My next period English passed in a blur, and the next thing I knew it was time for lunch. I sluggishly made my way to my locker, purposefully taking my time. I’m sure Iris and her friends were milling about the halls somewhere and I didn’t want to stand in some corner searching the cafeteria for them awkwardly. But if I was late, I would definitely be able to spot them as I waited in line to get some food.
Reaching my locker, I spun the combination that I had written on my hand in dark blue ink. It was a little smudged from this morning, but it did the trick. I placed my copy of “The Man and The Sea” by Earnest Hemmingway in the bottom of my locker. The book was slightly tattered from previous years but it didn’t matter because I had my own copy at home. It was a short book, and I only really bought it because of the author, but I find it oddly relatable. There was nothing special about the plot of this book, yet it held so much meaning. The simple actions held so much weight that it was hard not to deem it a classic in my eyes. It reminded me of life, how the smallest of things can have the biggest of meanings.
I stared blankly into my practically empty locker, and checked my phone just out of habit. I find that people tend to do that when they’re alone and don’t want to seem lame or even if they’re just bored. In my case it was the former, deciding that I had killed enough time I meandered my way to the cafeteria. The room was buzzing with noise and I could hear the forks scratching against plates, and greetings being thrown at people from all over the room.
Making my way to the cafeteria line, I took my wallet out of my bag and tried to decide what I wanted. Pizza. You can never go wrong with pizza, it’s sort of become a customary food in North America and everyone I’ve ever met likes pizza. It's always the first thing people think of when they want to order something.
I grabbed a black plastic tray from the stack on my right, and put a single slice of cheese pizza on it, with a can of coke. The lunch ladies were rushing the line through, trying to keep everyone moving, and the Asian woman merely glanced at my food and told me the cost. I gave her the correct change and smiled politely as I exited the line, but I doubt that she even saw it.
Quickly scanning the room I saw Iris at a table with two guys and three other girls. They were all laughing at something that the black haired guy said. All six of them were beautiful. It’s not that they looked like models, it’s just that you could tell that the girls put thought into what they were wearing, and that the guys actually showered. I made my over to their table, stopping in front of Iris so she could see me, “Hey Iris”.
Iris looked up at the mention of her name, recognition flooding her eyes as she took me in. “Hi Sara, here come sit down,” she told me as she scooted over on the bench making room for me. “Guys, this is Sara, she’s new here and we met in Chem,” she addressed her friends at the table. I gave everyone a shy wave and quietly uttered a hello. “Sara I would like you to meet Christine, Honey, Lucy, Greg, and Matt”.
As she mentioned each of their names, she pointed to the individual she was talking about. Honey had the most gorgeous brown hair with blonde highlights; funnily enough the colour reminded me of honey. Lucy was a short girl with a tiny stature, and a pixie haircut, she looked fierce yet friendly at the same time. Christine was a bit bigger than the other two girls; she had a curvy body and big breasts that were accentuated by her grey v-neck.
The guys were drool worthy, each in their own way. Greg had a nerdy hipster look going for him, it was utterly cute and just made you want to pinch his cheeks, he seemed like a real sweetheart, the type of guy who carried your books and opened doors for you. Matt had black hair that was shaggy which made him seem alluring when combined with his lean body. You could see the outline of muscles through his shirt which made me believe that any girl would say yes to going on a date with him.
After they each acknowledged me in some way, the conversation picked back up. It sounded like they were talking about their summer vacations. I kept quiet throughout most of lunch occasionally throwing in a comment here or there or answering a question about me when asked. It was comfortable conversation, I didn’t have to be fully engaged the entire time allowing me to enjoy my pizza and satisfy my hunger.
“So I was thinking that we should all go to the beach today after school and maybe play some volley-ball?” Honey posed to the group. It sounded like a lot of fun and I had been dying to go to the beach, but I still hadn’t finished unpacking my room yet.
“Sure babe, whatever you want,” Greg responded, lightly kissing her on the cheek. Honey smiled at him before turning to the rest of us. So those two were a couple, how interesting.
“I’m in,” Christine said.
“Me too,” came Iris’s voice.
“Me three,” was Lucy’s answer.
“Count me out, I got to be home by five to babysit my little sister,” Matt groaned. “Damn it, if she wasn’t so adorable,” he muttered the last part to himself.
“How about you Sara, can you come? I know you wanted to go to the beach” Iris sang in a sing-song voice, tempting me to join them in their escapades.
