Broken Cages

Chapter 2

The next half-hour was uneventful- the bus was quiet except for the two giggling preps in seat 13. When we reached the school, we unloaded and struggled through the crowds to the cafeteria. Standing just to the right of the entrance were my friends- Clarisse, Laura, Clara, Isabella, and the rest.

            "Good morning!" I groaned and wrapped my arms around Clarisse's neck.

            "Beth! What's up?"

            "Nothin' much. What about you guys?" I replied as I hugged my way around the circle. Laura beamed.

            "I made third in state!" Laura rides horses; she enters into dressage competitions every weekend, and she's recently started jumping with her bay, D'artanyon. No, I honestly don't know what 'dressage' is, but that's what she does, and it sounds complicated from what I hear.

            "Awesome!" we chorused.

            "Yeah, it was hard! We had to trot backwards and D'art was being so..." she began an explanation which only another horse-riding-dressage-competing-person would understand. Luckily, Clarisseshares the same passion, so the rest of us could start another conversation. Isabella turned to me.

            "So, how'd you do on the Trig test yesterday?"

            I groaned. "Did you have to bring it up? I'd almost forgotten about it."

She laughed.                                            

            "Sorry. I bombed it too."

            "I didn't even know you could do that to pi!"

Isabella laughed again. "Me neither."

            The bell rang and we set off for our lockers. We split up at the math hallway; everyone had a locker upstairs but me. I waved to my friends and started weaving through the throngs of teenagers, most of them juniors like me.

            After a few minutes of fighting against the grain, I finally reached my locker. Fumbling with the lock, I heard my name being bellowed from about twenty feet away, and I turned around.

            "Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeth!" she ran towards me, arms stretched out and running like in one of those scenes with the field of wildflowers, her perpetually baggy sweatshirt flapping against her.

            "Zooooooooeeeeeeeeee!" I skipped along, doing the same thing.

            We clapped hands while everyone in the vicinity peered like we were a new species.

            "'Morning. What's up?"

            "Nothin' much. How about you?"

            "Well, the ceiling, but other than that, zip."

            She laughed. "Weak, Beth. Oh my God but I can't wait for after school!"

            "What a surprise." She stuck her tongue out at me. She’d been bouncing around at auditions for the school musical for the past week.

            "I know, but we've got practice for Bye Bye Birdie today!"

            "You made it? All right, go Zoe!"

"Well, I'm only in the teen chorus, but still, I can't wait! Promise you'll come and see me!"

            "When is it?"

            "There's three showings; May 1st, 2nd, and April 30th."

            "I'll try," I said doubtfully.

            "You have to!"

            "I said I'd try! I may have to baby sit then, but I'll ask." I checked the clock.

            "Okay, it's 7:30. I gotta book it. See you in Chorus!" I gave Zoe a swift high five (she doesn't like hugs too much; I rarely get more than one, as seen a few minutes ago) and hurried back down the hallway. Everyone else was starting to rush, as well, so it was getting a little dangerous. Our school was ridiculously overcrowded; the morning traffic was almost an acceptable excuse for being late to class. Almost. About two rooms from Spanish, some senior clipped my side with his backpack and sent me flying.

            I landed hard on my butt, my book bag thunking to the ground and bursting open behind me. I sat up, mentally shouting names at the back of his head.

            A large hand entered my field of vision. I looked up and recognized the boy dressed all in black from Caleb’s house, with his arm stretched out to help.

            "Are you all right?" he said in a perfect tenor.

            I blushed a little, honestly.

            "Oh, uh, yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." I took the proffered hand and he easily lifted me to my feet.

            "I saw what happened," he said, his voice smooth and melodious. "That boy should have looked where he was going. Indecorous." He muttered the last word, so I almost didn't catch it.

            "Oh, it's all right. After all, we have about thirty seconds before the bell." That brought him back to reality.

            "Where is your class? I'll help you."

            "I've got Spanish, room 326. But it's fine, we're here already."

He looked surprised. "Really? That's where I'm going!"

            "That's strange." I surveyed him. The boy was tall, with short black hair and bright green eyes. He was dressed in an ACDC t-shirt and black jeans with DC skate shoes, and a gray beanie on his head. Not bad looking, if you subtract the black everything.

            "I don't think I've seen you before. Are you new here?"

            "Yes, I just transferred out of private school. My parents finally gave in when I told them Caleb was here, and let me move in with his family."

            "Oh, well, nice to meet you, umm..."

"Tristan." He supplied. "And you?"

            I smiled. "I'm Beth, nice to meet you."

            "Likewise. Hey, what-" He was cut off by the bell, signifying that we were late. We quickly gathered up my books and went in.