2:56 :: h.s

deux

6:30

My alarm blares through the small speaker of my phone and the last thing I want to do it get up.
The movers came later than expected last night so all of my stuff is still in boxes.
My mom and I found sheets, our duvets, and pillows for the night, but today we are actually going to get everything out and make this place like home.

This is home.

I slide over my phone screen to turn the obnoxious sound off.
I flop back onto the bed but am met with light from the hallway and a shadow of my mother.

"Turn off that beacon," I groan.

"Harry, you have to get up. You have school today." She says calmly.

I sit up and immediately cover myself again.
The air is freezing.

"Did you turn the heat off?"

"No, why?" My mom asks as she walks down the hall, to check the thermostat I assume.

"Because my room is an icebox."

"It says it's seventy-two in the house."

"Whatever, I'll just get a space heater or something," I say as I walk into he bathroom.

I take a quick shower and throw on a pair of jeans and a maroon sweater.
It's February and it's still raining.

Why.

My hair is wet as I go to make a bowl of cereal and my mom is making eggs for herself.

"Do you want me to drive you today?" She asks, popping two pieces of toast in the toaster.

"Yeah, I need to find a car. Or we need to go get mine." I say and shovel a spoonful of Honey Nut Cheerios into my mouth.

She sighs and slides her eggs onto a plate. "I'll call your father."

"Thanks," I mumble, spitting out a little bit of milk.

My mother glares at me, "mouth. Closed."

I give her a quick apology and rinse my bowl out in the sink.
The clock on the DVR reads 7:10.

You've got thirty minutes to get your ass in that seat.

I open one of the boxes in my room in search for my boots.
I wore my tennis shoes for the car ride here and they are the only shoes I have unpacked.
After I find my favorite brown boots, I slide them on my feet and walk toward the front door to meet my mom.
I look outside but her car isn't there.

"We're in the garage." She says as she walks out of the hallway.

I follow her through the kitchen and into the garage.
I squeeze my way around the car and climb into the passengers seat.
My mom backs out of the driveway and heads to my new school.

::

7:35

I climb out of the car and head into the building.
I shout an "I will" to my mom as I close the car door.
This place is so small compared to my old school.

When I get into the lobby of the place, there is a small window to my right and on the inside it looks like an office.
I bend down so I can see through the small opening and a short woman with a high-pitched voice walks over to me.

"Hi, can I help you?" She says.

"Yeah, I'm new here." I reply.

"Okay. You're going to go through the doors over there and meet me in the hall." She explains and clicks open the door.

I walk through and see a case of swimming trophies.
I look to my right and see the woman walking down the hall.

"I'm Mrs. Lise," she introduces herself as I follow her back the way she came.

"I'm Harry."

"Nice to meet you, Harry. Just follow me through these doors so I can give you your schedule, student number, and just to make sure your information is all right."

After the bell rings and about twenty sheets of paper, I'm on my way to my first class.
Which is boring as Hell.
Everyone is cooking fajitas or something and I'm put in a cooking group with a bunch of assholes.
The fajitas aren't bad though.

Next is French and the teacher seems nice.
She told me to pick a French name, I chose Luc because that was my name at my old school.
Then she makes me announce my age in front of the whole class and spends about ten minutes asking me where I'm from and why I moved.
A question to which I answered "family issues".
She understood and started speaking to the class in French, trying to teach a lesson.
I like her teaching style.
I think this class will be one of my favorites.
Everyone is laughing and the teacher is having a hard time controlling them.
She gives up about twenty-five minutes in and starts talking about Leonardo DiCaprio.

Mentor is boring.
Math is even worse.

If this guy thinks he's doing a good job teaching, someone is going to have to break some news to him.

Then I'm off to public speaking and as soon as I walk in, I immediately regret signing up for the class.
There are about fifteen people in here, including myself and the teacher.
I stand in front of the class awkwardly, waiting for the woman to turn around.
Once she does, she seems a bit scared.

"Oh! Hi, are you Harry?" She says sweetly.

"Yes," I reply quietly.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Mrs. Drews. Take a seat wherever you'd like and you can talk to me after class. Right now everyone is doing their How-to speeches so you can just participate and I'll get you caught up later. Okay?"

She seems nice.

"Yeah, okay." I say and sit down behind a kid in the second row.

::

2:45

I text my mom to tell her that I'm done, but she tells me she's stuck at work.
I groan and turn around, heading back into the school.

Who can I call?

I sit in the lobby and wait for my mom to tell me she can get me.
Twenty minutes later, almost all of the teachers have left and my mom still hasn't answered.

A short girl with black hair and pale skin walks into the lobby and smiles at me.
I think she's in my math class?
She returns quickly and smiles at me again.

I don't want to ask but . . .

"Hey," I stand up quickly before she walks outside.

She turns around and stops. "Yeah?"

"I'm new here and my mom is stuck at work. Would you mind giving me a ride? I know you don't know me and if you say no, I completely understand. I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't desperate." I say quickly.

She looks around and smiles, "I mean, sure?"

"I'm not going to kill you or anything."

Her eyebrows shoot up.

"That was weird, I'm sorry."

She shakes her head, "no, it's fine. I'm Jessa, by the way."

What an interesting name.