Time Twirl (IN PROGRESS)

The Watch

Vivian shivered as the icy winter breeze brushed past her neck. The first day of school was always better than other ordinary days at school. That was only because there was never any work assigned. At least no real work. It was a numbingly cold morning, kids were outside throwing frost that they had collected off of grass at each other. Vivian sat there against the chilly brick wall wanting to check the time, but too cold to
reach into her backpack to grab her smartphone, which she had just recently gotten as a christmas present a few weeks ago. She breathed a breath of condensation. It
was her first year at Elmer High, although there were a couple kids who had transferred over with her from her old middle school. Hadn't she already been sitting in the arctic weather for too long?! She jolted, then breathed a sigh of relief as the school bell rang. She quickly hopped up, grabbed her book from the floor, then
glanced at her class schedule. She headed over to Language arts class first. The teacher greeted every student with a handshake as they walked in, not that anybody could feel their hands anyways. Vivian felt warm breeze of air hit her face as she walked into the heated room. Confused, she cautiously walked to the students lined up in the corner of the room, as if they had a clue what they were doing. Vivian was picking up a strange scent. Was it gingerbread? No. It was a sweet bread.. “No assigned seats today! Sit where your heart desires my loves!” the teacher loudly said in
an overly enthusiastic voice. ‘My loves’? What kind of teacher calls her students ‘loves’?’ Vivian thought, scrunching her nose.
She walked to a seat in the left middle of the group of desks. She hesitantly pulled the cheap feeling plastic chair out from under the small, wooden desk. Vivian took her bag off her back, feeling free as she slid into the chair. She contemplated taking off her jacket as she started to unzip it. It was still too cold for that. She quickly zipped herself back up. Vivian looked around the room. The white, bland walls were screaming out for color. On the white board in front of her, the name, “Mrs. Wilson” was written out in slightly faded blue and red marker. “So! How is everybody feeling today?” Mrs. Wilson asked the class with a friendly smile on her face. Nobody said anything. The class was so silent, you could hear a pin drop.
“Cold.” Vivian mumbled. “What’s that?” Mr. Wilson asked politely. “I said I’m cold. It’s like Antarctica out there.” she said, raising her voice. “It is cold! Good observation.”.  Vivian rested her chin on her palm and
started to stare at the blankness of the walls. Vivian jolted up when she heard her
name called. “HERE!” she said, still startled. “I go by Ann just so you know.”. “Okay!
Thank you, Ann.” Mrs. Wilson said, looking back at her paper to move on.
Once attendance was over, the class had been assigned a worksheet to do with the person beside them. It was an interview for their partners. Vivian loudly unwrapped a piece of winter mint gum and popped it into her mouth. Under the desk, she crumpled
the wrapper and slid it into her pocket. “Uh...Hi?” a boy beside her shyly mumbled. “Hello.” she said, giving a look of confusion.
“Are you my partner?” she asked, holding up her worksheet. He raised one eyebrow at her. Vivian looked around. “I guess so.” she said, rolling her eyes back to look at him. “So to start, what’s your name?” he asked, wanting to get this done as quickly as
possible. “I’m Vivi, or Ann. Or Vivian.” she said while trying not to make eye contact. “You… have a lot of names.”, he told her, raising one eyebrow once again. Vivian preferred Ann much more than her full name, Vivian. “Well, I really only have one name.” She smirked and tilted her head sideways at him. “So what do you want me to call you then?” he asked as he lowered his eyebrows.
“Don’t call me anything.” she told him, uneasy. “Then who do I refer to you as?” he questioned, giving a slight look of disgust. “Don't refer to me as anything or anyone.” she said
while smirking. He started to laugh. His giggling came to a sudden stop, “Oh wait, you're serious?” he asked, his eyes bulging out. “I don’t know. Am I?” she asked sarcastically while
raising her eyebrows. “Uh, okay well, I’m Kingston.”. “Okay. Kingston.” Vivian thought of the name.
“But don’t call me that. Don’t call me anything.” he told her mockingly.
“Are you seriously mocking me?!” Vivian said, obviously annoyed.
“I don’t know. Am I?” he said, trying not to laugh. Vivian sighed, smirked, then turned away.
“If you are going to be like that then here, fill out my worksheet.” Kingston said, stuffing his paper in her face.
“No. You’re quite annoying you know?” she said while crossing her arms. “Guess that makes two of us.” he said as he nudged her.
“Don’t touch me please.” she said, trying to be a bit nicer. “Alright fine.” Kingston said as he gave in, turning away.