by Zac Moore
School Life
Smashwords Edition | By Zac Moore
Legal
Copyright 2017 by Zac Moore
This book is a work of fiction, any reference to real persons living or dead, places, or events past or present is purely coincidental.
Content warning
This book mentions gender reassignment surgery in the first sentence on the first page, it is not a critical plot point but if you think you’ll be offended by this, I suggest skipping the aforementioned sentence, you won’t be missing much don’t worry. It also contains strong language and sexual references and as such the author does not deem this suitable for persons under the age of 15.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Breaking the Fourth Wall
Chapter 2 - Alex V Gotthold
Chapter 3 - The Election
Chapter 4 - Curse you, 7W
Chapter 5 - A Surprising Visitor
Chapter 6 - Where’s Eve?
Chapter 7 - I Love You, Idiot
Chapter 8 - You Must Take a Vacation, You Must Have Fun, You Must Enjoy Life
Chapter 9 - We’re Moving?!
Chapter 10 - Hi, I’m Elizabeth
Chapter 1
Breaking The Fourth Wall
It is the 30th of January 2007, and my life is about to be changed forever… no, I’m not getting a sex change, I’m starting at a new school.
“That’s not really a life-changing thing, Alex” I hear a familiar female voice say, “Everybody starts high school at some point in their lives”.
“Oh! Good morning, Mrs Herriot!” I say, cheerfully.
Mrs Herriot is the mother of one of my sisters’ friends, and also one of the teachers at my new school, she and her family have been looking after me since early January because both my parents are overseas representing Australia at the UN’s International Nursing and Corrections convention, what do those two have to do with each other? Hell if I know, I guess they’re both state-run services? Anyway, I should really get ready for school.
“That you should” says Mrs Herriot
“MRS HERRIOT STOP BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL! You can’t hear the parts that aren’t in quotation Marcuss remember?” I enquire.
“Now you’re breaking the fourth wall, mister!” says Mrs Herriot.
“Oh for the love of- let’s just get going” I say, frustratingly.
Mrs Herriot and I head out to her car and head off for school.
“Now Alex I know I’ve been asking this a lot, but I really need to be sure of it. Are you nervous at all? Don’t forget none of your old classmates will be there” Mrs Herriot enquires.
She has been asking that a lot, I am sort of nervous but I think I’ll be fine once I settle in.
“I’ll be fine, Mrs Herriot, please don’t worry too much about me, it’s not like you’re just dropping me off then heading back” I say,
“Key phrase mister, “will be”, that means you aren’t fine at all currently, what’s up?” she asks.
Gah, I thought she was a Languages teacher not an English teacher!
“Well to be perfectly honest, I’m sort of worried my class won’t like me, I mean I’ll have to LIVE with them for the next year! What if my Asperger’s gets the better of me and I unknowingly say something offensive?” I ask, worryingly.
“You’ll find a way to make things work” she reassures.
“You know what I think will work? Me just staying at your place!” I say, in a sort of panicked tone.
“Alex, you said the exact same thing before the orientation and you turned out fine, just give it a chance” she reassures, this time a little more firmly.
“Yes, miss” I acknowledge.
Hey, wait a minute, wasn’t that the bus station we just passed?
“Mrs Herriot” I call for Mrs Herriot’s attention.
“Yes, Alex?” she enquires.
“Didn’t we just pass the bus station where I’m supposed to join the bus that’ll take me to the school?” I ask, worryingly.
“Alex, look at the clock, what time is it?” she enquires.
I know she knows but I’ll humour her.
“It’s seven” I answer
“And what time is the bus supposed to leave?” she enquires.
“Eight” I answer.
Hey, wait a minute, why’re we so early?
“We’re going in already? What do you have a meeting or something?” I enquire.
“Yep, and you’re coming with me!” she says.
Why am I attending a staff meet- oh never mind.
“You’ll be meeting all your teachers there!” she says, excitingly.
“Really? Yay!” I exclaim, also excitingly.
