looked around until he found our seats.
Each
desk had a name on it, going in alphabetical order around the
room. Mine was the last seat in the back next to the window.
Zach’s empty desk sat directly beside mine. The man at the
front of the room watched as Zach slid his desk across the
aisle until it was flush with mine. Then he simply nodded and
returned to his reading.
“I thought for sure he was going to yell at you. We
never got away with that kind of stuff back in Trinity.” My
stomach finally settled enough for me to talk without thinking
I would barf.
“Oh, if that were any other teacher he would have.
That’s Mr. Raspatello—he’s the coolest teacher here. He
rarely ever yells at anybody. But he’s a good teacher, though,
too.”
I nodded distractedly as I unfolded my schedule and
smoothed it out on my desk and compared it to Zach’s. We
had a lot of the same classes, just unfortunately not together.
We didn’t even have lunch at the same time. The only one we
had in common was Advanced Math in eighth period—the last
class of the day. While I was grateful to at least have that, I
was definitely disappointed. My only hope was for Rachel to
have the same lunch as me. Nothing said “loser” like eating
alone in the cafeteria.
While I was busy obsessing over our schedules, the
room filled up. When the first bell rang, nearly everyone was
in their seats. I glanced around the room nervously, watching
as almost everyone looked away when my eyes met theirs.
The only one who didn’t look away was a straggly looking girl
in the far corner who just sat there staring at me. I recognized
her from open house but I never would have guessed she was
a senior. She was small and frail and looked just as scared as I
was.
Zach gave me a quick kiss just as Mr. Raspatello rose
from his desk to take roll.
Rachel slipped into the room behind Mr. Raspatello’s
back and slid into her seat hurriedly. I wanted to ask to see
her schedule, but I didn’t want to get yelled at on my first day.
Mr. Raspatello worked his way around the room, calling each
name on the list.
There were still a few empty desks, so I
knew someone had to be late. As he called Zach’s name, the
door opened and in walked Misty Landrum with her boy toy
Kody Kirk in tow. Kody’s shirt was crumpled and his zipper
was down. One guess as to why they were late.
Mr. Raspatello called, “You’re late,” as Misty slithered
into her seat.
“Fashionably,” Misty replied sarcastically, causing
Kody to laugh uncontrollably. It said a lot for Kody’s
intelligence that he found a comment as lame as that to be
funny.
Mr. Raspatello earned some respect from me when he
talked back to her. “See that it doesn’t happen again.”
Misty tossed her hair over her shoulder defiantly but
held her tongue. I was so busy enjoying the show that I forgot
my name was next on his list. I nearly jumped out of my seat
when he called out, “Matthews, Ruby.”
Raising my hand timidly, I figured that was all there
was to it. Nothing ever came that easily for me, so I should
have seen it coming.
“So I see you know the Masons, but why don’t you tell
the rest of us something about yourself.” I deducted every
last one of the respect points I just awarded him. “Stand up so
we can all hear you.” No, now he was losing points he didn’t
even have to lose. Negative respect points.
Forcing myself to stand on wobbly legs, I cleared my
throat before speaking.
A snotty giggle erupted from the
other side of the room and I felt the blood rushing to my face.
Even if she didn’t want to bury her fangs into my boyfriend, I
still would have hated Misty.
“Um…My name’s Ruby. I moved here from Trinity in
June.” That was all I had. I shrunk back into my seat hoping
he wouldn’t ask me anything else.
“Okay, then. Thanks, Ruby.” Mr. Raspatello walked
back to his desk and sat down. Settling back into his chair, he
propped his feet on the desk and went back to reading
Each
desk had a name on it, going in alphabetical order around the
room. Mine was the last seat in the back next to the window.
Zach’s empty desk sat directly beside mine. The man at the
front of the room watched as Zach slid his desk across the
aisle until it was flush with mine. Then he simply nodded and
returned to his reading.
“I thought for sure he was going to yell at you. We
never got away with that kind of stuff back in Trinity.” My
stomach finally settled enough for me to talk without thinking
I would barf.
“Oh, if that were any other teacher he would have.
That’s Mr. Raspatello—he’s the coolest teacher here. He
rarely ever yells at anybody. But he’s a good teacher, though,
too.”
I nodded distractedly as I unfolded my schedule and
smoothed it out on my desk and compared it to Zach’s. We
had a lot of the same classes, just unfortunately not together.
We didn’t even have lunch at the same time. The only one we
had in common was Advanced Math in eighth period—the last
class of the day. While I was grateful to at least have that, I
was definitely disappointed. My only hope was for Rachel to
have the same lunch as me. Nothing said “loser” like eating
alone in the cafeteria.
While I was busy obsessing over our schedules, the
room filled up. When the first bell rang, nearly everyone was
in their seats. I glanced around the room nervously, watching
as almost everyone looked away when my eyes met theirs.
The only one who didn’t look away was a straggly looking girl
in the far corner who just sat there staring at me. I recognized
her from open house but I never would have guessed she was
a senior. She was small and frail and looked just as scared as I
was.
Zach gave me a quick kiss just as Mr. Raspatello rose
from his desk to take roll.
Rachel slipped into the room behind Mr. Raspatello’s
back and slid into her seat hurriedly. I wanted to ask to see
her schedule, but I didn’t want to get yelled at on my first day.
Mr. Raspatello worked his way around the room, calling each
name on the list.
There were still a few empty desks, so I
knew someone had to be late. As he called Zach’s name, the
door opened and in walked Misty Landrum with her boy toy
Kody Kirk in tow. Kody’s shirt was crumpled and his zipper
was down. One guess as to why they were late.
Mr. Raspatello called, “You’re late,” as Misty slithered
into her seat.
“Fashionably,” Misty replied sarcastically, causing
Kody to laugh uncontrollably. It said a lot for Kody’s
intelligence that he found a comment as lame as that to be
funny.
Mr. Raspatello earned some respect from me when he
talked back to her. “See that it doesn’t happen again.”
Misty tossed her hair over her shoulder defiantly but
held her tongue. I was so busy enjoying the show that I forgot
my name was next on his list. I nearly jumped out of my seat
when he called out, “Matthews, Ruby.”
Raising my hand timidly, I figured that was all there
was to it. Nothing ever came that easily for me, so I should
have seen it coming.
“So I see you know the Masons, but why don’t you tell
the rest of us something about yourself.” I deducted every
last one of the respect points I just awarded him. “Stand up so
we can all hear you.” No, now he was losing points he didn’t
even have to lose. Negative respect points.
Forcing myself to stand on wobbly legs, I cleared my
throat before speaking.
A snotty giggle erupted from the
other side of the room and I felt the blood rushing to my face.
Even if she didn’t want to bury her fangs into my boyfriend, I
still would have hated Misty.
“Um…My name’s Ruby. I moved here from Trinity in
June.” That was all I had. I shrunk back into my seat hoping
he wouldn’t ask me anything else.
“Okay, then. Thanks, Ruby.” Mr. Raspatello walked
back to his desk and sat down. Settling back into his chair, he
propped his feet on the desk and went back to reading
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