In Peices

Chapter Two

I had already been awake for about thirty minuets when the shrill alarm sounded.  Six forty-five in the morning, and I had barely gotten three hours of sleep.

My hand automatically went to silence the alarm clock, but instead of getting up, as I usually did, I laid there.  I laid there and wondered about the greeting I would get from this new school.  These days were always the worst.  Starting over as the “new kid”.

The first stares were always the worst.  At first it was only a look of shock at seeing someone so tall.  Then, it slowly morphed into a look of disgust.  And, I could never quite pin down what it was they were disgusted with.  Most of my acne had left, and my black hair no longer seemed constantly greasy.  As far as I could tell, the awful stench that followed me was gone, too.

So what was it that made them act so strangely?

But, for some reason, the feeling seemed lightened, this time.  Maybe the fact that it was an art school had something to do with it.  After all, isn’t art school where all the strange people went?  Of course, I really shouldn’t be judging by appearances.  Or stereotypes, really.  

I got up, and sat on the edge of my bed, resting my face in my hands.  I dropped my hands to my lap, and slowly stood up and stretched.  My joints popped and cracked as I stretched as far as I could.

That’s when I realized that I didn’t dream of him.  Not once did I even think about him.  I guess I should thank the girl by doing what she did to me.

As I got dressed in my new uniform, I focused solely on the little blonde girl, and her friend.  I barely even notice when Simon says hello to me.  I was in a haze of curiosity, and didn’t even feel the need to bite Tori’s head off, about some rude remark she made.

I slowly and mechanically ate my breakfast.  When the time was right, we all got in the car.  I awoke out of my stupor to notice that we had made it to our new school.  The big double doors opened gaily, and I ducked my head, so it wouldn’t get hit.

This school was clean.  The polished floors shone, and the bright white walls beamed with perfection.  We all made our way towards the humble looking front office.  It too was cleaned to perfection.  The carpeted area had no trace of dirt on it at all.  The glass windows were smudge free, and allowed me to see everything that was happening.  Guys and girls were lounging about, in school uniforms.

And, I don’t think I have ever seen so many variations of the same outfit.  Tied, twisted, tucked, curled, unbuttoned.  Every person had some sort of variation that made their outfit unique.  Even styles that mimicked other styles looked unique.  It made me want to conduct some sort of research.

I looked over to see the secretary, and quickly realized that the seemingly untouchable perfection did not extend to the workers.  The secretary had a purple suit on, and high heels.  Her hair was pulled back into a loose pony-tail, and her make-up was very noticeable.  She was smacking gum loudly, and grimaced when she saw the three of us.  She narrowed her beady eyes, and looked down on us behind her hawkish nose.

“Are you the three new Bae kids?” She asked in a nasally tone.

Simon nodded, and she ducked her head into some sort of pile of papers. She reemerged a couple of seconds later with three little slips of paper in her hand.  

“These are your schedules.”  She then pulled out several smaller sheets that I hadn’t noticed before.  “And these,” she continued, “are your locker combinations and numbers.”  She started to distribute them between us, pausing only slightly before handing me mine.

She then shooed us away, and reburied herself in that stack.  Once we were in the hallway, we all looked at our schedules and locker combos.  Mine was fairly simple.  My schedule is what held my attention, though.

Period One:  Self-Teaching Math| Mr. Carroll | Room 211

​Period Two:  Chemistry | Mrs. Alender | Room 518

​Period Three:  English 2 | Ms. Collins | Room 220

​Period Four:  Physical Education | Mr. King | Main Gym

​             - - Lunch - -

​Period Five:  Economy | Ms. Cast | Room 128

​Period Six:  Spanish 3 | Mrs. Mead | Room147

​Period Seven:  Study Hall | Mrs. Smith | Room 369

​Period Eight:  Tech Ed | Mr. Snickit | Room 258

Well, those are some . . . unique names, I thought.  Then I looked closer, and with astonishment and outrage, I saw that I had devolved classes.

I was in far more advanced classes than this, but maybe dad did it to help integrate me into the school better.

I sighed, and grabbed my locker number and combo.  534, 46-25-12.

I glanced over at some of the lockers, and saw where the numbers were leading.  It looks like I’m turning, I thought.

I glanced over at the other aisles, just to double check that I had the right direction.  It was, and I took the next right, and soon came to my locker.  I quickly dialed in the combo, and saw that it had graffiti all over the inside.

FUK OFF, DIKHEADZ, and JACK-OFF! Were some of the more popular ones.  I sighed, and set my backpack on one of the metal hooks, and looked at my schedule.

I glanced at the room number, and followed the signs on the wall to the math class.

Then I bumped into someone.  She was incredibly short, and had blonde hair with red streaks in it.  She stood there frozen for a moment, then glanced up at me.  She widened her big blue eyes as she took in my height, and she stumbled backwards.

I reached out to grab her before she fell, and pulled her back upright, taking note of the large blue-black bruise on her arm.

“I-I-I-I-I’m s-s-s-s-sorry-y!  I-I-I wasn’t l-l-looking wh-where I-I w-was go-going.”

Wow did she have a stutter.

“Don’t mention it.  Watch out where you’re going next time, though.”  The words came out harsher than I intended, and she flinched slightly.  The bell rang, and she looked up in alarm.  Then she dashed off without another word.

I watched her slowly retreating form with interest.  She was the girl in the window, I think.  I didn’t expect her to be in high school, though.  She seemed to tiny and innocent.  And what about that big purple bruise on her arm?  Where did that come from?