Hello again :] Please remember to review! Here you go, as promised…
First class: Spanish 3H. Should be easy enough. I was lucky enough to I shrugged my shoulders and headed out of homeroom, where I had spent the dullest 15 minutes of my life. They were so dull, in fact, that they're not even worth mentioning, so let's move on.
I located the class, zeroing in on the number painted carefully over the door. 217. I opened it.
I was met with twenty-four pairs of eyes staring back at me, and I could feel the hairs on my arms prickling. It was unnerving, being the center of attention like that. Not exactly my favorite thing. Trying to ignore the stares I was getting, I strode up to the teacher, a short Hispanic woman with long dark hair clasped with a large green clip. She smiled warmly at me.
"You must be Maximum Ride…Martinez?" Her confusion (It was probably the blond hair/last name combo) was evident, but her tone radiated warmth and my discomfort was eased. I smiled back, hesitantly.
"Yeah," I said. "Um, is there assigned seating, or…" I trailed off, just wanting to sit the heck down. But my teacher apparently had other plans.
"Okay, class," she said, clapping her hands loudly to get their attention. There wasn't much difference in the class's behavior, though, because mostly everyone was already looking at me. "This is Maximum." She gave me another smile, then frowned and leaned towards me. "I'm sorry, dear. Is Ride part of your first name or last name?"
"It's just a middle name, sort of," I shrugged uncomfortably. "I mostly just go by Max."
"Hi, Max." Someone called from the back of the class. I waved awkwardly in their general direction. This was all new to me. I wasn't used to being shy, or, or awkward, or anything like this. I don't want to toot my own horn too much, so lemme know when it starts to get annoying, but I really didn't—and still don't—think of myself as an awkward person. At all. So I would hardly think that being introduced to one classroom full of people would be that big of a deal. I mean, I knew it would be hard. Me + New People = No-No situation. It's not rocket science. I just didn't know it would be this hard.
"So, Max. Would you like to tell us anything about yourself? You don't have to, but to be honest…" She dropped her voice to a low stage whisper. "…We've been dying to meet you ever since we saw your name on the list of transfer students to this class. It seemed like a premonition of a very interesting person." Her eyes sparkled. Cruel, lady, cruel. Now I felt both obligated and somehow even more uncomfortable. What if I didn't meet up with their standards? This was private school, you know. These places are where the achieve-y people go. And I wasn't particularly achieve-y, unless you counted soccer. You want straight A's, see my sister. What if they all thought I was dumb? What if…Hey, here's an idea! What if I just SHUT UP?
"Um, hi. My name's Max. Oh, but I guess we've already covered that," I mumbled, trying to cover up my mistake. To my surprise, a couple people laughed. Well, that was all I needed. I smiled a little and looked out over the classroom. "My family and I just moved here from Arizona."
"Where in Arizona?" Someone shouted.
"Tucson."
"Isn't Max a boy's name?" Someone else called, to a stern look from the teacher.
"Maybe, but can you prove I'm not a boy?" I replied, lightning quick. The class laughed. I was feeling pretty good. For being at school, anyway.
"Well, Max, thank you. I'll show you to your seat." The teacher interjected smoothly. I followed her down the rows of polished seats, stopping at an empty desk between a boy with chestnut hair and a girl with bright purple hair. My teacher smiled at me, then at the girl and the guy before striding back down the aisle.
"Hi," said the guy, grinning a goofy grin. "I'm Sam." He looked like a Sam, too. For some reason, right then I was glad that was his name. I have no idea why. H eofered his hand to me, and I shook it.
"Max." He had nice hands.
The teacher was beginning to talk again, so the girl to my right leaned over and whispered. "Violet." She grinned at me and pointed to her head, specifically the bright purple feathery hair covering it. "You'll remember."
"There's not a doubt in my mind," I replied, grinning back. I leaned back in my seat, stretching my back as I vaguely listened to the teacher telling us about verbs. So far, so good.
So, Max is beginning to adapt! Maybe a little…? :) Eh, she'll get there. In the meantime, PLEASE REVIEW! I might have another chapter up tomorrow but your feedback is my fuel. Thank you guys! Peace. -M