Created By

chayeah22

Rate this Story

Embed

3^rd block was over with the loud shrill noise of the ancient bell. Oh, how I longed for the electronic beeping bell of the middle school. It didn’t hurt my ears as much.

            Law walked with me to the main building.

            “What class do you have next?” he questioned me.

            “Algebra 1A.” I told him.

            “I have U.S. History 10.”  He frowned.

            “”You’re in 10^th grade?” I asked shocked.

            “Yeah, aren’t you?” he asked.

            “Nope. I’m a freshman.” I answered.

            “Wow. I just thought since you knew a lot about East Blocton that you had been here a while.”

            “I know Blocton like the back of my hand. But that’s only because my brother Bill was a pretty popular guy back in his day. He was the quarterback, student council president, and Prom king. He graduated in 98’ with full honors” I explained.

            “So you’re living in his shadow?”

            “No, I have made my own shadow. It’s pretty embarrassing for my family to have one good kid and then a total screw up.”

            “You’re not that bad.” He told me opening the backdoor to the school and holding it open for me.

            “You don’t know my past.” I sighed.

            “Then tell me. I would never judge you.” He assured me.

            “Oh, alright. Brace yourself, it sucks. In middle school there was this really creepy but cute teacher named Mr. Mayes. I had a crush on him and it slipped out. And then everyone started calling me a psycho up to about 7^th. Grade.” I told him while walking down the back hall.

“I dated this guy Mark in 8^th grade and he cheated on me and told everyone I liked girls anyways. So now every body thinks I am gay. That’s pretty much me: crazy dyke psycho.”

“Kids are just idiots.” Law said. “Every body thinks I’m psycho because I never talk. But what is the use when there is no one worth talking to? So they make up all these tall tales, when in truth I got expelled from my first school because my girlfriend cheated on me. So I beat up the guy. And everyone thinks I did something horrible because I left Woodbrooke when in reality my mom just got transferred to a job here in East Blocton.” He made clear.

“That’s stupid. I can see why you’d beat him up.”

We were getting close to the U.S. History room. “I’ll see you later!” I told him as we approached the door.

“Ok. Bye.” He said going through the open door. I continued to the Algebra room but I was stopped. It was Kathi and Maribel, they blocked my path.

“Rose! What in the hell? You wanted to have more friends but you choose to hang out with the school freak! I mean I really tried to get my group to accept you!” Kathi yelled at me.

‘Your group and I have nothing in common.” I pushed between them.

“You’ll regret this, Rose.” Kathi said angered.

“Whoopdie Doo.” I huffed storming away. I found my class and went in and sat down. I was in the front of the class and it was filling up quick.  Finally the bell rang again and the teacher came in.

Mr. Caffee was an odd man. He had a thick southern accent that made you want to burst out laughing even when he was being serious. He had most of his hair but there was a huge bald sot on the back of his head. Before he could talk there was a knock on the door.

In walked a tall girl with bright ink hair. The only seat was left next to me. She sat down and Mr. Caffee looked at her like a serial killer would his victim.

“Girl, if your lat for this class ever again it’ll mean we work till three.” He said to her. He looked to the rest of the room.

“That goes for all of you. If you work we will have class work until the last possible minute. Your classmates suffer from you irresponsibility.” He said sternly. He then paced the front of the room like a tiger in a cage. He looked down and walked back and forth for a few minutes. Then he looked up again.

“My name is Donnie Caffee, it’s like coffee but with an ‘a’ I am your Algebra 1A teacher for this semester. Let me tell you about myself. I am married and I have two wonderful kids. I like to hunt and fish.” He pointed to the back of the room. We followed his finger. He had a deer head mounted on the wall.

“That’s Mr. Deer. He is my assistant and he knows when you act you act up behind my back.” He cocked his ear to the back. “What’s that Mr. Deer? This little punk on the back room is chewing gum? Well thank you, Mr. Deer!” he told the inanimate object.

“Spit it out, son.” He told the kid. The boy walked to the front of the room and did so.

“Ok, more about me since I was interrupted. I am a hardcore University of Alabama fan. Who in here is an Auburn fan?” he asked. Auburn is the rival team of Alabama. A few kids raised their hands.

“What in the hell is wrong with you guys?” he asked. The class was shocked from his choice of words. I spoke up.

“Maybe we should get in a circle, put them in the middle, and turn the lights off.”

Mr. Caffee looked at me with a crazy grin and laughed. “I like you girl, what is your name?”

“Rose Flanagan.” I told him.

“Well welcome to high school math, Rose. Get ready for the ride.” He turned to the room.

“Well what are we waiting for? Let’s get started!” He said. He got two boys to ass out unassigned math books and he out a number on the board.

The work was just a review of our past 8 years. The pink haired girl turned to me.

“Hey, do you have a pencil I can borrow?” she asked.

“Yeah.” I said opening my binder. I pulled out a white pencil with black skulls and handed it to her.

