by C. A. Rene
Everyone is doing some weird hand signals that I just don’t know. I feel completely out of place and uncomfortable. As he’s praying to ‘Our Father’ I am looking around and watching everyone say it along with him like drones.
“Amen.” He ends it and sits back in his seat. I am staring at him intently trying to see if this Father, Son, and Holy Spirit has entered him or not, when he looks at me.
“You aren’t Catholic huh?” He whispers at me.
“I was baptized but that was it. My mother...” I choke a little, it’s still so hard to talk about her. I clear my throat, “My mother wasn’t a practicing Catholic. She baptized me just so I had the option when I was older. Church just never appealed to us.”
“I see...” He’s cut off by the teacher clearing her throat and looking directly at me.
“Looks like we have a new student. Would you mind coming up and introducing yourself? My name is Mrs. Giovanti, but everyone just calls me Mrs. G.” She says in her soothing voice.
I start to sweat a little, what if she asks me to pray. All I know is ‘Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub.’ Something tells me that just wouldn’t fly here. She seems to sense my hesitancy and smiles at me.
“Or you could just sit there and tell everyone your name and where you come from.” She suggests.
Okay that I can do. No big deal.
“My name is Emberlise Craven, but most people just call me Ember. I am from the Bronx in New York. I am here living with my aunt and uncle.” I say facing everyone behind me. I notice one of the guys from the group with Vin this morning is in this class as well. He winks at me.
“Welcome Ember. It’s so nice to have you, maybe one day you can tell us more about the Bronx.” Mrs. G says.
“Just like Jenny from the Block.” A voice says from the back.
“Now, now Daniel, don’t be fooled by the rocks that I got. You make another comment and we’ll have a singing contest after school for an hour together.” Mrs. G replies.
I chuckle softly, the teacher knows her pop music. If she’s offering the Kool-Aid then I’m taking it. She’s won me over.
“That’s Danny, he’s one of Vincent’s cronies.” Travis whispers to me.
So that was mister winky. I’ll have a word with him later. I may be quiet and a bit of a loner but I’m not a fucking loser and I won’t tolerate being bullied.
The rest of homeroom goes by quickly. We are given passages from the bible to read and I got my very own to bring home. Yay.
The bell rings signalling the end of class and I stand to get my books and bag together.
“It was nice meeting you, Ember.” Travis says from beside me.
“You too.” I reply, looking into his green eyes. Just so fucking pretty.
“If you want you can eat lunch with me. I’ll wait for you in the café. I know how hard first day lunches can be.” He offers.
“Or you can sit with me and be assured that after years of friendship I wouldn’t ditch you like a bad habit.” Adrianna sneers at him. Something totally happened here.
“Um…” I begin.
“It’s okay you can sit with Adri. I can guarantee she’s less boring.” Travis says a little glumly before grabbing his bag and leaving the class.
“I like you, Adrianna.” I say while pointing at her face.
She full out laughs genuinely. “I like you too. Call me Adri. What’s your next class?”
“Biology in J hall.”
“That’s me too. Then we can head to lunch together after. I’ll introduce you to a few people.” She grabs her bag and I follow her out the door.
“Where are you going?” The familiar rasp sends a shiver down my spine. There it is, the attraction shiver I was talking about. Only this time it’s much worse. He just spoke, no touching.
“Hi Vince. I’m off to biology with Adri.” I reply sweetly.
“Hey Adri, long time.” He says looking her up and down. Ugh he’s a serial flirt. Of course, this is what I’m attracted to.
“Not long enough, little dick. And I mean that both ways.” She deadpans.
Vin just laughs her off, the sound cruel and forced, and shakes his head. I laugh along too because this girl has completely won my heart and I declare her my new bestie whether she likes it or not.
“Your girlfriend Pink Head isn’t in this class; you can run along to your next class.” I tell him with a pat to his cheek. His skin is so soft, and the little electric currents racing up my arm is alarming.
