Monday morning Laila woke up bright and early. She climbed out of bed and stumbled into the shower, and fifteen minutes later she emerged refreshed and wide awake, ready for her first day as a senior. After she finished straightening her multi colored hair she walked back into her room. She was in the middle of choosing an outfit when her mom walked into the room behind her, still half asleep.
“Do you need a ride to school today?” She offered, rubbing her eyes with one hand and holding a steaming cup of coffee in the other.
“No,” Laila shook her head. “Caleb’s getting me and Mandy. Thanks though.” She smiled as her mom nodded and walked out the room, no doubt to sit in front of the television until she fully woke up. “This should work perfectly,” Laila announced, pulling on a lavender off the shoulder sweater that read “Get Off My Stage” across the chest, a short white skirt, lavender over-the-knee leg warmers, and white running shoes. She did her makeup in the mirror before grabbing her oversized bag, which was stuffed with the day’s outfit changes, and running downstairs.
“Bye mom!”
“Bye, have a fun first day!” Her mom shouted back just as she closed the door behind her. Right on time, Caleb’s blue Ford Focus came speeding down the street and pulled to an abrupt stop at Laila’s curb. She grinned and pulled the door open, climbing into the front seat and tossing her bag into the back.
“Caleb!” She exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. He flipped his light brown hair out of his eyes and grinned.
“Cute outfit.” He looked her up and down in approval before hitting the gas, stopping only a few blocks later in front of Amanda’s house. He honked loudly before turning back to Laila. “So what’s your schedule?” He asked eagerly.
“P.E., advanced ballet, intermediate drama, english, advanced musical theatre, and advanced jazz. And then of course cheer.” She listed it all off in one breath, having memorized her schedule the moment it had been emailed to her the night before. “What’s yours?” She looked at Caleb, an eager smile on her face.
“I don’t remember. Here,” He pulled a folded up paper from his pocket and shoved it into her hand. “I printed it.” He grinned as Amanda’s front door slammed shut, followed by the sound of loud shouting from the living room window.
“I know mom, I’ll be home right after drama club!” Amanda shouted over her shoulder, nearly sprinting to the car. She yanked the back door open and dove inside, slamming the door behind her. “Drive.” She ordered, pressing her hand into the back of Caleb’s headrest.
“Yes ma’am.” Caleb grinned and hit the gas, speeding toward the Coronado bridge. “What was it today?” He asked, glancing at Amanda in the rearview mirror.
“She thinks I’m gonna sneak off with some random boy after school.” She smiled wryly. Her parents went on tangents like this everyday, so it was nothing new. “What class do you guys have first?” She asked.
“I have P.E. and Caleb has AP french.” Laila answered for him, holding the crinkled paper in her hand. “Then I have ballet, drama, english, musical theatre, and jazz. He has ballet, drama, english, AP biology, and jazz. And then of course--”
“Cheer!” Caleb interrupted, grinning widely. “I can’t wait. What’s your schedule, Mandy?”
“P.E., italian 5-6, drama, english, bio, honors pre cal, and drama club after school. I’m already ready to go back to bed.” Amanda complained, toying with the zipper on her bright blue and yellow flowered backpack as she leaned into the back seat.
“You know what will wake you up?” Caleb reached for his ipod just as Laila groaned in exaggerated annoyance. “It’s Britney, bitch!” He shouted as Piece of Me blasted through the car. Laila couldn’t help but feel relieved when they finally reached the school parking lot twenty minutes later. She grabbed her bag from the back seat and climbed out, slamming the door behind her. She waited for Caleb and Amanda to go to either side of her before setting off for the school entrance.
“So you never called me back about that boy who moved in next door.” Caleb told her. She grimaced.
“Don’t remind me.” She grumbled, slinging her bag higher over her shoulder. It held her dance clothes, dance shoes, english notebook, and cheer uniform. She couldn’t wait to unload her stuff into her locker so she wouldn’t have to carry her entire life around with her anymore. “I’ll let Mandy tell you, I’m sure she’ll be delighted.”
“Yes I will!” Amanda agreed, pushing her way through the crowded halls alongside Laila. “Don’t you just love being a senior? It’s like everyone moves out of your way.”
“Or you’re just shoving them all.” Caleb corrected.
“I love it cause I only have one academic class. Which means I have more time to prepare for Broadway. I don’t have much time left, if I’m gonna make it by the time I’m--”
“Twenty three, we know. What locker do you have?” Amanda paused in a less crowded corner of the hall to pull her schedule out of her bag. “I have forty three.”
“Sixty eight.” Laila said.
“Thirty nine.” Caleb said.
“Perfect! I’ll tell you all about Jace as we go put our stuff away. Speaking of...” Amanda trailed off as a group of guys passed by us, and in the midst was Jace. “That’s him.” She whispered, pointing discreetly as he passed. Caleb’s sharp intake of breath let Laila know immediately he thought Jace was cute. He was perfectly the type Caleb was always into but was too scared to go for, mostly because they were usually straight.
