by S. L. Giger
“This makes sense, you never really know what you get so far away, I assume.” She pressed her hands together and started kneading her fingers. “I’m trying to recall, where I must have seen you before,” She said more to herself than to us.
“Could we have some school supplies?” Melissa asked quickly.
“Oh, of course.” The lady brushed her hands over her apron. “We have binders and folders in all colors, and over here you can see all the writing utensils we have.”
We walked to the shelf and Melissa started to pick out a few things and handed them to me.
“I think that should be enough for starters. Any color preferences?” She asked me.
I decided to take everything in an elegant black. Maybe, I would paint some ornaments on it with whiteout. I used to do that on all my school material at home. Might as well start again.
After we had paid for the supplies, we returned to the bicycles and Melissa leaned toward me.
“Everything that happens in this town gets discussed by everybody. So, the latest by tonight, everyone will know that my daughter has returned and that there will be a new girl at school tomorrow,” She said, only for me to hear.
“And that is a good thing? I don’t like to be discussed before anybody has even met me,” I said.
“If many people repeat that Luke and I have a daughter who has spent a few years abroad, they will believe that it’s actually true.”
I became aware of two quickening heartbeats in close proximity to us. They belonged to two construction workers on the other side of the road. They were about my real age and just gawking at us. When they realized that I had seen them, they quickly exchanged a few words and then one of them whistled at us. I was too perplexed to show any kind of reaction. Melissa noticed my petrification and then followed my glance to the guys.
“Ah, yes, you will find out that guys start to look at you differently. You should take it as a compliment.”
I shook my head in bewilderment. They kept looking at us as if we were animals behind bars. Suddenly, the street seemed too exposed of a place to be standing. I swung my leg over the saddle to get ready for taking off.
“I haven’t thought of that in regard to school. This might actually become kind of a problem with all these guys in puberty,” Melissa laughed.
I growled. “I wouldn’t find that so funny.” The pure thought of it made my legs feel shaky. I wasn’t used to people staring at me or even noticing me.
“You might have to get used to that now. On the other hand, I am sure that you will find friends quickly.”
“Don’t worry; I’m not planning on integrating myself too much.” I missed my friends at home.
“I hope you will change your mind. Otherwise, you will perhaps get bored if you are only always in our company,” Melissa said.
As we biked off, I made a point in turning my glance as far away from these guys as I possibly could. Nevertheless, I could still feel their eyes burning on my back.
Chapter 7
On Monday morning, my first day in American high school, I started to get more nervous by the minute. I really didn’t want to return to high school. Especially not since I would be the only new person in the school district. I spent the whole night finding an appropriate outfit to wear. In the end, I decided on jeans and a dark green sweater from H&M.
I felt like a real teenager when I stood there with my packed backpack, and Melissa handed me a brown bag with an apple that I wouldn’t eat. Luke and she both gave me a hug and wished me a good day.
I took a deep breath and biked off to Orleans High School. Unlike everybody else, I neither took the school bus nor did I drive my own car. The bus extra would have had to change its route and I would have been the only over sixteen-year-old loser. About the driving, first of all, I hadn’t learned how to drive. Secondly, a car would be too much an unnecessary imposition on the environment.
When I got closer, I saw hordes of teenagers walking around in packs and a big parking lot with yellow school buses and other cars. Their hearts sounded like a strong summer storm. I grew more and more nervous. So far, I was able to control myself. What if these kids were really mean and would make me angry? It didn’t help that I didn’t have an idea where I should park my bicycle. So, I was on the lookout for that while trying not to notice all the confused or curious glances. Their open stares followed me as if they were attached to the girl on the bike. I didn’t realize that riding the school bus would have made me less of an exotic species than riding the bike.
On the right side of the school was a big sports field. Next to that O saw something like a shed that looked like the place to park my ride. After I had locked it up, I made my way toward the entrance. I wished that I would know one friendly face in order not to feel so alone. But they all just watched and whispered. Too bad, I didn’t have sensitive hearing. I would have loved to know what they were saying. Generally, from the look on their faces, I could tell that the boys were happier to see me than the girls. The way their brows furrowed and how they’d suddenly whispered to whoever was next to them, it was clear that many marked me as some kind of rival right away.
I made it to the attendance office, as Luke had told me and announced my arrival. The front desk lady kindly led the way to the principal’s office. The bell rang, and kids were streaming through the hallways. The woman pointed to a row of chairs in a room between the hallway and the principal’s office. There was a beeping sound and then a female voice announced that the SADD club would meet at 4 pm in the auditorium. Then, everybody had to rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. I heard chairs being pushed around and then the murmur of the students covered their heartbeats. That was the first time I heard the pledge. Afterward, the door opened, and a woman in a smart business outfit stepped out. She was probably in her early fifties and had shoulder-long light blond hair.
“Hello, you must be Nathalie,” She took a step toward me. For a second, I had to remind myself again that yes, I was Nathalie. “Come in.”
I got up and shook her hand as I walked past her.