“I don’t have a girlfriend.” He states grabbing my hand and removing it from his face. “I’ll see you at lunch.” He turns around to walk in the other direction.
I catch up with Adri and we walk towards our next class.
“So, you’ve met the Greene brothers.” She says nodding, “Our towns very own walking scandal.”
“Greene brothers?” I question. I didn’t meet any brothers yet.
“Travis and Vin. They are half-brothers. Same father, different mom.”
The shock must show on my face because she laughs and pulls me along into our next classroom.
Biology drags on. Mostly because we are assigned seating with lab partners that can’t change all semester and I can’t stop thinking about the bomb Adri dropped on me. They are half-brothers but they are the same age and clearly dislike each other. Now that I think about it, I can see the resemblance. The green eyes, matching dimples and statures.
Finally, the bell rings releasing me from the boredom. I rush my stuff together and hurry to Adri who is sitting with another cute boy. He has curly black hair, cut short on the sides and a curly mess on top. He has pale skin and freckles along his nose. His eyes are so dark they look black. He looks like the tall and lanky type and has this slight emo vibe. Which I don’t hate, at all.
“Ember, this is Jake. He’s really excited to be introduced to you and wouldn’t shut up about how beautiful you are.” She says in a monotone voice. I laugh at her attitude. It is so similar to mine.
“Hey Jake, its nice to meet you.” I throw him a wide toothed grin and watch his face redden.
“Thanks so much, Adri.” He replies sullenly and gets up to leave the classroom.
“I love the stench of embarrassment.” She says while taking a deep breath. “It’s what we do, him and I, try to embarrass each other and see who’s the best at it. Looks like I won this week. Doubt he could top that. I haven’t seen him blush like that since fourth grade when he pulled his pants off to escape a bee.”
I’m laughing so hard I have tears in my eyes. She laughs along with me and gathers her belongings.
“I just need to go by my locker to drop these textbooks off before lunch, cool?” She asks.
“Yeah I should do that, too. Where’s your locker?”
“M Hall, number 346.” She answers.
“Really? I'm number 296. Our lockers are so close.”
“Sweet, let’s go.” She leads me out of the classroom again.
We get to our lockers and I head towards mine. Lo and behold Pepto bitch is at her locker, too. Maybe if I don’t look at her she’ll disappear.
No such luck.
“Hey skank, you smell like a Tim Hortons slut giving blowjobs out the back.” She cackles at her own joke.
“I bet you would know exactly what that smells like since you and your mom made that your family business.” I snap back.
“You’re a whore and I want you to stay away from Vin.” She leers at me.
“And you’re a dirty cunt who needs to be reminded of her place, I see.” Says Adri from behind me.
Hubba Bubba twirls around to face Adri with an evil look on her face.
“Looks like the new loser has bonded with the old loser. So exciting, such a fitting friendship.” She laughs out. “Stay away from my Vin.” She points in my face and stomps off in her six-inch stilettos. No wonder she looked so tall this morning. Girl is fake.
“Don’t mind her, Vincent fucks her every other weekend when he can
’t find anything else and she has it in her mind that she is important.” Adri says with a face of mock pity.
“Ahh… I see. Well, she can keep that. I’m not interested.”
“That’s smart because the Greene brothers are nothing but drama.” She says with an eye roll.
“What was that about in homeroom? Were you and Travis friends previously?”
“Travis and I were best friends from junior kindergarten until grade nine. He dropped me as soon as his body grew into his fat head.” She looks pissed. “He started playing baseball and joined the team. He was good and has been scouted since last year. Naturally dirty skanks started dropping their panties and I was left behind. Panties firmly kept in place of course.”
“Of course.” I laugh.
“It is what it is.” She shrugs. “I’ll tell you more about the Greene drama while you drive me home after school. Saves me from taking the bus and I get to sit in the sweet Mustang.”
“How’d you know that’s my car?”
“You kidding? We not only stare at the new students like circus freaks, we also check out their cars.”
