~Chapter 1~
~Hill~
"Hey! Hill!" someone from behind me yelled.
I turned around to see Claire. We were close, but we weren't best friends to be exact.
"Hey Claire," I said, grabbing her by her backpack string to stop her from going any further. She yelped in surprise and spun around to greet me.
"Why are you in such a rush?" I asked. She'd seen her friend excited but never this hyper.
"Can't stop moving. I have to stay in motion," Claire said as she spun around me in slow circles.
"Please tell me you aren't doing that dare with Tom again," I said as I watched in amusement. I felt bad for secretly hoping she would fall.
Claire looked at me with a smirk as she said, "Yes I am, Hill. There's nothing wrong with accepting a challenging every now and then, but you wouldn't know that, would you! "
"I'm sorry that I'm not bad enough to be sent to juvie for a month," I said.
"That was an accident and you know it." She said still spinning.
"Let me get this straight. Crashing into a McDonalds building and ordering food just because you're too lazy, is an accident?" I stated laughing.
"I am not lazy and just think of it as a shortcut in a way" she fired back.
Before I could reply, the morning bell rang ending our conversation. She spun away to her class down the hall. I made my way up the stairs and to my history class. My teacher Mr. Boyde came in and began taking role. Mr. Boyde was a short stubby man with graying hair and brown rimmed glasses. He passed back our quiz grades from the day before. I got a 91 on my quiz. After a while the bell rang and I sprang out of my seat. I fell asleep half way during second period over a lecture Mr. Pines was giving on different types of poetry. Even though I wasn't asleep anymore, I still kept my eyes closed to block out the light.
"Miss Coe, please wake up" he said.
"No can do, sir," I said leaning farther into my chair.
"Why is that, Hill?" he asked.
"Because you don't control my life!" I said still not opening my eyes.
"Well I do control whether you get sent to the office or not," Mr. Pines said.
My eyes instantly popped open at the mention of that, and I sat up while saying, "Oh would you look at, my eyes are open."
He laughed and returned to reviewing the differences between alliteration and repetition. I doodled over a blank piece of paper that was originally for notes. Ring! My third period went by fast since I was sketching the whole time. When the bell rang I stayed behind to put away my art pencils and paper. As I was getting my things together, Mrs. Thompson asked to see me.
"You wanted to see me?" I asked worried.
"That's right. How would you feel about showing your work in Fridays showcase," she asked. Friday. That gave me three days if I started today.
"Do you mind if I think about the offer first?" I asked her.
"Okay well I need at least two art pieces by Thursday," she said and began writing me a pass for my next period. I said "Thank you" and took off with the pass to Mr. Stinely's room.
"Thank you for joining us Miss Coe" Mr. Stinely said.
"Sorry sir," I said half-heartedly.
"Don't let it happen again. I've already assigned you a partner for the rest of the year. Marcy got here just before you so you've been paired with Dallas," he said and pointed at a shaggy haired kid in the back with a Blink182 t-shirt. His navy blue jeans were ripped on the left side right where the knee was. I gave him my note and went to take a seat next to Dallas. He didn't seem to notice my appearance so I decided not to think too far into it.
"Now that everyone's here and you've all been paired up, we can start learning," he said partly looking at me. He passed out some test tubes filled with strange liquids and handed out sheets of papers with specific instructions. I wasn't quite sure if I should put his name too so I just gave him the sheet when I was done printing my name.
"We will be doing this project for the whole week and there will be a daily participation grade. Don't just give me some shitty answers because I won't accept them" Mr. Stinely said and took a seat in his chair. His back facing us, he went to work on his computer.
I read the instructions front and back in my head twice. I grabbed a tiny test tube and dropped in four drops of clear blue liquid. I waited two minutes and then labeled it as "No chemical change." I went on to the next tube and did the same but with an acid. I gave the mixture two minutes to show any sign of change. The tube began to turn a light green, then a dark foggy green. I labeled it, "Chemical change." Finally I poured four drops of an unknown liquid. Less than a minute later the test tube started to bubble, then got cold. I labeled this one also as "Chemical change."
"There's only two minutes left till the bell rings so pack your things for pre-dismissal," Mr. Stinely said never looking up from his computer. I grabbed our paper and put it into my backpack. I took a seat next to Dallas and looked ahead. I closed my eyes and listened to the noises around me. I could feel a sudden heat on my face but shrugged it off. At the sound of the bell, I got up and headed to Spanish I. It took me two minutes to reach the upstairs building. I walked into the class and couldn't believe what my eyes were telling me. How could this have happened? Dallas was sitting in the back right corner of the room with his head down on the desk. He was in my seat. I didn't want to look like a tattle tail so I decided to pick a different seat. I walked toward his direction and sat in the seat right next to him.
