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• Samantha Ried•
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CHAPTER TWELVE : NEW KID
Monday, Sept. 23rd
When I walked back into the room, Gina couldn't contain herslef. She ran up and met me at the door.
"Are you okay?" she looked around. "Did he prey on you?"
I furrowed my brows. Huh. Maybe that was what he was trying to do. Without entertaining the thought for any longer, I shook my head. He probably held a grudge for all the times I'd escaped his detentions.
"I'm fine, just greatly annoyed."
Gina nodded in understading. She just about ran to her seat.
Smart girl.
I went to my seat as well. Nica came up to me and grabbed my test paper. She immediately dropped it and started laughing. Everyone else got very quiet.
I was starting to see that Nica was the 'me' of Jefferson High. No one had ever heard her voice. The students surrounding me reminded me of how everyone looked when I told the homecoming committee about how much I loved food.
Nica didn't seem to mind the attention as much as I did. She laughed as loud as she wanted to until she was done.
"Everyone is staring at you," I hissed. I was actually half pleased.
She grinned and rolled her black eyes at me. "Please. They're gawking. At us."
She was right. Instead of only staring at Nica for laughing her in her booming voice, they were still in awe at me for literally screaming at Mackey.
Dammit.
Our teacher thankfully didn't walk back in for the rest of the period and the class was even more grateful to me for that.
One boy was brave enough to approach me, even with Nica perched on the side of my desk. I had to give him kudos for that.
"Aly, you sure scared Mackey."
I shrugged. "Yeah..." I was too blissful to be a raging bitch. Plus I had a slight respect for this kid.
"Aren't you that hot senior who transferred here this year," Nica wondered as of she didn't already know.
"That would be me."
"So why are you in a junior class? Are you dumb or something?" I asked, not that I remotely cared.
The boy laughed and shrugged. "I'm not really here for school I guess."
"Right."
Meaning he was excruciatingly dumb.
"Sports," Nica guessed, seeming excited to learn about this brave soul.
"No...no sports."
"Oh," she furrowed her brows.
I saw Aaron Fode flinch out of the corner of my eyes. What bit him in the ass?
"What's your name," Nica asked him. Once again, I was positive she knew exactly who he was.
The sultry sound of her voice made the boy suck in a shallow breath. "Cole."
"Cole," we said together. Then we cracked up.
At that, Aaron stormed out of the room.
Without blinking an eye, Cole replaced Aaron by stealing his seat.
Because of my unusually (as in once or twice on a lifetime) good mood, I couldn't help but feel a little guilty for upsetting Aaron, even though I was surprised that he was still mad about what happened during lunch.
I still wasn't sure why people laughed.
Aaron was a desperate freak, but in some ways, he would make a great friend for me and Nica. He was seemingly a push over, submissive, and desperate to impress.
Nica and I loved those kind of people. They're the easiest to manipulate.
If he would crush the stupid crush he had on me, we'd be fine.
That's why I followed him out of the classroom.
"Aaron, stop."
Because of his abrupt halt, he toppled over and fell face flat on the floor.
I couldn't help but feel just a little happy about that. I'm a sadist. Sorry.
"What do you want, Alyson?"
The pain in his eyes made me want to laugh. I composed myself. "I just wanted to know why you stormed out of class like that."
Aaron sighed. "You told me you were always mean to guys who flirted with you."
What? "Uh...I am."
He grunted. "But Cole is so great that he doesn't count?"
"What are you talking about," I demanded. I just did not understand what Aaron was getting at.
"I'm talking about how you just let Cole flirt with you, but when I do it you slap me and call me names."
I rolled my eyes. "You sound like a kindergardener."
"But you know it's true!"
"I barely said one word to the kid," I scoffed. "I don't even know why I'm defending myself. You're not my boyfriend." Thank God for that.
"Yeah. Cole is."
"Is everything okay out here?"
It was Mackey. At least he had announced his presence this time instead of just chocking me with my collar.
Before anything else could happen I removed myself from the situation. Some people just can't be in the same room with me at the same time.
Aaron Fode and Kyle Mackey were prime examples of this.
No one dared to follow.
*
Tuesday, Sept. 24th
Martha didn't have to drive me to school anymore, because Nica had a license and a car of her own.
When we pulled into her parking space, I told her about what I needed to do.
"I'll just go with you," Nica cut the engine.
"You're gonna go to the principal's office?"
She shrugged. "I have nothing better to do."
"Okay, then," I replied skeptically. It was her funeral.
We stepped out of the car and I put my new string bag on my back. I was still annoyed about that whole thing, but Nica and I would soon bring Mackey down and all could be well again.
"Fode alert!"
I didn't bother looking. I was more annoyed at Aaron than ever after his melodrama yesterday.
Nica laughed, shaking her head. "Damn. He's got it bad."
"Got what bad?"
"He's caught a bad case of Aly's, young Samantha."
I rolled my eyes. "Just don't talk about it. It really brings me down."
She put her hands up, but the smirk on her face told me that she was still going to talk about it.
Sometimes I didn't like how she was so thoroughly exactly like me.
Just like on my first day of school, my annoyingly new and squeaky saddle shoes announced my arrival before I could by knocking on the door.
"Aly! Come in, sweetheart!" Sister D pulled me in for a vice tight hug. Thank God she noticed Nica there.
"Veronica Harris! What a...pleasant surprise," she added awkwardly. Sister D released me.
"Long time no see," Nica sneered.
The sister cleared her throat. "Well, Aly, you know why I called you here."
I nodded.
"Since you're the new kid I just need to see how well you're adjusting. I see you've befriended Veronia."
I nodded again.
"Do you...uh, have any friends besides her?"
Tons. I just didn't know most of their names.
I settled on just nodding my head for the third time. If she kept asking yes or no questions, I was going to get dizzy.