“Okay then, you got yourself a deal.” I laugh.
Adri feels like a soothing balm for my angry soul. I haven’t laughed this much in a really long time. I have no doubt I was meant to meet her.
We head towards the cafeteria and again I notice how much I’m being stared at. It’s starting to annoy me. I take in the whole room and off to the right is the line up where everyone is buying their food. The rest of the place is filled with tables and a few vending machines. I see the segregation everywhere. I notice the jock table and of course sitting dead smack in the middle is Travis. He gives me a little wave and a smile. I wave back.
Then you have the geeks with their chess boards out, looks like they are having a tournament. I love chess I could totally be down to play a round. Then you have the table of sluts, sorry I mean fake looking bitches eyeing all the guys within a ten-foot radius. Any guesses as to who is sitting at that table? Ding, ding! Big ole eraser head herself. I wave at her too because why not? She scowls at me and her bitchy minions do the same. There is a familiar face amongst that table. It’s none other than the desk girl from the gym. Interesting.
Then my eye catches on some long dreads. Vin is sitting at a table with dick Danny and a few other guys. Danny sees me looking and nudges Vin, nodding in my direction. I’m not going to look away because his friends have already noticed me looking. Besides, I’m no coward. He looks over and gives me a once over, slowly rising to his feet.
“That one is trouble.” Adri warns, “He loves to hit ‘em and quit ‘em. And trust me he’s hit quite a few.”
“How do you know I’m not the same?” I wink at her.
“Okay skank, do you. I’m getting lunch.” She laughs and heads towards the lunch line.
“Did you dump the loser already?” The rasp gets me every time. “I don’t want his ass bringing you to drama later.”
So, he found out my schedule.
“Why? You jealous?”
“No. Aren’t you hungry? You should go get some food.”
I look into his pretty eyes and preen a little. I’m sorry I just can’t help it. He turns my insides to mush. I decide I’m going to fuck with him, his attitude shouts big man but I’ve dealt with worse. I close the gap between us and press my body against his. We are touching from chest to groin. I know we have an audience with Cotton Candy Brain and her minions so I wrap my arms around his neck. His eyebrows shoot up in surprise but he recovers quickly and wraps his arms around my waist.
“What I’m hungry for I’m not sure you can handle, ‘Not long enough.’” I tease, throwing Adri’s line back at him.
“Oh, come on! Adri is full of shit. She would never see my dick.” He groans and rolls his eyes. “Her allegiance has always been to Travis, even though they hate each other now.”
I lean up and place my lips near his ear, “How’s my acting? Good enough for drama class or no?”
His hand moves and skims slowly over my ass, pulling me even closer. He turns his face to bring his lips just a fraction from mine. The near contact makes my body shiver with a want so strong I’m caught off guard.
“Not near good enough if your trembling at my touch.” He leans in further and places a light kiss to the side of my mouth. “Now, go get your lunch. And if you want you can sit with me.” He finishes with a light squeeze to my ass.
The cafeteria is quiet, everyone is looking at both Vin and me. Some are looking curiously at me but mostly they are watching him with shock. Hmm… I’ll have to find out what that’s about.
I think I’ve met my match, I’m speechless and completely turned on. I step away slowly not really wanting to lose contact. I give him one final look over my shoulder and head toward the line. I look around for Adri and see she’s already at the end paying for her food. She looks over and waves her hand.
I quickly order a grilled chicken salad and get to the end to pay.
“That was fun to watch.” Adri says as I am paying for my food.
“I need a cold shower and a stiff… drink.” I grin at her over my shoulder. “He smells divine by the way.”
“I bet.” She adds smirking and shaking her head. “He’s never been one to show females too much attention in public.”
“I see. That explains the looks he was getting from people.”
I turn around to head towards Vin’s table when I notice Cotton Candy Brain already there and sitting in his lap. He’s engrossed in a conversation with Danny but she is looking right at me. Stupid bitch and her stupid bitch grin. I won’t let her see how disappointed I am, so I smile wide at her and blow a kiss. She gives me a confused look before it turns into a glare. Whatever.
