WILD HUMANS (previously After School, Extra Credit.)

Chapter 1

EDIT: Hi:) I'm glad you decided to read this. It does start out somewhat slow, the first few chapters are meant to introduce a the two main characters. But the juicy stuff begins in chapter 6.

ENJOY!

Chapter 1.

"Shit," I grumbled, accidentally smearing my eyeliner. I never had a sturdy hand. 

I quickly fixed it, applied some mascara to my long eyelashes, some lip-gloss, and spritzed a bit of rose-scented perfume on my neck. I wet my dark brown hair, and scrunched it with my hands and some hair cream.

"See ya later, Mom. I have drama class, I'll be late tonight." I called out, putting on my shoes. I opened the door, and hurriedly went to the garage. I unlocked my Jeep, and jumped in. She stalled for a bit, but eventually gave in.

Today was the last Monday of school. We had three more days until summer vacation, and I could barely wait. Next year, I would be a senior. A top dog. It was a good feeling. 

I finally pulled into the student parking at the school, turning off my radio. I had been listening to the Nirvana/Rage Against The Machine/ Pearl Jam mixed CD I had made. I glanced at the clock. 7:50.

I had 10 minutes to spare. I put the Jeep in park, turned it off, and searched through my unorganized purse until my fingers found my cell phone. 

*1 NEW MESSAGE*

Huh. I rarely get texts this early. They were both from my best friend, Allie. 

*Claire, omg. You + Me = best actresses ever. Gondola's Spaghetti to celebrate after drama today?*

I couldn't help but smile as I typed and replied with, "sure!" 

Gondola's was a new Italian restaurant that had just came to town. Allie and I had made that our "go-to" restraunt for celebrations. I had a thing for Italian food, and so did Allie. It was only a short drive from school, which was rare for this town. If you wanted to eat in a good restaurant, you usually had to drive 45 minutes away. 

I checked the time. 7:55. I reached back to the backseat, grabbing my backpack and the play script, and grabbed my keys out of the ignition. 

Throwing my back pack over my shoulder, I made my way up the sidewalk to the school's front door.    

-----------------------------------------

The 12:40am bell rang, releasing me from English, permitting students to go to lunch.  I walked in, grabbed a tray and silverware, and got in line. 

"Hey there, Claire-bear!" Allie said, coming up to me and nudging me with her elbow. I smiled.

"Hey, kiddo. Drama is going to be great, tonight, huh?" I said, putting some stale salad on my plate, next to a cardboard-looking slice of grease-pool pizza. Tonight was the night after our performance. We had performed the stereotypical Romeo and Juliet. It was so stressful, to balance drama practice and school, but totally worth it in the end. Tonight the whole drama crew was going to clean up the stage, and dressing rooms, and the prop/costume room before school let out for summer. It would definately be a task. 

Allie and I grabbed our drinks, and made our way to our usual seats with the drama kids.

"Hey Juliet- oops. I mean, Larissa!" Allie said, smirking playfully at a blonde-haired girl sitting across from us. 

"No respect for miss montegue, huh?" Larissa grinned, pretending to be offended. She, of course, played the lead role. Her voice was fabulous, and her acting was outstanding. She definately deserved the role.

"Hey, hey. Don't ruffle the feathers of my secret lover!" A black haired boy said, putting an arm around Larissa. That was Ben. He and Larissa weren't a couple, but they had gotten so close due to the play that they seemed like they were definately in a relationship. He played the role of Romeo. He was a good kid, also deserving of the role. His voice wasn't the strongest, but he fit the role so well, Mr. Flintz, our drama teacher,  let him have it.

"Yes, your highness." Allie said, mockingly bowing her head. We all bust out laughing.

The other kids there all had other roles in the play, from villager # 6 to ballroom dancer # 8. We always ate lunch together. We would practice all the lines; practically performing the play right there at lunch.

"So, has anyone met the new Chemistry teacher?" A girl named Sam said, stabbing a cherry tomato with her fork. She smirked and popped it in her mouth. Allie and I looked at one another. New teacher? It was the end of the school year... Before either of us could say anything, Larissa jumped in.

"Oh. My. God. YES. He is gorgeous!" She said, covering her mouth which was full of food. She nearly fell out of her seat. 

A couple other girls nodded dreamily.

"Whoah.. What? A new chemistry teacher? Three days before school lets out?" I asked, setting my fork down.

"Yeah, what about Mr. Anderson?" Allie nodded, looking around with me for an answer.

"You didn't hear?" Ben said, his eyebrows furrowing. Larissa looked down at her plate solemnly. The expression on Allie's and my face told them we had no freaking clue.

"Well, they had a car accident with his wife. They're both in the hospital. A couple of fractures and breaks, but they're lucky to be alive. He won't be back for some time; they had to find another teacher to last out the last few days." Ben said. Larissa looked up.

"Yeah, his wife was driving, and the other car hit them on her side. She's really shaken up, and very... fragile right now. But so is Mr. Anderson." She said with a sad smile. 

"So, anyway, we have a new student teacher." Sam said with a wink, eating another tomato. Larissa stiffled a giggle, and Ben nudged her playfully with his elbow.

"You guys are crazy. He's probably some just-out-of-college loser who's terrified of all these highschoolers." Allie laughed. Ben smiled, and looked to the side. Larissa couldn't help herself.

"Oh yeah right! Have you had that class yet?" She said, her eyes wide and her smile bright. Allie shook her head.

"I have the class after lunch." She said.

"I have it after Allie." I said. Larissa nudged Ben back, wiggling her eyebrows at us.

"Well, let me tell you! He is absolutely gorge-"  

"Nope!!! Let them figure it out." Sam said, laughing after she cut Larissa off mid-sentence. 

"Oookay. I still say you guys are being waay too overdramatic." I said, Allie was still laughing, adding in an "Amen!" 

Larissa and Sam made eyecontact, smirking. The bell rang once more, and everyone got up to leave. Allie and I put our trays up, and went out the doors. We stopped by my locker so I could grab my geometry book.

"You think Larissa is being over dramatic about this poor guy?" Allie asked. I shrugged.

"You never can tell." I closed my locker, and we continued making our way through the crowded hall.   As we came closer to Allie's classroom, I couldn't help but linger for a little while. Allie looked back at me with wide eyes as she walked into the room. I glanced quickly, but the wall hid his body. I could see one of his hands laying on the desk. I caught a drift of Cologne..

I looked in, more curious than before, to see Allie, and all the other girls in the glass, with their jaws on the floor and their eyes wide.

I caught the glimpse of green eyes and blonde hair as the teacher shut the door. 

Holy. Shit.

Larissa was right...