There wasn't much of a difference but being in the back gives you some type of safe feeling. Its like even though you're in the back, nothing can really bother you. I got my Spanish binder out of my bag and began doing the bell ringer. I took a peek at Dallas to see that he wasn't doing the work at all. He had his head up but only to stare at the wall. There was nothing on his desk besides some white ear buds with a green skull on the side. His fingers were moving slowly above his desk to an unknown rhythm in his head. Fearing of him seeing me, I turned back to my work and finished the last two sentences.
"Get out your laptops and study over your flashcards" Mrs. Stephenson said as she put the directions to the website up on the board. I studied my flashcards once in English and then in Spanish. I was never going to pass this class. Spanish was probably my worst subject in school. Mrs. Stephenson made her way around the desks and to Dallas.
"Do you not have anything with you?" she asked.
"No, its my first day here," he said coldly, turning his attention to her.
"I expect something by tomorrow," Mrs. Stephenson said.
"Yes ma'am," Dallas said sarcastically.
His voice was strong and thick. Every time he talked his Adams apple would slowly bob up. You could see his collarbones clearly through his white plaid shirt. Mrs. Stephenson finally walked away to go help a student who couldn't get the webpage to load fully. He turned to face me and I quickly looked away.
The bell rang a minute after that and I closed my laptop screen. I shoved everything into my bag and made my way out the room. I almost fell down the stairs a few times but that's because I was born naturally clumsy. Why did the school have to have these lame excuses for exercise called stairs? I decided to eat here rather than eating out. Call me lazy but it's free food. I rushed to the cafeteria and got in line with my friends, Claire and Tom. Claire was still spinning but with Tom as well. I ignored them, grabbing my food and moving on. I handed the cook a five and put the rest in my account. I walked to an empty table and put my bag down next to an open chair. Claire and Tom joined me a few minutes later.
"Okay, why are you guys spinning?" I asked annoyed. Tom was the one to finally answer my question.
"We made this deal that whoever can go the longest spinning, then the winner gets $50," he said, trying to take a bite of his sandwich without dropping it.
"Are you two serious?" I asked. I guess I could've seen this coming.
"Yeah! Free money Hill," Claire said. She looked like a princess from here, spinning in a peach colored skirt that flowed at the sway of her hips. Tom seemed to notice that, too.
"Well good luck with that," I said and began eating my pizza. I knew one of them was going to crack soon. They wouldn't be able to last the whole day without becoming dizzy or throwing up at least once. I couldn't help but let out a chuckle when Claire dropped half of her favorite strawberry ice cream on the ground. I felt bad for the floor, always getting covered with trash. After we finished our food unsuccessfully, we went upstairs to the library for the remainder of lunch.
"Why the library? Why couldn't we go outside or something else? Anything but the library" Tom whined. He hated the library because it was filled with books. Tom hated to read.
"Oh shush you big baby! We only have ten minutes left anyway," Claire said and tossed a comic book his way.
I didn't know exactly what kind of book I was looking for at the moment. I wanted something thrilling or suspenseful. I wanted romance with a tragedy. I chose "Delirium" by Lauren Oliver. What always got me was the book covers description and details. There were thorns that showed part of a girls face on a blue cover.I got my book scanned and went to sit down. Claire decided to check out a book.
"Where's Tom?" Claire asked. I looked around to scan the room of any sign of Tom. He was sitting between two bookshelves. Books surrounded him.
"Tom what are you doing?" Claire and me asked at the same time.
"Dudes look! I can carry this book on my nose!" he said with excitement.
"Tom are you mental?" I said almost yelling it at him.
"Do you have to be an idiot everywhere you go?" Claire said not bothering to keep her voice down. People were starting to take notice of what was going on.
"Did you guys not hear what I just said? I'm carrying this book on my nose!" Tom said trying not to drop it. You could tell he was smiling when he said it.
"We can see you dummy! Take that book off your nose!" Claire said this time trying to whisper.
"Why?" Tom asked.
"If you hadn't noticed, we're in a library Tom!" I whispered.
"No I did" Tom said. He was reaching around for another book to stack on his nose.
"I feel bad for you Claire," I said as I opened my book. I started reading the first page.
"What! Why?" she asked confused.
"I know you have something for Tom," I said looking up from my book.
Claire seemed utterly shocked at my accusation. "What! Are you crazy? Why would I like that idiot" she said waving her hands around.
"You never know. Opposites attract, right?" I said.
"That doesn't mean anything!" Claire whispered.
"It's just an assumption Claire, don't get angry," I said.
"Well it's a wrong one," she said looking down at her book.
I kept quiet after that. Maybe they would end up together as long as I kept my mouth shut.