I stared at the blaring clock beside me hoping it would burn in hell. I stared at it for a good five minutes, the numbers changing ever so slowly. Again it blared, and I groaned and punched the top of it to turn it off. The last thing I needed was to be woken up early to go to school. Evey must've set it early yesterday without me knowing it. She was always real sneaky like that. After a good stretch down my spine, I stared at the ceiling for a while before dragging myself towards my closet.
It took me a while, but I finally chose an outfit that was warm enough to go to school in. A pale green, off-shoulder sweater and black jeans. I wore a white camisole underneath just in case it got too cold. Since I already took a shower yesterday, I just put on some deodorant and washed my face before putting on some makeup. In the middle of applying mascara, footsteps came up the stairs and stopped just outside my bathroom door. The handle turned and I swung my brush around in order to hit whoever was coming in. If it was one of the guys, or that blonde-haired-dude that I always saw, I was going to freak. My paranoia was increasing ever so slowly. Evey let out a yelp of pain when I struck her knuckles. She grabbed her hand and rubbed them frantically to avoid bruising, "Alaina! What the hell was that for?"
"I thought you were somebody else…" I replied before going back to my makeup, acting like nothing happened. I heard her sigh and the creak of the door frame.
"Who else would it be? We're the only ones in the house!" she exclaimed while I started to put a little bit of blush on. I shivered at the thought. The other day, some boys were up here just as I got out of the shower. Hopefully none of them were the guys I met. Hopefully Seth wasn't one of them. And hopefully none of them was that creepy guy I always saw.
Placing my stuff down, I took a step back and reevaluated myself in the mirror. "Sorry…" I softly replied to her. What else was I supposed to say? I was still hesitant about telling her about him.
"Well… be downstairs soon, I'm making blueberry pancakes," she said as she walked off. My mood lightened as soon as she said the magic word. I skipped back into my room and started stuffing my bag with three notebooks, two binders, a calculator, my pencil bag, and my big ass eraser that was the size of my hand. I was about to sling it over my shoulder before I glanced up at my nightstand. I grabbed my ear buds and lucky guitar pick before jogging downstairs. My guitar pick was always with me wherever I went, with guitar or not. I tossed my bag towards the couch and hopped on one of the stools and fiddled with it in my hands. The camouflage patterning almost matched the color of my shirt. Evey pushed a plate of pancakes towards me and I happily dug into them.
Silence hung in the air around us, the sound of my fork cutting through the pancake and hitting the plate echoed. "You ready?" she asked me in the middle of a big bite. I looked up at her with a smear of syrup on my chin. I stopped in the middle of my chewing and stared down at my plate. Dear god, I didn't even realize it until now. My desire for these pancakes distracted me enough to not think of school. Now that my thoughts were directed back to the topic, I glared at the pancakes and mentally asked them if they were trying to brainwash me. "Hey, hey," Evey took my shoulder by her hand, giving it a squeeze of reassurance. "It's going to be alright. You'll be fine. Just smile and be yourself!"
"Yeah, last time I did that I nearly got beaten up," I muttered and took another bite even though it tasted sour.
"That was just Mexico, Al, people are different here," she said while leaning over the counter. Ha! Yeah right. Ever since I've been on the res, I've been treated like trash, and outsider, like I didn't belong here. It was just like Mexico, but much colder. I shrugged off her comment and tried to keep my focus on my pancakes drowning in syrup. It was difficult though, because Evey was as tense as a tight rope.
Evey stopped right in front of the main building, placing the jeep in park while students swarmed inside. It was raining, not heavily, but enough to nudge people towards the warm buildings. During the entire ride, I just stared straight ahead, trying to wake myself up from this dream. Evey didn't even try to talk to me. She knew what I was going through. I watched the high school students dash around us, a couple sending glances at the passenger seat where I sat. My body was slowly sinking to the floor, not wanting to be seen.
"Okay Al," Evey finally spoke up. I turned to stare at her. Her hair was in a loose braid, and she was wearing semi-nice clothes. She also has a first day at her new job, but she was less nervous than I was. "It's time for you to get to class. You know where Ms. Cope's office is correct?" she asked and I replied with a soft nod. "Good, that's where you'll get your schedule and a map for the school. Follow the map closely, 'kay?" Again, I nodded. She leaned over and gave me an awkward hug because she was still in her seatbelt. We silently embraced for a good minute, up to when she whispered in my ear, "Good luck. Just be yourself." She gave me a quick kiss on the head and handed me my bag from the backseat. I shakily opened the door and stepped into the rain. Forgetting a jacket on the first day of school when it was raining was not a good idea. I was already shivering. "Love you!" Evey shouted through the passenger window. Then she sped off. I stood there, not caring that the rain drenched me while staring at the building. The last few people dashed inside and I had to take a few deep breaths before following them.