I feel sort of tired, I think I might rest my eyes until we arrive.
“Mrs Herriot, I’m going have a little nap, could you please wake me up when we arrive?” I request.
“Sure, Alex” she responds.
I close my eyes, and the next thing I hear is Mrs Herriot’s voice.
“On your feet mister, we’re here!” she exclaims.
“Huh? Wha? What’s going on? Where are we?” I question while trying to regain my bearings.
“Just relax, we’re at school, take it easy now” Mrs Herriot says while helping me out of the car.
We walk past a sign saying, “Lisa Hills Community School – Administration district”.
“Get your student ID, ready, Alex, you’re gonna need it soon” she says.
We walk up to a closed gate with a tall looking guy standing guard.
“Garnett, a pleasure to see you, and this must be your charge, Alex Moore, right?” the tall guy says.
I quickly hide behind Mrs Herriot, aside from my shyness around strangers, this guy kind of scares me!
“What’re you so shy for? This guy’s gonna be your PE teacher!” Mrs Herriot says, reassuringly, “Sorry Brad, his kind of shy around strangers, he doesn’t mean to be rude it’s just his Asperger’s”.
“I can relate to that” I hear another feminine voice say, it isn’t Mrs Herriot.
The new woman stoops down to my level, as if I’m some sort of kid, I’m not a kid I’m a preteen, I’m just a little bit short!
“Hi Alex, my name is Sabrina, Sabrina Wine” the new woman says.
I move my head out of my hiding space a little, so I can talk to this person.
“H-Hi, M-Mrs Wine” I say, in my usual shy tone I always use with strangers, “Y-Y-You look very beautiful today!” I quickly say.
God, why did I say that? She probably thinks I’m some sort of creep now!
“Awww, thank you, you’re not looking too bad yourself” Mrs Wine says.
Well, that was unexpected, hey, what’s the deal with this pounding in my chest, I’m not in love, am I?
“By the way, it’s Miss Wine, not Mrs” she says.
That did not help the pounding, quick Alex, say something to kill the mood!
“I’ll try to remember that, Miss Wine” I respond.
Mission “Avoid a romance with a potential teacher”, complete.
“So, are you also going to be one of my teachers?” I ask, curiously.
“Maybe, maybe not, we’re actually supposed to be discussing that this morning” she says, “At the moment it’s a given that Mr King; this tall man here, will be your PE teacher, and that Mrs Herriot will be your Languages teacher. But everything else is uncertain”.
“Oh, I see!” I exclaim, “Hey, when does the meeting start? Soon, right?” I ask.
“Yes, actually we should quickly introduce you to your year advisor and then get going, there’ll be time to meet everybody else later” Mrs Herriot responds.
“Alrighty, a pleasure meeting you Miss Wine and Mr King” I say.
“Wait
a minute, Alex, we need to see your ID before the gate will open” Mr King says.
“Oh, sure, no problem, here you go” I say, handing my ID to Mr King.
“Mmhmm, that’s all good, alrighty, you guys can go in” Mr King says.
The gate opens and Mrs Herriot, Miss Wine, and myself go in, I see a familiar face, at least I think I do, my blindness does not help my facial recognition.
“Alright Alex, this is one of your year-” Mrs Herriot says, before I cut her off.
“DAV-MAN!” I exclaim, on this occasion my facial recognition did not fail me!
Chapter 2
Alex V Gotthold
The man I just called “Dav-man” and I join both of our hands, cross our arms over each other twice, I jump around and indicate a low-ten (like a high-five but it’s down-low and uses both hands), he does the same, Mrs Herriot and Miss Wine look on with confused expressions.
“Um, what was that?” Miss Wine enquires.
“Our secret handshake” I respond, cheerfully.
“You and Mr Davin already have a secret handshake?” Mrs Herriot enquires.
“We sure do! Right Mr Davin?” I ask Mr Davin.
“Heck yeah! How have you been Alex, my main man?” he says.
“Pretty darn sweet, brother!” I respond.
