I close my locker holding my textbooks and see Tori coming towards me. Once she’s closer and clearly talking to me, she tilts her head and mocks “Sequence!” with her top lip snickered.
“Clearly someone is still upset about losing on Sunday.” I laugh.
“Oh, right!” She rolls her eyes. We start towards math class and this girl Rachel who is in math with us walks beside Tori. Rachel is taller but athletic, slightly pigeon-toed.
“Hey guys.”
“You ready to fill out the study guide for math?” Tori asks her.
“I’m ready to have the answers but dreading having to actually study.” Rachel responds.
“Does it matter if I am ready?” I inquire.
“I mean, not really.” Tori glances over to us as we enter the classroom and trips but thankfully catches herself. We bust out laughing at her.
“Did you have a nice trip?” I hold back my full laugh until there’s proof she’s fine. Tori recovers, smiling.
“See you next fall.” Rachel adds. We continue chuckling as the bell rings and we take our seats. As the teacher reveals the answers and works on each math problem, the three of us exchange looks of confusion. Tori is less obvious because she would rather not cause any commotion and disappoint a teacher. I welcome Rachel’s company who seems to be just as disengaged as I am. The clock crawls by as I hear but don’t attempt to comprehend. At least I have gym next hour and I’ll get to run around and do something stimulating.
After the bell, the three of us walk until Rachel has to turn down a different hall. Tori and I discuss studying tonight which feels generous of her but I could probably use it.
We run the mile in P.E. but Nic and I have no desire to be the quickest, our time coming in right at 7 minutes.
“Nic, Denny- maybe next time you can push yourselves for a better time.”
Coach Velasquez states in an unimpressed tone.
“We were pushing ourselves!” Nic acts offended.
“Yes, for mediocrity..” I mumble so only Nic can hear me.
“What was that Denny?”
“Oh I said I appreciate the accountability!”
“Right…” Coach looks questionably at me. “Well, see you tomorrow boys.”
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
Nic and I wait until we’re a dozen steps away before we laugh.
“Dude, that was close.” He gapes.
“Eh it was fine. See you after school.”
Social Studies is probably one of the most boring hours of my day. The teacher is old, doesn’t seem to have a sense of humor and resembles poultry as she struts her neck with each step she takes. It’s humorous and probably more distracting than it should be, but I need to keep myself awake somehow. We have metal baskets underneath the desk/chair combos to set our books. Luckily I’m in the front row so I get to stretch my long legs on the sides of my desk without taking up anyone else’s space. I just have to remember to draw them in when Ms. Schultz walks by so she doesn’t take a dive on my account.
I can always feel my seat being pulled down by the person’s feet behind me resting on the basket but it doesn’t bother me much as long as they're still.
We are currently discussing slavery and how so many children had the same father. Having a lot of kids is fine as long as you can take care of them. I just can’t get over how they would choose the tallest, strongest man to breed the next generation to be bigger, more work efficient. It is pretty disgusting that they treated them like animals and I can only imagine the effect that had on the man who was chosen. Not only are they being picked to reproduce but then they know that all of their offspring are the ones who are going to be pushed to their physical limits. Or maybe it was slightly reassuring for them to know their kids might have an easier time working with a genetic advantage. Either way, it’s depressing, and makes my life seem better than it is by contrast.
It gets me thinking about my own dad, his bloodline. Other than the fact he was probably tall and had dark hair (if I’m an example of his DNA), he’s a stranger to me. It’s rotten knowing he didn’t care to help raise us, my brother Griffin and I. Griffin is also tall with dark hair. I think we are pretty cool, although we butt heads like I assume most brothers do. Griffin is the classic parent-like oldest (3 years older than me), very independent and protective of me. He’s also the first one to give me a hard time about something, but in a light joking way. He’s in high school so I guess it makes sense that he messes with me. I’m probably not “cool” like he thinks his friends are. I suppose everyone thinks their friends are cool.
The bell rings and I realize that I’ve totally missed the rest of the lesson and possibly an assignment. I take a mental picture of what it says on the board so I can scribble it somewhere as if I’ll do it. When I reach down in the basket to grab my books, I see this sheet of shiny blonde hair flowing from the girl behind me who is the culprit that rests her feet on my basket. I pause for a second with her in my peripheral vision, letting my heart react. Our eyes don’t meet but I can tell she’s gorgeous. I speed to get out of the classroom so there won’t be any interaction but I’d be kidding myself if I didn’t hope there might be one someday.
I walk down the hall to my locker wondering what her name is and what she’s like when I hear “DENNY!” and see Tori’s big blue eyes she uses to get my attention.
“Hey Tori.” I reach my hand up for a high five and chuckle as she jumps to reach it. “How’s it going?”
“Great!” She responds in a sing-song voice putting emphasis on the a.
“Sweet. You ready for that math test tomorrow?” I ask, not ready myself.
“I will be after I study. I’ll message you on AIM later tonight and we can go over the review.” She suggests, sure that I’ll agree.
“Okay that sounds good. See you later.” I reply, happy she’s chosen me as a friend.
“Bye Denny!” She yells with a giggle.
I chuckle to myself at her endless energy as I head down the hall to my last class of the day. I wonder who that blonde girl is in my last class but I’m way too shy to be the one to approach her.