“I’m Mrs. Stevenson. If you have any questions or problems in finding your way around here, don’t hesitate to knock on my door. It must be hard for you to transfer so late in your education, but there are nice kids in this school. I’m sure you will find friends very easily.” Again, I was pointed to a chair.
“I hope so.” I nodded and sat down. There wasn’t a lot of space and what was available was filled up with the desk and a big cupboard. On the desk were a few piles of papers, a cup with pens, a stapler and a small cactus.
“Are you happy with your schedule?” Mrs. Stevenson asked.
“Yes, I think so.”
“And you don’t need a parking space or anything else?”
“No, I received a locker, and I will bike to school.” I already felt like a freak.
“How admirable, that must be at least three miles,” She observed.
I shrugged, “I like to be outdoors.”
“Perhaps you can join an after-school club. A sport or maybe the interact club.” She paused for a split second, while her clear blue eyes rested on me, “or cheerleading, with your figure.”
“I’m really bad at dancing.” That was the unfortunate truth.
“I am proud to say that 90 percent of our students are in an after-school club. it would be nice to see you in one of them as well.” Clearly, this was an order.
I swallowed. Somebody else who expected something from me without even knowing me. I pursed my lips and reciprocated her stare.
Her nose twitched. “Well, I hope you will settle here okay.” She placed her hands flat on the desk. “What is your first class?”
I glanced at my schedule again, which I was still holding in my hands. “English with Mrs. Holdings,” I read.
“That’s almost at the other end of the school. Let me guide you there. It’s probably good if your start doesn’t get delayed any further.” She g
ot up, and I followed her. We walked past a glass cupboard with trophies and many closed red doors. A few posters cheering for school sports teams decorated the walls. Mrs. Stevenson walked a fast pace, so I had to concentrate on keeping up with her but not accidentally dart away. This was quite challenging. I still never entirely felt how fast my movements would be until I walked a few steps. Running away was much easier.
Due to the concert of the heartbeats, it was like walking through rain without getting wet. It calmed me somewhat that none of them attracted me in a particular way.
There was an occasional movement of a chair, some laughter in a different classroom and finally, we came to a halt in front of a closed door. I heard a woman talking in a teacher’s voice; you know, slow and clear that even the last idiot would understand it.
Mrs. Stevenson knocked and then opened the door. Eighteen pairs of eyes were drawn to the opened door and looked right past the principal toward me. I gulped, so much to an unnoticed entrance.
“This is Nathalie Belkin. She transferred here from boarding school in Germany and will stay with us for the rest of eleventh and twelfth grade. Help her get comfortable here.” She smiled at the class and at the teacher and finally gave an encouraging nod in my direction. I tightened my grip on my backpack strap and strode past her into the classroom. There only was one free desk in the back row next to the window. On my way there, two guys nodded at me, but I kept my glance straight. Something interesting happened. Eleven heartbeats continued in the same manner they had been thudding before. Seven heartbeats suddenly quickened. As I glanced around, I noticed that there were seven boys in the class. I exhaled the breath I unconsciously had been holding. I faced Mrs. Holdings, trying to ignore the clandestine glances from everybody else.
“Well, Nathalie, welcome to our class. You should come talk to me in a free minute to see what you have covered so far and how many gaps that need to be filled. We’re treating reported speech at the moment.” She pointed to the blackboard that was filled with words in chalk. “Can you tell the class anything about you, so that we know a little about who you are?”
My eyes widened, while I was trying to come up with something to say. Now, everybody was openly piercing me with their stare again. One of the girls who had been looking at me rather skeptically chuckled.
“I don’t know. I’m seven- I’m sixteen.” That was close. “I like to read.” I thought that if I said that, I surely wouldn’t make any friends which was fine with me. Actually, I still couldn’t believe I was sitting in one of these small high school chairs again. I threw a glance at the watch and hoped that the year would go by, fast.
A few students whispered to each other, and Mrs. Holdings tried to drown them. “Then you should have no problems with this class.” She smiled. “Anything else?”
I pressed my lips together and shook my head.
“Let’s move on then.” She walked back to the board. I took out a folder and labeled it with English. Then I let my gaze wander across the windows. I saw right to the football field. Then, my mind started re-evaluating the pros and cons of my new life. Being pretty, living at the beach, being able to run around the world made it to the pro side. Being away from home, missing my family, missing my friends and having to be back in high school definitely made it on the con side.
The bell rang and I got up to follow the other students that were already storming to the door. Others were hanging back, taking it slow while packing their bag, talking to their friends.
A slim girl in a cheerleading outfit stepped into my path, and I had to stop walking. The red lipstick on her face was very prominent. She had a good figure and a good-looking hairdo, but her firm posture and the strict glance made her seem a bit too strained. One hand was placed on her hip, and that pose alone let me know that she was someone I had better not have as an enemy.
“Hi, I’m Belinda, and this is Courtney.” She pointed to another cheerleader who was standing behind her like a faithful dog. Her bossy voice went well with her body language. “I’m the head cheerleader, and I see that we are in the same English class.” Very observant, I thought. “Have you ever done cheerleading before, Nathalie?”