“Yup. That’s my stupid neighbor. I’m gonna go find my locker. See you in P.E. Mandy, and I’ll see you in ballet Caleb.” Laila waved at her best friends as she weaved her way down the hall, staring at locker numbers as she went. Sixty six, sixty seven... sixty eight. “Aha,” She murmured, coming to a halt in front of her locker. She dropped her bag on the floor and expertly dialed her combination, having memorized that the night before as well. She yanked the door open and was shoving things inside when she heard a familiar voice beside her.
“Hey neighbor.”
She pushed the locker shut and looked to her right, only to come face to face with Jace. She groaned. “Did my mom do this?” She demanded. She wouldn’t put it past her mom or Rose to have called the school and set this up.
“I doubt it. This is my lucky number, sixty nine.” Jace was holding back a mischievous grin, she could tell.
“Right. I’m sure it is.” She turned back to her locker and continued shoveling stuff in. Her pionte shoes, her many leotards and tights, binder, cheer uniform, P.E. clothes, and a cute magnetic mirror that hung up on the door. Lastly, she hung up a picture of Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl, her absolute dream role on broadway. She grabbed her P.E. clothes and slammed the locker shut, then spun on her heel to walk to class. She was halfway down the hall when she ran into Amanda, who was haphazardly throwing things into her locker. There was no kind of order, as there had been while Laila was unloading her things, and papers were sliding back out of Amanda’s locker and landing on the floor in a messy pile. Laila smiled and bent to pick up the pile of papers.
“You should really stop doing this.” She handed the stack to Amanda, who shoved them back in and slammed the door before they had a chance to slide back out.
“I know.” She grinned. She clenched her P.E. clothes in her hand as they set off toward the locker room together.
“So guess who has the locker right next to mine.”
“That sexy british boy who lives next door?” Amanda half asked, half exclaimed. A couple people turned to stare at her outburst. She didn’t seem to care.
“That annoying british thing, you mean.” Laila pushed the door to the locker room open and walked over to the nearest bench, which had the least changing girls near it. She stripped off her clothes and pulled on the black shorts and purple t shirt required for P.E, rolling the shorts up so they fit more like dance shorts rather than tomboyish shorts. She threw her hair up into a messy ponytail and waited for Amanda to finish changing. When she did, they set off for the gym together.
“I have a feeling I’m gonna hate this stupid class.” Amanda muttered.
“Why? It won’t be so bad. It’s a good workout.” Laila stated, grinning.
“You think everything’s a good workout.” Amanda grumbled. They came to join the rest of their class in the middle of the gym and Laila sat down near the back, pulling Amanda down beside her.
“Only the things that are a good workout.” Laila grinned as her best friend rolled her eyes. They sat patiently until the gym teacher, a plain looking man neither had seen at the school before, came to the front of the gym and blew a whistle around his neck.
“Good morning class. My name is Doctor Green, and I’ll be your gym teacher this year.” The man smiled around at everyone until one of the kids from the back muttered “if he’s a doctor why is he teaching gym,” and suddenly Doctor Green’s smile disappeared. “Who said that!” He barked, his voice suddenly loud and clear. Laila looked to Amanda, both wearing equally dumbfounded expressions. “You. Up. Three laps.” Doctor Green gestured to the boy who had spoken, who hastily clambered to his feet and began jogging around the wide gym. “I’m a P.E. teacher because I retired from being an army general at an early age, got my doctorate degree in child psychology, and decided to teach P.E. to little brats like you.” He spat, staring down each student with his hands clasped behind his back. “From now on you will all refer to me as General.”
“Yes, sir.” A couple students mumbled. The general blew his whistle, causing a few students to jump. “Yes general!” Everyone shouted in messy unison. The general smiled, then turned around as the gym door opened.
“You’re late.” He spoke. Laila looked to the door to see Jace strolling in as if he had all the time in the world.
“Figures.” She mumbled, as Amanda giggled beside her.
“Who are you?” The general demanded.
“James Ace Parker. I go by Jace.” He came to stand in front of the intimidating man, not seeming at all bothered by the menacing glower he was giving Jace.
“Well, Jace. Drop and give me thirty seven.”
Jace glanced at the boy still jogging his three laps before dropping to the plank position and effortlessly going into pushups. Doctor Green didn’t give him a second glance as he blew his whistle for a third time in three minutes.
“Everyone up! Five laps. Then we’ll start our warmup.”
Everyone took off running at once. Amanda lagged behind, and Laila glanced over her shoulder at Jace before taking off with the rest of their class. He was still doing effortless pushups, not even breaking a sweat. She was only halfway around her first lap when Amanda reached out and tugged on the sleeve of Laila’s uniform.
“He’s... still.. going.” Amanda huffed, gesturing behind them. Jace sprung up from the ground just as Laila turned back, immediately taking off at a brisk jog to catch up with the rest of the class.
“Not anymore.” Laila turned back to Amanda, who already looked like she was dying. Laila wasn’t even winded yet. “You really need to work out more often.” She observed, grinning.
“Shut... UP.” Amanda grabbed a stitch in her side, further proving Laila’s point.