To my dear reviewers:
I'm really sorry, but instead of posting two chapters every other day, I'm afraid everything is going to slow down to something like one chapter every week or whatever, depending on the type of day I'm having. Sorry! I had a lot of chapters before, that were ready to be posted, so that's why everything was so fast. Esperwen
"I hate school," Michelle grumbled.
She and Michael were waiting at a bus stop. They would need to take the bus to school every day, unless Michelle's father could drive them. But that wasn't often. It was just 7:45am, and already Michelle was complaining about school.
"You know I hate school?"
"You've only mentioned it 18 times this morning already," answered Michael sleepily.
Both had got out of bed at 6am, so that
1: Michelle's dad could wish them luck;
2: so that Michelle's mother could walk with them to the bus stop, even though she was taking the bus going the opposite way;
3: so that they would be able to get to the school by 8am, and become familiar enough with the school so that they wouldn't get lost once school started.
Michelle yawned and checked her watch again.
"It is 7:47am."
"And I should care because...?"
"Because I'm tired and I hate school, and since you're the only one within hearing, I'm taking it all out on you."
"How kind of you."
"Of course, you don't care right now."
"Of course I don't care. I have other things to think and worry about."
"What do you have to be worried about? My parents are handling everything for you."
"You know what I'm talking about."
"About messing up?"
Mike nodded. Michelle sighed and gave him a quick hug.
"Mike, you'll be fine. Just avoid the crowds that you might have been in before."
"Easy for you to say. Nothing like this has ever happened to you. You can't teach an old dog new tricks." "At least you didn't get addicted. And actually, it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks. It just takes a bit longer."
"Especially if the dog has no idea what trick you're trying to make it do."
"Mike."
"Ok, ok. I'll try to think about something else."
Michelle yawned, and after a moment :
"Did you know that I hate school?"
"Where's Holly and Geor-oh yeah. They're going to ESA, aren't they?" asked Phil.
"Congratulations! You are correct! You win absolutely nothing!" said Adam in a TV announcer.
The group was in the main hallway of Martingrove, waiting for the grade nine assembly to start. Michael wasn't going to be in grade nine, as he was a year older than all of the others, but he still needed to go since he was new to the school.
"What's ESA?" asked Michael.
"The Etobicoke School of the Arts," replied Michelle, "Both of our friends, coincidentally, are majoring in drama, and their minors are.I think music. Holly for either flute or singing, and Geordie with his trombone. Am I right?"
"I think so," answered Melissa.
"What time is it now?" asked Phil, "Michelle?"
"Um." Michelle consulted the watch that she always wore, "It's 8:10 am."
Adam shook his head.
"Why do you always wear a watch?"
"Because I'm special."
"Hey! Former Jags!"
The circle of friends had all come from John G. Althouse, and the students from that school fondly called themselves "The Jags", which was short for the Jaguars, which was the school mascot. The group turned and saw two grade ten boys walking their way. One was fairly stocky, wearing the dark green vest that he always wore, the other was taller, with his head bending in an almost permanent stoop.
"Kael! Gordon! Long time no see," called Melissa.
"Hey guys," greeted Gordon, the taller boy.
"Hellooooo," said Kael, "Hm.who is this? Does Adam have a rival?" he added, looking at Michael.
"Hi, I'm Mike. I don't know about my being a rival; that's Michelle's choice. Anyway, we've been friends all her life. You are.?" Mike put his hand out to shake Kael's hand.
"I'm Kael, and the ugly, tall one over there is Gordon. Don't kick me Gordon."
Gordon snapped his fingers.
"You've known Michelle all your life? I find that hard to believe," commented Gordon.
"Not all MY life. I've known her all HER life. I've known her for all my life minus about a year."
"Oh. Hm.you did not tell me this," said Melissa.
"Yeah, Michelle. Have you been keeping secrets from us?" teased Adam.
"I didn't tell because no-one asked," Michelle said calmly.
"Oh, come on. What're that chances that someone will ask, 'Hey Michelle! How long have you known this guy?' eh?" said Phil.
"Um.I won't comment, " said Michelle.
"Oh wait." Phil thought a moment, "Yeah."
"I guess nobody's changed very much, eh?" commented Kael.
The younger part of the group gave each other knowing smiles.
"Yes." said Adam, looking away.
"None of us have changed very much (cough)," agreed Phil.
Gordon looked as though he might say something, but then changed his mind. Not before Melissa noticed, though.
"You guys wanna go outside?" asked Michael, "The assembly won't be until another fifteen minutes, and I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities to stay in the school."
"Fine by me."
"Sure."
"Why not?"
