I love the musical Wicked and my sister thinks that it's an opera! Can you believe it? She doesn't even know the difference so she shouldn't be talking right? I don't talk crap about her stuff so why is she bugging me about the music I listen to when I know for a fact that she took some of my cds in order to download the songs into her MP3 player. (Sighs)
Chapter 3
You know how the all the animals are separated at the zoo based on their species or group? Well Casper High is just like that except that all of the animals can talk (most of the time).
We have the nerds in corner playing chess and trading cards from the latest edition of Star Wars collectables. Drama club drinking coffee and practicing for another school play that is probably months away from débuting.
But hey you know what they say about practice makes perfect right?
Next we have the Skaters at the front of the building grinding on the hand rail while the teachers and principal aren't looking and giving each others high fives for nailing some sort of cool trick of a trash can or bench.
Future CEO's of America discussing the rise and falls of the stock market and charting anything that they think could be a big seller to anyone they choose. I remember they once sold Goth stuff even going as far as dressing like one and standing in front of Heavy Metal rock concerts selling chains and T-shirts.
...It didn't go so well if getting beaten up and thrown out and banned from ever going within a hundred feet of any metal concert means anything.
I almost felt sorry for them, almost, but then they shouldn't have tried pretending to be something they're not just to make a quick buck. I say it served the jerks right.
Art Club, Punks, Rockers, and Surfers... Honestly it just seems to go on for ever. Though I have no problem with any clicks at all, personally I think it's wrong to label someone as soon as they step into the brick building known as a facility for educating young minds. Especially when that someone labeling them is...
"Watch it loser!"
I was roughly pushed aside in order to make room for the so called 'perfection' of this school full egotistic idiots who enjoy the pleasure of putting those who they considered beneath them down and ridiculing those who have the nerve to be different than what's in or cool.
I swear that fate just throws things at me one time for no apparent reason just to tick me off. Why can't it ever work when I wish for it to be illegal to industrialize the rain forest or something?
It took all of my will just to hold back from slapping that make-up off of her face right there and then when she pushed me into the lockers just so she could strut down the halls with her little cronies like the heartless slut she was. I really wasn't in the mood to start a fight with the Wicked Witch of the West at the moment so I chose to ignore it and just concentrate on heading to homeroom where I could at least get a bit of studying done for my math test today.
You know how I mentioned Paulina earlier and the different animal groups around here? Of course you do.
She fits in as the top of the food chain with all the other jocks, preps, and cheer leaders of the school who are deemed the gods of the school by the rest of the student body because of there looks and money and it was a rare thing to find one of them with the brains to match at Casper and especially rare to find one without a huge head the size of Canada.
Grinding my teeth I just chanted a favorite song of mine by Linkin Park to calm myself and just continue to class before the bell rang and Lancer gave me a detention.
There was no way that I was going to create a problem that I couldn't fix at the moment not when I had enough to deal with. I'd find a way to get back at Paulina for today for sure though I promised myself mentally.
True that I'm opposed of violence but who ever said that I couldn't bend the rules a bit and this was something that I can always make an acceptation for.
Yawning I cringed when I realized that I still needed to go to my locker to get a few things. Double tracking back the way I came I took a left at the turn dodging the mob of students as they chatted with their friends and just hung out a bit before everyone was forced to endure seven hours of education that was government approved.
It wasn't hard to mistake my locker since it was pretty much avoided like a plague ever since Paulina and her cronies decided that it would be funny to write a story for the school paper on how I have dead bodies hidden in my locker and that it was cursed with all sorts of charms and spells to keep spirits away.
Yeah right!
That was the biggest load of bull ever! But like always everyone believed Little Miss Pretty in Pink, if I didn't already loathe that girl before I did then and now.
It just seemed that she was always looking for a way to torture me and all because I refused to bow down to her and let that little witch walk all over me with her over priced high heeled pumps.
