Chapter 6
Lunch time for Sam was a new experience. College cafeterias were better stocked and equipped with a range of food. As a kid she was privately tutored thus saving her from the horrors of the dreaded school lunch. She stood in line prior to going to her new class. She looked at the slop that was placed on the tray that was handed to her.
She made a face, "Thank you." she miffed unsure what the food was supposed to be. She made her way down the line and got to the register.
The lunch lady stated, "That will be 90 cents."
"That's it?" she asked surprised. She dug out a dollar from her pocket and handed it to the lunch lady who took the money without really looking close at the bill. She handed Sam 10 cents in return. Sam then took her tray and made her way to the lunch room. She knew her class was on lunch break as well through she had not been to the classroom yet. Being a loner at heart she decided to just sit down and eat quietly alone.
She noticed a group of rowdy kids sitting near. The leader was a boy with dark hair and wearing a black leather jacket over a white t-shirt with blue jeans. A blonde hair girl hung off his arm as she too was dressed in leather and jeans.
Tony, the leader of the group spied Sam. He motioned towards his friends, "New girl."
His girlfriend, Rhonda looked Sam over. She didn't like the idea of a pretty girl other than she getting Tony's attention. She gave a displeased look. "Least she's not in our class."
Tony grinned, "I wouldn't mind if she was."
The teacher of the class entered the cafeteria. He had just gathered his own lunch and was informed of his new student and decided to meet her before class resumed. He was a tall man with curly blonde hair and sporting a brown blazer over a yellow stripped shirt and tan slacks. He came over to Sam and introduced himself.
"Samantha?" he asked.
She looked up, "Yes."
He took a seat across from her. "I'm Mr. Hinkley. I'm your new teacher. Staff told me they sent you to lunch and you were assigned to my class. I thought we would meet before class started."
He seemed very nice and caring to Sam. "That's so thoughtful." she told him.
It wasn't the reply he was expecting. "Usually, a student would tell me to not sit with them. I would cramp their style." he replied amazed.
She told him, "I have no style so don't worry about that."
He cocked his head, "Tell me you are joking." He feared he had a student with a low self esteem.
"I'm joking." she assured him. "Call me, 'Sam'. So, what is the class like?" she asked.
"They are a rough bunch." he admitted. He motioned towards Tony, "They are sitting over there."
Sam looked towards her new classmates and gave a heavy sigh. "They placed me in the special needs class."
"The kids are actually pretty smart. Just most have other issues." he told her. "I understand you are from Mississippi. I never heard of the school your went to. MITF."
She nodded, "The school for the accident prone."
He assured her, "Don't be so hard on yourself. We learn by making mistakes."
She simply smiled and gave nod thinking of just how big of a mistake she can make with a warp drive engine.
Later
Sam made it through her fist day of public school. She understood why her parents choose to privately educate her as the subjects seemed elementary to her. The class was rowdy at times and they dubbed the teacher "Mr. H.". She liked the nickname and embraced it as lore.
Dom was supposed to pick her up from school but he was no where to be found. She assumed he must have forgotten or lost track of the time. She figured she would walk. She started her journey out of the parking lot when Tony drove up with Rhonda and a few other classmates in the back of his convertible classic black mustang. He slowed down and hollered, "You wanna go for a pizza, Sam?"
She normally would decline but she recalled her mother asking her to make friends. She also found the car was cool and decided to go. "Sure!" she agreed.
Tony stopped the car and she climbed in the back seat and sat between two boys from the class. The black boy and the Hispanic boy who were named Karl and Jose. She found the class only consisted two girls, herself included and the two minority students she sat between. Making the class a total of four students. She settled down between the pair.
Karl cheered, "Alright! Let's go get some pizza."
"Sounds good." Sam agreed.
Tony told her, "We each buy our own. You got money?"
"Yes, I got money." she assured.
Later
After getting a slice of pizza and a pop to drink Sam had Tony drop her off at the airfield.
Karl sat in the back beside her, "No way! You work here?"
"My dad owns it." she went with the cover story.
