Blood Sweat and High School

Shutdown mode (2)

"It's not a question actually. I just wanted to inform you that I am going back out. I don't feel like being here." He said with the strongest Australian accent I had ever heard- well technically the only Australian accent I had ever heard aside from actors on tv, then walked out of class in the most casual way. As if he had asked to go and pick a textbook from his locker or something. My mouth fell open.

The whole class was clearly in as much shock as I was. The silence was so heavy, you could hear a pin drop. Then a few ooooos began here and there but died down almost as soon as they had began.

To our astonishment, the teacher's expression remained unchanged. You know, it's fun to tease and make silly noises during class but there is nothing more scary than a teacher who has been disrespected by a student but wears no expression.

You don't know if it's okay to laugh or not because she could be plotting all the different ways to make you very miserable like those psychos in movies. That being the first day though, everybody usually stayed off the teachers' bad sides until they had studied their characters. Trust me. You never want to find yourself in a detention or community work you didn't see coming.

She didn't respond to him. Instead, she turned to the teacher's desk, opened the two inch thick green math textbook and located the topic we would be doing that day.

"Our first lesson will be on algebra. I am sure you had started on it with your previous teacher so I am just going to give you a small exercise to refresh your memories. It's the first day, so we won't do much."

Then she turned to the white board and started to write down the exercise. I hated algebra straight from the topic heading so if that was the first topic of the school year, I was surely doomed.

Time passed faster than it usually did in junior high and before I knew it, class had ended and we were on the other side of the school walls again but all I could think about was Ms. Agatha's assignment. Homework! Homework! Homework! It's always homework with school. Urgh.

The blonde kid didn't come back to class until after the lunch break but still managed to sleep throughout the last lesson. I had made it out of school without talking to anybody.

I was sure to avoid eye contact and decided against lunch when I walked into the cafeteria and found no empty table to sit at. I was determined to pack lunch if that's what the cafeteria was going to be like every single day.

I could see my mum's car when I walked into the parking lot. Not that she made it difficult. A bright red Lexus. I didn't understand why anybody would want a bright red car but my mum just loves to stand out. It's her thing.

"Hey mum," I said as I got into the back seat, "how was your day?"

"Long. I was busy worrying about whether my babies are okay. One of my friends at work told me her boy seemed like he had a rough day today. It was his first day as well. Did you make any friends, honey?"

She asked genuinely but it looked like she was hoping the answer to that question wasn't going to be the same as all the other times. Mum thought I was anthrophobic and I needed to see a councillor but I believed it was my choice to stay away from people so we were never on the same page concerning this matter.

I just smiled at her.

"Not gonna happen mama. Let's go pick up Andy. I have a lot to tell him."

She smiled and shrugged as if she was saying 'oh well, it was worth a try'

"Andy has a beginning of the school year thing happening at his school today. He will be home at about six o'clock."

"Oh ok." That was about two and a half hours away. I could work with that.