The (now more diverse in ages) group stepped outside to the front of the school. Michelle couldn't help but comment about how weird it was that the front of the school faced all the neighbouring houses, and yet the back of the school was more accessible to the road and all the bus stops nearby. Even all the teachers came in by the back doors. This was perfect for all the high schoolers that smoked, because even though it was against school rules, they were able to smoke at the front of the school, where the teachers never set foot. So, the teachers couldn't jump onto their cases. And of course, about six teens around the neighbourhood of 17 were smoking calmly as usual by the front doors of the school.
"Teachers here really do not care about the rules, do they?" asked Mike.
"Nope," answered Kael, "Why would they? It's out lives that're getting screwed, not theirs. And once we graduate, they'll probably never need to hear about us ever again."
"Unless we become rich and famous, but that isn't very likely, and if anyone would become rich and famous, it would be Geordie or Holly," said Melissa.
"Yeah, that's (cough) true (cough, cough). If anyo-" Michelle couldn't continue; she was coughing too hard.
When they came out, the people that were smoking were down-wind from Kael and all the rest. But while they had been talking, the wind had shifted ever so slightly, and cigarette smoke blew over to where Michelle and Mike were standing. Michael hadn't noticed, as he was used to cigarette smoke. Michelle, on the other hand.
"Guys, (cough, cough) he-" Michelle broke off, and fell onto her knees, coughing hard.
"Michelle?" Adam knelt down beside her, "Hello?"
"Relax, she's probably faking," said Phil calmly.
"Are you sure?" asked Gordon, "That looks pretty bad. Her eyes are tearing up."
"Nah. What would've caused it?" said Kael.
"Noth-the cigarette smoke." Michael finally realised the smell around him.
"Oh no." Melissa's eyes widened, "I just remembered that cigarette smoked makes her cough really hard."
Everyone stood still for a moment, and then Michael and Kael desperately began half-dragging, half-carrying Michelle into the school, away from the smokers. Even when they got her inside, it took her a few moments to get her bearings and breathe normally again.
"What took you so long?" Michelle finally managed to gasp out.
"You fake stuff like that too often," replied Phil, "And we didn't know you suddenly got asthma over the summer."
"I don't have asthma. I just have this weird negative reaction thing with cigarette smoke. Some of my uncles smoke, but I'm not around them often enough to get used to it," said Michelle.
"So now you tell us," said Gordon said rolling his eyes.
"When did she ever fake this kind of thing?" asked Adam.
"Good question. Question-tastic!" said Phil.
"I defy the tastic!" Michelle interjected.
"And I deny the tastic. Beaver-tastic!" added Melissa.
"And I deny that too!"
I'm really sorry, but instead of posting two chapters every other day, I'm afraid everything is going to slow down to something like one chapter every week or whatever, depending on the type of day I'm having. Sorry! I had a lot of chapters before, that were ready to be posted, so that's why everything was so fast. Esperwen
"I hate school," Michelle grumbled.
She and Michael were waiting at a bus stop. They would need to take the bus to school every day, unless Michelle's father could drive them. But that wasn't often. It was just 7:45am, and already Michelle was complaining about school.
"You know I hate school?"
"You've only mentioned it 18 times this morning already," answered Michael sleepily.
Both had got out of bed at 6am, so that
1: Michelle's dad could wish them luck;
2: so that Michelle's mother could walk with them to the bus stop, even though she was taking the bus going the opposite way;
3: so that they would be able to get to the school by 8am, and become familiar enough with the school so that they wouldn't get lost once school started.
Michelle yawned and checked her watch again.
"It is 7:47am."
"And I should care because...?"
"Because I'm tired and I hate school, and since you're the only one within hearing, I'm taking it all out on you."
"How kind of you."
"Of course, you don't care right now."
"Of course I don't care. I have other things to think and worry about."
"What do you have to be worried about? My parents are handling everything for you."
"You know what I'm talking about."
"About messing up?"
Mike nodded. Michelle sighed and gave him a quick hug.
"Mike, you'll be fine. Just avoid the crowds that you might have been in before."
"Easy for you to say. Nothing like this has ever happened to you. You can't teach an old dog new tricks." "At least you didn't get addicted. And actually, it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks. It just takes a bit longer."
"Especially if the dog has no idea what trick you're trying to make it do."
"Mike."
"Ok, ok. I'll try to think about something else."
Michelle yawned, and after a moment :
"Did you know that I hate school?"
"Where's Holly and Geor-oh yeah. They're going to ESA, aren't they?" asked Phil.
"Congratulations! You are correct! You win absolutely nothing!" said Adam in a TV announcer.
The group was in the main hallway of Martingrove, waiting for the grade nine assembly to start. Michael wasn't going to be in grade nine, as he was a year older than all of the others, but he still needed to go since he was new to the school.
"What's ESA?" asked Michael.
"The Etobicoke School of the Arts," replied Michelle, "Both of our friends, coincidentally, are majoring in drama, and their minors are.I think music. Holly for either flute or singing, and Geordie with his trombone. Am I right?"
