Chapter Five - First Day
adrian
School. School. School. School.
The word's been ringing in my head since I woke up. Now that I'm in the car on the way there, there's absolutely nothing else I can think about. The nerves have been bubbling since yesterday and now they're at an all time high.
The thing is, I wasn't very popular at my old school. Scratch that, I wasn't popular at all. I had a single friend who had more friends than just me so her time was split say 40/60. More often than not, I was stuck eating lunch, and everything else, alone. Group assignments were hell, as was everything else.
I was known as a loner and I was okay with that. It was partly my fault, anyway. I'm not the most extroverted person out there and find it hard talking to people in general so I never tried to branch out.
But if we're playing the blame game then we can also blame everyone else in my grade because teenagers find no difficulty in making snap judgements. Once they think something of you, it sticks and being a loner has stuck with me since the first week of freshman year.
I have no doubt that Cambridge Academy will be exactly the same, except now the kids are just richer and probably snootier.
Wow, hello hypocrisy. Talk about snap judgements, but I hardly doubt it's untrue.
"...- Adrian, are you listening to me?"
"I'm listening, I'm listening."
Elijah raises a skeptical brow, "What did I say?"
"Damon?" I take a chance on the only word I did register.
"Right, you were listening," he scoffs a laugh. "Anyway, Damon's picking you up after school. I advise you, don't be late. He'll get grumpy."
"Okay, got it."
"And you remember how to get to the office, right?"
"Straight until the end of the hall, turn left. The door says office."
"Wow, so you can listen, huh?"
I give him a pointed look, pursing my lips. I don't have the energy or the nerves to spare to engage in a battle of wits.
Elijah ignores my non-response in favour of laughing at me. Why? I don't know. I decide to ignore him entirely.
We're in the car for a few more minutes before I get my first glimpse of the building. Well, buildings. Three giant bricked buildings, on one plot. Two of them have a second floor and the third is a one storey. On the first building, the loud and proud "Cambdirge Academy" is so big on the front, I'm sure it can be seen from a mile away.
Oh, it's really happening. There's nothing I can say or do about it either. School is school, it's important and whatever else parents, or guardians, say. It's a non-negotiable rule from Darius and Luciano that I keep my grades up which leads me to believe that I will never be allowed to just not go.
Plus my tattoo deal with Damon entails I have to do everything Darius and Luciano ask, which means school and good grades included.
Before I gather the nerves to ask Elijah to turn the car around, he's pulling into one of the empty parking spaces.
"Are you ready?"
No.
"Mhm."
"Okay, have a good day."
"Thanks."
And that's that. I'm out of the car walking towards what feels like my own personal hell as Elijah peels out of the lot.
There's a few students loitering around outside but it's nothing compared to what's behind the giant double doors. It's full, and it's loud.
I catch tidbits of morning conversation while at the same time trying to stay out of everyone's way while walking and trying to get to the office in one piece.
There are two receptionists. A young, no-bullshit blonde in the back whose bun is so slicked and so tight, I'm sure it's pulling her eyes back and a sweet old, graying lady that called me sunshine as she handed me my documents. Mrs Barlowe introduces me to Valerie, our student body president and the one in charge of giving me a school tour.
Valerie shows me to my locker and stops so I can gather everything I need for my first class. She shows me where all my classes are and takes me around to other rooms in the school I could, at some point, use like the theatre and the library. The tour ends in the most luxurious cafeteria I have ever seen. It has couches and bean bag cushions surrounding the mass of tables. On the far end is another set of giant double doors that are currently open, leading to the outside field.
The warning bell sounds as the tour finishes. I find my homeroom class easily thanks to Valerie. I'm the second student inside and grab a seat right in front by the window.
By the time the second bell goes, the class is full. Someone plops down in the seat next to me and I chance a glance at them. The girl's already looking at me when I turn.
"Hi, I'm Camila," she beams.
She's gorgeous is the first thing I note. Clear, acne free skin, long wavy, light brown hair and honey coloured eyes.
"Hi," I finally reply after a second too long, "I'm Adrian."