“Wow. This pencil is awesome. I might not give it back.” She chuckled.

“You can have it if you want; I have a million of them. They’re my faves.” I smiled.

“Cool. I’m Aimee by the way. I’m a sophomore.”

“You heard my name but again: It’s Rose. I’m a freshman.” I said. She turned to do her work but then spun back.

“I don’t do this very often, but I just feel something about you. You seem like someone I would hang with.” She handed me her phone number. “That’s my cell.” She said.

“Hey, you two knuckle heads! Do your work!” Mr. Caffee yelled.

The class was over before I knew it and I left at the last bell to get on my bus. I looked around for Law but didn’t see him.

I got on my faithful old bus 99-22. Mrs. Broadhead, my driver, was like a second mom to me. I smiled to her as I got went u the steps. I sat in the first seat as always.

“How was your first day of high school?” she asked.

“It was great. I met two really cool people.” I said.

“Was one of them a boy?” she eyed me in the mirror.

“As a matter of fact, one was.” I grinned.

“Give me details.” She demanded and I told her.

“He sounds nice. But don’t get hurt again, honey.” She warned me.

“I’ll try not to.” I assured her.

I lived way out in the boonies and it took forty minutes to get home. I talked to Mrs. Broadhead about the highlights of the day, my classes, and my teachers. She always listened so intently. When we pulled up to the dirt road where I got off I didn’t feel like leaving.

I waved goodbye and exited the bus along with another girl. The bus pulled away leaving us alone.

“Did you have a good day, Stevie?” the girl asked calling me by my nickname. I’m surprised anyone remembered it.

“Yeah, I did, Annie. Did you?” I said trying to be nice.

“Yes, because we don’t have any dykes in the middle school now.” She smiled. I wanted to beat her down so bad. “By the way, is your grandma dead yet? She’s so old.” She questioned me. I turned and walked away because if I didn’t she would be dead. NO ONE messes with my grandmother. She was the only person on the planet who cared about me.

I took off down the road. I crossed the highway to a clearing in the woods and went in it. There was an old rickety bride over a huge ditch. I crossed it slowly and went into my grandparent’s back yard.

I went through the screen door and u the step to the backdoor. It led to the porch, which led to another door to get into the actual house. When I was inside I sighed relieved. It was very hot outside and my grandfather had actually turned the air conditioner on. He only did that when it was blazing hot.

Nanny (my grandmother) sat in her lift chair. She was getting too old to move around but tried her best. She asked me about my day and I told her. I also told her about Annie.

“Sweetie, don’t let people like her get to you! You know what you are, and who you are so forget the people who try to ruin your day. You know your Nanny will always be here for you!” she assured me. I walked to her and hugged her hard.

“Thanks, Nanny. I love you.” I told her.

“I love you too.” She said back.

“Well, I’m going home now.” I frowned.

“If he yells at you, you know where to come.” She told me. We always referred to my father as ‘he’. Everyone in my family, including me, hated my dad. I left for the walk home. It was 300ft away which wasn’t along walk, but sometimes it felt like an eternity.

I looked around at our property. We owned 42 acres of land and all of it was beautiful. My dog Rocky ran to me out of no where and jumped me. I hugged him and petted him. Then I took off running with him chasing behind me. We raced to the front door, where I petted him once again before going in.

Upon entering I was hollered at.

“What’s wrong?” my father asked frightened.

“Nothing, just playing with Rocky.”

“Rose Marie Flanagan! What have I told you about running across the porch like that? It makes me think there is an emergency!” he roared. He always got mad at the slightest things. I went to my room and shut the door. I played my PS2 and listened to the Alternative Rock station.

After a while I heard my mom yell for dinner. I ignored her the first two times and when I heard the booming footstep of my father coming to scream at me I got up. He was cursing and saying he was going to beat my ass. I opened the door as soon as he reached it.

“I was coming!” I said.

“Don’t raise your voice at me!” he yelled. I followed him to the dining room, picked up my food and drink and went back to my room. This is where I spent my nights.

It was bright green and had a million posters. I had a huge bed and a big bookcase. I loved it because there was a secret compartment that opened u that I could put my valuables in. And when I say valuables I mean my money because if I didn’t hide it my Dad stole it.

He really was a jerk. He conned people for their money, hit my mom, and couldn’t keep a job. My mother had recently got a job as a security guard at the nearby rock quarry with my grandfather. But just the fact that she was still with my bum father after fourteen years made me dislike her too.

I ate my dinner quietly with The Used in the background. I snuck back in the kitchen to return my plate and went back to my game.

9:30 was there before I knew it and I heard the familiar “Get your ass in bed!” from the living room. I brushed my teeth quickly and snuggled up under my covers.

I thought about Law and how we were in the same predicament with popularity. I thought about Aimee and how she was the only girl I had a connection with. I looked u to the green glow in the dark stars duck taped to the ceiling and said, “If your there, make this a good year.” I fell asleep moments later.