The group had saved them a seat towards the right side of the classroom. They talked about the other group on the opposite side of the room. "So, Sam was basically off the hook for stealing all those vinyl records at the stores? It's so stupid that Frank won't do shit!" Antonia listened to the conversation Mal and Donna were having. "Who's that?" she asked. "That's nothing compared to most of the stuff Angelita and Dominic do." Jiya chimed in and leaned closer to Donna and Karen. "Before I quit working at the music store, Angelita would sneak him in from the inside halls and…" "Erm.. Who are you all talkin' bout?" she had asked. Jiya looked at her, "Oh sorry, I used to be really good friends with that group over there, and let's just say I made some really stupid mistakes." Antonia tensed up as she saw the Asian girl and boy with white hair talking to the girl with blonde hair holding hands with the boy with blue hair. "I was especially really close with that guy over there named Seymour. His best friend Dominic, is a literal demon. Just because he's mute he gets away with so much."Antonia looked over and saw a short boy, no older than thirteen walk into the room. Antonia snorted, "Oh my lord, who let the first grader in the school?" She looked and Jiya and she looked upset. "That's Mikron. You don't wanna get mixed up with him. That little rat is smarter than you think." Karen was giving Angelita a dirty look. Nicole whispered to Antonia, "Some of us used to be really good friends in middle school but a lot changed in eighth grade and freshman year." Antonia thought that this was some of the hottest gossip she had heard especially for the first day of moved Jiya to a seat closer to the front of the classroom. Mal took a seat next to them and looked back once more. He noticed that Angelita and the boy with white hair kept looking at Karen.
"ALRIGHT GOOD MORING EVERYONE! TAKE A SEAT AND WE'LL GET STARTED IN A MINUTE!" That startled everyone in the class and the students immediately sat down. A small woman stood before them and had a stack of papers in her hand. "Hello to all. My name is Mrs. Sanders, and I will be your forensic science teacher, yes? Well, today I just want to see what you think you know versus what you really know. The class took a short quiz about some of the myths about crime investigations and understanding serial killers. After finishing the quiz, Mrs. Sanders had gone over the questions, and to many people's surprise, crime scenes didn't involve super hot investigators or black light laboratories. The class was by far very interesting and everyone seemed to like the teacher. Everyone in the class groaned when she stated that group work would need to be done in assigned orders so no one would be able to pick their friends. She walked to her computer and projected the grouping. "Are you kidding me?" Donna said quietly. She turned to Wally and said, "I cannot work with Jade. Not after what she did with Roy." Hmmm, Roy? Antonia thought to herself that she hadn't seen Roy since July 4th. She missed him and Richard. She began to wonder how her other friends were doing at private class then ended with a few minutes of free time. "Go ahead and try to get to know your partners for the first few labs we'll be doing this semester." Mrs. Sanders stood awkwardly as no one got up and instead talked to their friends.
"Nicole." She faced left to look at the goth. "Who's Sam?" The group looked at her like she was talking too loud. "He's this wannabe Billy Idol guy that thinks he's hot shit." Said Jiya. Wally cackledandIsaiahsaid, "He's a tough guy you don't want to mess with. Last year, he and Joseph almost went at it because he tried to sleep with his sister. But we all know she somehow ends up at the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong people." Nicole leaned in and said, "He's also said to take money at work but Jiya said he does it since his family migrated to the U.S. with no money." Antonia looked at the group and Malsaid, "Yeah but that doesn't make it right to be rude to everyone." The bell rang and they all got up. Jiya immediately grabbed Wally's hand and were the last to leave the classroom. "Hey, where's your next class?" asked Isaiah. Antonia looked at him and replied, "Erm... I think like... math." Nicole looked at her funny. "You just said it was theater." Antonia's eyes widened and Nicole got the message and walked away. Karen got close to her, "Hey girl, we're heading that way if you want to come with us. And what class do you have Isaiah?" He stood in the hallway, "I have Pre-Cal with Garcia. I'll see you guys later." Antonia waved goodbye at him and got bumped in the arm. "Oh, I'm sorry doll face." He was a tall boy with a shaggy mullet. He was lean and handsome but was currently having a conversation with the really short boy. "Hi William," said Karen as she and Mal began to walk away. "Afternoon Karen," he responded in a thick country accent. Donna quickly followed behind Isaiahand ignored the Asian girl looking at her standing beside the short boy. "I have Pre-Cal too ,so I'll see you soon."