"Cool," she nods, "well my friends are over there," she points to a group of two, a boy and a girl, in the back corner on the opposite side of the class, "and we were wondering if you wanted to sit with us?"
Oh. This isn't what I expected at all. An opportunity to make friends in my first half hour of being at this school? Definitely exceeds any expectations.
"Sure," I finally return her smile.
"Great," her own smile widens if that's even possible, "come on. "
I follow Camila through the rows of desks. Her friends look at us as we get closer and I can't help but notice that neither of them particularly unhappy at seeing me. In fact, they're both smiling but that could be from the conversation they were having.
"Guy's, I've adopted another stray!" Camila announces when we're close enough.
I don't understand if I should feel offended at being called a stray or not.
The girl, who I notice is equally as goegous as Camila, leans up to tell me, "She means because last week there was another new student that Cam adopted into our group."
"Right," I nod.
"Anyway," Camila chimes, "this is Adrian," she gestures to me, "Adrian, that's Vallyk, or Val," she points to the boy with dark hair and light eyes, "and that's Kendall, she doesn't like nicknames."
"Hi," I wave to the two of them.
They return the greetings as Camila sits down in the next to Vallyk and I take the one in front of her, next to Kendall's.
"There's more of us," Camila explains, "but we don't have the same homeroom as them."
"You're not missing much," Kendall leans on her desk as she speaks, "The rest of them are idiots, just like him," she points to Vallyk.
"Fuck you," Vallyk sneers.
Kendall mocks his sneer.
Then the back and forth insults start.
"Ignore them," Camila tells me, "It's how they operate."
"Good to know."
"Hey, can I see your schedule?"
Without answering, I pull out the piece paper wedged inside my notebook and hand it to her. Between Kendall and Vallyk's back-and-forth and Camila surveying my schedule, our teacher finally decides to grace us with her presence.
As the teacher starts taking down attendance, Camila hands me back my schedule, "So we only have two classes together," she holds up two fingers, "English and History."
"Oh, at least I won't be completely alone in all my classes, I guess," I shrug, wondering if that was an appropriate response or not.
"Let me see that." It seems Kendall and Vallyk finally stopped their arguing because Kendall was holding out her hand for my schedule.
Wordlessly, I hand it to her. Vallyk leans forward to read over her shoulder and they survey it together.
Kendall hands it back, "You won't be alone in Chem or Music either, girl."
"Or Geometry," Vallyk adds, "but you should prepare yourself 'cause Adams is an ass with a capital 'A'."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Conversation flows easily after that, mostly from the other three while I occasionally add my own input. All the sophomores lockers are in the same area so when homeroom eventually does end, the four of us walk together. Camila's locker is right next to mine while Kendall's in further down the row and Vallyk's is on the opposite side.
As we walk to English Lit together, Camila tells me about the three that's part of the friend group. Derek, the friendly one, Micah -Mike-, an occasional asshole, and Kobe, the quiet one. I guess the two of us are going to be in competition for that title.
I sat next to Vallyk in Geometry and true to what he said, Mr Adams is an ass with a capital 'A'. I was two minutes late to class, and given it's my first day I expected a bit of leeway but he told me if I'm late one more time I'd find myself sitting outside the entire lesson. Ass.
After that period from hell was Chemistry. Kendall told her lab partner to go sit somewhere else, even though I told her it's fine, so I could sit next to her. Mrs Tanning is a little quirky and loves talking about her cats but her enthusiasm for the subject she teaches makes the lesson way more enjoyable than both English and Geometry.
***
Finally, it's lunch. Kendall and I stop at our lockers to leave our books and on the way to the cafeteria, she's talking animatedly about what a bitch her French teacher is. I find myself laughing at her impressions.
The cafeteria bustling when we finally get there. I can barely hear myself think through all the noise.
"Hey, let's get our food. The others are probably already outside."
I nod and together we join the long, and I mean long, line to get our lunch. After what felt like hours, we were finally walking out with our lunch trays. Kendall leads us outside and we keep walking, turning a corner at the edge of a pathway that ends in a garden. By garden, I mean garden. There's a fountain in the very centre that has actual fish in it and surrounding it are benches, most of them occupied, and tress. There's a few flowers too.
