by Hood, E. B.
As we walked from the student parking lot, we had to cross a wide open area. There were no trees and we moved at a human pace. The students moving along with us were slowing our pace. More than once we had to move around groups of students congregating.
The sounds of all the students talking sounded like a factory of noise to my ears. They spoke loudly and with the same words over and over again. Words like, dude, word, what’s up, and then all the sounds were mixed up with a soundtrack of swearing and laughter. By the time we reached the office door, I thought I may be getting a headache.
Once in the door, things were not much better. Everyone was talking. Kids and administrators were moving around and making noise everywhere I looked. Then there was someone talking over the intercom. Only with my hearing, it felt as if a thousand bees where trapped inside my head. I rubbed my temples and tried to focus.
Michael put his arm around me, and then he said quietly, so that no one else but me could hear him. “You will get used to it. Give it a second, it is hard because our senses are so much better than humans, and you have been living at the Whites for a month. If you think about it, the mice are loud at home.”
He was right; it was always quiet. Vampires make no sound when we move; the only time we do, is just to let the other vampires in the house know we are coming. Even when we spoke it was in a whisper. No reason to speak loudly when everyone could hear you in the next room.
“Next… can I help you two?” I realized about the same time as Michael, that the lady was speaking to us. She had her brown hair up in a bun and wore really thick glasses. She spoke to us with contempt as if her punishment in life were to sit at this job and deal with us. “Earth to whoever you two are. Do you need something?”
Michael spoke up. He spoke with a charm that I had never heard him use. “Yes ma’am; we need to get our schedules. This is me and my sister’s first day.”
It took me a second to realize that Michael had thrown in some of his mind power. The woman’s look of torture melted away. It was as if she was ten years younger.
She looked at David with… well the way grown women should not be looking at a student. “And what did you say your name is?” She may as well have asked him out.
“I didn’t; my name is Michael White, and this is my sister, Melabeth.”
She smiled at him; she couldn’t peel her eyes off him, not even to take notice of me. “Oh, let me look that up for you. It will only take a sec; would you be a dear and just sit over there?” She pointed at some seats against the wall. Then she added. “My name is Mrs. Corke, but you can call me Jess.”
As we headed toward the seats she had pointed out, I caught the eyes of another student. She was looking at Mrs. Corke, then Michael, and then back again. She had a look of astonishment on her face.
I whispered over to Michael. “Knock it off. We are supposed to blend in, not make the adults want to hook up with us.”
Michael sat down and laughed a little bit, then said. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself. When I meet a woman that unhappy in life…well, I just want to make her smile.”
“Do it again, and I will do something to wipe the smile off your face.”
Michael looked over at me. He was trying his best to keep a straight face. “Yes, ma’am...just don’t eat my face off.”
“Shut up.” I said as I hid my smile from him by turning my head.
We had been talking so quiet no one would have heard us. I also noticed that it helped me deal with all the noise. I guess I can filter out sound or at least manage it. If I keep practicing, maybe I will not go crazy before the day’s out.
A girl handed me and Michael a schedule. Michael had thought it best if we were twins. Therefore, we were both the same age and had all the same classes, except that someone in the administrative office must have felt different. All of our classes were different.
Michael went up to Mrs. Corke and started up a dialog, but, as much as Mrs. Corke would have loved to help Michael out, she couldn’t change the schedules. Michael came back in a huff. I told Michael don’t worry about it, but, before I could say much more, a girl walked up next to me and said, “Melabeth?”
“Yes.”
“Hi, my name is Jessica. I will give the grand tour and take you to your first class.” She started to walk away turned back toward me and said. “Come on.”
“What about my brother?” I spoke up and pointed at Michael who was now engaged in a conversion with some boy.
Jessica smiled, “Jason will take good care of your brother. So, come on girl; I promise I will not lead you into the lion’s den, Girl Scout’s honor.”