“I really wish I could but I still haven’t finished unpacking my room, and if I don’t do it soon I never will. Knowing me, I’ll just end up living out of those boxes,” I replied causing Lucy to chuckle at me and Matt to smirk. Damn he looked sexy when he smirked.
“That sucks, maybe next time though,” Honey voiced. I nodded my head showing my agreement. The bell rang signalling that lunch was over. I threw my garbage into a nearby trashcan and made my way to my next class, calculus.
When I walked in I saw Lucy in the class, she waved me over to an empty seat right next to her and we chatted until the teacher started talking. The class passed quickly as we did some review, the teacher Ms. Livingston was very perky and energetic for a woman in her fifties, always cracking jokes with the class. I had a feeling that this might end up being my favourite class this semester, which is weird because at my old school, I didn’t like math all that much.
After I finally made it to my last class of the day, I was tired. All I wanted to do was get out of here, stop at the mall quickly, and go home. I was one of the first people to enter the drama room and I dropped my bag against the wall and just sat down on the floor as students started flowing in. The room was completely black with a mirror covering the wall behind me. It was a nice change from ordinary classrooms with rigid square desks and chairs. I wasn’t really paying attention to my surroundings, and I jumped slightly when someone whispered ‘Boo!’ in my ear. Turning around I saw that it was Matt and I let out the breath that I didn’t even realize I was holding.
“Oh hey, you scared me. Didn’t realize you were taking drama too?” I queried out loud. Matt took a spot on the ground next to me, his legs stretching out before him. He had taken his shoes off, leaving his feet clad in navy blue ankle socks
“I’m a bit of a theatre geek when I’m not playing soccer,” he confessed. Ahh, so that’s why he looked so fit. It’s nice when people defy stereotypes and show you that just because they’re a jock it doesn’t mean that they can’t have intellectual passions too. I’m sure a lot of people judged him because he’s into sports. It’s in our nature to make judgments about people based on simple impressions we have of them. “What made you choose Drama as an elective?”
I didn’t get a chance to respond because at that moment a woman with deep red hair burst through the door, making her presence known to all the students. Assuming that this was our teacher Ms. Burene I focused my attention on her. Her attire was very casual, she was wearing a pair of leggings and a nice flowy top paired with many bracelets and necklaces. If she was only a couple years younger, she could easily pass for a student here.
“If you thought this was going to be an easy elective, you guys thought wrong!” she began, her voice serious, and her face stern as she made her way to the front of the room. That made me a little nervous but I wasn’t taking drama because I thought it would be easy. "I hope you're ready to work, and study hard. And don't think I won't give tests". This was making my nerves grow when suddenly a smile broke out across her face,“Just messing with you, this course is actually going to be a blast,” she continued smiling cheekily as the rest of teenagers on the ground chuckled quietly at her antics.
“I’m not going to waste any time, so let’s start with some partner exercises. I want each of you to find a partner and choose one person to be partner A, and the second partner B. Partner B, it’s going to be your job to copy person A’s actions. When I yell switch, you’ll change your roles. Any questions?” she asked. The class was silent for a second and when no one spoke up people started getting up and breaking into smaller groups.
Matt stood up, and reached his hand out to help me up. I gratefully took it, feeling the warmth of his palm against mine. “Do you want to be A or B?” he asked me like a true gentleman. I shrugged my shoulders in response not really caring which as we would have to do both eventually. “I guess I’ll be A then,” was all he said before he started moving his hands around. I copied him as best as I could. Sometimes he would make a swift movement, changing the direction he was moving, but for the most part it was really simple.
“I like plays,” I randomly blurted out.
“What?” There was a slight hint of confusion in his voice, and he started to rub his stomach with one hand and pat his head with the other. I mimicked his actions, causing me to grin at how childish we both looked.
“You asked me why I chose drama. It’s because I like plays. I figured what better elective could I pick than one that would bring one of my favourite things to life? To be able to see beautiful stories acted out right before me, and to be part of bringing each play to life,” I sighed in contentment as I visualized ‘The Glass Menagerie’ being performed live, “ Sounds likes an easy choice to me”.
His hazel eyes locked with mine, and he smiled, amused at my little spiel. He wasn’t expecting it, that’s for sure. But what’s life when all you do is the expected.
“SWITCH,” Ms. Burene yelled from the other end of the room. I smirked mischievously as I started doing the Macarena, humming the tune for added emphasis. Matt rolled his eyes at me but when we got to the end we both yelled ‘HEY MACARENA’ before bursting into laughter ourselves.