Chapter 6
High school. One of the things I was dreading ever since Mom told me that I was no longer able to be homeschooled. And now, the day was here. I was going to be in high school like everyone else. I was going to be near a lot of people. My anxiety was going to skyrocket through the roof.
"You'll be fine, Jeremy," Mom said when Dad pulled into the parking lot. "It's really not that bad."
Massey was already out of the car by then. Way to be supportive of her twin brother who spent most of his time the day before helping her with her homework.
"Mom, what if the teacher asks me to introduce myself to the class?" I asked. "What if they ask me a question? What if someone tries talking to me?"
"Relax," Mom said. "Your teachers already know about your selective mutism so they won't ask you to talk in front of your class. And Massey is in all of your classes. You'll be fine."
"Now get out," Dad said. "I have somewhere to go."
I sighed and got out of the car, followed by Tyler. I watched as Mom and Dad drove off. I was now stranded in high school. I was actually going here.
"It's really not that bad," Tyler said. "The only thing that worries people is bumping into the most popular people in school."
"And what if I do?" I asked.
"If you do," Tyler said, "just say 'Hey, Massey. Remember me? Your twin brother'?"
"Massey is the most popular person in school?" I asked. "Even though she's only a sophomore?"
"Yup," Tyler said. "She got Dad's charisma."
Someone suddenly screeching and hugging me from behind made Tyler laugh. "Jer-bear!" Karen said happily. "What are you doing here?!"
Her grip was becoming way too tight. "Right now, I'm trying to breathe."
Karen released me. "Sorry. So, why are you here?"
"Crying on the inside," I replied.
"Mom can't homeschool him anymore so he has to attend high school," Tyler explained. "He thinks he's going to die."
"Don't worry, bestie," Karen said, wrapping her arms around my shoulder. "I'll make sure nobody talks to you."
The bell rang, making me gulp. Class was starting. Tyler left, wishing me good luck.
"So what is your first class?" Karen asked me.
"Art," I replied.
Karen frowned. "So not with me....It's okay, I'll show you where it is!"
Karen led me to the art room, but when we got there, I stopped by the front door. "Karen, I can't go in," I said.
Karen grabbed my wrist, ignoring what I said and pulled me inside the class. Immediately, she went to the teacher who was behind the desk. She was elderly, but she looked very nice. "Mrs. Jeffrey," Karen said. "This is the new kid, Jeremy."
"The one with the selective mutism?" Mrs. Jeffrey asked.
"Yeah," Karen said. "He's my cousin and he's really nervous about his first day here."
Mrs. Jeffrey looked at me with a smile. "Don't worry, Jeremy. There's nothing to be afraid of." I still couldn't talk. I was never able to, even if the people trying to talk to me were really friendly.
"You'll like this class, Jer-bear," Karen said with an encouraging look. "I'll come here after the class finished to show you where your next class is." I nodded.
"There's an empty easel over there," Mrs. Jeffrey said, pointing to an easel in the corner. Sweet, a corner. I liked corners. "We're going to be painting today."
Karen pulled me to the easel. "You'll do fine in this class," she assured before leaving the class.
When the class started, I noticed Massey was sitting at the other side of the room with a group of people, Katie being one of them.
"Massey, I'm trying to start the class," Mrs. Jeffrey said, making Massey to stop talking. "For the next few days, you will be painting something or someone that has a lot of meaning to you. You can start."
I thought for a bit. What was something that meant a lot to me? Music, that was for sure. And art. I grabbed a pencil and started sketching my painting. It didn't take me long and I soon starting painting my picture. It was of a music scale but the notes were paintbrushes instead.
Mrs. Jeffrey announced that she had to leave the class for a bit. When she did, Massey sat down in the empty seat beside me. "Hey Jeremy," she said.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"Why do you think I want something?" Massey asked.
I raised an eyebrow. "I'm your twin brother. I can tell when you want something."
"I don't want anything," Massey said. "Can a borrow some of this paint?" She reached for one of the paint brushes dipped in red paint, but ending up knocking it over instead. It fell on the floor and a lot of it splashed on my jeans. "Oops."
I glared at her. "You did that on purpose."
