Hello hello hello beautiful people. Chapter 2 has arrived. In this chapter, we meet everyone's favorite pape-selling newsboy with a smile that spreads like butter (the kind that turns a lady's head). I'll put a key at the bottom so you know who the different screen names in the group chat mentioned are. Hope you enjoy and please please PLEASE give me comments so I know what you think!
Dia's POV
Alright. I'm standing in front of the school. You know, the stereotypical new kid shot where they're standing in front of a school, staring in fear/wonder at the front doors while hundreds of kids flood around them like a river of inappropriate jokes and hormones? That's basically what's happening here.
Mental checklist time. I make them for almost everything, otherwise I feel like I will forget to do something important.
Step one. Go to the front office and get my schedule and a map of the school. Step two. Find my first class. Step three. Figure out where to sit in my first class. Step four. Make a friend. That last one was what I was most nervous about. Anyway, back to step one. Inside the school, to the right and down the hallway. There's a desk with a receptionist at it. She's older, with brown hair. The nameplate on her desk says Ms. Washington. Great, now I have to talk to her.
"Hi, sweetie, how can I help you?"
Ok, she talked to me. Great.
"Yeah, um, can I get my schedule and locker assignment? I'm new."
"Oh sure, sweetheart. Can I get your name?"
"Claudia de la Vega. Could be under D or under V."
"Ok, here you are. Locker number 96. And your schedule. Looks like you have AP US History with Mr. Lee first." She pulled out a map and highlighted a hallway. "Down this hall, last classroom on the left. Don't be afraid to ask for help if you get lost."
Pfft. Yeah right. Like I'm going to ask another student or teacher for directions. I'm a junior, that would just be awkward. Oh look, she's talking again.
"If you need anything, come find me or my husband, Mr. Washington. He's the vice principal, so he can help you or direct you to someone who can. I hope you have a good first day!"
Yeah. Me too. I thank her politely and walk out the door. Get my schedule, check. Locker time. Locker number 96, put in the combo, and we're in. Wait, no, that makes me sound like I'm robbing a bank. Anyway, checking my schedule, I shove all of my books and binders for the classes after lunch onto the shelf. My mom bought me a little whiteboard with a red frame to put in my locker for reminders, so I put that in. Add my Puerto Rican flag magnet (I couldn't find a DR one) and my locker is good to go. Time to find my first class.
It's a fairly short walk, and then I'm outside the classroom. It's still about 10 minutes until the bell, so almost no one is in their classes. Apparently Mr. Lee isn't here either. The only person in the classroom is a blond boy sitting in the very back. He looks younger than a junior, even though you have to be a junior to take this class. He's wearing a way too big blue hoodie, and reading a beat up copy of The Son of Neptune. Respect. The only thing odd is the single silver crutch leaning against the wall behind his desk. I guess I should probably go in the classroom.
"Hey."
The boy looks up from his book.
"Is this Mr. Lee's room?"
"Yeah, you're in the right place."
I walk into the classroom. Find the classroom, check. Next step on the checklist, pick a spot to sit in. I'll probably just-
"You can sit by me if you want, I don't mind. Being the new kid sucks."
"Thanks."
Problem solved. I take a seat in the spot next to him, pull out a pen and a piece of paper, and attempt to settle my instrument case where I won't kick it every five seconds. Wait, if I'm going to sit by this kid, I should probably introduce myself.
"I'm Claudia. Dia. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Charles. Most of my friends call me Crutchie though, for obvious reasons." He laughs, gesturing to the silver crutch behind him.
"Can I ask why? Not to be rude, it's just-"
"No, not people ask out front. I was born with my left leg not working. I've had a few surgeries trying to fix it, but it's only helped a little. One of my friends came up with the nickname in like second grade. We weren't the most creative, and it kinda stuck."
After that slightly awkward exchange, the conversation shifted. As students began to trickle in, we eventually landed on the topic of Hogwarts houses.
"I'm a Ravenclaw, all the way. How about you?"
"I'm a Hufflepuff, and my boyfriend Jack is a Gryffindor. It's-"
Crutchie paused, suddenly seeming unsure.
"You-you're not homophobic, are you?"
"NO, not at all!"
"Ok, good. Cause you're really cool, and if you don't want to be friends cause I have a boyfriend, then that would be really sad, and-"
"Crutchie, chill." The whole situation makes me laugh a little. "I don't care at all that you have a boyfriend. In fact, good for you. That's better than I can do."
Crutchie seems to relax after that, and the conversation continues until another boy walks up. This one is tall, with red hair and a scowl on his face. He looks like his face should be in the dictionary next to the word jerk. The boy is walking down the aisle between desks, where Crutchie has his feet in the path. He's struggling to get his bad foot out of the aisle cause his shoelace is caught on the desk. That's when jerk-boy reaches us.
