City Life for Country Girls

Step Five: Commence Daily City Life

  

        “Name’s Scarlett Henson. She needs a schedule. Transfer. Yeah she didn’t get a schedule in homeroom. Nah, she wasn’t on the homeroom roster,” the receptionist spoke directly into the phone, spinning a pencil about her thumb. I heard some weird voice-like sounds coming out of the phone, and a man came out of a large wooden door.

        “Hi, Scarlett,” his voice boomed. “Welcome to Grover Cleveland. I’m Mr. Drake, and I’ll be your principal from now on. We’ve got your schedule right here, so you can go ahead and join everyone else in first period, alright?”

        I gave a polite thank you before weaving my way through the maze of hallways, somehow ending up in the right location. I opened the door just as the bell rang, and the teacher showed me a seating chart.

        Scanning it, I realized that the school definitely had some laggy information system. “Uh--I’m not on here.”

        The teacher raised her eyebrows, pushing her blue-framed glasses up to see. She clicked her tongue as she ran an old, weathered finger across the paper. “Ah. What’s your name?”

        “I’m Scarlett Henson. I transferred in from Kansas...I was, uh, homeschooled.”

        Suddenly, I heard a great thump and the squeaking of a chair being pushed back. A tall boy with dark brown hair was staring at me, his eyes big, a horrified expression on his face.

        “You,” he croaked, waving a finger at me accusingly.

        Me? What?

        “Is something wrong?” the teacher cocked her head to the side, squinting at him.

        “Dude, sit down. What’s wrong with you?” the guy next to him tugged on his sleeve, glancing up at the teacher and me. The boy standing coughed and blushed before apologizing and sitting down.

        The teacher looked at me curiously. “Do you know him?” I shook my head. I’m not associated with insane people, I added silently. The teacher pointed me towards a seat in the far corner, on the other side of the room from Insane Dude.

        As I settled down, she began speaking. “I’m Mrs. Elderbridge, and this class is Advanced Placement Language. Now, we’ll begin with a simple get-to-know activity...”

        Throughout class, I successfully evaded the accusing eyes and finger of Insane Dude, who I caught staring at me every time I looked up.

        I shuddered, silently thanking the bell as it rang, bolting out of class before he caught me. Well, I hope I don’t have any other class with him.

        For the love of…

        I totally jinxed that. Insane Dude and I shared all of my three AP courses.

        Brilliant. Wait, hang on, Insane Dude is smart? So smartly insane, then? Hmm...who would’ve thought?

        I collapsed on my bed, tired from a day of running away. This New York school was surprisingly relaxed. I ended up sitting with a few girls at lunch--though I realized that I couldn’t remember most of their names--and classes were short.

        The bed bobbed up and down as a new weight was added. “How was school?” Aimee sang, rolling around in the blanket.

        “Ah, it was cool. This girl named Kayla says she has a brother in your grade,” I yawned, stroking her hair. “Do you know him? Dylan Millers?”