Even the teachers were afraid of me for about a week after that story was printed until someone mistook it for their locker by mistake and opened it up. Even though that proved that it was just a rumor that still didn't mean that people would shut up and forget about it.
Don't they have their own lives to talk about?
Three kids whispered to each other as they glanced my way with a fearful look on their faces. They quickly stopped and headed down the hall when they saw that I had seen them.
Apparently not...
Rolling my eyes I inserting the combination in order to open my locker and finally gain access to my stuff inside. To say the least I like to personalize my things a bit and my locker was no exception.
The inside of the door was covered in some of my favorite pictures of all time and a few of my anime drawings. I love photography and animation arts and was hoping on following it up as a career in college when I graduated from Casper.
Some of the pictures were of some really awesome night time sceneries around town like the park of the woods while my sketches would be of just people in my life and what I thought they would look like if they were ever turned into cartoons.
And being Goth of course the interior was black; I used it for my book covers. Other than the decoration of a small bat hanging from the top and the color my locker was just like anybody else's.
Books for every subject thrown in there on top of one another, some personal items like some of my make-up and one or two of my chokers hanging from the hooks, and an extra pair of clothes just in case.
Unfortunately I was too busy memorizing Newton's third law of physics and how it could possibly be applied to the Pythagorean theory to notice someone sneaking up next to me with an evil glint in their grey eyes and a just as twisted smile plastered on their face.
"BOO!"
"AAAHHHHHHHH!!"
I jumped up about three feet in the air and wheeled around, ready to pretty much massacre the fool behind me, to see who had just scarred ten years off of my life span to come face to face with none other than with the evil grinning face of my best friend in the whole world.
"Hey Sam, did d'ya miss me?"
"Of course, how could anybody possibly not miss the crazy nut case who just so happens to look for any given opportunity to give you an early death from blood and heart failure," I replied with my words dripping in the sarcasm that was known for throughout the whole school for.
Proud of it too.
For those of you who haven't met her (lucky you) I'd like to introduce the one and only Jennette Grommer and who just so happens to be my best friend since I first moved to this town.
Jennette wasn't what anybody would call normal but that's just the kind of people who I like. We may have our differences but I couldn't ask for a more loyal friend than her. She was sort of a mixture between punk and hip-hop but that just made her more of a fun person to be around.
Just like me she could care less on the newest trends and preferred to do things her own way and wasn't afraid to mouth off to anyone. But then again that's what sort of gets the both of us into a lot of trouble. I know that I can have an urge to be heard for something that I value but Jen takes it to a whole knew level so that I usually have to make sure that she doesn't end up doing anything stupid.
Playing along Jen mirrored me, "I know! I can't understand why Mrs. Birkins was so happy when she told us that she was retiring to Jamaica and begged me not to visit this summer."
I smiled at that and gave a weak laugh at that and placed my hand on my heart and took a couple breaths to slow down the frantic thumping that threatened to just jump out of my chest. Shaking my head I looked at her and sighed, "You know one of these days you're seriously going to end up driving someone to the hospital Jen."
She shrugged it off unconcerned, as usual, "Yeah, probably but until then I might as well get a kick out of life and scaring people for life just so happens to be fun and my god given talent... that and singing."
We walked down the hall together since we both had the same homeroom together chatting about the usual things about our life like school, home, work, or the recent ghost attacks on our town.
That's right I said ghost attacks. If I already haven't said this before I'll say it again anyway, Amity Park is haunted and is constantly being threatened by the spirits of the undead almost on a daily basis. I have no clue why ghosts would choose to even haunt this town since absolutely nothing ever exciting happens here at all. Maybe it's just one of those many mysteries of life that will never be explained or solved...
"...So Sam how are things with the live Devil in Pradas?"
"Same as usual. She acts like her royal bitchiness of America. And I follow orders."
Jen shook her head for some reason, "Sam Manson I'll never understand why you let her push you around like that."
"Because... If I ever want to get out of this town Jen then I have suck-up to Cruella Devil if I want to get that five grand I still need for my tuition if I don't get a scholarship." I explained for the millionth time to her.