"So how are things here at St. Peter's?"
I inwardly hung myself from a tree. It looked like I was going to have to do a lot of talking. I'd have to keep my responses as short as possible.
"Great."
But then she asked me a particularly interesting question.
"How are the teachers?"
I was grinning like the Cheshire Cat in my mind. If I played my cards right here, I could get a certain someone into heaps of trouble.
"Well, there is this one teacher...." I pretended to be reluctant.
"Go on," Sister D encouraged.
"It's Mr. Mackey."
Her eyes flared with anger. "I heard he attempted to give you two detentions on your very first day."
I nodded sadly. "I don't think he likes me." *pout*
Sister D gasped. Nica was trying her hardest not to laugh.
"Nonsence. Mr. Mackey is just a bit strict with new comers. You came from a public school, and you must understand how different it is here."
"But he also made me take a test on material that was taught before I started at St. Peter's."
"No!"
I nodded sadly again. "But luckily I'd just covered that at my old school, so I knew I did very well on it."
"That's good. But Mr. Mackey still shouldn't have made you take it."
"That isn't the worst part. He marked every single question wrong," I sniffled. "But I knew they were all right. I had to see him during class and force him to change my grade to the A that I deserved."
Sister D was so moved from my testimony that she was wiping away tears. If you aren't wiping away tears, that's because it's all in the delivery. You just had to be there.
"Do you want me to request a meeting with him?"
I looked at Nica and she nodded. "Yes, please."
She jotted something down that I'd assume was a reminder to call the meeting. Excellent. While she wasn't looking, Veronica and I exchanged diabolical looks. Nica was so empathetic that she had the ability to hate Mr. Mackey just as much as I did.
"Well, that's pretty much all..."
We stood to leave.
"Oh wait!"
URGHHH!
"I highly recommend that you join one activity. What about Homecoming Committee?"
You have got to be kidding me.
"Come on S-Ally, let's go."
"Why would you leave," Sister asked in a very strained tone.
"I do recall hearing the word recommend," Nica fired back.
"The funny thing about words is that they can get snarky blonde girls forcibly put on to the Homecoming Committee."
I laughed openly. It was strange to hear and it sounded very forced. I stopped.
"Sister D," Veronica objected.
"No. I am sick and tired of your sass."
Ha! The Sister loved my sass and hated Nica's.
Nica hung her blonde head. "Yes, Sister."
She dismissed us after that. I knew I'd had a bad feeling about Nica seeing Sister D with me.
"I can't believe we're stuck on homecoming committee!"
I gave my best friend an incredulous look. "We? More like just you."
Nica narrowed her eyes at me. "No, I mean we."
"There is no way in hell that I'm going to be on another Homecoming Committe. I told you how awful I was at it."
Then she pulled out the pout. It truly put mine to shame. I questioned why it didn't work on Sister D.
"Fine," I snapped.
"Cool."
The bell rang and we parted ways and headed for class.
*
It was competition day in Home Ec. This was what we'd all been practicing for. The outlook of me making the best cherry pie was optimal.
One of the requirements had been to purchase our own ingredients. I'd had Martha running all over town to find the best cherries in the state.
I chose my baking station close to Gina. She would be the only person smart enough to not bother me.
"Wow, this is state of the art shit," she appraised.
Spoke too soon.
"Yeah," I fake enthused.
"But I thought you hated cherry pie."
Did I say that? Sadly there was hardly a food, let alone a dessert, that I didn't like. "Well, maybe if it's a really good pie, I'll start liking it."
Gina smiled hugely, lightly giggling.
I could tell that she liked spending time with me without Nica. I still found it very amusing how jealous she was. That was probably my sadistic side.
Once the clock started, Gina really did know not to bother me. She let me work in peace.
I was the first to have my pie in the oven. That infuriated me. Did they add in more extra ingredients than me? Were they cheating?
I took deep breaths. My anger was even less manageable when it came to competitions.
It seemed like I closed my eyes for a second before I heard a ding. Good thing I'd set that timer. The pie would've burned.
Other people's ovens were dinging as well. I grew more and more curious about their techniques.
Mrs. Potler came over to Gina and I.
"Who dinged?"
"Aly's," Gina beamed. "And it smells phenomenal!"
"Let's hope it tastes phenomenal."
I was too busy chewing my lip off to make a sassy reply.
"Oh my God."
The class stared at their teacher. I realized that at Catholic School, kids never heard their teachers say that.
This new attention made me pick up the pace as I mercilessly gnawed my lower lip.
"This is the best pie that I have ever tasted." A tear rolled down her cheek.
Gina, being the curious girl she was grabbed a piece of my pie.
"Oh my God!"
An evil smile draped my lips. Mission accomplished.
"Will you taste my pie, Mrs. Potler?"
My smile faltered. Who the hell thought they were going to steal my spotlight right now? All the smart kids like Gina had already thrown their pies away.
I peered around the teacher and spotted Cole holding his pie gingerly. I narrowed my eyes.
Mrs. Potler seemed reluctant, but she put down my pie and took a slice of Cole's.
Her eyes grew huge. "Delicious," she cried out in delighted surprise.
I shot murderous glares at Cole, but he wasn't looking at me.
Gina asked to take a slice of his pie. She proved to be a very loyal friend. "It's great, but Aly's is better."
Mrs. Potler slowly nodded in agreement. "But this is the best pie any gentleman has made for this class. That can't go unrewarded!"
"Yes it can."
The class laughed at my non-joke.
"Miss Ward and Mr. Morton will share the mental health day."
Cole looked sincerely happy at that. "Congrats," he whispered amicably to me.
I wanted to shove him into the oven and jump off a mountain.
"Yeah." I crossed my arms.
END TRANSMISSION.