The boy sighed, "Ah' man. I always wanted to learn to fly a plane."
"Why not?" she asked him. "Take lessons."
"That cost money." he told her.
"Nothing worth while is free." she reminded him. "Maybe you can get a job?"
"No one is gonna hire me." he waved off the idea.
She climbed out of the car, "Never know unless you try, Karl. See you at school tomorrow."
Tony asked, "You know how to fly a plane, Sam?"
She nodded, "Matter of fact…I do."
"Cool." he grinned.
Rhonda rolled her eye rather jealous. "I'm sure it's not that hard."
"Maybe, maybe not." she waved. "See ya tomorrow." She walked into the hanger as the teens drove away.
She spied Dom working on an parts once more. She casually walked up to him, "Forget about me?" she asked.
Dom looked up from his work. He wondered how to tell Sam about what happened with the phone. "Oh! I was supposed to pick you up from school. I'm sorry. I forgot."
"Busy day?" she asked.
"Stressful day." he started.
Before he could tell Sam what happened Caitlin approached as she finished up work. "Hey Dom! There is a new movie showing. It's called Ghostbusters. I thought we would see it." She looked to Sam, "And you too, young lady."
"Ghostbusters?" she asked not very enthused. "Which one?"
"Just one isn't there?" she replied a bit baffled.
Dom looked to Sam, "Should we go?"
"If you want to." she agreed.
Dom figured, "Me and Sam will go with ya, Caitlin."
"Great! Now to see if I can get String to go." she spied him as he walked out of Dom's office. She waved him over. "String."
His eyes settled on Sam and he wished to speak to her. He wanted to ask her so many questions. He came over, "How was school, kid?" he asked with a half smirk.
"Boring on an elementary level." she flatly replied.
Caitlin cheered, "We're all going to the new movie, Ghostbusters. Want to come with us?" She expected his to turn it down for she knew Ghostbusters was not a movie he would enjoy.
He agreed, "Sure."
"You will?" she asked surprised
"Good time to get to know Dom's daughter a bit." he explained. "You like Ghost…Busters?" he asked not knowing much about the movie.
She grinned, "I ain't afraid of no ghost."
Caitlin cheered, "That's new song on the radio. It's real catchy. You should hear it, String."
Sam sang a line, "If there's something strange in the neighborhood? Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters."
String asked, "What are you singing?"
"Ray Parker Junior." she replied. "Afterlife was pretty neat. Two was kind of iffy."
Caitlin asked, "What?" She was lost at the reference.
Dom and String both understood it was in reference to future movies. They changed the subject.
Dom asked, "You hungry, Sam?"
"Nah," she shook her head. "I had a slice of pizza and a coke after school with some kids from my class. For being dysfunctional they are kind of neat. I like my teacher, Mr. H. He sat with me at lunch today to introduce himself before class. Nice guy."
Caitlin swooned, "That was thoughtful of him. But don't fill up on pizza and pop after school. You will ruin your dinner."
Dom assured, "She knows what she is doing, Cait."
"It's not healthy for a growing girl." she firmly replied. "She doesn't have her mom anymore and well…you two are not exactly parental material…no offense."
Dom assured, "She doesn't need coddling."
"She a 16 year old girl. She needs a mother figure in her life." Caitlin retorted.
"Okay Aunt Cait." Sam stated unenthused.
Amused String added, "And I can be your uncle." His words indicated he knew more than he said.
Sam looked at him wondering if he knew the truth.
Caitlin suggested, "Of course we can be there for Sam. She is Dom's daughter. I can be Aunt Cait and you can be Uncle String."
Sam smirked, "And you two should get married." She then walked away wondering what happened when she was at school for String seemed too nice to her compared to that morning.
Caitlin glanced at String and blushed. She excused herself, "I'll be going home now."
"See ya tomorrow, Cait." Dom cheered.
The pair watched as the employees left the hangar for at the end of the work day. Dom looked to String, "I think Sam knows."
"I can't wait to see this engine." String agreed.