Antonia was really grateful for the new friends she made that were already looking out for her. They made it clear who to avoid and helped her with anything else she needed. Mal and Karen had led her to the back of the auditorium hall. "Here Toni. This is where you would go for your class. I might see you from time to time if we have a band performance coming up. What class do you have?" Antonia looked down at her schedule which was already folded a million times and covered in several doodles. "Erm… Beginner Theater Design. But I think my composition teacher told me that I would only take this class for a semester then when we come back from our winter break, I have another design class. Am I correct?" Mal looked at her a bit confused, "I'm not too sure about that since I'm not in theater but maybe ask your teacher when you see them." Antonia nodded and Karen smiled at her. "Okay, we're almost done with the day girl. You'll be able to chill out soon. Are you doing anything later?" She asked. Antonia responded, "I think I just really want to go home." She let out a sigh and Karen gave her a hug. Mal softly chuckled and said, "Just two more periods and it'll all be over." They walked out of the hall and Antonia walked into a room that looked like a warehouse. She stood there for a moment and thought she was in the wrong place. A very skinny man looked at her and asked, "What are you looking for honey?" Everyone turned around to look at her. There were only a few people in the class and it looked like some of the students were already friends. "I'm looking for the Beginner theater design class." "Oh, angel wings, you're in the right spot." She then walked over to the table that was covered in different pieces of fabric squares where another girl was quietly typing on her phone. She had bright green hair and looked completely exhausted. Antonia looked around and saw that the other tables had different materials such as magazines, books, fabric tools, and costumes laid out. Antonia felt really behind as the class had an in-depth discussion about the importance of clothing choices in a production. She had no idea what anyone was saying. She did however share examples of her favorite movies where characters wore specific items to convey an important characteristic or to emphasize a difference in the atmosphere. She felt like her contributions actually made scene once the class walked around to the different tables and observed the different items. The class ended with a short video on backstage custom designers. Antonia was then headed to the last class of the day.
In Pre-Cal, Antonia was given a long quiz that took half of the class time. The second half of the class went by fast as the teacher skimmed through his syllabus and most of the class was zoned out. He was a young-looking guy who possibly had the worst first day on the job. When he looked over to the students, he would go from a firm voice to one that trailed off after each slide. He then at the end of class gave everyone a list of all the assignments that would be due in the year and on the back had ways to gain extra credit. At the end of class, Antonia walked to meet her friends by the other side of the school. The four from this morning said their goodbyes to the rest of the crew and exited the school into the parking lot. Joseph gently tapped on her shoulder and signed, "How did it go?" Antonia let out a forced laugh, "It honestly wasn't that terrible the more I think about it. There wasn't any fights, crazy cheerleaders, weird couples, or creepy staff members." Nicole looked at her amused. "You'll just have to wait for all of that to happ- Oh… you spoke too soon." The couple that was parked close to Joesph's car were swallowing each other and blocked their way into entering the passenger side. "Excuse me." Donna had gently squeezed beside them and she climbed to the seat. Once they all got in, Joseph bolted out of the parking lot. They had decided to get frozen yogurt on the way to go drop off Antonia. Antonia honestly thought her day could have been worse but was grateful no one had harassedher about being new or said something too rude about the way she dressed or spoke.
It was twilight and Antonia had just finished her bath. She put on her silk pajamas and climbed in bed. She watched whatever was airing and ate some Skittles and wrote in her diary. She was excited for the next day although she was still very nervous to see what the rest of the week would hold. "Amore. How was your day?" Antonia looked up to see her dad and jumped out of bed. "Hi, Papa!" Antonia hugged him putting her head on his shoulder. They were almost the same height but he was just an inch taller. "It was definitely a new experience. It was bit overwhelming. However, I will say that it was a good type new." She smiled at him. "Did you make any new friends? Didn't that one girl from the plant shopcome get you?" he had asked her. He was often away from home, so Antonia didn't really get to talk to her father until the weekend. "Yes Papa, Nicole had a friend pick us up and their circle was really welcoming. I will say that kids in the public school don't really like to respect authority." She went back and sat at the foot of her bed. "I liked it though. I feel like people are more open and easy to talk to. I'm not totally sure if there's any people I need to avoid or watch out for yet." Her father had taken off his tie, "I think after a few weeks of exposure you'll really get used to it. Don't worry about it anymore. We'll talk about it later love. Goodnight." He slowly closed the door behind him and Antonia looked at the light peering beneath the door from the hallway. After a while, she turned off her TV and rolled over to sleep. She thought about many things before she could actually sleep. How did they know about all the issues at the mall? Why was Jiya friends with them before? Is that Asian girl Jade? If she is, then is that who Roy went to visit instead of going to her 17th birthday party? Who was that huge guy talking to the short boy in their forensic science class? Why does it feel like there is already so much drama? Then again, some people simply don't get along and Antonia had to accept that.