I followed Jessica out of the administrative office. I told myself, do not panic; not everything always goes as planned. You must learn to adapt your plan to the circumstances. At least that is what Ezra was always telling me.
As I followed behind Jessica, I took a look at my new schedule.
First period, English from 8 to 8:55 with Mrs. Trexlor, Room 133.
Second period, Science from 9:00 to 9:55 with Mr. Carter, Room 136.
Brunch 9:55 to 10:15
Third period, Social Studies, 10:15 to 11:10 with Mr. Boyd, Room 204.
Fourth period, Art 11:15 to 12:10 with Mrs. Zacky, Room 220.
Lunch 12:10 to 1:05
Fifth period, Physical Education 1:10 to 2:05 with Mrs. Miller, Room P2.
Sixth period, Math 2:10 to 3:45 with Mr. Wright, Room 523.
It looked as if I would be in for a treat by the end of the day. Devon Wright, Room 666 would be my Sixth period Math teacher. I hadn’t even really thought about it until this very second.
I hadn’t realized why I had been so nervous. I kept thinking it was because I have never been to school before. Seeing his name on this little white slip…well I knew that I would have to face him sooner or later. Just how do I look at a man who filmed me…dying and more? How can I remain calm?
I put the little white piece of paper into my pocket, took a deep breath and then tried to concentrate on Jessica’s voice. Jessica asked to see my schedule; I handed her my little white paper.
She looked at it for a minute, and then said, “We have five minutes between classes. It looks like all your classes are close together so you will have plenty of time to get to class. All your classes that are in the one hundreds, are in Building One. The building we are standing next to, is Building Two. That’s Building Three over there, but you don’t have any classes there. Oh, and Building Five isn’t really a building.”
“Let me guess it’s a basement.” I said dryly.
Jessica giggled. “No, silly, we don’t have a basement. Building Five isn’t a building; it’s a group of trailers on the other side of the auditorium. Wow, you’re lucky because I have to about run between third and fourth, or I will be late. After lunch, you just go to the girls’ locker room which is right next to the auditorium. After P.E. you can walk right over to the trailers. I have never had Mr. Wright, but I’ve heard he is a real creep.”
“So have I,”I chimed in.
It wasn’t long before I heard a bell. After a few minutes, all the kids started to disappear. Then, by the second bell it was just me and Jessica. She was showing me where they served lunch. She pointed out all kinds of things; I was only half listening. I think she showed me which locker was mine. After that, she led me to my first class of the day.
We stopped in front of Room 133. Jessica said with a smile. “Here you are. This is Mrs. Trexlor’s class. I have her in fifth period. She a real bitch…have fun.” And then, she left me.
I looked at the ugly blue door with the numbers 133, painted in black. I was frozen; I couldn’t open the door. I took a deep breath; the air smelled bad. It smelled like dirty socks. I couldn’t stand out here forever. I mustered up the courage and opened the door and stepped inside.
The teacher was talking. She stopped what she was saying, and then looked at me like I had just interrupted her. I guess in a way I had.
Then
she said in a stern monotone voice. “Can I help you?”
“New… I have my schedule. They told me to hand this to you.” I held out the little white paper.
“Oh, you must be Melabeth White. I have already received the paper work of your transfer into this class. Do you have a book?”
I had nothing in my hands so the question was ridiculous. “No.”
“No ma’am is how you will address me in this class.”
“No ma’am, I do not have a book.”
“You may sign a book out from me; grab one from that shelf.”
I felt all the eyes of the class on me as I grabbed a book.
Then, Mrs. Trexlor said. “Sit here.” She pointed at a desk in the front row.
Great, I didn’t want to sit up front. I sat down in the seat she picked out for me. Mrs. Trexlor’s eyes never left me.
Then she asked. “Do you have a pen, paper or a pencil?”
“No,” then I quickly added. “No ma’am, I do not.”