“No, I’m actually pretty bad at gymnastics.”
Her shoulders lowered a little as if she had been tensed up before. “Okay, well, you would have the body for it but to be on a good level, it does demand a lot of training. That certainly isn’t for everybody and our squad is full for this year anyway.” They both gave me a smug look. Did they see me as a threat or why were they so stand-offish?
“I prefer spending my free time with cute guys instead of working my butt off.” Belinda flinched slightly, and Courtney was left open-mouthed. I’d never have dared to say something like that as Serena. It used to be way too important to me, what other people thought. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to get to my next class now.” I strode past them.
“Hey.” Somebody called out and kind of bumped into me from the back, when I was already out in the hallway.
I turned to find a boy walking next to me. He was about two inches shorter than me, had a mess of blond hair and was carrying a huge backpack. “You’re from Germany? My grandfather is from there too. Wie gehts?” He eagerly looked at me.
I was so surprised that anybody would speak German here, that I answered politer than I had intended to. “Gut, danke.” I smiled. “You speak German?” So much to trying to keep my distance.
“Only small talk,” He pulled his backpack higher. “I’m Sam by the way.”
“I’m Nathalie.” There, I said it.
“Nice meeting you, girl on the bike. What’s your next class?”
“Economics with Mr. Parrot.” He must hear a lot of jokes because of his name. Some names are not practical if you are a teacher.
“He is cool. Likes to digress, though. I got physics.” He shrugged as if he needed to apologize that we weren’t in the same class. “Do you know where you have to go?”
“Not really,” I admitted.
“Go straight and then the second door to the left at the end of the floor.”
“Okay, thanks, Sam,” I smiled. “See you later.”
“Yes, later.” He waved and turned into another hallway.
While I followed his directions, I was aware again of people looking at me and whispering. They weren’t even hiding it. That was too weird. I kind of preferred being a wallflower. The conversation with Sam before had been nice, though.
Economics was an interesting subject. Something I could use in real life, and Mr. Parrot was quite entertaining. His simple blue jeans and black shirt didn’t indicate anything about his name, though. The rest of my classes were okay too. Most of them interested me, and I realized that I still liked learning something. If there only weren’t all these other kids. Several times that day, I thought that something must be wrong with me. Perhaps, I had something weird in my face. There were boys just looking at me with their mouths open. Mostly, the older ones; the younger ones luckily seemed immune to my Siren aura. Already, I was earning evil looks from jealous girlfriends. I pulled up my hoodie and hoped that hiding behind that would somehow take the fascination they had in me away. During lunch, I went to the cafeteria, like everybody else. We weren’t allowed to leave the school grounds. The most fun time for the other students would be the hour that posed most problems for me. I had to pretend to eat something. I sat down at a table with a few freshmen. At least, I guessed as much because of their size. They were too engrossed in a conversation about a concert to even notice me. I let my gaze wander and saw some cheerleaders talking to guys who looked quite sporty as well. They were all busy looking great to pay any attention to me now. There was one guy my eyes lingered on for a moment longer. He was very tall and had a natural smirk on his face. It indicated that with him, there was always something to laugh about. Right as I wanted to open the packet of chips I had bought but would later throw out anyway, Sam came over.
“Hey, you
shouldn’t have to sit here so alone. You can join us if you want.” He pointed to a table with a guy dressed all in black, with black dyed hair, wearing huge headphones. His clothes hung loosely on his skinny body. Next to him sat a girl in colorful, bright clothes, with red dyed hair, wearing a hat.
“Okay, thanks.” I followed him.
“Guys, this is Nathalie.” He presented me.
“Hey, I’m Phe.” The girl waved and then turned her head to the guy in black.
“And this is Joe,” Sam said. Joe didn’t take off his headphones, but at least he acknowledged me with a small hand movement. “He doesn’t talk much, but he is fun to hang out with anyway. How was your day so far?” Sam asked.
“Alright. I feel a bit lost sometimes. There are so many new faces.”
“I can imagine,” He said.
“So, what year are you in?” I asked because I didn’t know what else to say.
“Seniors, we are all in this together,” He laughed. “You’re a junior?”
“Yes.” I couldn’t suppress a frown.
“We might have some classes together anyway. What do you have after lunch?”
“French II and then painting.”
“Cool, we’re in the same French class then, and you have painting with Phe.”
“Cool,” I responded.
“You like arts as well?” Phe asked.
“Yes, as a hobby. I like to doodle around when I am bored.”
“Phe here will be a big artist one day.” Sam put a spoonful of spaghetti in his mouth.
“I like to paint, that’s all,” She rolled her eyes.
“Always so modest, our Phe. She has to show her portfolio to a few art colleges in Boston next week, and I am convinced that all of them will take her.”
“Cool,” I said again. Somehow, being back at school made my head run out of decent vocabulary. “What is your plan?” I looked at Sam.
“Computer science. I’m pretty good with that.”