The Mail Boy

Chapter 8

"Woah, woah, woah. So you're telling me that she's forcing you to work as a secretary for her?" Maya asked me in the morning the next day.

It was the first day of my senior year in high school. Not only did I have to wake up extra early in order to get to school on time, but I also had to plan for two outfits: my school outfit and then the outfit I would have to wear to work later.

The first outfit was easy to create. The second, though, just couldn't seem to pass my aunt's judgment. It took me a whole thirty minutes until she was relatively pleased with the look that I came up with. She settled on a pair of high-waisted jean shorts, a yellow printed top and a plain tan boyfriend cardigan. I decided to just wear the top part to school with a pair of skinny jeans. That way I would have less to change after school.

"Yeah, she's making me work for her. It's the stupidest thing in the world," I replied to Maya.

She looked at me, pity in her eyes.

"That sucks so much," she said.

"I know. I mean, really? What the hell am I supposed to do there? I know next to nothing about fashion. I will be zero help," I said.

We walked up to our lockers and opened the combination locks. I threw some of the notebooks I didn't need until later in there. I looked in the small mirror that I had hanging in the door and reapplied my cherry colored chapstick.

"I guess it's just another way to torture you," Maya told me.

"She just wants to ruin my life. I think she's trying to show me that she's in charge of me as long as I'm living with her," I said, slamming my locker door shut.

Maya gave me a sympathetic look.

"Don't worry about it right now. We'll deal with it when the time comes. For now, let's just enjoy our first day," Maya told me. I huffed, but nodded.

"Yeah, you're right," I mumbled. She smiled and linked her arm with mine. And then we both skipped off to homeroom together.

"Hi, Mr. Montgomery!" Maya sang as we entered the classroom, which was half-filled.

"Ah, I have the good fortune to have you two in my homeroom again," Mr. Montgomery said, peering at us over his black framed glasses.

He was a relatively young teacher, probably in his early thirties. He was one of our English teachers and was devilishly handsome. But he didn't teach any senior level English courses, so instead, Maya and I decided to take his Mythology course for the semester. He acted like he hated us, but he really didn't.

"Oh, the good times we'll have," I smirked.

"I can't wait," he said sarcastically.

Maya and I took our regular seats on the far left side of the classroom. As students piled in, the sound of chatter grew exponentially. I looked around and saw many familiar faces.

Kourtney and Layla were in our class, but not Jennifer. A few other girls that I knew, but wasn't very good friends with, were in there also. Several guys sat by Maya and me and struck up conversations about our summer vacations.

"I went to Florida for break," Greg told us.

"No wonder you're so tan," I said.

"I don't need to tan," Maya said, holding out her arm to show the olive colored skin that she inherited from her mother.