"Hey," Kendall calls out as we approach one of the benches where Camila, Vallyk and three other boys are seated.
Everyone returns her greeting.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you guys," Camila chirps, an excited glint in her eyes, "we made a new friend! Boys, Adrian," she gestures to me, "Adrian, Kobe," she points to a boy with dark, curly hair and dark eyes to match, "Mike," she points to a boy with ash blonde hair and hazel eyes, exactly like Kendall, "and Derek," she points to the boy next her with fluffy, brown hair and deep blue eyes, almost the colour of the ocean.
"Hi," I squeak.
Wow, way to emabrass myself. Can't even her through a proper greeting.
They, however, ignore my obvious nervousness and return the greeting.
Kendall falls into the open seat next to Kobe and I sit between her and Camila.
"Oh, by they way, he's the other stray," Kendall informs me while patting Kobe's shoulder.
"Fuck off," Kobe shrugs her off.
Kendall gives him a good-natured smile, "Aw, don't be so grumpy. You still have three hours left."
"Ugh, don't remind me," Derek chimes in with a groan, "I don't have the energy for school today."
"None of us do," Camila agrees.
"Fucking hell, Mr Mathias makes me want to kill myself," Vallyk adds, "'Don't forget to sign your permission slips blah, blah, fucking blah,'" he mimics in a high pitched voice. "As if I fucking want to be added to a damn English groupchat."
"Fucking annoying," Mike agrees.
"Adrian, how's your first day going?" Camila asks me.
All eyes are on me. I resist the urge to shrink down under the six pairs of eyes and clear my throat softly before answering, "It's been okay so far, just Mr Adams was an asshole."
"Right?!" Vallyk throws his arms up in exasperation, "I fucking told you, ass with a capital 'A'."
"It never gets better, either," Derek adds with a solemn shake of his head, "Freshman year, I spent more time outside of his class than I did in it."
"Oh, so he wasn't joking then?" I ask, "About sitting outside if you're late?"
"He never jokes," Mike answers, "He's a cunt."
"Hey, you have Business with Ms Consentino, right?" Kendall asks.
I nod.
Kobe, the supposed quiet one, speaks up then, "Just fucking wait. The bitch is so boring she makes you fall asleep and then gives you detention for falling asleep."
"You have her too?" I ask him.
He nods.
"So do I," Mike chimes, "and he's not joking. She really will make you fall asleep, and then give you detention."
"That's great," I drone, thanking whoever's up there that I don't have Business today.
"Hey, give me," Camila stretches her hand across the table, looking at Mike. I note the metallic object being passed from Mike's clutched fist into Camila's.
"Give it to me after," Kendall says.
I watch Camila bring her first to her lips and see her take a breath. I realise then it's a vape. Is that even allowed in school? I don't think it's allowed.
"Fuck you, you have your own," Mike snarks.
"Fuck you, I forgot it," Kendall shoots back, "And double fuck you, Cam asks and you just give it but I ask and I get shit."
"Because I actually like her."
"Tough, 'cause we still go home together, bitch."
It sounds like they're actually arguing and I find myself wanting to be as far away from it as possible.
"They're twins," Camila whispers in my ear.
Oh! Siblings. It explains so much, like the fact that they look alike.
"Oh."
Camila hums.
The rest of lunch is spent like that. Arguing, complaining and useless, yet entertaining, conversation. The vape gets passed around, even to me which I politely decline with the admission that I don't smoke.
After lunch, I have World History with Kendall. I have no complaints about since I love History. I don't know what it is about it but I just find learning about history, any kind of history or anything to do with the past really, fascinating.
After the first period of the day that I actually, truly enjoyed, I have Spanish with Kobe and Derek. Derek ends up sitting in the middle of the two of us.
"Good M-" Mrs Vazques pauses her greeting to look at her watch, "Good afternoon, class."
Her greeting is returned half-heartedly.
"You guys may or may not remember that last week I told you all we would be starting our first assignment for the year this week."
The class reamians quiet.
