Chapter 5: The First Day & Meeting Carrie

(Later at Grooberson's office…)

Gary wheeled in an old CRT television. Phoebe got out her notebook.

"Good morning, class. How's everybody doing today? My name's Mr. Grooberson. Um... I know. You don't wanna be here. I don't wanna be here either. Now, apparently, your school is still operating on VHS, but I found this gem in the teacher's lounge. It's great. It's called Cujo." Gary said.

Phoebe was shocked he was showing a movie instead of teaching anything.

"It's about a rabid Saint Bernard that- You know what? I don't wanna give too much away. But imagine Beethoven if he contracted rabies and just started mauling children. You'll get an idea." Gary said.

Ben smirked.

"Enjoy." Gary said.

Gary played the VHS and walked into another room connected to the classroom. "Rabbit Chase I" from Cujo's soundtrack played. The boy seated next to Phoebe talked into his boom mike and after a countdown of three to one, she started to narrate like it was a TV episode about her.

"Speeding. Three, two, one. She sits alone. An outcast, rejected by her peers. But what is her secret? Perhaps she's on the run. On the run...from herself. And go." The boy said.

The boy moved the boom mike to Phoebe and implored her to speak.

"Actually, my grandfather died. My mom says we're here to pick through the rubble of his life." Phoebe said.

"So you're here to uncover the mystery of his death?" The boy said.

"No. It was natural causes." Phoebe said.

"Are you sure it wasn't unnatural causes?" The boy asked.

"Yes. Pretty sure it was just a heart attack." Phoebe said.

"Ah. The silent killer." The boy said.

"I'm Phoebe." Phoebe said, as her eyes to down.

"Cool. I'm Podcast." Podcast said himself.

Podcast shook Phoebe's hands.

"Why do people call you, Podcast?" Phoebe asked.

"I call myself Podcast. Because of my podcast." Podcast said.

(The Library, a minute later…)

They arrived at the library and entering it through the double doors, Trevor took a good look round and was impressed. The library occupied two floor levels like the library in his school at home but was much larger with an even greater selection of books to choose from. In the middle of the space was an open well looking up to the first floor. A spiral staircase in the middle of the ground floor went up to the first floor and large windows, including skylights on the ceiling, allowed plenty of natural light into the room. Near the base of the spiral stairs were long desks on which sat over 30 of the latest computers and desktops for students to use. Trevor was impressed, as this very modern library quite easily put the library at his school back home to shame.

Then, closely following Rita, Trevor looked round for the woman whom Morton said was "Ms. Watson" but couldn't see her anywhere. Then he noticed a middle-aged woman sitting at the librarian's desk at one end of the library and thought for a moment that maybe that could be her.

"Norma? Are you here?" Rita quietly called out.

"I'm here, Ms. Desjardin." came the peppy voice of a younger female. And then, a few seconds later, Norma Watson stepped out from the room used for storing schoolbooks. Trevor realized this was "Ms. Watson" and was actually one of the students, and not a librarian who worked in the library. She had short and light brunette hair that stopped at about shoulder level and on her face was a very bright friendly smile that could easily light up a very dull day if given half a chance.

"Norma, this is Trevor, the foreign exchange student from Chicago who'll be joining the school for the rest of Senior Year. Trevor, this is Norma Watson, Ewen High's Senior Class President." Rita said, as Norma and Trevor shook hands.

"It's really nice to meet you, Trevor. Welcome to Ewen High School and the United States, and I hope that you'll have a good time while you're over here." Norma said, as she spoke in her usual peppy, and a tad overly friendly, way before reaching down to a table beside her and handing Trevor the schoolbooks he needed.

"It's nice to meet you too, Norma. And I hope I will, and thanks very much for these." Trevor said, as he took the weight of his schoolbooks in his arms.

"What do you think of this library?" Norma asked.

"It's incredible. It quite easily makes the library at my secondary school back in Chicago look pathetically small by comparison." Trevor said.

"Well, I hope we'll get to see more of each other during your time here." Norma said, with her friendly smile still on show.

"Maybe we will…anyway, I'd best get these books over to my locker before they pull my arms off. Thanks for your help, Norma." Trevor said, as he and Rita started for the door.

"Happy to help, Trevor." Norma said, as she reached for her own schoolbag and prepared to leave.

(Out in the corridor…)

After reaching his locker out in the corridor and sorting out the books he needed for his first classes, as well as putting the unneeded books into his locker, Trevor closed his locker door, locked it and turned to Rita.

"Well, I guess that's it for now. So…I'll see you later then?" Trevor asked.

"Of course. According to your schedule you don't have gym class with me today, so I'll see you at your mother's." Rita said.

"I guess so. No, well…I'd best not keep you here for much longer if you've got a class to get ready for. I walked to my grandfather's farmhouse." Trevor said.

"All right, I'll see you later Trevor. Best of luck with your classes today." Rita said, as she turned and headed off down the corridor. Trevor turned and headed the other way looking for the canteen, figuring he may as well get something quick to eat or drink before the first class began.

As he neared the end of the corridor, he noticed a teen boy coming in the other direction and cleaning the lens of his camera.

"Excuse me…ah, can you tell me if the cafeteria is down this way?" Trevor asked, getting the other boy's attention. The other boy looked up suddenly and stopped.

"I'm Trevor and I'm the new foreign exchange student round here, so I don't know exactly where things are." Trevor said.

"Oh yes, it's close by just at the very end of the corridor and then turn left." The other boy said.

"Thanks very much for your help…ah…what's your name?" Trevor asked.

"It's Freddy…Freddy Holt." Freddy said.

