No Rest for the Dweebiest
Through hallowed halls I trudge, just one of the nameless and faceless masses. Though strictly speaking that isn’t technically true. We all have names and faces. If we didn’t have faces I would be really creeped out. Not grossed out, but creeped out. I mean can you imagine a whole generation of people walking around with nothing but blank flesh where their faces should be? Really…..think about it…..but I digress. I speak metaphorically when I say about us being nameless and faceless. However I speak truthfully when I call us the unseen…..we the unpopular….we the quiet…..we the dweebs.
I walked down the hallway, headed toward homeroom. Other teens walked, talked, and laughed together as they headed toward their homerooms also. I gazed at them as they surged around me in an ocean of humanity. A small smile curled my lips as that thought passed through my brain, sometimes I just amazed myself with how poetic my thoughts were. If I had been at home I probably would have snorted at myself, at the sheer audacity to even think such narcissistic thoughts. That was sooooooo not me.
I kept my pace the same as I got closer to homeroom, but noticed that some of the other students slowed their pace, while others sped up their pace. They must have homerooms farther away from their current position and actually cared about reaching it in time. Not everyone did, and of those who didn’t there were those who could get away with tardiness and those who couldn’t. Those who couldn’t were students who were usually one of the unseen. At least they were until they decided to not show up on time.
I secretly admired some of the ones who didn’t give a fig about their tardiness. Not for the fact that they were tardy, but more for the fact that they would continue to show up late until everyone was punished or not punished equally. I had overheard a few of the more unpopular kids saying that once after they had been written up and other students who had also shown up later were let slide. I didn’t hold out any hope that that would happen, but silently I cheered them on in their fight against the man so to speak.
I walked into my homeroom and slid into my seat, plopping my backpack on the floor by my feet. I turned my head and gazed out of the window as I heard the buzz of talking from the other people in the room, this was my usual morning ritual.
I would ignore everyone else and they would ignore me. Let me tell you it was working out very well for everyone involved.
My perusal of the browning lawn of the school was interrupted by a spike in the level of the buzz going on around me. Normally I wouldn’t pay any attention to it, but normally there wasn’t a change in volume no matter how exciting the latest party or game or whatnot had been. This was something different….I didn’t know how it was, though I was sure to find out soon.
At first I kept my gaze locked on the windows leading to the outside world, but soon noticed that many of the kids were turning either their bodies or their heads toward the front of the room. I wasn’t usually a follower, especially not with most of the students in my homeroom, but found that this time I was one. The noise level hadn’t really changed much, but I could sense the undercurrent of excitement in it.
I heard a few girls giggling after whispering something to each other. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a few of the popular boys give each other the look, well at least one of the looks they would give each other every now and then. I admit I was no expert on what the look meant, but for some reason it struck me that they didn’t seem too happy. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part.
Even though I had turned to the front of the class just like the rest of the class I couldn’t see what had everyone’s attention. I was sitting down, while there was still a group of the populars standing around at the front of the classroom. Soon though that all changed.
I heard our homeroom teacher clear his throat as he came striding in through the door. The group that had been obstructing my view parted like the red sea and headed toward their seats. I think I failed to mention that the tardy bell had rung a few minutes earlier, yet everyone seemed to have made it to homeroom before it rang. Was I missing something here?
My gaze was riveted to Mr. Kinoots as he walked toward his desk, but I could see that most of my classmates were looking elsewhere. This time I didn’t follow what everyone else was doing and kept my eyes on Mr. Kinoots. He cleared his throat once again as he sat down. Once he was seated he looked around the classroom then started to speak.
“Ladies and gentlemen….I would like to introduce you to a new student to Ferndale High School. Jackson Willows.” He said, waving his hand in the general direction to his left.
I found my eyes drifting from our teacher to this Jackson Willows person, and once my eyes settled upon him I felt my heart stop beating. Or at least it felt that way for a second. Now I understood why all the girls had been giggling and the boys had given each other the look. The girls had been momentarily giddy from lack of oxygen, or at least that was my opinion of the mindless twittering, while the boys had been suffering from that green eyed monster: envy. Well maybe not envy, but they probably saw Mr. Willows as competition. I really couldn’t blame them if they were envious though, Jackson Willows was quite a specimen.
I can hear the groans of protest now. Please no waxing poetic about his charm and handsomeness. No worries……I didn’t really lean that way, at least not that I would admit to it, and not that I would wax poetic about someone I was just seeing for the first time.
Jackson Willows stood at the front of the class, a small, cool smile curving his lips. Oh what lips they were……ooops sorry…..but really come on, how could I not take note of them, of him really.
Mr. Kinoots spoke again after everyone had had a few moments to digest his introduction and the person he had introduced. I noticed that his gaze was on Jackson when he spoke. “For right now you can just take the empty seat next to Shaylin, we will get you situated tomorrow.” His gaze then traveled around the room. “Some of you will be moving to new seats, so be ready.”
I heard the last part of his statement through a haze of disbelief. The new kid was going to sit next to me? Me? I quickly put my head down and studied the top of my desk. I didn’t want to see the murderous looks I was sure I was getting. I bet any money that if looks could kill I would probably have burst into flames several times over. It wasn’t my fault that the only empty desk was the one beside mine all the way in the back of the room. I could almost smile at the irony off it all, but I knew that it was just dumb luck that things had happened that way.
Still I couldn’t help the little thrill of happiness that shot through me at the thought of Jackson Willows having to sit by me, even if only for a few minutes. And there was nothing anybody could do about it. Of course that would probably turn out to be the only highlight of my day.
The world wasn’t going to suddenly reverse its axis and spin us into an alternate reality.
Diary of a Dweeb Page 2
