Discovering Alice

Chapter 2

“And that’s when Hitler committed suicide.” Mr. Snarl finishes, while shutting the book dramatically. It makes my head snap up. I look over at Cory to see if he just woke up too. He shoots me a knowing look and smirks, while shaking his head. It has been two weeks since Cory started up school here, and we were getting along pretty well. I usually didn’t go out of my way to make friends, and I think he knew that.  He was actually easy to get along with, and he had so much charisma I knew he could run in the league with Missy and all her friends. But for some crazy reason, it seemed like I was the only person he bothered with.

“Now, for homework tonight-“ Mr. Snarl gets cut off by the bell. I find it very good luck. He rolls his eyes, “Forget it. See you guys tomorrow.”

Cory walks up next to me and we start walking to my locker. We usually go to his locker before History and went to mine afterwards. “So, got any plans for this weekend?”  He asks me, in a tone that lets me know he has something up his sleeve.

I think for a moment, probably babysitting and avoiding my mom. “I don’t think so, why?”

“I was thinking we could go to that carnival in town this weekend.” His bright blue mixed with grey eyes flashed with excitement. I tried not to groan. Newburgh had the worst carnivals, they were all so cheesy. But did they have those kinds of things in Russia? I bit my lip. The last thing I want to do is upset my friend, especially if they never do things like that in Russia.

“I will check with my mom and see if I can make it.” It was Thursday, so it was kind of pushing it. I didn’t exactly want to go. But I figure it’s the least I could do, since Cory makes it so easy being friends with him.

“Great, are you ready to leave?” Ever since the second or third day of us hanging out Cory had been driving me home, I smile and nod. Since Cory told Missy him and I were dating, she surprisingly left him alone. Whenever she came by, we didn’t have to tense up and wonder if she’d come up and start bugging us. It was nice, and I am starting to get use to it. I still don’t understand why he said it though, he could’ve given her dozens of other excuses.

“So on your first day, why did you tell Missy we were dating?” I didn’t know why I was bringing it up now, but I thought about it more and more recently. It was stupid, and I don’t even know if I want him to say it’s because he likes me or something.

Cory had an old Honda Civic, it isn’t the newest thing but I couldn’t complain since it was better than no car. His eyes were focused on the road ahead, assessing traffic like a good drive. “Where I moved from, there was a girl exactly like Missy. If you don’t set them straight the first day, things get out of hand. And I know that sounds bad, but everybody just gets confused. I find it easier to be honest right off.”

I guess in a way he made some sense. I think back to my first day of high school, which was when I personally met Missy. I had heard about her of course, back when I was friends with a few other girls in my class they would always tell me Missy this, Missy that.

I was already nervous enough for my first day of high school. So what if I went to school with these people since kindergarten? It still freaked me out, I mean, it was high school! I was walking down the hallway, my nose in my schedule. If I wasn’t glancing at it, my eyes seemed glued to the floor. I couldn’t bother to look up and offer a smile to kind teachers. I was glancing at my locker combination as I came face to face with locker number 232. I couldn’t remember how they told us which way to turn it; I lifted my head and glanced around. Nobody looked friendly enough to ask, so I dipped my head back down and tried not to worry about it. All of a sudden someone ran into me and I was scooted a couple of inches. Luckily, I didn’t fall over. I wasn’t that clumsy, not as much as I thought I was.