"Nice to meet you Freddy, I hope we can talk again soon." Trevor said.

"I hope we can, but I best be off to my locker and get a few things." Freddy said.

"All right, I'll catch you later!" Trevor said, as he headed to the cafeteria. Freddy turned away and headed down the corridor, feeling a little happy he was shown appreciation simply for giving directions. He was a nerd in the school, and because of that he didn't have very many friends. Now with a smile on his face, Freddy continued to his locker.

(School cafeteria…)

Entering the cafeteria, Trevor saw there were quite a few more students about now than there was earlier on, but there were still a few tables available to sit at, so he went to the hot drinks vending machine and got himself a cup of tea.

As Trevor stepped away from the vending machines and began sipping some of his tea, he looked for a place to sit down...but more students had come in and were at the tables either chatting with friends or having breakfast, so there were fewer places to sit at. Looking for a place to sit, he passed a table of jocks laughing loudly about something or even whistling at girls at one of the other tables, and at another table he passed was a clique of popular girls about a dozen or so of them who, as well as appearing to be wearing too much makeup and wearing the usual clothes he expected high school girls to wear, were talking about events that had happened in the previous week and laughing about them.

As Trevor walked on then, his eyes settled on a vacant table near the back corner of the room with the only person sitting there. It was a girl with brown hair who seemed to be trying her best not to attract any unwanted attention from anyone else in the cafeteria.

Taking in a deep breath and making his way over to the table, Trevor could see the girl did have blown hair as he'd seen, except it was a little bit redder than he thought before. Her hair framed her face as the girl concentrated on finishing her breakfast, so she didn't notice him standing by her table.

"Um…excuse me…do you mind if I sit here?" Trevor asked.

Carrie jumped very slightly at the unfamiliar Irish voice and looked up, seeing the unfamiliar boy, who she'd never seen before, standing by her table. Inside she was surprised, normally no-one wanted to ever sit with her, as many other students, especially those who did everything they could to make her life as miserable as they could, called her "Creepy Carrie". For her, it was supposed to be the usual routine she'd always followed; wake up, go over to the school, attend her classes and just hope that the bullies who tormented her would leave her alone for once and then go on home and hope that her mamma didn't think she'd sinned and lock her in the "prayer closet" under the stairs again.

"Who's this man? Why does he want to sit with me? Is he gonna try and trick me or make fun of me like everyone else here does?" She thought deep inside, as she stared at the unknown boy with wide anxious eyes. Trevor saw this girl's blown eyes were filled with worry and noticed her breathing had picked up a bit. Fearing he may have scared her, Trevor tried to give her some reassurance.

"Hey, it's all right, I'm sorry if I startled you. I'm just looking for a place to sit. You don't mind if I sit here, do you?" Trevor asked, as Trevor gave a kind and reassuring smile to the worried girl. At first Carrie was silent, unsure if this young man wanted to trick her, but the reassuring smile on his face helped to slowly realize that he wasn't going to play a trick on her and he really did want to sit with her. So, with a slow nod, she allowed him to sit with her.

Trevor smiled as he sat down opposite from Carrie, noticing the painfully shy girl in front of him was still refusing to make eye contact with him.

"I'm Trevor, I'm the new foreign exchange student from Chicago. I flew in yesterday, and this is my very first day here. Thanks for letting me sit with you." Trevor said, as he stuck out his hand toward Carrie.

Carrie glanced nervously at Trevor's outstretched hand for a long moment, wondering as to whether or not she should take it or not, but seeing the expectant look on Trevor's face, she shakily stuck out her hand and put it round Trevor's hand.

"I'm Carrie White." Carrie said in a low whisper.

"Nice to meet you, Carrie. That's a nice name." Trevor said, after shaking Carrie's hand. Letting go of her hand, Trevor took in Carrie's appearance for a moment, she was a very beautiful girl, her skin was pale, yet not in an unhealthy way. Her brown hair, which fell just past her shoulders, framed her beautiful face and brown eyes. Her clothes were a tad on the old-fashioned side, but seemed to suit her quite well.

Sensing that Carrie wasn't too keen on talking, as she turned back to eating her breakfast, Trevor just picked up his cup of tea and sipped. As he did so, he could hear whispers from some of the other students at the tables a few feet behind him. One girl among the group of girls whispered to her friends as they watched the new kid sit with the school's outcast.

"What's he doing sitting with Creepy Carrie? Doesn't he know who she is?"

"Obviously not. If he did know who she was, he probably wouldn't be sitting with her right now, idiot."

"What he doesn't know is he's just thrown his social life away."

"What the bloody hell are that lot on about?" Trevor muttered, as he sipped his tea.

"They're…they're whispering about the fact you're sitting with me." Carrie whispered as Trevor's eyebrows went up in surprise.

"Well…I really don't see anything wrong sitting with a pretty girl like yourself." Trevor said, as the words "pretty girl" came out his mouth without thinking. Carrie's eyes widened a little on hearing such a compliment.

"You're lying. I…I'm not pretty." Carrie said, casting her eyes back down on the table.

Trevor was completely taken aback by this response, this girl didn't think she was pretty despite the compliment. He was surprised, and somewhat concerned, by this girl's low self-esteem. But before Trevor could say anything more, the bell rang, signaling the start of class. Checking his watch, Trevor saw it was 8:30 am exactly.

Carrie collected her things, stood up and headed off to her first class of the day without another word. Trevor watched her go with some concern on his face before he stood up himself, while making a note in his head to speak to Ms. Desjardin later on, and headed off to his first class too, which was a double period of history.

To Be Continued…