Even though the clinic was hopping with students trying to get out of class, the school nurse noticed our hasty departure and yelled after us.
“You girls better hurry.”
“We will,” Sam yelled back over her shoulder.
“What’s your first class?” Sam asked, trying to catch her breath after we finally slowed down.
“Let me see,” I said, pulling my schedule out of the front pocket of my book bag. I handed it over to her.
“Oh good, we share all the same classes, except fourth period. That works out great; fourth period is just before lunch. We can meet back up and eat lunch together.”
I was relieved to hear that Sam shared most of my classes. Though I was a little disappointed our schedules didn’t match up completely, but beggars can’t be choosers.
I glanced at my schedule and was relieved that I at least had Reading for fourth period. Reading was of course my best subject, and at least I could bury my nose in a book during class. Most reading teachers expected the same thing, read a story and either write a report on it, or answer a series of questions.
Sam glanced over and looked at my schedule.
“At least you have Mrs. Rod for reading. She’s a piece of cake as long as you bring your own book. She assigns an essay every six weeks on the book your reading, grades it, then averages the grades together, and that’s your grade for the class,” she said confirming my thoughts. “That’s if you like to read.”
“I love to read,” I replied once again, surprised that here was something else we had in common. I could tell by the look on Sam’s face that she was surprised also.
We made it to first period just as the bell rang. Sam slid in her seat in the back of the room, while I waited up at the front for the teacher.
As the room filled up, I could feel the many stares of the other students in the class. I felt my face start to flush as I studied the ground. I hated being the center of attention and would have welcomed it if the ground opened up and swallowed me whole. Then I remembered Sam was in the class, I looked up and met the many stares head on. I scanned the faces; finally settling on Sam’s and felt my panic begin to subside as I realized that for the first time ever that I was not alone in school.
As if she could read my mind, Sam smiled at me and made a crooked face at the back of all the students watching me.
I almost laughed out loud, but managed to stifle it before it could erupt out of me. I couldn’t contain the wide smile that spread across my face.
I noticed that a few of the boys in the class sat up straighter and looked at me appreciatively like my smile was for them. More than a few of them leered at me in a more vulgar way.
I choked back a half-laugh at their looks; I wouldn’t give them the time of day. I was only interested in one guy, and though I knew it was juvenile to carry a torch for some dream guy, I couldn’t help myself.
I was assigned to a seat that was in the back and two rows away from Sam’s. I was relieved that it was in the back of the room. My moment of bravery had faded and I was more than ready for everyone to stop staring at me.
First period dragged. I had taken all the math classes required at my previous school, but St. Briggets expected me to take four years of math to graduate. The math was easy and I could have done the problems in my sleep. I finished the twenty problems with half the period still remaining. I glanced at Sam; she had her nose already buried in a book she had pulled out of her bag.
Usually, I would pretend to continue working so that I would not attract attention to myself, but as I watched Sam reading, I decided to follow suit. I was going to try to turn over a new leaf and stop trying to fade into the background so much.
With Sam’s help, I made it through the next two classes, and by fourth period I was ready to tackle it alone. Sam’s positive attitude was beginning to rub off on me and I felt surprisingly confident. We had sat next to each other in the last two classes and passed the time by sneaking notes back and forth.
We split up outside Mrs. Rod’s class.
“I’ll meet you in front of the cafeteria,” Sam said as she hurried off to her own class.
Mrs. Rod was at her desk when I entered the room. She handed me back my schedule and explained the simple class rules, and then told me to choose a seat anywhere.
In typical fashion, I chose a seat in the back of the room and pulled out my current book. Thumbing it open to the page I left off on, I started to read until I realized I really wasn’t paying attention to it.
My mind was preoccupied by the things Sam and I seemed to share. It was just a little wacky that we had so much in common. Like the fact that she had been in foster care, and I was adopted. It seemed odd that both of us were being raised by people other than our real parents. That, combined with the fact that Sam claimed to have emotional issues also… Were adopted kids just more sensitive, and did I just have a stronger case of it?
“He’s a babe,” a short mousy looking girl all but squealed to her seat mate. “Have you seen him?” she asked.
My thoughts were interrupted by a conversation going on in front of me.
“Yeah, I saw him. He’s totally hot, he looks barely older than us, but he has to be older, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to intern here. I bet he’s no older than twenty though,” replied her seatmate. o;They’re so funny how all they do is talk about some party, or whether their tan line is even,” Sam said, echoing my thoughts from earlier.
“Huh?” What a dope I was, here I was thinking she was talking about our ease with each other. She was so easygoing; she probably had no idea the inner turmoil I was going through as I tried to figure out why I was so comfortable around her. Here I was trying to make heads or tails out of why I had felt a surge of electricity shoot through me when we had shaken hands, and she could care less. She was probably this friendly with everyone and considered herself the welcoming committee. I felt my flush begin to deepen and looked down at the grass, mortified.