Inside, it was thankfully pretty warm. I received various odd looks towards my soaked body. I blushed heavily and made a beeline to Ms. Cope's office. Opening the door, I step in and Ms. Cope glances up to smile then gasp just as I nearly knock over a hanging plant. I catch it at the last second and hold it tightly. "Nice catch," a deeper voice spoke behind me. My eyes looked to see a dark-haired boy who was at least a head taller than me. His hair was cropped short and looked fuzzy. He grinned at me and I instantly blushed, tucking a strand of wet hair behind my ear. My hair was starting to dry into a curly mess. Good thing I brought a brush. I shakily hung the plant back up and walked over to Ms. Cope's desk. The boy followed right behind me and I shivered. No, please go away, I thought. I don't need to be ridiculed right now.
"H-Hi Ms. Cope," I stuttered and she gave me a concerned look.
"What happened to you? Forget an umbrella?" the boy teased. I clenched my fists, trying to ignore him. He continued though, "Maybe you should go back to where you came, firebush." I winced at that. Name calling, it already started. I felt my eyes water and Ms. Cope harshly spoke up.
"Nathaniel, you don't want to get stuck in detention again, now do you?" she spoke. I couldn't help but glance at him. His face fell but then a wicked smile spread across his face in response.
"Of course I don't," he leaned closer towards my ear and I flinched away. "But if it was because of you, I'd do it any day." My body stiffened and unwanted thoughts exploded in my mind. I gripped my wet clothes and tried to control my racing heart. Last thing I need is this again.
"Are you alright dear?" Ms. Cope asked me sweetly. I didn't even notice that my eyes were closed and filled with tears. Sniffing, I wiped them away and nodded. "You must be freezing, here," she stood up and walked over to the lost and found and started digging through it.
She helped me pick out some fairly warm clothes; the shirt was a bit baggy on me and the sweatpants had tea spilled on them, but at least I wouldn't freeze. I was happy that she was going to dry my clothes for me. I pulled up the sweatpants to keep them from dragging and tugged down on the shirt. Stepping out into the office, she sweetly smiled at me, "Your clothes will be dry by next period, and I'll write you a note for first, okay?" Oh dear god she was so nice. She handed me a map of the school and my schedule, addressing my classes with places on the map. She even offered to help me get to class. Would it be bad to say the first friend I made today was the secretary?
I told her I would be fine finding my way even though deep inside me something was saying "please help me!" Grabbing my backpack, I briskly walked out of the office and into the hall. I looked down at my schedule and groaned at my first class: Trigonometry. My feet dragged a bit behind me as I crawled towards the classroom, dreading to see any form of number this early in the day. Thankfully, the class was in the same building and fairly nearby Ms. Cope's office. I peeked into the class to see a few faces glancing in my direction before I hid beneath the window. Gulping, I shakily knocked on the door and the teacher came over. He looked like he was in his late 50s, and had the look of a scary, know-it-all teacher.
"Oh! You must be Miss Ennis," he said with a cheerful yet sarcastic tone. I instinctively crouched my shoulders as he gestured me into class. He snatched the note from my hands like it was nothing and placed it on his desk. His name plate said Mr. Varner. "Class, we will be having a new student today. Why don't you introduce yourself?" he gave me a look like I was something to eat. Not again…
I scanned the class to see questionable and 'not-wanting-to-be-there eyes staring up at me. Some kids whispered to each other; it was probably about my clothes. Stuttering, I bit my lip before saying, "I-I'm Alaina Ennis, I um… I'm from Mexico…" Do I have to say anymore? I looked towards Mr. Varner for answers. He nodded for me to continue with a stern expression. "I um… I've never been in the states before…" What else was I supposed to say? I couldn't think of anything so I just stared at my shoes.
"Good! Welcome Miss Ennis, there's a seat right here," he motioned with his hand to a seat practically right in front of his desk. Oh great. I shuffled over there and sat down, feeling everybody's eyes on me. My cheeks flushed and I tried to keep myself calm from embarrassment. "Okay class, let's get started on the next chapter shall we?" Mr. Varner turned to the whiteboard while the entire class groaned. As much as I wanted to join them, I couldn't ruin my reputation so soon at school. Hell, I already had the reputation as being the white girl from Mexico who wears baggy clothes like a hobo.
Well this is just peachy, I thought as I looked over to the kid's book next to me. He didn't even bother to share, so I was stuck with straining my neck. I tugged out my notebook and scribbled down the date in the corner as well as titling the page as the chapter. My mind was somewhere else as Mr. Varner scribbled on the whiteboard, talking nonsense about angles and whatnot. The main thought that came to me was the need to make friends. I also was eager to meet my tour guide today too.