“Good to hear! Hey, a couple of members from your class are already here, maybe you should go say hi to them while we adults take care of some boring stuff” Mr Davin suggests.
“Sounds good, which students might these be?” I enquire.
“Eveleen Grace and Elizabeth Gotthold” he responds.
“Gotthold? Aw crap” I respond, disappointingly.
“What, you guys don’t get along?” he asks, in a more serious tone.
“Not exactly, we’re just a tad indifferent about each other” I respond.
“Well, you better learn to deal with each other, you’ll be living together, remember?” he warns.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find a way” I say, reassuringly.
“Alright, well, they’re both right over there in that white tent with the number 7 on it” he says.
“Alrighty man, have fun dealing with boring stuff!” I say, cheerfully.
“Boring stuff, WOO!” he says, sarcastically.
I walk over to where my classmates are. Like Davin said, two of them are here, Eve, and a dark-haired girl, Elizabeth Gotthold.
“Eve, a pleasure to see you!” I say to Eve, excitingly.
“Same to you, Al!” responds Eve.
“I’m here too, you blind idiot” says Elizabeth.
“Gotthold” I say to Elizabeth, in a neutral tone.
“Moore” she responds, also in a neutral tone.
“Davin has told us that we should find some way to co-exist, so how about this: keep my name out of your mouth and I’ll do the same” I say.
“Sounds good to me!” she responds.
Elizabeth and I, like I said, don’t exactly get along, why I don’t know, but it’s been like this ever since the orientation, Eve chimes in.
“Hey guys?” Eve says, calling for Elizabeth’s and my own attention.
“Yes Eve?” Elizabeth and I say in chorus.
“Somehow, I don’t think that’ll work! What will you do when you’re forced to work together?” Eve questions.
“Simple, we’ll avoid working together” Elizabeth says.
“That might work for now but I get this feeling you’ll have to work together eventually” Eve rebukes.
Elizabeth and I burst out laughing.
“Not even joking guys” Eve says, in a dead serious tone.
Elizabeth and I cease laughing.
“She makes a point, Moore” Elizabeth says, “Maybe we should start the new year on at least a neutral note”.
“You know, I must agree, Gotthold. Let’s start by reintroducing each other”.
“Good idea. Hi, I’m Elizabeth” Elizabeth says.
“Hi Elizabeth, I’m Alex” I say, cheerfully.
“Yeah you know, this isn’t working, I can’t just work past that one time you threatened me with your sister” Elizabeth says.
“I can’t work past all those times you picked on me” I say, “Maybe for now we should just learn to stay away from each other”.
“Fine by me!” Elizabeth says.
This is going to be an interesting year.
“Hey, Eve?” I call for Eve’s attention.
“Yes, Alex?” Eve responds
“Do we know who else is in this case besides you, me, and Gotthold?” I ask.
“To be honest, I have no idea, Elizabeth might have an idea though” responds Eve.
“Forget it, Moore, you’ll find out over the next half hour or so” says Elizabeth, in that bitchy tone she always addresses me with.
Geez, would it kill her to be civil for once?! You know, I’ma ask that.
“Gotthold, would it kill you to be civil for once? I asked a pretty reasonable question!” I say, angrily.
“Moore, you know, I am a pretty civil person, but you seem to think that you’re better than everybody else! So let me answer your question with a question; would it kill YOU to get off your damn high horse?” she exclaims.
Me? THINK I’m better than everybody else? HA! That’s a laugh, I KNOW I’m better than everybody else.
“Alexander, Elizabeth, what happened to staying away from each other?” asks Eve.
“You know what? Forget I asked anything” I say.
Knowing who’s in the class isn’t worth getting into a fight with Gotthold. At that moment, a short girl approaches our tent.
“LIZZY BABE!” the short girl screams.
Hm, this must be Gotthold’s best friend, hopefully she’s nothing like Gotthold.
“ELLY BABE!” screams Elizabeth.
“Man, it sucks we’re not in the same class, hey?” says “Elly babe”.