"And you're going to get hands down! I mean you're an honors student, talented and with great athletics skills no matter how much you deny it. Face it I bet you can't even come up with the names of two colleges that wouldn't want to give you a full ride at their school." she said listing her reasons on her fingers to show me.
Good ole Jen, always the one to push people to their maximum potential even if it kills them. She's the kind of person who would definitely make an actual good politic, teacher, motivational speaker, or a lawyer for sure.
Like always I have to bring her back to reality for a second, "That may be but you got to remember something Jen."
"What?" she asked truly confused. We turned a corner and headed up the flight of stairs to the second level of the school.
I rolled my eyes at her niaveness, "...About half of the students who apply all have the same qualities that you've just named along with rich parents that are ready to give out fortunes just so that their precious children can get in to one the top schools in the country."
"Oh, well... uh... you've got something they don't have."
"And that would be..."
"Individuality! And that 'hell with that!' attitude! That's got to count for something right?"
"Yeah but so does all of the money it costs." I pointed out once more hoping that she'd get the message this time.
Jen put on a frown crossed her arms and glared at me which I happily met with a smirk of my own, "You're no fun you know that," she grumbled, "Why can't for just once in your life look at the positives in life and how to use them to your advantage."
O yeah she'd definitely make a good lawyer, I said in my head but out loud I merely stated, "Look I'm not being negative about I'm just not getting my hopes up for something that might not happen okay."
"Then what's the fun in that, it's like my mom says 'What's the point of life if you never take any risks, sometimes the only one who's holding your own ass down is staring at you right in the mirror,'" How the hell she ever manages to memorize nearly everyone of her mother's insane, but amazingly true, quotes and yet mentally challenged from being able to complete the National Anthem without it being written on a piece of paper in front of her is beyond me.
And that's saying something considering she's American and has heard that gay song almost everyday in school all of her educational life. Compared to the thousands of quotes her mom has written down. I honestly think that it just be easier to just make a book already.
I shook my head in amusement as we continued to room 219. "When are you going to bury your optimistic speeches already?"
"The same day that Claire is voted Miss Universe and marries someone ugly and poor," she shot back laughing.
"True enough," I sighed grinning at the mental image that was just now implanted in my head. Now that was something that I'd do almost anything to see. But I'd probably have to store that in the category of 'never going to happen in this life time'.
Her eyes suddenly took a more devious spark as we past by a bulletin board with flyers of up coming events including the Halloween Dance in big glittery letters that just made me want to gag at all the fluff on that one piece of paper.
If Halloween was suppose to be the holiday of the dead, then why did the Dance Committee use pink paper to advertise it instead of black? Because the pink princess is head of the dance committee you dolt, my mind jeered.
"What are you starring at?" Jen pretended she didn't hear me as we stopped so that I could look at what she was looking at and instantly regretted it as soon as I caught a whiff of what she was about to suggest.
"Hey Sam..."
"No." I automatically replied bluntly.
"You don't even know what I was going to say!" she cried out exasperated and with a hint of being insulted in her tone.
"I know you too well Jen and so I'm going to save you the trouble. No." I walked away hastily hoping to avoid another attempt to get me to go to one of the school dances where she was just dying on hooking me up with someone. Jen just easily caught up and kept up with my fast pace.
"Come on Sam," she badgered on, "You've already missed all of the previous dances this school has had and you really need to get more of a social life other than just the cafe and me."
"And what's wrong with the friends I have," I challenged narrowing my eyes playfully at her.
"Don't get me wrong, you have great friends, the best in the world actually," she defended smugly, "But I'm talking more along the lines of a guy friend or better yet a boyfriend for you."
My face took a disgusted look on, "Ewe! Thanks but no thanks, I don't need or want a boyfriend. Let's not forget the last guy you and Vicky tried to hook me up with."
