“And then Jackie busted the piñata full of guacamole all over Beth McCullen’s dress that her parents brought her back from Argentina!” Margaret was saying as I walked up to her and her friends at lunch. Claire and the gothic girl, whose name I now know is Avery, were laughing extremely hard and there was another girl sitting at their table, the red head from the announcements.
“That would suck royally!” Erica laughed.
“It would, and not only did her parents ground her but,” Margaret turned around and spotted me sitting next to Claire. “Oh hey Amanda,” she then turned to Erica. “Erica, this is Amanda Christianson, she’s new. Amanda this is Erica Winston, student body president and co-founder of Wake up Woodpeckers.”
“Nice to meet you.” I smiled as Erica extended her hand.
“You too, I am so glad that you are fitting in nicely. There are too many new students that wonder the halls with no one to talk to!” Erica ranted.
“She is also obsessed with the social lives of the entire student body.” Avery laughed.
“As student body president it is my duty to make sure that all students have a pleasant high school experience!”
“What about the vice president, don’t they have to help out with things.” I asked.
“Well, usually. But not when you are stuck with Troy Clark as your vice president.” She sulked. I remembered the guy that was on the announcements with her.
“There is nothing wrong with Troy!” Claire said defensively.
“Honey, yes, the boy is cute but he does absolutely nothing. You, and I and everyone else knows that he only got elected because he promised to build bike jumps out back.”
While they continued to bicker, Avery turned to me and rolled her eyes.
“Claire has had a crush on Troy for three years now. Erica hates him, and it’s really funny because they are best friends and agree on almost everything, except for that one particular subject.”
“He is kind of cute, but I understand Erica’s frustration. He kind of reminds me of my brother.” I explained.
“How old is your brother?” she asked as she raised an eyebrow.
“He’s twenty one and is studying law out in Alberta. He has had over two dozen girl friends and I must admit, he’s not ugly, but he is so annoying! His personality ruins his looks.” I said as I rolled my eyes.
“Well at least you have an older brother. Mine is thirteen but he acts like he’s two. My mom goes out a lot and I have to watch him every time she does. I never used to dress like this.” I looked her over. She was wearing a black t-shirt with a ruby red corset over top and a flowing black lace skirt that just touched her ankles. Her black bangs hid her right eye but her left one was caked in black eyeliner that camouflaged her pretty hazel eyes.
“What caused you to change?” I asked.
“When my dad died, my mom started going out every other night. When she finally gets home, she’s either a little or a lot drunk. The next morning Julian would be as hyper as ever and I would get in trouble for not controlling him. So I started dressing like this. Now Julian is scared of me and my mom just stays in her room all day.”
"I’m sorry, that must be difficult.” I said sympathetically.
“It was, but you get used to it I guess.” She sighed and looked over at her friends. “The main reason I’m still here is because Erica and Marggy were so nice to me when I was in my little depression state. They get a bit annoying at times but they are probably the best friend you could ever have.”
“Then I guess you are really lucky to have them.”
“No,” she laughed. I looked at her quizzically. “We are lucky to have them.” She put an arm around my shoulder as we leaped back into their lunch time conversation.
The bell rang shortly after Avery and I re-joined the group. They were discussing which play the drama club should put on for the spring musical. The Phantom of the Opera was mentioned, as was Greece and High School Musical, but everyone seemed to agree that the best option was Romeo and Juliet. Even Avery thought it was a good idea.
Before the bell rang, I excused myself from our table and went to my locker. I grabbed my books for fourth period and then slammed it shut. With the guidance of a few students, I managed to find Miss. Landry’s class. I knocked on the door.
“Come in,” a cheery voice sang.
“Um, hi, my name is Amanda Christianson. I’m new and I heard the announcement about the L.A trip. Is it too late to sign up?”
“Technically, yes, but we still have a few seats left on the bus and one student without a roommate so I do believe we can get you in.” she walked over and grabbed something off of her desk. “Have your parents fill this out and have the money to me by Friday. The trip is in two weeks.”