"Hey, get out of my way crip." He kicks Crutchie's bad foot, causing him to wince in pain. And then I just can't help myself from intervening.
"Watch it. You know you could walk around the desks instead of making Crutchie move."
This apparently does not make jerk-boy happy.
"I wasn't talking to you, immigrant. Do you want to get deported?"
"I'm not an immigrant, you ignorant muggle! Now why don't you do us all a favor and leave, cause your idiocy is suffocating me."
He just look confused, then angry, and walked off muttering to himself. Ha.
Dia:1 Jerk-boy:0.
"Thanks, Dia." Crutchie finally got his shoelace unstuck, and was looking a lot less nervous now that jerk-boy was gone.
"I know! You should sit with me and my friends at lunch. They'd love you. Unless, you already have someone to sit with, which is ok."
Cool. Lunch offer. And if the rest of his group is anything like Crutchie, they're better than most of the kids at this school.
Crutchie pull his phone out and turns it so I can see the screen, then clicks on a groupchat labeled "The Freakshow".
"I'll ask them. But if they say no you can come anyway."
AlmightyCrutchie: Guys I made a friend. Can she sit with us at lunch?
BetterThanU: Sure, we need more girls. Too much testosterone
Area51Janis: I'm with Frances. We need more girls.
I❤️DannyDevito: how do we know she's wOrThY
AlmightyCrutchie: she called George Eacker an ignorant muggle
I❤️DannyDevito: ok she's automatically in
Cowboi: I trust Crutchie's judgement ❤️
AlmightyCrutchie: thx Jacky ❤️
Conman: NO PDA IN THE GROUPCHAT
BetterThanU: u hypocrite u flirt with Evan nonstop
ISpeak4TheTrees: she's not wrong Connor, you do
PipThePoet: this is entertaining 🍿
AlmightyCrutchie: back on topic. Can Dia come eat lunch with us?
BetterThanU: 👍
PipThePoet: yep
Cowboi: sure
ISpeak4TheTrees: alright
Conman: yeah sure
I❤️DannyDevito: okey doke
Area51Janis: whyyy Damien? Also, 👍
PipThePoet: we'll be at the table...
Area51Janis: furthest away from the Plastics...
Conman: like always
AlmightyCrutchie: thx guys
AlmightyCrutchie has left the chat
"Ok, you're good. Sorry about them."
"It's alright, they seem fun."
That's when Mr. Lee finally decided to show up, just as the bell rang. He had black hair that he had slicked back with hair gel. It had the unintended affect of making him look like Severus Snape with a mullet. He took attendance, pronounced my name wrong, got mad when I corrected him, then proceeded to rant for the whole class period about how he is in control and all of his instructions should be followed immediately and correctly. Then he let us play on our phones for the rest of the class period while he got on Tinder. About halfway through class, Crutchie went up to the desk to ask a question. Halfway to the front of the class, jerk-boy (who I now know is named George Eacker) stuck his foot out and tripped him. Apparently Mr. Lee saw Crutchie falling but not Eacker tripping him, I don't know.
"Mr. Morris, please refrain from disrupting my class. Your ...condition... is not an excuse to be distracting others."
I saw Crutchie mumble an apology, and continue to the desk. After a short, quiet conversation, he returned to his seat.
"Hey, you ok?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm used to it at this point. Hey, you want to leave class early? I have a pass to leave five minutes early so I don't get trampled during the passing period. I'm allowed to pick a buddy to help carry my stuff or open doors or push elevator buttons or whatever. You want to?"
I quickly agreed, and when Mr. Lee said it was five minutes to the bell, we headed out the door. Crutchie has bio next period, and I had Geometry, which was in the same direction. We made it to the science hall, and stopped for a second.
" I'll see you at lunch, ok? I'll wave or something so you can see me."
"Alright, see you at lunch." I walked down the hall to my math class as the bell rang. First one there. More importantly, the last item on my mental checklist from this morning. Make a friend, check. I sat down in my seat as students filed into the classroom. Two more classes, then lunch. Four classes after that, and home. I can do this.
Ok, that was chapter 2. We've gotten to school, and through first period. And we met Crutchie! Here's the promised key for the group chat names if you couldn't figure some of them out.
AlmightyCrutchie- Crutchie Morris
BetterThanU- Frances Laurens
Area51Janis- Janis Sarkisian
I❤️DannyDevito- Damien Hubbard
Cowboi- Jack Kelly
Conman- Connor Murphy
ISpeak4TheTrees- Evan Hansen
PipThePoet- Philip Hamilton
Anyway, I need a screen name for Dia when she gets added, so if you have any suggestions please comment with them (preferably if it's an In The Heights reference). Hope everyone's staying safe through all this wackiness. Don't forget to keep on smiling and keep on surviving. Do not throw away your shot!
Peace Out ✌️
Author
1665 words