Mrs Vazques smiles, "So let's get started. Your task is simple. A group oral project-"
The noise starts up as people start discussing groups, cutting Mrs Vazques off. Derek looks from me to Kobe, a smile on his face communicating that three of us are in a group together. I return the gesture with a nod and a small smile of my own.
"Hold on, I didn't even tell you the amount of members in your group, let alone what it's about," Mrs Vazques frowns at us, effectively shutting the entire class up. "Now, you will be in groups of a two to three."
Again, Derek looks from me to Kobe with a smile.
"While it is a group project, all of you will be marked down individually. You have five minutes to speak in front of the class and the topic can be anything of your choosing-"
Again, the chatter starts up as people begin discussing topics.
"I'm not done."
The class quietens again
"The topic can be anything of you choosing as long as it's appropriate. That means no reference to drugs, violence, sex, or anything of that nature, and no controversial topics either. Those tend to cause arguments."
That earns a light-hearted laugh from the class and Mrs Vazques herself.
"By Wednesday, Friday the latest, all of you need to have submitted your topics as well as all the members in your group. I suggest you choose your group members wisely. If your group happens to have one or two people who can talk for hours and take up the entire five minutes, they'll still get their marks and you will not," she warns, raking her eyes over the entire class.
"You have this week, the weekend and next week Monday and Tuesday to prepare. Presentations will begin from Wednesday until whenever we're finished, understand?"
The class responds collectively.
"Perfect," she grins, "Now if you could all pull up the documents that were sent to you last week. I'd like to begin our lesson for today."
I look at empty screen and then Derek's as he's scrolling through a list documents. Clearly I didn't receive these documents. Mrs Vazques, however, doesn't seem to know this.
Derek's looks at my blank laptop screen and says, "Oh, you haven't set up your school email yet."
School email?
I shake my head.
"It's probably in the package you got from the office. All you have to do is set it up. The Wi-Fi password is probably in there too."
Wi-Fi?
I realise that I left the entire packet of documents in my locker.
"It's in my locker," I mutter sheepishly.
"It's fine, we can just share for today," he shrugs, moving his laptop closer to the edge of the desk.
"Thanks," I tell him, shifting my own desk and chair closer to him so get a better view.
"No problem."
The rest of the period goes by pretty quickly as most of us work on the documents.
***
My last period of the day is study hall. Glorious study hall. Finally, a period where I can do absolutely nothing but relax. I have study hall with the entire group. The seven of us take up the seats in the furthest back corner of the library. I'm told the reason is to avoid the teacher and the cameras. The entire period is spent doing nothing but fucking around until the bell for the end of the day goes.
As I'm making my way to the exit of the school building with my newly acquired friends -I don't know if I can call them that after one day but they don't exactly feel like acquaintances- I remember Damon is picking me up from school. It's then that I remember Elijah's warning of "Don't be late."
The group is still strolling through the halls when I tell them I have to go and speed-walk my out, maneuvering through the large crowd.
I spot Damon's orange Lambo easily and practically skip my way towards it in excitement at the day finally being over. It drained me and what's worse is all the catch-up work I have since apparently the syllabus at my old school is different to Cambridge's. The thought of all that work makes me want to jump from off a cliff.
I open the car door and slide into the passenger seat, ready to go home.
"Hi."
"Hey, how was your first day?"
"I hate my Geometry teacher, I have a pile of homework the size of Mount Everest and I have to present an oral in Spanish," I huff. "It wasn't that great."
"You don't speak Spanish?"
"I speak Spanish," I answer in the language itself, "It's the whole presenting in front of the whole class thing that I don't like."
"Sounds like you had a rough day, then," he quips.
"I made a few friends, though," I shrug, "At least, I think I made friends. It's only been a day."
"At least you have something good going for you."
"I just want to go home," I moan, "and never come back to tbjs place ever again."
"You remember our deal?" he glances at me with a quirked brow.
I nod.
"That deal includes school."
I groan, throwing my head back against the headrest, "Can we change the terms of the deal?" I look at him, mustering the most pleading expression I can.
"No," he doesn't even look at me.
I groan again.
It was worth a shot.