“Wonderful. Thank you so much Miss. Landry.”
“No problem, I’m glad you are taking an interest into our school.” The bell rang and the halls were suddenly full of students rushing to class. “Now get to class, you wouldn’t want to be late on your first day.”
“No ma’am, of course not,” I agreed as I walked out of the class room.
Fourth period was a bore. Not only did I have to sit in the very front of Modern History, with Mr. Kribbs spitting in my face every now and then. But not one of my friends was in that class. I walked in, handed my transfer papers to the teacher, took my seat and kept my eyes on the clock the entire hour.
My last class of the day is the one I have been looking forward to all day, Theater Arts. The bell after fourth period rang and I raced out of that class faster than the road runner. I collected all of my things from my locker and headed towards the school’s theater. I opened the heavy doors and was delighted to see that Margaret, Avery and the rest of the group were standing around and talking, waiting for the teacher to arrive. Erica spotted me the minute I walked in a waved me over.
“I’m glad you guys are here. I didn’t want to be taking another class by myself.” I said as I took a breath of relief.
“We made a pact at the beginning of the year that we would all take thing class together.” Claire explained.
“And now it’s even better that you’re here!” Erica exclaimed. “You are going to love this class. Mr. Baker is a genius and a really good actor.” She paused for a second. “Oh and today is the day we decide what play the school is going to do this year!” she clapped her hands in delight.
“Hello Class!” a male voice boomed from center stage.
“Hello Mr. Baker.” The entire class echoed.
“I know you all have been anxiously awaiting this class because of the play election, but first thing’s first. I would like you all to join me in welcoming our newest student Amanda Christianson, Amanda could you join me on stage please?” I looked over at my friends who were nodding their heads feverishly. I walked up the stairs and joined Mr. Baker at center stage….all eyes were on us. He handed me the mic and after a few nervous seconds, I spoke into it.
“Uh, hi….everyone. I’m Amanda and I’m new here.” I looked at him with a face of distress; I didn’t know what else to say. Sure, I love acting but I’m terrible at improve.
“Wonderful Miss. Christianson, I’m sure you will be a wonderful asset to our class.” I jumped down off the stage and re-joined my peers. “Wonderful, now before we start voting, could I please have Erica Winston join me onstage?” Erica moved past us with a giant smile on her face as she grabbed the mic from Mr. Baker.
“Hey everyone, so with a help from a few of my friends and Troy, we have narrowed the list of possibilities down to four. Avery is currently making her way around with the ballets. As soon as you get one, look over the candidates carefully, shade in the one you would like and then drop it into the ballet box.” She handed the mic back to the teacher.
“Once everyone votes I will tally them up and get you your scripts by the end of the period.” Mr. Baker finished explaining as we all began to talk amongst ourselves.
“Now what are we supposed to do?” I asked Margaret as we walked to the back of the class.
“We have been working on monologues for the past few weeks. There is a giant pile of them over by the cabinet. Once you pick one come find us out in the court yard. We can help you out if you need anything.”
“Great, thanks.” I made my way through the giant crowed of people and finally found the “pile” of monologues. There were actually only about five sitting there, but luckily I managed to find one from As You Like It that wasn’t too bad. I then made my way out to the court yard to practice alongside my friends.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“Hey guys, Mr. Baker is ready to announce the play.” Erica squealed as she ran out the front doors forty five minutes later.
“Sweet! I’m so excited.” Margaret cheered as we made our way back to the gym. Everyone was already there so we walked in quietly and took our seats near the front.
“Alright everyone, the votes were very close, but in the end the play the school is presenting this year will be Romeo and Juliet,” the entire auditorium bursted into applause. “The sign-up sheet will be outside this room tomorrow but you can pick up your scripts on your way out.” The bell rang and everyone jumped out of their seats. “Have a nice night!”