“She doesn’t know what to think of you, she was hoping you’d cause a scene.” Adri says pointing in my face, “I like you.”
“I like you, too.” I laugh.
“Let’s go, I’ll introduce you to my people.”
I follow Adri to a corner table and on the way we pass by Vin’s table. He sees me and as if he’s just noticing Marlana in his lap, he pushes her off and glares at me. What’s he pissed about? The fact that I don’t feel the need to share him with other skanks? I look at him over my shoulder and blow him a kiss, too. I refuse to show my true emotions.
“Hey, hey, animals.” Adri says to a table of three people. “This hot ass here is Ember. She’s so sassy, you’ll all love her.”
“Hey guys,” I wave at each of them.
“You’ve met Jake. Then there’s Jordan and Cara.” She finishes her introductions.
I smile and sit down with them. They return to eating and talking. Jordan is your typical funny guy. He’s cracking jokes and making everyone laugh. His stature is similar to Jake’s, his brown hair is long on top, pulled into a man bun and shaved on the sides. He has piercings in his eyebrow and lip. Cara is quiet and shy looking. She hasn’t spoken much. She’s tiny with light blonde hair touching her shoulders and big blue eyes.
“Where are you from Ember?” Jordan asks me.
“The Bronx, I came here to live with my aunt and uncle.”
“Why? Do the schools there suck or something?” Jake asks.
“No, not much difference from here to be honest. Although I’ve never been to a Catholic school before. A few weeks ago, my mother passed away,” I take a deep breath swallowing down the lump in my throat. “My aunt and uncle are the only family I have left.”
A murmur of condolences circles the table. Everyone looks slightly uncomfortable, and as much as I do as well, I don’t want them to determine how to treat me based on what they’ve just learned.
“Thank you guys.” I smile at them, “So… give me some scoop on this school. Who do I watch out for?”
They get back into easy conversation for the next half-hour. Telling me about some of the students and faculty. I haven’t laughed this hard since before I arrived in Canada.
&nbs
p; “What’s your next class?” Adri asks.
“English Lit. H hall again.”
“You’ll be with Travis in that class. He’s a book worm.” She says.
“So am I. That’s why I was so excited to see it as an elective. That and drama. I participated in a few plays at my old schools.”
“The drama department is mostly comprised of everyone you see at Vin’s table. Save for Marlana and her posse. They can barely read let alone memorize lines.” Cara deadpans, finally joining the conversation. The first thing she says and it’s that. I can’t help myself I burst out laughing, which causes everyone to join in.
“That’s Cara, she’s quiet but when she does speak, it’s all truth.” Jordan says with an admiring smile.
The warning bell rings and I stand up. It’s a good thing I was in H hall already this morning so I know where I’m going. I dump my tray and say bye to everyone.
“Adri, meet me by my car after school.” I shout out.
“You betcha, girlie.” She replies.
I’m heading down the corridor and turning into the H hall when I hear a deep voice behind me.
“Going my way?”
I turn to look into a set of green eyes. “English Lit?” I ask Travis.
“That’s the one. You’re into the classics?”
“Yes, I love them.” I reply.
He nods and walks quietly beside me. He seems different from the guy Adri described. He almost seems sad and withdrawn, not some panty-dropping douche.
We get to our room and I notice there aren’t desks just tables with chairs scattered around them.
“We sit wherever we feel like each day. Mr. Adams likes us to mix it up to hear different perspectives.” Travis tells me.
“That’s cool.” I reply.
I follow Travis inside the classroom. He heads for one of the front tables.
“You want to be at the front right?”
“Yeah, but it’s okay if you want to sit in the back. You don’t need to take care of me.” I tell him with a smile.
“I genuinely want to get to know you, Ember. Unless you would rather me sit at a different table?” He seems so unsure, nothing like a playboy.
