An Old Friend
Chapter 7—Kris' First Day
Pim, Phil and Kris arrived at H.G. Wells high school. Pim left them to go to her locker and Phil took Kris to the attendance office to pick up her schedule and locker combination.
"Now, Phil can show you how to get to your classes. Memorize the combination and number to your locker so you don't need to look at the card every time. We had to give you a locker on the far end of the school because that was the only section that had unused lockers." The secretary told Kris.
Kris showed Phil her schedule. As it turned out, five of her classes were with Phil and the other two were random electives the computer had put into her schedule simply because there were openings.
On the way to Kris' locker, Phil and Kris bumped into Keely.
"Hey Keely," Kris said. She showed Keely her schedule. Four of the classes, all three of them shared and Keely and Kris shared an elective: Art 1.
Kris' went to her locker. She had a bit of trouble at first with the combination, but she figured it out on the third try. She put the bagged lunch Mrs. Diffy had packed for her inside.
She had homeroom with Phil in Mr. Hacket's room. According to her schedule, she also had Science class with him.
Kris went through the day with ease. At lunch she sat with Phil, Keely and their friends Tia and Seth.
"So you two are cousins?" Tia asked.
"Yes."
"So why are you living with Phil and his family now?" Seth asked Kris.
"I was sick in the hospital for a long time. During that time, my parents passed away and now that I'm better I have to live with my aunt and uncle."
"I'm sorry," Tia said.
"It's okay." Kris finished the last few bites of her PB&J sandwich just as the bell rang to go to their next class.
The rest of the day was boring until she got to science class. Of course Mr. Hacket was the most boring person she ever met. That wasn't the exciting part. In the middle of Mr. Hacket's lecture on global warming, Kris let out a loud yawn that sounded like a lion's roar. She was so embarrassed. (Still not the exciting part) Mr. Hacket was not amused, but the rest of the class thought it was awesome. After class, someone came up to her in the hallway. It was Greg, captain of the basketball team.
"That was an amazing yawn! How did you get it to sound like a lion?" Greg asked her.
"I don't know. It just came naturally."
"Do you think you could roar again?"
"I could try." Kris concentrated on the lion part of her. She searched deep in her throat and let out a loud roar.
"Awesome!"
People were crowding around Kris asking her to roar over and over again. After a while Kris told them her throat was beginning to hurt. The crowd sounded disappointed.
"You should try out for school mascot, our last one just quit." Greg suggested.
"Mascot?"
"Our school sports teams are known as the Lions. The school mascot dresses up like a lion and goes to different sporting events. He or she shows school spirit by pouncing around the stadium or field depending on the sporting event. Didn't you have a mascot at your old school?"
"No. I was home schooled."
"Oh. Well tryouts are on Friday after school. I know it's kind of short notice but I'm sure you would just blow people away with that roar of yours."
"Thanks, I'll think about it."
After the crowd dissipated Kris jumped for joy. "Phil, I just got offered a spot in an extra-curricular. I may have just become popular on my first day of school!"
"Way to go," Phil said. "Wish I could have done that."
Kris didn't hear Phil's words for she had skipped off to her last class of the day.
Later that afternoon…
"Phil, what's the point of homework?"
"Teachers seem to think that it is a necessary part of our education. It is supposed to prove to the teachers that we have learned something. We get graded on how well we do. If we don't get good grades, it means we didn't learn anything."
"Great," Kris said sarcastically.
Phil and Kris spent most of the night working on their assignments.
At dinner, Kris' instant popularity was brought up.
"So the captain of the basketball team said you would make a good mascot. That sounds fun. Are you going to do it?" Barbara asked.
"I've been thinking about it and I've decided to try out. I mean, what do I have to lose?"
"How about your dignity?" Pim muttered.
"Pim, that was uncalled for!" Lloyd told her.
"It's okay, Mr. Diffy, I mean Uncle Lloyd. Man, that is going to take some serious getting used to. Anyway, I think this will be good for me."
"Oh, please," Pim said. "Kris, everyone knows the mascot gets picked on by everyone."
"I'm not so sure about that. By the number of students impressed with me today, I can say that I will not be a laughing stock. Have a little school spirit Pim. You could use it."
"Yeah, sure," Pim said sarcastically.
"I seem to remember you dressing up like a lion when you were three years old. It wasn't even Halloween." Kris laughed.
"That was different, I looked cute."
Kris roared at her.
"Wow, Kris," Lloyd said. "With that roar you would definitely make a great lion!"
"See, Pim; I told you."
"Sure Dad, take her side." Pim left the table huffing and puffing all the way to her room.
"What's her problem?" Phil said.
"Beats me." Kris said even though she knew they both were aware of exactly why Pim was acting that way.
Kris didn't see Pim until she went to bed, and even then Pim was fast asleep, once again snoring like a jackhammer. Kris was up for almost an hour listening to the noise before she finally went to sleep.