She gave me a tight smile, and went to her desk, fished out a pencil and some paper. She handed them to me.
I took them with a, "Thank you." She then went back to wherever she had left off with the class.
At the end of the class, Mrs. Trexlor asked me to stay. So, when the rest of the class piled out after the bell. I had to walk up and talk to the teacher. Then I got a speech about how I needed to be prepared for class. I left feeling like me and my parents were a bunch of losers for not preparing myself for high school. I think that’s what she was aiming at.
During the tour, Jessica had pointed out my locker. I had the combo and the locker number from a slip given to me at the office. I couldn’t even remember what building my locker was in. There were lockers attached to every wall. I didn’t care to look for it right now, so I decided to carry my book to the next class.
Of course that was easy. My next class was Room 136, only two doors down. When I went in, there were still plenty of students who hadn’t come in. A lot of the students were hanging outside the classroom door, waiting until the last second to come inside. Then I heard a familiar voice.
“Melabeth, sit next to me.” In the Science class room, instead of individual seats there were benches. Each bench sat two. In the furthest bench sat Lizzie. She was waving her hand at me and pointing at the seat next to her. This was starting off a lot better than the first class.
I checked in with the teacher. Mr. Carder was a nice man, young and handsome to boot. He retrieved a book for me, and even smiled when I told him I was going to sit next to Lizzie.
As I walked back to where Lizzie sat, I could hear Mr. Carder say under his breath, "It’s about time someone sat next to that girl."
I didn’t get a chance to talk to Lizzie, because, as soon as I sat down, the final bell rang. Mr. Carder was a great teacher. He was funny, and loved what he was doing and I couldn’t help but learn. Mrs. Trexlor should have to sit in his class and learn how to teach. She was sooooooo boring, and I think that I was now dumber for sitting in her class.
After second period was brunch. How clever, a break between breakfast and lunch, brunch. Soon as the bell rang Lizzie said. “Brunch time, so how's it going so far?”
I answered her like I was high. “It’s the best, and the sun…it’s all so wonderful.”
Lizzie added, “Those contacts make you look silly. Still at least you don’t look like a vampire. I just knew you would find school wonderful. Now you know the wonder of being human. So what’s your next class?”
“Mr. Boyd, Social Studies, are you in that class?” I was crossing my fingers.
“Nope, but David is,” Lizzie added with a grin. I stuck my tongue out at her. Lizzie went on. “If it makes you feel any better, we’re both grounded for two months.”
“I don’t feel better that you’re grounded. I might be mad at David, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to see him.”
Lizzie looked at me. “Yes, yes it does. I wonder how mad you really are?”
She picked up the rest of her stuff and shoved it into her bag, then tossed her bag over her shoulder and headed for the door.
I could never tell what Lizzie was thinking or feeling; she was so hard to read. I followed Lizzie, now carrying two books and a binder of paper thanks to Mrs. Trexlor. Soon, as we stepped free of the room, David was standing there waiting.
Our eyes met, and I could see the pain in his face. The sad puppy dog face made me want to forgive him right away, but, if I did that, then he would know he could get away with his shit in the future.
David about tripped over himself to take my books for me. “Melabeth, let me get those for you. Let me say, I am so, so, sorry. I really screwed up. I would have called you, but my stepdad put a spell on the phone. When I touched it, I got electrocuted.”
I laughed at that, and, from David’s wounded look, he didn’t find it funny. “Well I guess I owe your stepdad a thank you letter.”
Lizzie jumped in, “Now that’s cold, so cold. If you keep that up, David will need a jacket.”
I said, “I don’t know about a jacket but a handkerchief for the tears may be a good idea.”
David just shook his head back and forth, “Will you ever forgive me? What can I do?”
“You could start by groveling.” Me and Lizzie said in stereo.
Lizzie hid her mouth, and then David said, “I really need to separate you two. I will make this up to you, you’ll see.”