"Did I?" Massey asked. I knew she did because of her smirk and sarcastic voice. Well, two can play that game.
I pretended to ignore her and dip my paintbrush in black paint, but I flicked it in her direction instead, getting paint on her shirt. "Oops."
"You did that on purpose!" she shrieked.
"Did I?" I mocked.
"That's it," she said, dipping a paintbrush in blue paint and flicking it. On my face. I did the same thing but with orange, her ultimate least favorite color. Some of it even got in her blonde hair, which made her even more made.
"Look, your hair is orange just like last month," I teased.
Massey was so mad that she picked up all the red paint and dumped it on my head. The class obviously was watching, as a lot of them gasped and some even moved away. I wasn't even worried that the class was watching. I was too mad.
I picked up the orange paint and dumped it on Massey. We then got into a paint war, flicking paint at each other with the paintbrushes.
Mrs. Jeffrey walked in the room just was Massey was flicking paint at me and it landed on our teacher.
"I'm so sorry!" Massey said. "He started it!"
"Me?" I asked. "You spilled the paint first!"
"You got orange in my hair!" Massey shot back. "I hate orange!"
The bell then rang to end class. "You two, stay. Everyone else leave." When the last person left, Mrs. Jeffrey sighed. "I have a spare next period and neither of you are leaving until this room is clean. I don't care until you miss your next class. And Massey, I'm calling your parents to come here."
"What about his parents?" Massey asked, pointing to me. I wanted to remind her that we have the same parents, but I was too mad to talk to her.
"It's his first day here," Mrs. Jeffrey said. "You, on the other hand, have gotten in trouble one too many times."
Karen walked into the class, but stopped once she saw the mess. "Um, I was going to show Jeremy where his next class is," she said.
"He needs to stay until the mess in clean," Mrs. Jeffrey said.
"Oh, okay," Karen said. "I'll meet you here at lunch then, Jeremy." She left, shaking her head.
Mrs. Jeffrey walked to the phone, so I began picking up the paintbrushes that was used in the war and dropped them in the sink. After about fifteen minutes of cleaning, someone knocked on the door. "We're here about Massey," Dad said.
"Mrs. Jeffrey?" Mom asked. She knew my teacher?
"Melody?" Mrs. Jeffrey asked. "And Luke?" Mom and Dad nodded. "It's nice to see you two again! And happily married, I see. Congratulations."
"Thank you," Mom said with a smile. "It's nice to see you too. So why did we get a call about Massey?"
"Massey got in a paint war with the new student," Mrs. Jeffrey said. "I never knew Massey was your daughter. Or that it was the same Massey I met when you two were in grade twelve. Then again, her last name being Cosgrove should have given it away."
"You know my parents?" Massey asked.
Mrs. Jeffrey nodded. "Your mom was the best student here. I was very sad when she wasn't able to be in my class anymore because of, well situations."
"Quick question," Massey said. "Can I not get in trouble? He was the one who got paint on my shirt!" She pointed at me.
"You spilled paint and it splashed on my pants!" I said. "And you were the one who dumped paint on me first!"
"Well you dumped orange paint on me!" Massey said. "Orange! I hate orange!"
"Exactly why I did it."
"Hold on," Dad said. "This is the new student Massey got in a paint war with?" Mrs. Jeffrey nodded. "Massey, why on earth did you get in a paint war with your brother?"
"He started it!" Massey said.
"You did!" I objected.
"Brother?" Mrs. Jeffrey asked. "Oh, the other Cosgrove twin. Now everything makes sense. No wonder he was talking to Massey even though he has selective mutism."
"I'm so sorry about the trouble these two caused," Mom said. "Trust me, it wasn't their first paint war. Or second."
"It's fine," Mrs. Jeffrey said. "It would have been different if they weren't actually siblings, but now it's more acceptable that they got in a paint war. I'll clean up the rest of the mess."
"Are you sure?" Mom asked.
Mrs. Jeffrey nodded. "Positive. Besides, they have to get cleaned up themselves."
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I wrote this scene over a year ago when I first had the idea of Jeremy and Massey. I still love the scene and I had to use it.
Okay, this chapter wasn't that cringey as of me editing it....