“Big time” says Elizabeth.
They’re talking like Eve and myself aren’t here! I gotta say something.
“Hi there, I’m Alex. Nice to meet you” I say to “Elly babe”.
“Oh! Hi! I’m Ellen! Elizabeth’s best friend” says Ellen.
Knew it, they’re best friends, but thankfully she’s nothing like Gotthold.
“I’m not actually in your class, I’m in whatever class is in the Green tent” says Ellen.
“I’m here too, Ellen” says Eve.
“Oh, hi there Eve” says Ellen, “Hey, a few minutes ago I heard yelling, thought I’d come over and check that everything is OK”.
“Don’t worry, myself and Alex don’t really get along, we were just having an argument” says Elizabeth.
“Oh! Well that’s too bad” says Ellen.
Ellen approaches me and motions for me to come closer.
“Hey, listen, Elizabeth may come across as a bitch at first, but she’s alright once you get to know her, so try to put up with her and she’ll eventually come to like you” whispers Ellen.
“Thanks for the advice” I whisper back.
“Well, I best get going, take care everyone, and Alex” she says.
“Yes?” I ask.
“A pleasure meeting you” she says.
“Yes, you too, Ellen” I say.
Ellen leaves and goes back to her own tent.
“She seems nice” I say.
“She’s very nice, even to people who don’t deserve it” says Elizabeth, “I’m talking about you by the way”.
“I thought that was obvious” I say.
“Hm, maybe there is some hope for you after all. Anyway, what did she whisper to you?” questions Elizabeth.
“Some nonsense about how you act bitchy around people you don’t know but are actually nice to people who put up with your BS” I say.
“Heh, that is so something Ellen would say” says Elizabeth, “Don’t get any funny ideas, it’ll be a cold day in hell before I actually begin to call you my friend, Moore”.
I sigh as I wo
nder when more people will get here.
“Hey, I have an idea! Why don’t we all say something interesting about ourselves?” says Eve.
“Eh, might as well” says Elizabeth.
“Sounds fun” I say.
“Alright, Alex, you go first!” says Eve.
“Well, there’s not much to know about me aside from the fact that I have 1 of every kind of medical condition, my physical condition is Cerebral Palsy, my intellectual condition is Asperger’s Syndrome, my neural condition is Epilepsy, and my sensory condition is Ocular Albinism” I say.
“You didn’t cover mental” says Elizabeth.
“Yeah yeah, whatever, it’s still interesting” I say in rebuttal.
“Alright Elizabeth, your turn” says Eve.
“I am fluent in Spanish” says Elizabeth.
“There’s no way that could be possible, I mean how old are you exactly?” I ask.
“I’m 11” says Elizabeth.
“So you learned Spanish in under 11 years?” I question.
“Yes, see my family is Spanish, so of course I had to learn it from a very young age, otherwise how would I communicate with my relatives who only speak Spanish?” says Elizabeth.
“Hm, interesting” I say, “Alright, Eve, you’re up”.
“Well, this is going to pale in comparison to you two, but I’m also vision impaired” says Eve.
“Really? I’d never have guessed, do you wear contacts or something?” I ask Eve.
“Nope, I’m not legally blind like you are, Alex, so I don’t need the same level of corrections as you” says Eve.
“Oh, I see!” I say, “Uh, no pun intended”/
“Oh ha ha, very funny” says Eve.
“So, how does your vision affect you?” asks Elizabeth.
“Well, I need any small text enlarged, and that’s about it” says Eve.
“Hm, alright then. And Moore, you mentioned you had Epilepsy?” asks Elizabeth.
“Oh, finally taking an interest in me, Gotthold?” I ask, sarcastically.
“Don’t get the wrong idea, I just think it’s important that at least one person in the class know about such a condition just in case” says Elizabeth.
She makes a point.
“Good point, so, what would you like to know?” I ask.
“Could you explain your condition in a nutshell? Like, how does it affect you exactly?” asks Elizabeth.