Adam-
Apple Ridge is your typical-looking school. The people seem pretty typical too. I shift my backpack when a girl bats her heavily mascara-coated eyelashes and tosses me a flirty smile. Focus, Adam, I tell myself.
The hallways are lined with lockers and people gossiping and chattering loudly. The kind of loud where it seems like they’re saying things they shouldn’t be saying, and they know it, but they want you to hear it.
“Hey!” shouts a thin lady with a bird-like face. Bright red faux nails protrude from her hands like talons. But the most noticeable feature from my standpoint has to be the small tattoo I catch sight of. It’s right on the nape of her neck. And I can only see a tiny part of it because her long raven hair is swept into an intricate style, as if she is trying to hide most of it. Possibly it was one of those things adults tell kids to never do when they’re in high school, because it won’t seem quite as cool when you’re 50. But even so, a chill races over me when I get a better look.
“Go to your classes, all of you!” she yells.
There is a chorus of, “Yes, Ms. Diavla.” Slowly, the groups of gossipy girls and jocks and techie nerds disperse and slip off into separate classrooms. Nervously, I glance at my schedule and Ms. Diavla approaches me with a stern expression.
“Well?” her voice snaps. “Didn’t you hear me? Class starts now!”
“That’s the thing, ma’am. I don’t know where my Algebra Class is.” I hand her my schedule.
Her steely eyes skim over it. “Hmm. You’re the new student? 3B, to your left.”
I turn.
“No!” barks Ms. Diavla, placing her hands firmly on her hips irritably. “Your left, not my left! Foolish boy!”
Ouch. I try not to let that sting as I turn and enter 3B.
Instantly, I have a strong feeling that I’ve made some enemies. The teacher stops in the middle of a sentence and shoots me a severely irritated look. A couple of kids from the front row glare at me. Judging by the way they have #2 pencils lined up neatly along with stack of graph paper and notebook paper, I’d say these are the Math Nerds. One of them sniffs conceitedly and sharpens an already sharp pencil.
“You’re late,” growls the professor. His mustache twitches angrily, and I am reminded of a caterpillar. The things that go on in my head…
“Sorry, sir,” I say, snapping out of my stupor and determined to not let him know I thought his mustache looks like a bug. “I’m new.”
He gives me an endless sigh. “Take a seat please. No, no, not the front row! Go back there by Kelsey Knotts. Miss Knotts, wave your hand, please.”
A spray-tanned, manicured hand shoots up into the air and I inwardly groan when I recognize the girl with too much mascara. But I obediently take the seat to her left, wishing I could have the empty one to my left or the one directly in front of me. The one in front of Kelsey is occupied by another boy. He had the messiest black hair I’ve ever seen.
“I am Professor Ruben,” the professor says, shooting me a dirty look. “Perhaps now would be a good time to take attendance, in case we have any more interruptions? When I call your name, simply respond with present.”
I know he says this for my benefit.
“Present!” yells a girl, barreling into the classroom door. Clearly I was not the only one late today. She has a mop of curly brown hair and pushes a wheelchair. The wheelchair is occupied by a girl with her hood drawn so far over her face that I can’t really see her. But a small copper wisp trails down her shoulder.
“Are you crippled?” the boy with black hair rudely asks.
“No,” the curly-haired girl snaps. “She’s not.”
“Miss Camden, please take your seat!” Professor Ruben orders. “And Mr. Jasper, another remark like that will earn you a ticket to visit Ms. Diavla, and I believe you are on your last straw. You wouldn’t want ISS, now would you?”
“You’re such a dork, Aaron Jasper!” one of the math nerds snickers.
“Mr. Peterson, please,” Professor Ruben says.
“Eh,” Jasper leans back in his seat and swings his legs up onto his desk. He’s wearing black Converse. “It’d be cool to stay the night here. Rampage the place.” he throws a grin at Kelsey who gives a shrill, obnoxious laugh as if he just said the funniest thing in the world.
The curly-haired girl rolls her eyes and opens her mouth to say something, but Professor Ruben cuts her off. “Mia,” he tells her. “Please sit. And you, girl,” he turns to the girl in the wheelchair. “You are the new girl?”
She nods silently.
“There’s a spot for you there.” he points to the desk in front of me.
She nods again and Mia gives her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. The wheelchair girl rolls up to the desk in front of me. Quickly, I pull away the chair that is in her way to make room for her wheelchair. She looks at me and I can faintly see her golden-brown irises. Her eyes from what I can tell seem small with a bit of an almond shape.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
I nod. Professor Ruben starts calling roll, but I don’t listen because Mia nudges me.
“You new?” she asks.
“Yeah.”
“Well, I’m gonna tell you something. Here, you only get one chance to make friends. I want to help you out. If you’d like, you can come sit by me and my...erm…” she motions to the wheelchair girl. “Cousin. Yes, cousin. You can sit with us at lunch.”
“Yeah, thanks.” I say.
“Camden, Amelia?” calls Professor Ruben.
“Mia, Professor!” Mia complains. “Don’t call me Amelia!”
He gives her a hard look.
“Er, present?”
I try not to laugh, but then, suddenly, my desire to is gone. Because I realize that the last name Camden rings a bell. I look at the back of the wheelchaired girl in front of me, studying her in her hoodie.
And then it all comes together when Professor Ruben calls, “Hathaway, Autumn?”
The wheelchair girl timidly raises her hand and says, “Present.”
“Hoods aren’t allowed I thought, Professor!” Kelsey complains loudly. She smirks in the direction of the girl, no doubt trying to get Jasper’s attention. He nods solemnly, agreeing with Kelsey.
“Miss Knotts is right, Miss Hathaway,” Professor Ruben sighs.
The girl in the wheelchair removes her hood with trembling hands, letting the maroon fabric fall around her neck. Revealing the girl who’s photo is currently in my pocket. Waves of coppery gold fall around her shoulders.
A few more names are called, but I don’t really listen until I hear my name.
“Malach, Adam?”
“Present,” I say boldly.
Because, for the first time since I came to East Creek, Texas, I am feeling bold. I already have a lunch date with the girl I am here to protect.
••••••••••
“So, new kid,” Mia sits down across from me and snags my bag of chips. Her lunch tray is full of junk food. “How’re you holding up?”
“Pretty well,” I say before devouring my cheeseburger. In the Hotel, there is no such thing as junk food, so this is the first cheeseburger I’ve ever had. So far, the verdict is life-changing.
“And you’re name is Adam?” Autumn asks.
I freeze, my cheeseburger close to my mouth. I set it down and nod, wiping my mouth and studying her. She looks a little different from the picture. Her coppery hair falls to her ribcage and it floats around her in gentle beach waves. Her eyes have flecks of gold and I can definitely see the almond shape now that her hood is gone. Her skin is a tone darker than olive, with a healthy flush in her cheeks and freckles spotted around her nose and under her eyes.
I can’t describe the strange feeling in my stomach when she says my name. But I want to hear her say it again…
But, of course, that’s when Jasper and Kelsey show up. And they look like they want trouble.
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