I stood at the front of the room, shifting from one foot to the next and wishing I could disappear to avoid the staring. It would help if the teacher would show up. Wasn’t the whole point of going to school to actually have an adult figure in charge? The second bell rang and I contemplated backing discreetly out of the room, thinking maybe I had the wrong class.
The noise level swelled. Whispering became outright talking. I was clearly the topic of discussion, but no one was even trying to hide it. I needed to leave. I could not stand here on display in front of everyone. Before my feet could get on the same page as my brain the classroom door swung open and a harried-looking younger man entered the room.
He looked like he had either slept in his clothes or pulled them out of the hamper. His hair was disheveled and standing on end and his face was covered in stubble, making him look unkempt. “I’m Mr. Cruz. Your teacher, Ms. Gritzki, is out sick today,” he said, running a hand over his hair, making it stick up even more. “Apparently, it’s now acceptable to call in at the last minute.” He tossed his briefcase on the desk. “Young lady, take your seat,” he instructed.
“Uh, this is my first day,” I stuttered out.
“Wonderful,” he sighed, snatching the slip of paper from my hand and scrawling his signature on it. “Sit there,” he barked, pointing to an empty chair to the far right of the room that was isolated from the rest of the desks.
Embarrassment flooded my cheeks. Clutching my pass in my hand, I made my way to the desk, keeping my eyes on the floor in front of me. All the confidence I had gained during first period was long gone. I sank down in my seat, letting my hair fall across my face.
“I’m not feeling the whole teaching gig today so entertain yourselves,” Mr. Cruz proclaimed, sitting in Ms. Gritzki’s chair. He plopped his feet up on the desk, obviously not caring that his shoes were sitting on a stack of papers. “Just keep it down. I have a headache,” he said, pulling a cell phone out of his pocket.
His words were all the encouragement everyone needed. Desks scraped across the floor as they were pushed together and the talking became a steady hum in the room. Discreetly peeking out through my hair, I saw that almost everyone in the room had pulled out cell phones, except the girls in the back who were still watching me. I turned back to face the front of the room and let my hair fall down in place.
Unlike first period, which seemed to fly by, second period felt like it was moving backward. I sat at my desk, watching the minute hand on the clock slowly tick around. I could make out snippets of conversation around me, hearing my name mentioned more than once. It was more of what I had experienced in the hospital. I hated that they knew all the sordid details. Most came from the trio in the back who managed to talk about me the entire period. It was official. Even after Heather and Mr. Knight, I hated school.
The bell to end the period saved me just short of jumping from the window. I surged gratefully to my feet, ready to escape the oppressiveness of the room. I was in the process of retrieving my bag from the floor when I was shoved hard from behind. Caught off balance, I stumbled forward, catching myself hard on the desk to my left.
“Oops, sorry,” I said instinctively. Years of living with Judy had trained me to always apologize even when I wasn’t at fault. One of the girls giggled when she reached her friends who all shot me the same look before heading out the door.
Yay. High school was so much fun.
Sighing, I rubbed my side which probably had an indentation from the corner of the desk. Mr. Cruz was too wrapped up in his cell phone to care.
Third and fourth periods were marginally better. At least both teachers were present, but the whispering from my classmates continued. By the time the bell rang for lunch, I had resigned myself to the fact that Dewy High School was one of the seven realms of hell.
Thankfully, Heather kept her promise and met me outside the cafeteria so I wouldn’t have to walk in by myself. The space was loud and far too chaotic to garner any attention over our entrance. I breathed easier as I followed Heather to her table.
She kept up a steady stream of talking like before. All I had to do was nod my head in response to keep her going. She shifted conversations rapidly, but I found it oddly distracting in a good way. I was grateful she was at least treating me like a person and not a spectacle.
“Katie and Molly, this is my new friend, Mia.” She finally came up for air to introduce me to the two other girls at the table.
“Hi,” Katie said, looking down shyly at her plate.
“Hey,” I answered.
Molly’s response was slower to come. “Mia,” she said leisurely. I could see she made the connection. “So, you’re her, huh?” I waited for more of what I had been hearing all day in classes, even braced myself to leave the table when she made it clear she didn’t want me there. Nothing happened though. Molly gave me a smile and returned back to her book.
At least it wasn’t a snub. My hands released their death grip on the edge of the table and the knot between my shoulders began to unravel. I opened my lunch bag and pulled out my sandwich, nibbling on the corner of it while Heather gave me more of an overview of Dewy High. She seemed to know everyone, or at least it seemed that way when she would point them out. I found it funny that she didn’t call them by their given names, but rather nicknames she had made up. “It’s only for people who get on my nerves,” she said, justifying her actions. Molly and Katie didn’t say much for the most part except to interject an opinion on someone she was talking about. Katie was quieter and answered in one-word syllables the majority of the time. Molly wasn’t shy like Katie, but she also kept her words to a minimum. She was the exact opposite of Heather. She only spoke enough to get her point across. All three turned out to be pretty cool and not just because they seemed to accept me without qualms.
The bell ending lunch sounded way before I was ready for it. I didn’t want to go back into another new class. The idea of being on display for three more periods was as appealing as being dipped in chocolate and fed to ants. Molly saved the day when she asked about my schedule and announced I shared my next two classes with her.
“I’m su
re you can sit by me in Mrs. Blaine’s class. She’s pretty cool,” Molly said, walking briskly down the hall.
“Thank you,” I puffed, trying to keep up with her.
We were the first two students to arrive in Mrs. Blaine’s room, which made the transition much easier. After she signed my slip Molly and I found two empty desks together. I realized I’d been doing things wrong all day. Getting to class early provided me a vantage point where I could observe the arrival of everyone else without being the one on display. By the time the other students arrived and filled the room no one noticed me.
Molly got us to sixth period in the same manner and with the same results, making me wish I shared all my classes with her. It was a breath of fresh air compared to my earlier class periods. We parted ways after chemistry and I hurried to my last class of the day, anxious to test my theory.
I had a better lay of the land and was able to find the room relatively easily, even without Molly as my guide. I wasn’t the first one to arrive, but there were only a handful of students seated when I hurried through the door. Most of them were too busy talking to pay attention to me, but I did notice while getting my paper signed that one girl in particular was studying me intently as I found my desk.
I shifted in my seat, untucking my hair from behind my ears to shield my face. I only wished it were longer. Maybe then the girl staring would leave me alone. I pulled my notebook and pen out and began doodling on the page. At least I looked busy. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the girl rise from her seat and head my way. I scribbled a meaningless note on my notebook, so she wouldn’t know that I saw her coming.
“Are you Mia?” she asked.