Watercolors (B.A.)

Chapter Three

Degas

Amina spent all of class staring out of the window, and she knew it.  It was only the third day of school, yet she couldn't be bothered to pay attention in any of her classes.  She finally came to when fingers snapped in front of her face.  Amina looked up to come face to face with her AP English teacher.

"Ms. Parker, what do you have to say about Mr. Johnson's point?"  Amina floundered for a second, causing her teacher to shake her head.  "Next time, pay attention."

The rest of the class went by in a blur, seeing as Amina did not pay attention after that.  The bell rang, dismissing all of the students.  Amina packed all of her solid color notebooks into her backpack quickly.  She walked down the hallway like she always did, eyes down and avoiding contact with other people.  An arm around her shoulders made her jump.

"Chill, chill!  It's just me, Amina."  Austin threw his hands up defensively.

"I'm sorry.  I didn't know who you were."

Austin chuckled.  "I can tell.  What class are you heading to now?"

"Calculus."

"Ooh, yikes.  That's rough."

Now it was Amina's turn to chuckle.  "I know.  It's always the worst having it the period before lunch.  I'm just thinking about food the whole time."

"Speaking of lunch..."  Amina angled her head up to meet his eye.  "Promise you'll come sit with us?"

"Can I bring a friend?" 

"Of course!  Bring whoever you want.  We always sit in the table in the back left corner.  You can't miss us."  He looked genuinely excited, and it made Amina's heart warm.

"Okay, then I'll be there."

"Awesome,"  Austin enthused, peeling off to go into his classroom.  "See you in a bit."

Amina couldn't stop herself from smiling.  "Bye, Austin!"

She was sure the new found pep in her step was noticeable from a mile away.  Amina liked this new feeling, the feeling of having friends.  Zane only waved at her in the hallways, she rarely ever stopped to talk.  As she trekked the stairs to the math wing, Amina couldn't help but replay the conversation with Austin in her mind.  He invited her to come sit with him.  That never happened to Amina.

Calculus dragged on for what seemed like forever.  Mr. Gildhart was one of those old timey, old fashioned teachers that refused to use the whiteboard, so he used the chalkboard.  Every so often, the chalk would squeak as it scraped against the dark surface, and Amina hated it more and more every time.  To pass the time, she twirled her gold bangle around her wrist.  Her older brother had given it to her two years ago, and Amina hadn't taken it off since.

She couldn't tell if the bell ringing was a good thing or a bad thing.  It was good because it meant that dreaded calculus was over, and she could go to lunch.  It was bad because the idea of lunch with more than three or four people scared her to the core.  As she walked down the hallway towards the cafeteria, she decided to text Zane and let her know where she would be seated.  She knew it was a long shot that Zane would actually answer, but it was the only solution she could think of.

Amina was approaching the table of the five boys when Zane texted back with a thumbs up.  She smiled to herself before placing her phone in the back pocket of her ripped skinny jeans.  She smoothed down her edges to the best of her ability with her fingers, and then finally decided to walk up to the table.  All of the boys greeted her as she approached.  Well all of the boys, except for Brandon, who was busy sketching something in his small notebook.