Two words: Writer's block
School Daze
"Wow just a few more days till we're home free!"
"Oh I can't wait!"
Lola overheard a conversation between two students in her class.
"Then we're out of here!"
"Then we go to high school!"
"Oh my gosh! It's gonna be so exciting!"
Lola checked the time on her watch. She blew the whistle.
"Head for the lockers," she instructed
The students took their sweet time putting the equipment away and went to change in the lockers. Lola was left on the gym floor, picking up a few pieces of equipment.
On their way to high school, huh?…Well, they can't go to high school unless they pass my class!
She sat down at her desk in the office. And looked over her clip board, then at the grading sheets she had to fill out. She grumbled at the amount of work that needed to be done.
I hate paperwork…
She tried to fill one out, but she was too in a bad mood to complete it. She came out her office and grabbed one of the basketballs from the rack. She gave it a bounce and smiled at its quality. She dribbled it over to the foul line and made the shot. It hit the backboard and went in. She caught the rebound.
Just then the passing bell rang and the students came out the locker rooms and headed for their next class.
"Bye Mrs. Lola!" a few of them said
"Bye!" she waved at them
A congregation was forming outside her gym. There was traffic of students going in, and others going out. They were loud, and broke Lola's concentration.
"So what High School you going to?"
"The one in Greendale…how about you?"
"I'm taking the test for the specialized one…"
"Really?! That's great…"
Lola held the ball under her arm, and placed her free hand on her hip, waiting for the silence to come once more. After the second bell rang, the students were gone, and the gym was quiet once more.
Heh, high school…it may have been the 'good 'ol days' for some people I know. But for me, they were more like…bitter-sweet
"Oh you look so adorable!"
"Mom…"
Gladys took another picture of her daughter.
"You look so grown up!"
I wish you would let me grow up…
It was the first day of high school for the youngest Bunny sibling. She didn't look at all too happy. For her mother was taking pictures of her like she were a movie star. She didn't look very glamorous with her messy long hair, black and white striped baggy shirt and dark blue jeans. But her mother didn't care. Lola was the belle of the ball to her.
"Ok mom, I got to go now…don't want to make me late on my first day…" said Lola with an airy, yet annoyed tone
"Ok…you're right. Have a good day! And be careful!"
"Alright…" she muttered as she rolled her eyes
She swung her backpack over her shoulder and climbed up the steps to her new school. The hallways were tall and wide. Lockers lined the walls between the doors, interrupting every so often for the water fountains and hallways. The building itself smelled of bleached tiles and bubble gum.
The students themselves were different too. Most were taller than she was, or just as tall. Some just gave her a passing glance, while others paid no mind to the freshman. And they all seamed to be divided, each in their own clique. There were jocks tossing a football to her left, while there were Goths moping around to her right. As she walked further up, she saw nerds trading some sort of cards while the cheerleaders had just started squealing over their reunion.
There sure are a lot of cliques in high school…
Lola walked down the hallway, focused on her program card that she had received at freshman orientation earlier that week. She had algebra first period. The first bell rang; she quickened her step to find the classroom.
She found the room just in time. She went inside and found an empty seat in the middle of the classroom. The kids were rowdy; sitting on the desks and jabbering. The classroom did not silence until the teacher walked in. He was an old cat, with thinning white hair and glasses that looked like the bottom of soda glass bottles. He sat down at his desk; the chair creaked under his weight. His movements were calm and slow.
"Good morning class…" he replied in a monotone voice
"Good morning," replied a few kids
"My name is Mr. Stein. I will be your algebra teacher for this first semester. All of you are freshman, correct?"
"Yes,"
"Alright…we'll begin with attendance. Let's see now…Astor, Michell?"
"Here…" replied a male squirrel
"Bolis, Anne?"
"Here…" replied a female bear
"Bunny, Lola?"
"Here…" replied Lola
Doesn't he sound like fun…Geez! I dunno if I can stand this guy for one whole semester!
The teacher continued with the roll call. Until ten minutes later he reached the end of the list.
"Zebra, Jaqueline?"
"Here" the girl responded
Ugh!! Finally!
"Alright…that's everyone. So welcome to Algebra 101. Now…in this class you will learn about algebra…"
Really I haven't noticed…
"Algebra is something very special…and is the basis for many of the other complicated math…So…today…umm…did we do the seating chart?"
Argh…when is this gonna END?!?!
Lola had an uninteresting morning, filling out papers and reading over 'student contracts'. After jumping around from class to class, it was finally time for a lunch break.
Lola leaned over the cafeteria table, she was bummed out. She knew absolutely no one in that school. Everyone except her was within a group. They laughed and talked, and ignored everyone around them. She sat there alone, looking over her schedule. How could she ever fit in?
At the end of the day, Lola arrived home and sat on the couch. Soon enough Gladys came to greet her. Lola let out a small grumble.
"How was your first day sweetie?" she said very perky
"It was alright…"
"Well?"
Lola sat up on the couch.
"My first period teacher is a snooze….my global history teacher is a drill seargent…other than that the teachers were ok,"
"Did you make any friends?"