Lizzie started walking, turned to me and said, “Come on. I’ll show you where all the Goths hang out. We all go to the same place for brunch and lunch.”
It didn’t take me long to see half a dozen kids sitting and standing around a bench. The bench was under a tree and had lots of shade. It also stood away from anything else; the rest of the student body was hanging out under a giant awning. There were rows of picnic benches set up there; you ate year round outside. You only went inside to get the food.
I wasn’t going to have to do that. Michael had said that lots of kids don’t eat lunch, so it wouldn’t make us stand out. I wondered where the Goths hung out when it was raining. Lucky it didn’t rain much in California.
When we got closer, I could see Michael was already there. He was talking to some of the other Goths. Michael even looked good as a Goth; you couldn’t even hide his sexiness under make up. I could already see some of the Goth girls eyeing him.
Michael looked up at me as we approached; he smiled at me, and then said. “He still has a face?”
“Thanks to you,” I retorted.
David looked puzzled, and then asked. “What's that supposed to mean?”
Michael answered for me. “Well, Melabeth said something about eating your face off.”
I chimed in, “But Michael said I couldn’t, well not at school.”
There were chuckles and laughs. Michael and I both knew that the others would take it as joking. The other Goths introduced themselves to me. By the time I made it around the group, I had forgotten most of their names. Michael introduced himself to David; I had forgotten that they had not met yet.
Most of the Goths told me their nicknames, not their real names, like the girl who introduced herself as October. Somehow I didn’t think her parents named her that. A boy made a remark along the lines of, “Melabeth? Now that’s a cool Goth name.” I guess it kind of is; it’s not my real name; I made it up too.
We didn’t have much time to hang out; it was only a fifteen minute break. The first bell rang, which meant we had five minutes to make it to class. I did find out that the Goths hung out under this tree rain or shine. The Goth’s hangout was right next to Building Two. In fact, I could see Room 204, and that was where my next class was. So, I didn’t have to hurry. Almost everyone had to get going to keep from being late. It was just me and David.
David was leaning against the side of the tree. I could see the stress in him, and I could feel his worry. Maybe it was because he was a Necromancer, or maybe it was because I was a v
ampire. No matter the reason, I wasn’t mad enough at David to see him suffer. I walked up next to him and gently rubbed his arm. He looked over at me with hope in his eyes.
So much for being tough on him. “I forgive you; in fact, I am not even sure I was ever that mad about it.”
“Really?”
I went on. “Since those bikers kidnapped me… well let’s just say it’s been one thing after another. I have been in countless fights, and that was the first fight where no one died. Well, second, if you count the one I had with Lea and Michael. Wait, make it the third…I forgot about the fight with Alice. No one died; I just lost."
David smiled. "I think I understand what you're saying. It's been rough for you."
"Yeah, it’s been rough, but you have always been there for me, and, even though what you did was stupid, it was also amazing. You tried to bring a vampire into your life. I do believe that normal people wouldn’t even think of bringing me home to mom.”
David looked as if I had taken a hundred pound weight off of his back. Then he said. “Thank you, you will not regret it, I promise. We better hurry before we’re late.”
Even though we were only twenty feet from the door, we just got inside when the final bell rang. David hurried to his seat while I headed toward the front of the classroom to the teacher’s desk.
Now that I was looking at Mr. Boyd, I was taken aback by him. I would have to describe him in two parts, first his head; he was balding with some brown hair around the sides. He looked to be in his early forties. He wore large glasses and sported a very large mustache. In a word, his head and face reminded me of a middle aged nerd. Then there was his body; the man stood at least six two. He was huge; his muscles looked as if they were going to rip out of his shirt. He reminded me of that actor that Michael likes, Arnold Swarchhammer or something like that.
He looked at me with a big smile. He had a friendly face. “The new girl, Melabeth right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, it’s good they have manners in Transylvania. Go ahead and take a seat next to the other vampire.” And with that he pointed at David.