Jen slightly winced at that with guilt evident on her features, "Yeah but that was just one guy who's to say there isn't your version of Prince Charming out there for you."
"Right Jen, like my perfect match is going to just walk around the corner and- what is wrong with you and why are you drooling."
Jen wasn't responding since I think her brain had just temporarily died. I turned to see what had caught her attention only to instantly regret it the moment that I did.
Walking down the hall was none other than Danny Fenton. My cheeks suddenly started to feel hot at the moment and the whole time my palms became sweaty that I nearly dropped my book, my legs turned to jelly. To avoid embarrassing myself in front of him I quickly pretended to be reading the bulletin board hoping that he wouldn't notice me.
I don't know why I get this way around him when I usually have no problem talking with guys seeing as to I deal with them on a daily basis. Snapping back down to Earth I snapped my fingers in front of my still brain dead friend beside me.
"Helloooo, anybody in there?"
"Oh real funny Sam," she growled as I laughed at her reaction. "Can't you see I was busy."
"What drooling,"
"No," she snapped back.
I shook my head and motioned to where he and his friend Tucker Foley were being surrounded by a group of cheerleaders and giggling girls. "You might as well forget your little fantasy then Jen cause I doubt that he even knows that we exist."
"Always the negative." she sighed.
We finally made it to homeroom and quickly took are seats in the very back corner where all of the social rejects liked to sit. The bell rang just as we sat down.
So much for getting to study.
Mr. Lancer came in and quickly told everyone to settle down so that he could take roll. Like we'd actually listen to him, as soon as he started talking we did as well but not as loudly.
"Hey Sam did you get number seven last night," she whispered to me. I nodded and took out my paper and handed it to her so that she could see. Science had never been a strong subject for her. It seemed as though the book just hated her. "Thanks,"
"No problem,"
"...Remember that the Halloween Dance is coming up and that appropriate dress is mandatory any rule violators will be asked to leave immediately and change into something else or else get a detention on Saturday morning where you will stay and help clean up." That didn't sound like much fun since Claire would absolutely kill me if I missed work that day.
"Also, for those of you who wish to enter this year's art contest please pick a form at the end of class or else go see the art department."
That was about the only interesting things he said the rest was about rules and homework so like many I was already dozing of and waiting until the bell rang so I could get to first period.
----------
"...Remember art is about expressing yourself and allowing your life and emotions to show in a physical form for the world to see. Don't keep it bottled other wise you won't be able to pass this class not while I'm in charge."
Out of all my classes I've got to say that Art Appreciation has got to be one of my favorite's especially since it's taught my one hell of an awesome teacher too.
Even though Ms. Krangher is about the same age as Lancer she acts as if she was just fresh out of college but with all the wisdom of twenty years worth of teaching mixed in as well. The way she teaches is pretty deep and awakening than the regular 'you can do it and I'm only saying this or I'd get fired' attitude that most of the teachers here have.
Ms. K doesn't play favorites around here and as far as I know about her from being in her class for a couple of years now, she could care less about what the school board thought of her teaching methods or the number of times that students or parents complained to her.
Paulina used to be in her class but she only lasted about two weeks. That moment of my life was priceless...
---
"Move loser!"
I grunted in discomfort as my shin made contact with the table as I was putting the finishing touches on a project that I had been working really hard on and as usual she had to come and ruin it.
The project was for everyone to create something that reminded them of a very special person and we could use what ever we wanted. I was busy adding some pieces of glass to my sculpture the dragon in my snow globe so that the scales could look transparent capturing light and illuminating everything around it.
She walked over to where I was working on with a paint brush in her hand. Looking at my dragon she sniffed and shoved her nose into the air as if she had just seen something really repulsive. "And what is that suppose to be?" she pointed to my project with a smirk.
Being stupid and not loving that tone of her's I rose to the bait, "It's a dragon. Or is your nose so way up that you couldn't tell the difference between your new nose job and your own mother," I shot back.