"Umm…no not really…"
"Aw, well…you're just going to have to try harder tomorrow,"
"I can hardly wait…" she said sarcastically
The next day, the proceedings were very much the same. Again at lunch she was alone. She sat at the table, with cliques on her right and left. She ignored them as they ignored her. She absent mindedly swirled the fry in the mess of ketchup. Suddenly, she felt someone sit next to her.
"Hi!" said the girl
"Hi?" said Lola
"Sorry to startle you," she giggled, "may I sit here?"
"Sure," she said
"There was no more room in the staff cafeteria…besides, all those teachers are boring…" she smiled. Her voice was high-pitched
"Oh where are my manners; My name is Petunia, Petunia Pig!" she said extending her hand
"I'm Lola,"
"Pleasure to meet ya!"
She got comfortable on the empty spot next to Lola. She opened her bag of chips and turned to face Lola.
"Are you a freshman?"
"Yeah,"
"What do you think of high school so far?"
"Boring…"
"Aw, I'm sorry,"
"It's ok; it's not your fault. It's just that my teachers are just so…uninteresting…"
"Oh, I understand. There's this one teacher I had…ummm…Mr.Stein. His class was always terrible,"
"He's my first teacher of the day…"
"Ew…I feel sorry for you," she chuckled
Lola couldn't help but chuckle herself
"But he's an easy grader. Just do good on his tests and read the textbook and you'll do fine,"
"Thanks for the advice,"
"No problem,"
"So…umm…are you a junior or a senior?"
"Neither, well…I used to be. I graduated from this school, majoring in performing arts. But then come college I changed my mind and decided to become a doctor. So I'm back in my old school serving as a volunteer to the school nurse to gain experience."
"Oh that's cool. So why the drastic career change, if you don't mind me asking?"
"No not at all. I just felt that acting really wasn't my thing, so I decided to do something really different. Just to see what it was like. So far I like it."
Lola nodded in response
"The major you choose in high school isn't necessarily what you end up doing in life. High school is a time for experimenting…so, what major are you in?"
"Performing arts major…"
"Oh cool! How do you like it so far?"
"It's ok I guess…"
"Well…in the beginning it was pretty boring. The history and theory classes were torture. But then next year it lightens up, you'll see."
Lola smiled in response. It was nice to have some comapany.
Later that day
Lola arrived home and collapsed on the couch. She was tired of another day running around, lugging textbooks up and down the stairs. But she was in a better mood today. She had finally made a friend.
"Lola sweetie!"
"Hi mom…" she mumbled
Her positive mood was gone.
"How was school?"
"It was ok…."
"Oh wonderful. You know Lola…I passed by the school today and I found the school newspaper."
"Huh? What were you doing by my school?"
"I was just…visiting. Yeah well anyway…I saw this ad for the spring musical. You should go try out for the audition,"
"Ugh, Mom…I don't want to. Isn't school enough?"
"Lola, why are you being so lazy? I thought you loved extra-curricular activities!"
"Um…no, not really,"
"Lola! I'm surprised at you! You were never this lazy! I will not have any of that in this house,"
"I am not lazy….just annoyed with it. I checked the school listing, they don't even have a girls' basketball team…or any girls' team for that matter!"
"Teams? Please Lola…you're a performing arts major, you should stick to that,"
"But playing sports is what I love,"
"That's a past-time dear…not a career,"
Lola remained silent, with a look of disbelief on her face.
"Look, just try out. At least do me that favor, remember your promise,"
Lola grumbled
"Yes…" she hesistated, clenching her fist
"Alright then…that's the end of the subject. Go do your homework…"
Lola grabbed her backpack and went upstairs, cursing under her breath. She reached her room, and locked the door. She set her bag down at the desk and sat in her chair. She leaned her head on her hands and sighed. She kept staring ahead of her, things were racing through her mind.
How dare she say that to me…how can she just assume that I want to be a performer just like her? How can she just put down the one thing I enjoy the most…drowning my hopes and dreams…argh!
She got up and went to her window and sat there, looking out to her backyard. She thought about what her mother had said. It made her furious and she punched the window sill. She crossed her arms and huffed.
Dammit
She looked around, when she saw the coast was clear, she climbed out the window and out onto the roof of the porch. She climbed down the column and into the backyard. She went towards her driveway and found her basketball in the garage. She picked it up and spun it in her hands. She walked back a few steps, bouncing the ball on the pavement. She looked back and saw the hoop above the garage door. She shot the ball and it fell clean in. She caught the rebound and shot again, another clean shot. She continued playing, trying to cool off the steam.
"Lola!" yelled her mother "what are you doing playing basketball? Get in here and finish your homework right now! It's almost time for dinner!"
"Coming…" she grumbled
Lola clasped the ball in her hands. When she saw her mother left the window…
"ARGH!"
She thrust the ball on the ground in anger and it bounced really high. She walked back towards the house, not before hearing the swoosh of the ball going into the net.
The ball bounced once more. She caught it in her hands. Whenever she was stressed out, she played basketball to cool down. The court was her home away from home; a place where she felt at ease.
A place where she could reminisce about the past