"I think so," answered Melissa.
"What time is it now?" asked Phil, "Michelle?"
"Um." Michelle consulted the watch that she always wore, "It's 8:10 am."
Adam shook his head.
"Why do you always wear a watch?"
"Because I'm special."
"Hey! Former Jags!"
The circle of friends had all come from John G. Althouse, and the students from that school fondly called themselves "The Jags", which was short for the Jaguars, which was the school mascot. The group turned and saw two grade ten boys walking their way. One was fairly stocky, wearing the dark green vest that he always wore, the other was taller, with his head bending in an almost permanent stoop.
"Kael! Gordon! Long time no see," called Melissa.
"Hey guys," greeted Gordon, the taller boy.
"Hellooooo," said Kael, "Hm.who is this? Does Adam have a rival?" he added, looking at Michael.
"Hi, I'm Mike. I don't know about my being a rival; that's Michelle's choice. Anyway, we've been friends all her life. You are.?" Mike put his hand out to shake Kael's hand.
"I'm Kael, and the ugly, tall one over there is Gordon. Don't kick me Gordon."
Gordon snapped his fingers.
"You've known Michelle all your life? I find that hard to believe," commented Gordon.
"Not all MY life. I've known her all HER life. I've known her for all my life minus about a year."
"Oh. Hm.you did not tell me this," said Melissa.
"Yeah, Michelle. Have you been keeping secrets from us?" teased Adam.
"I didn't tell because no-one asked," Michelle said calmly.
"Oh, come on. What're that chances that someone will ask, 'Hey Michelle! How long have you known this guy?' eh?" said Phil.
"Um.I won't comment, " said Michelle.
"Oh wait." Phil thought a moment, "Yeah."
"I guess nobody's changed very much, eh?" commented Kael.
The younger part of the group gave each other knowing smiles.
"Yes." said Adam, looking away.
"None of us have changed very much (cough)," agreed Phil.
Gordon looked as though he might say something, but then changed his mind. Not before Melissa noticed, though.
"You guys wanna go outside?" asked Michael, "The assembly won't be until another fifteen minutes, and I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities to stay in the school."
"Fine by me."
"Sure."
"Why not?"
The (now more diverse in ages) group stepped outside to the front of the school. Michelle couldn't help but comment about how weird it was that the front of the school faced all the neighbouring houses, and yet the back of the school was more accessible to the road and all the bus stops nearby. Even all the teachers came in by the back doors. This was perfect for all the high schoolers that smoked, because even though it was against school rules, they were able to smoke at the front of the school, where the teachers never set foot. So, the teachers couldn't jump onto their cases. And of course, about six teens around the neighbourhood of 17 were smoking calmly as usual by the front doors of the school.
"Teachers here really do not care about the rules, do they?" asked Mike.
"Nope," answered Kael, "Why would they? It's out lives that're getting screwed, not theirs. And once we graduate, they'll probably never need to hear about us ever again."
"Unless we become rich and famous, but that isn't very likely, and if anyone would become rich and famous, it would be Geordie or Holly," said Melissa.
"Yeah, that's (cough) true (cough, cough). If anyo-" Michelle couldn't continue; she was coughing too hard.
When they came out, the people that were smoking were down-wind from Kael and all the rest. But while they had been talking, the wind had shifted ever so slightly, and cigarette smoke blew over to where Michelle and Mike were standing. Michael hadn't noticed, as he was used to cigarette smoke. Michelle, on the other hand.
"Guys, (cough, cough) he-" Michelle broke off, and fell onto her knees, coughing hard.
"Michelle?" Adam knelt down beside her, "Hello?"
"Relax, she's probably faking," said Phil calmly.
"Are you sure?" asked Gordon, "That looks pretty bad. Her eyes are tearing up."
"Nah. What would've caused it?" said Kael.
"Noth-the cigarette smoke." Michael finally realised the smell around him.
"Oh no." Melissa's eyes widened, "I just remembered that cigarette smoked makes her cough really hard."
Everyone stood still for a moment, and then Michael and Kael desperately began half-dragging, half-carrying Michelle into the school, away from the smokers. Even when they got her inside, it took her a few moments to get her bearings and breathe normally again.
"What took you so long?" Michelle finally managed to gasp out.
"You fake stuff like that too often," replied Phil, "And we didn't know you suddenly got asthma over the summer."
"I don't have asthma. I just have this weird negative reaction thing with cigarette smoke. Some of my uncles smoke, but I'm not around them often enough to get used to it," said Michelle.
"So now you tell us," said Gordon said rolling his eyes.
"When did she ever fake this kind of thing?" asked Adam.
"Good question. Question-tastic!" said Phil.
"I defy the tastic!" Michelle interjected.
"And I deny the tastic. Beaver-tastic!" added Melissa.
"And I deny that too!"