Her face took a turn for the worst as she had her mouth held open for a second gaping at me like she couldn't believe what she had just heard. For a moment there neither did I but she just made me so mad sometimes that I was quick to throw all caution into the winds, grind them into ashes, and bury them at the deepest pit in hell.
Then her pretty face turned red in embarrassment and anger and she pointed a finger at me, "How dare you little Goth freak!" she whispered as if she was barely containing the urge to shout out loud. She slammed her fist down on the table so hard that my dragon almost fell off the table.
"Hey!" I grabbed onto the base to steady it since at the moment it only had three legs and was still missing one wing that I had yet to glue on since I was still putting the scales on.
Paulina suddenly got a strange look in her eye that was gone so fast that I didn't have time to register it before it was too late to do anything about it. "Wow you must have worked really hard on that project then huh Sam if you care so much about it." she said sweetly.
Despite that the way she said it just made me feel as if I just got a root canal with an iron drill pounding on it. Before I knew what she was down, she gracefully swung her arms in an arc like a ballerina knocking my project off the table sending it crashing to the floor into several pieces.
"Oops! My bad, I'm so sorry Sammy. Sometimes I'm such a klutz."
That little witch wasn't sorry at all! In fact I bet she was enjoying the look at my face as all of my hard work was now laying on the floor in several pieces, the once beautiful master piece that I had created was now severed body parts of a once soon-to-be magnificent beast.
I felt so many things that I was trembling while she just stood there with a smile like someone had just said something funny. But there was nothing funny about this, this was just plain cruel and evil.
This was the last straw!
"Paulina Sanchez to the office immediately! And I'll be seeing you in detention for the next three weeks!"
We both turned to see Ms. K in her usual attire of faded jeans that were probably from her college days, a green T-shirt with several stains on it that made it hard to even identify the color unless you asked her what color her shirt was, some old rubber black boots that you see farmers wearing while doing some dirty jobs, rectangular glasses on the bridge of her nose, and finally a black base-ball cap on backwards that had the Happy Bunny on it saying 'Ask me if I give a damn.'
She didn't look to happy and even down right murderous even with an angry fire glowing in her eyes that made her look like a tiger about to pounce. Her hands were on her hips as she look at my project on the floor to me then to Paulina.
Since Paulina was still a new student, not having had taken Ms. K's class before she was a bit confused when the teacher addressed her in that matter, "Excuse me?"
"You heard me," Ms. K repeated getting agitated quickly with the cheer leaders dumb reaction, "To the office now and you'll be in detention with me for the next three weeks."
"WHAAAAAATTTTTTTT!!!!!!!" she screeched shaking the windows and even getting some curious stares from the hallway. "You can't do that to me!!"
"Sure I can, I'm the teacher and you're the student. I'm in charge and you have to follow my rules. And since you just broke one of the biggest rules here then I'm in the position to punish your sorry ass right here and now."
"Do you even know who I am!" that wasn't a question but sounded more like an insult.
"Of course I do..." Ms. K replied smoothly with a frosty glare, "You're obviously a student who thinks herself better than others even going as far as destroying their project just to ensure that your ego remains the same size as your mouth. No matter my detention is sure to give it the kick that it needs."
Paulina looked shock. No teacher had ever talked to her like that or even given her a detention before let alone three weeks worth of it. All the teachers in the past would always give her what she wanted just like everybody else and would treat her like a princess because she was rich and on the cheer leading quad that are glory to this god forsaken place.
"I'm sure that the school board won't appreciate this after all what did I do?" she asked smugly.
"Oh believe they will," the teacher countered back pointing at one of the many vases she had around the room. Each one coming from a different country since Ms. K liked to travel and see the world she always brought back a piece of art to show everyone and encourage them to be unique by studying different styles.
"You see I like to keep record of how my students work so that I can use it to teach future classes and put together a little documentary for the end of the year students to enjoy who'll be graduating."
Paulina obviously had no clue what the woman in front of her was talking about so Ms. K continued on explaining, "There's a camera in there and you were in full view of it."
