Chapter 4
Shocks All Around Us
Andre's POV
You've got to be kidding me? I screamed in my head.
Layne, the school counselor, was sitting, (or hanging, whatever) in a woven chair dangling from the ceiling, about 2 feet from the ground.
"I-I don't understand." I told him, trying to keep my voice calm. He just looked at me, with apology and disappointment in his face.
Layne looked back down staring at the performance exam in front of him, with a huge letter written across it by my music teacher. "I'm pretty sure this says it all." he answered, causing me to look down on the most disgusting letter in the world:
C-
I was one of the best musicians at Hollywood Arts. For two and a half years that I've been here, I've never gotten anything lower than a 94% on a test. So how in the hell would Mr. Alto give me a C- now?
"No-no" I tried to convince him. "There's gotta be a mistake. I...I've never gotten a grade that low before."
He sighed. "Look, I've talked with your teacher." He paused for a second. "He said that... as exceptional as you are, you're music lately has been lacking..." He droned off.
"Lacking what?" I asked, slightly irritated.
"...soul."
My hands began clenching up. Lacking soul? I asked myself. Since when does eating, sleeping, and breathing music not enough soul?
"What do you mean 'lacking soul'?" I asked him.
He made another annoying sigh. "I've heard you playing. I used to be able to see passion and determination in your sheet notes. Now, everything is just...dry."
"And this we'll affect me how?"
"Well..." I hate it when Layne beats around the bush. "You know that your first plan after HA was to go to Julliard?"
My stomach churned in nervousness. "Yeah?"
"Unless you start to get your grades up...that might not happen."
My head began throbbing, and I could feel water forming in my eyes.
"P-Please tell me that you're kidding." My voice cracked.
He looked at me with guilt and sympathy. "I wish I was."
Suddenly, my vision started to blur and I began feeling dizzy. Quickly, I grabbed my backpack and headed to toward the door. "I gotta get to class." I murmured, leaving without letting him say another word.
Heading toward my Improv class, hurt began mixing with rage and self-hate. I slammed my fist into the locker next to mine, a blank gray one that no one's even used.
My dream.
My future.
Gone.
I forced myself to walk toward Improv class, to ensure myself that there's something to look forward to.
Charlie's POV
"Who's Andre?"
The second I said that, I heard the door creek open behind me. Tori lightly touched my shoulder. "There he is."
I looked behind me, eyes toward the door to see...
Oh. My. God. That was all that my thoughts came up with once I saw him.
I know how weird it is to use the word "beautiful" to describe a guy, but that was the exact word that described him perfectly.
Everything on his body was my newly-favorite color: brown. His thin, brown dreadlocks hung around his face, making his rich, coffee-colored skin tone pop. He had deep brown eyes, the same color as mine, but much lighter and blazing with a strange emotion. It seemed to be a mix of rage and severe disappointment. I didn't even know those two could even go together.
Apparently, Mr. Sikowitz didn't notice it (or perhaps he did and saw it as an opportunity). Instead of ignoring the chronically bummed student, he responded by throwing a seemingly cumbersome object at him. As it missed his face by an inch, it slammed to the ground hard enough to make the whole class yell in astonishment. As it started rolling down the walkway, the class noticed the three finger holes inside it.
"Where the hell did he get a bowling ball?" I practically screamed, wondering how the hell he's still allowed to teach at this school.
Tori looked at me in shock. "I have no idea."
"Mr. Harris!" He bellowed. "You're late!"
"I'm sorry," he said, irritation dripping out of his voice. "Had to speak with the counselor."
"Was it good news?" Psycho-wits asked nosily.
"Nope." he replied flatly, sitting in a chair in the back row, uninterested in any more questions.
"GREAT!" he yelled in joy. Confused and shocked looks appeared on everyone's face, including mine. "Having good news all the time is not only boring..." he made a dramatic pause. "...but alien-like...AAAH!"
After letting out a random scream, he threw a pair of bowling shoes out into the hall, making them slam on the splatter-covered wall.
"What was that for?" the guy holding a wooden puppet asked.
He replied calmly, "I thought I saw a beetle." He continued his class, as if nothing had happened.
"Okay," I whispered to Tori. "If he starts throwing bowling pins, I'm leaving the room."
