I woke as my alarm went off an hour and a half before I had to get up. This was always my least favorite time of the day- being suddenly woken up by that incessant beeping. So, to rectify the situation, I set my alarm early just so I could turn it off and go back to sleep. An hour and a half later, the familiar beeping woke me up a second time and I got out of bed.
It was my first day of my senior year. Uncle and I had been living in the sub shop for a year today. A lot had happened in that year: I met the turtles and eventually their master, Splinter, learned about the Kraang and Shredder, and became fast friends with the aforementioned mutant turtles. April and I were pretty close now too. Thanks to Donatello hacking into the school's computer, we "miraculously" had all the same classes in the same time slots this year. It helped the bitterness that was starting our senior year; neither April nor I were particularly excited about it. But I'll admit, now that it was actually the first day of school, I was a little enthusiastic.
Uncle was already up- he was an early riser…. somehow. He was busy cooking something behind the counter by the time I came downstairs. I took a shower, brushed my hair, got dressed, and grabbed my backpack. "Good morning, baby niece!" He greeted me with his usual overly-giddy tone. "Morning, uncle." "Happy first day of senior year!" With a squeal, he spun around to face me. "Look at you, all grown up. Ah, you make me so proud!" "Thank you, uncle," this made me smile since I know he was being sincere. "Let me take a picture for your uncle Rock and Skunk!" Ok, that might be a little overboard. "Did you call him back last night?" "Uhhhhhhhh….."
"Hi uncle! Sorry I missed your call; I was out with…" "Hey, babycakes! Great to hear from ya! I'm at the dentist right now!" "A-at the dentist?" "Yeah! They got me in one of those cool astronaut chairs; you know, the ones that go up and down?" "Uh, uncle? Do you think it's a good idea to be talking on the phone while you're….." "Ah! Don't you worry, sweetheart! Your uncle's got perfect pearly whites." "Alright, Mr. Zilla; if you could just open up for me and let me have a look at your teeth," I heard the doctor say in the background. This was followed by the sound of a dentist drill. "Nah, my main interest isn't the teeth. It's all about the tongue, baby!" I had to pull my phone away from my ear as uncle let out the loudest scream in pain ever.
"Y-yes, I called uncle back….. I don't think he'll be talking for a while though." "That's good! Hey, guess what I made you for breakfast? One of my famous bacon and egg sandwich! Sans the eggs, extra bacon; just how you like it." "Thanks, uncle!" I took it and went to the front door. "Will L, R, D, and M come to hang out here tonight?" "If it's ok with you." "Sure it is! I love those guys and they love my subs, which makes me love them even more!" "Ok then. I'll come straight home after school." "Good girl," he nodded. "Now come give your uncle a kiss good bye." Smiling, we wrapped our arms around each other and I gave him a peck on the cheek. "Have a good day at school, baby niece," uncle said while still holding me. "Love you long time." "Love you longer."
April met me in front of the school building; though I didn't like it at first, it had grown on me over time. She greeted me with a grin. "Well hello, stranger." "Hi April," I mirrored her grin. "Excited to be a senior this year?" "Ugh," her eyes rolled. "It never ends! Summer went by way to fast." "We spent practically every day at the lair." "I did; you went off to visit your uncle Rock." "For only like two weeks!" "Two weeks too long," she chuckled. "You should have seen how fidgety Raph got; even Leo was getting ansy." "Really? Cause when I got home, Raphael said that he barely noticed I was gone." "Come on; you think Raph would say out loud that he "missed you"?" My eyes scrolled off a little into nowhere. "No…" "Leo and Mikey on the other hand…." She gazed up as we climbed the steps. "Really? Leonardo? I can understand Michelangelo but Leo?" "Yeah?" April then gave me a startled look. "Why does that surprise you?" I didn't answer.
We went to homeroom and then first class- English. Being in our last year of high school was weird; a good weird but still different. I did my first year of high school back home so I've only been here for sophomore year. But I think what I was told applies to this school too. When I was a junior, one of the seniors at my old school told me that I looked like a hapless kid to him. I don't remember if I was insulted or not but I never forgot it. Now that I was a senior, I understood completely what he meant. It was weird; I never noticed it before but the school seemed to be divided into two informal parts- the seniors and everyone else. It felt like we were the ones who ruled the school; well, not me exactly per say, but our class. I have to admit, it felt a little nice being the "big kids" on campus for once, though I doubt it was going to influence my life very much.
There were some downsides to being a senior however. English class got even more boring- if that was possible. The teacher, Mr. Carpson, was in the middle of a very dull Ye' Old English lecture; he believed in jumping right on into our work at the start of the semester. Cause that'll make you the most popular teacher in the school. Bored out of my skull, I glanced over at April who gave me one of those 'why didn't we switch classes while we had the chance?' looks. I nodded in agreement and then turned to gaze out the window. God, I felt like I was going to fall asleep.
"Blah, blah, history; blah, blah, Medieval English." Ok, I know he didn't say "blah, blah", but that's seriously how it sounded to me. I didn't know it was possible to be this bored; and on the first day of school too! I wonder if this was an omen? Looking back to the front of the room, I perked up slightly when I saw his back turned to me. Seizing the opportunity, I pulled out my phone and hid it under my desk; as most students did. There were two messages from Michelangelo already waiting for me; he usually was the first to message me every day.
[Orange: hey, B.! happy first day of school!] I grinned. [Me: thanks, M. though it doesn't feel so good; in class and soooooo bored] [Orange: awe why? is it math?!] [Me: no, worse; ye' old English!] April gave me a curious look which I only then noticed. Silently, I showed her my screen as discreetly as possible. She looked and nodded with a grin. [Orange: old English? I thought there was just one type of English] This made me chuckle a little; probably a bad move.
[Me: it's like how they spoke in all those old medieval movies; remember Robin Hood?] [Orange: the dude in tights? How could I forget him lol] I was about to text something when another message appeared. [Red: ur not supposed 2 text in class, u know] This made me smile. [Me: trying to watch morph rangers, or whatever that meck show is that u like?] [Red: no, I'm tryin 2 read my comic but Mikey here won't stop laughing (like a loser)] [Me: well, I...]
"Miss Zilla!" My head immediately shot up to see Mr. Carpson standing right beside my desk. Boy, was he giving me a glare. "Uhhhhhhh….." "I believe I asked you to read line nine!" "L-line nine?" Quickly glancing over at April, she held up the textbook pointing at page nineteen. "Line nine, right!" I shuffled there only to find this: non apreciatum propter ydioma incognita. This is English? I can't read that! But, knowing he was expecting me to try- and likely fail- I took in a deep breath. "Non… apre-cee-tume proper e-dye-ma incognita." I knew the last word. He just looked at me for a second like his balled-cut head was about to explode.
Instead of exploding, Mr. Carpson clasped his hands behind his back and regained composure on his pale face. "Miss Zilla, I suggest that you pay strict attention, unless you want to end up like that uncle of yours, Rock," he said in a judgy tone. "You…. mean rich and successful?" This erupted a burst of laughter from the whole classroom. Mr. Carpson jeered around angrily before glaring back at me. "T-there'll be none of that smart attitude in classroom, young lady! If I catch you on that phone again, you'll lose it for the whole day!" "Yes sir," I sunk down in my seat, not really embarrassed- he did this all the time to every kind of student- but more depressed. April and I gave each other a groaning look as Mr. Carpson re-read my line- correctly this time- and proceeded to explain its meaning. This was going to be a loooooooong year.