That just hit the nail on the head when Paulina realized that she had just been caught on tape, "B-B-But you can't..." she whispered weakly but Ms. K cut her off and pointed towards the door.
"I can and as a bonus I'll be calling your parents about this..."
--------
Her parents weren't to please and even threatened to sue but Ms. K was three steps ahead of them since the school board already knew about the cameras and since it clearly showed hat it was Paulina she had no choice but to face utter humiliation in detention for a week.
The school board did decide over three weeks but that didn't make every bit as enjoyable since she had to spend two hours everyday with Ms. K cleaning up the back storage closet.
I got an intension so that I could fix my dragon and got an A on it too to boot.
Too bad that was the only major good thing that happened to me at this school this year.
Sighing I got back to finishing my sketch that I was working on right now. It was nothing special, just a picture of a tree with some unknown person underneath looking out at something. You couldn't see their face because their back was to you and the only thing for sure was that the person was a boy and that they had black hair other than that...
I don't know why but I've been drawing this unknown figure for a long time for no reason lately, and it was getting really aggravating since I didn't know who the hell they were.
Ms. K came up to me with a concerned look, "Hey Sam what bugging huh kid?"
"W-What?"
"What am I a parrot, I said what's wrong with you and don't make me have to repeat myself again."
"Nothing... I was just thinking..." I said.
"About what?" she questioned me.
I knew I wouldn't be able to let the subject drop until I gave her an answer that she would be pleased with so I replied, "Just about my life."
"Oh?" Ms. K quirked an eyebrow up, "What about your life, other than the fact that you have the queen of evil and her army of devils living with you, I don't see what else is wrong."
"It's just that..." I wasn't totally comfortable talking about these kinds of things with anybody but I knew that Ms. K was someone that I could trust with anything along with Jen and Vicky of course... "I feel like I'm missing out on something but I don't know what."
Ms. K just stood there for a moment thinking before she spoke, "Well maybe it's because you're thinking too hard, sometimes the thing that you're looking for ends up finding you when you least expect it and in the most unlikely places as well."
I smiled weakly at that, "That just made no sense what so ever you know."
She just smiled right back and laughed, "Of course it makes sense you just have to know where to look for the meaning."
Huh?
I looked away from her when my eyes caught sight of something new in the class, "Hey Ms. K,"
"Hmm?"
"Who did that?"
"Did what?"
"That," I pointed to a picture that seemed almost hidden behind a couple of others. I got up and walked over to where it was and pulled it out to examine it even closer.
It was a painting of a wolf that seemed to be leaping through the air leaving behind some sort of blue entity with a crescent moon behind it. It seemed to be glowing even with the tactic that the artist used to make it seem like the wolf was actually alive and almost flying out of the picture like a ghost almost.
The one thing that really captured me was the creature's eyes. They had so much emotion in them; determination, focus, strength, and also a look of loneliness like it was looking for something that so far away yet so close at the same time. Those golden eyes just looked so sad...
I was so focused on the eyes that I didn't see Ms. K walk up behind me there for startling me, "its nice isn't it?"
I practically dropped it but caught myself in time thankfully. "Yeah," I admitted, "who did it?"
Ms. K got a strange expression on her face, "Oh just a kid that goes to this school, has talent but too shy to do anything about it."
"Someone in one of your classes?"
"Nope, they said that they just do this kind of things in order to relieve stress, I don't think they quite realize what a gift they have."
"I'll say," I looked back at the picture in my hands and tried to look for a name but all that I found was a small capital D at the very corner.
I know I'm slow but this one took a while for me to finally sit down and write. Now you know Ms. K and Jen and Danny was included but not as much I'm still working on where I'm taking this story.
Now I have a very important question for everyone who reads this. I'm thinking of adding a new story but I don't know which. Now which would you rather see...
A story with vampires?
Or one with Youngblood?
The one with the most votes will be published every vote counts.