Cat let out an over-dramatic chuckle. "I like her! She's funny." Too bad I wasn't kidding.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-(# of Survivors: 10)-*-*-*-*-*-*
I finally made it through first period without anything being thrown at me. But even through Sikowitz' lecture, the Drive-by improvs, and the conversation with Tori and Cat, I couldn't stop wondering what was wrong with...Ugh! I've gotta remember what his name was again. I can't keep referring to him as "Sexy Black Dreads". What if I accidentally called him that?
Before I knew it, it was the end of third period, and the beginning of lunch. Hopefully, it was better than the crap they fed us at my old school. It seemed to have suited inmates rather than students.
"Charlie!" I heard a familiar voice call my name. I turned to see the voice coming from Cat, with Tori standing close by her.
"How were your classes so far?" Tori asked me.
"Well..." I tried to remember, realizing that during the time, I was less focused on the classes and more focused on Black Dreads. "History was cool. My teacher actually makes it less painful than it should be. Unfortunately, we weren't able to blow stuff up or set something on fire in Chemistry, but I'm keeping my hopes up. Still, nothing was as interesting as Sikowitz." I quickly thought of something. "Does he throw bowling equipment at his students?"
"No" Tori answered, relieving me for a few seconds. "Sometimes he throws pies." I let out a nervous giggle.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two figures in the hallway across from us. From this distance, they're faces were imperceptible, but the silhouettes of their bodies showed passionate emotions: the masculine one showing anger, and the softer, feminine one showing fear.
"So, do you want to?"
The voice snapped me back into reality. "Want to what?"
"Eat lunch with us?" Cat said, confused. "You have the next lunch, right?"
Barely paying attention, I answered, "Um, sure... You know what, I think I forgot something. I'll catch up with you later, okay?"
They nodded their heads in unison, and walked off, letting me get closer to the couple in the shadows.
I know that I should have just stayed out of it in the first place. I should have just not gotten involved and walked outside to the lunchroom. Of course, I'm far too nosy to do that.
I was able to get about 10 feet from them, which was close enough to hear their voices
"Look," a broken, girly voice said. "I said I was sorry 6 times."
"Sorry doesn't cut it." The deep, accusing voice said. "You were supposed to call me last night at 7:00, and I don't hear from you until 7:30? What is that about?" He began raising his voice.
"So-something came up." You could just sense how scared she was at that moment.
"Like what? Like you were talking to someone else!" He exclaimed, shrinking the gap between their bodies. "Who else would you need to talk to but me?"
"I wasn't!" She yelled, scraping up a bit of confidence.
"It was another guy, wasn't it?"
"NO!"
He got his face closer to his. "You were planning this all along weren't you?" He grabbed a handful of her long hair in disgust. "First these stupid highlights in your hair?" He motioned his hand toward her skirt. "Now this ridiculously short skirts? What, are you trying to look like a slut?"
"God, why are you acting like this?"
He took a step toward her, thrusting a finger toward her face. "Are you giving me attitude?"
Exasperated, the girl walked away, only to be yanked back by him so hard, I was surprised her arm didn't get ripped out of its socket.
"DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME!" In a quick motion, his arm was positioned above her left cheek, the palm of his hand faced away from her... as if he was about to slap her.
Oh, hell no. That was the only thing I remember going through my head.
"HEY!" I barked, causing them to both jerk their heads toward me in shock, with the boy's hand in its same position.
"ARE YOU INSANE?" I continued. "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TOUCH A GIRL LIKE THAT!"
Unfortunately, I wasn't close enough to see his face. He let go of her instantly and ran down the hall, camouflaged by the shadows.
I turned toward the girl. Her silhouette-like body was turned toward me, frozen from, what I was guessing, in shock.
"You all right?" I said nervously.
She said nothing. She continued to stare at me, standing completely still.
"Did he hurt you?" I asked him. God, this was like pulling teeth!
When I reached out to her, she backed away with a twitch. Without hesitation, she sprinted down the hall, her black combat boots clicking intermittently.
"Wait!" I yelled. She, of course, ignored me. I turned around, only to face a bunch of students, staring at me with blank expressions.
"What are you staring at?" I bellowed. "I didn't see any of you guys trying to stop it!"
They kept staring at me. I cringed in annoyance. "The show's over! Get to class already!"
They finally disappeared through doors and up staircases, taking their stares off of me. Finally, I walked down the hall, kind of wishing that I had listened to my first instinct and hadn't gotten involved.