Linden
I walked into AP English 11 and took a the first seat on the row closest to the door. I smiled at the teacher. I was at school an hour early, as always. She smiled back and handed me some handouts. I got my life together in this one hour, organizing everything around my new schedule. The teacher turned on the TV and we watched Spongebob until her first student showed up. It was Aspen.
"Hello Linden."he said with a smile. I smiled back and continued writing in my journal. He sat next to me, pulling out his homework. All three of us sat in silence. It was a bit awkward between me and Aspen.
"So, what's your favorite color?"I asked him. Might as well try to make a friend. He seemed a bit confused by the random question. Then, he smiled.
"Green. Yours?"he asked in return.
"Purple."I replied, making flashcards. He just sat here, staring at me with weird glazed over look in his eyes. I blushed and continued making flashcards.
"So...ummmm...you moved up the grade?"he asked. I smiled.
"Yeah. I'm pretty happy about it. The people in my grade are...well, stupid."I told him. He laughed and nodded in response.
"Yeah. Most people are. Don't worry. All the smart people are in this class."he said.
"Mr. Falaise, don't you have late arrival?"the teacher asked, looking at him. He grimaced and turned towards her.
"Yes ma'am but I decided to replace it with this class."he explained. She nodded and went back to grading. So, he was new too. Nice to know that I wasn't alone.
"You ready to go?"Aspen asked, when he met me in front of the school. I smiled and nodded. He took my backpack and we walked to his car. I stopped for a minute when we got there. It was a sport car. A black 2003 Ford Mustang Mach 1. He put my stuff in the back before noticing that I hadn't followed him
"What?"he asked.
"Sorry. I just thought most people drove pick up trucks around here."I said. He laughed and opened the door for me. I slid in and he closed the door. That's when his friend came up to him. He looked at me and felt like I was being probed by his eyes. Like he was looking into the deepest parts of my brain. Aspen slid between his friend and the car, blocking me from his view. I sucked in a deep breath. I could breath again. They fist bumped and Aspen slid into the car.
"Are you okay?"he asked after a few minutes of driving.
"Your friend was looking at me and I felt...funny."I said, trying to find a word to describe how it felt.
"Really?"he asked, glancing at me. I nodded. "Tell me about it."
"Well...he was just staring at me but I felt like he was probing my mind or something. Like he could see every part of my life."I told him. He groaned and continued driving.
"What? What is it?"I asked.
"Don't worry about it. He just has that effect on people."he told me. That didn't help. I was going to worry about it.
