd you spend new year's?" I asked.
"Party at Jimmy's. Nothing big." I knew what was coming next. I didn't want to tell him. I didn't celebrate. I went to bed early and cried myself to sleep. I wasn't happy. I quickly changed the subject. I was making desperate conversation, trying to avoid more awkward conversation. I suddenly felt uncomfortable around him, like I was afraid of him knowing what I was feeling.
"So what's going on with Jimmy and Ashley? Together? Not?" I couldn't care less, but it seemed like the right thing to say.
Spinner laughed. "Last I heard, together, but that was an hour ago, so things may have changed by now."
"We're they talking while she was away?"
"Jimmy denies it, but. . ."
"Jimmy's the worst liar around."
"Bingo."
He pulled up in my driveway and turned to me. "You want a ride tomorrow morning?"
"Do you mind?"
"Nah. Any excuse to drive."
"I'll see you tomorrow." I picked up my bags, and struggled out of the car. I closed the door, and slowly made my way up to my front door.
