| Destroyed Before Created The past summer seemed like the longest summer of my life. Everyone I talked to had found a boyfriend or girlfriend, had an exciting vacation, and gotten a fabulous tan. I, with my usual luck, had experienced none of those. Well, I actually did get a pretty great tan, but it was from helping at the local YMCA, not in Greece or some other exotic place. Nope, my summer was boring, and here I was faced with yet another year of high school. I had barely managed to survive my last two years, and now I have to live through a third year. What made it even worse was that people said junior year was the hardest. Great. It figured that my longtime buddy, Michelle, had left me behind to go to France. Her mom had gotten a lucrative job offer there, so Michelle would spend the latter part of her high school career in France. At first I just thought of the fun times we had spent together, but later the thoughts of her advice and sympathy re-entered my mind. What would I do without my partner in crime? Shaking my head clear, I walked up the stairs into my high school and squeaked down The Hall. The hallway at Chester High School is The Hall; not the hall, or a simple pathway, but The Hall. This was the place where everyone gathered with their friends. Michelle and I, along with our other friends, would hang near the pay-phone. It was interesting to listen to people�s calls. Thinking of meeting with some of my friends, I went over to the phone, sidestepping the skaters, the jocks, the fashion club, and the nerds. Thankfully I saw Bridgit, Tonya, and Pam at our usual spot. �Hi guys! What�s up? How was your summer?� I bubbled eagerly. �My family only spent three weeks in Europe this year, so it was horrible,� drawled Pam in her lazy, jaded voice. �I only had four boyfriends at one time, and normally I have five,� Tonya whined. �My summer was glorious as always. I suppose you were lost without Michelle this year,� bragged Bridgit to me. �Well, I, uh, was okay. I mean, I did get to spend time with some cute--� I stumbled. �Guys? You?� Tonya shrieked. �No,� I muttered red-faced, �little kids. You know, at the YMCA.� �Naturally, Tonya. We mustn�t expect Rosaline to be dating yet. She isn�t, well, to put it delicately, she is not the most sparkling gem to have,� Bridgit asserted. I blushed in shame while the three of them giggled. In my rush to see familiar faces, I had forgotten how caustic Bridgit could be. �Rosaline? We have to go to our classes now. Have a nice day!� Bridgit said in her superior-sounding voice. With this spoken, they turned in unison and paraded away. I looked for my schedule in my book-bag, my poor book-bag. It was in shatters because I had used it for five years straight. Money at my house was tight, so things had to last for a long time. According to my schedule, I should be making my way to Pre-Calculus. Yea. It appeared that my teacher would be Ms. Wilks. Ms. Wilks was one of those teachers who believed in tough love. Well, at least she taught well. Slowly, I trudged my way to math wondering if I would know anyone in my classes this year. I peeped up from the ground where I had been staring, and realized I had reached my first class. Carefully I hiked into the room, hoping I had looked at the room number on my schedule correctly. With a sigh of relief, I saw Ms. Wilks at her desk in the back of the room. Unfortunately, she was the only person I recognized. Quickly finding my assigned seat, I tried to tell myself that everyone I knew would come in late. I either sounded pitiful or like a bad liar, because I did not believe myself. Finally the late bell rang, and I realized I was utterly alone. Fifteen minutes into the period, Ms. Wilks was droning on about what type of calculators we needed this year, and what rules we would have to follow. As usual, nothing was accepted late, extra credit would be offered sparingly, and there would be many pop quizzes. I must have fallen asleep after that, because the next thing I knew, the bell was ringing. I stretched my arms and straightened up the handouts Ms. Wilks had passed out. The small class was leaving gratefully in a rush, and I quickened my pace so I would not be late to US History. I figured that since I was in a higher level of math, that explained why my class was small, and why I did not know anymore. I would have better luck next period. When I arrived upstairs after a grueling push up the steps, I saw a smiling group of girls looking at me. I started to smile back and I even gave a wave, but then I realized they were looking at some guy behind me. Hunching my shoulders, I continued to history. Sure enough, my class was exceedingly large. Almost forty students filled the cramped room. I found a seat near the door, and then cowered into it. Looking around, all of the faces were unfamiliar. The teacher had not arrived yet, so there was havoc in the room. He was relatively new, so I did not know what he was going to be like. I soon found out when he stomped through the doorway, banged the door shut, grabbed his stool, and slammed it in the middle of the room before plumping on it. The expression on his face was of an angry ape at a zoo staring ferociously at the visitors. Most of the kids did not seem to notice him even as he moved his eyes back and forth across the room. Then, after a period of five minutes, his silence was broken and he began listing to us the fifty plus rules we would have to follow. He finished the list with a grin, and then stood up from his stool. The students looked at each other, wondering what was going to come next. He answered their question by saying this year would be relaxed, and the rules were thrown out. Several kids responded by cheering. I chewed my nails and worried whether he was going to change his mind again; teachers were fickle at this school. Soon the teacher began passing out various papers to take home to our parents. I noticed on one of them that his name was Mr. Edwards. While waiting irritably for the class to end, I dug my sweater out from my book-bag and wrapped it tightly around me. Everyone else around me looked comfortable in their tanks and shorts, but I was frigid in my grey sweatpants, black turtleneck, and sweater. To my relief, the bell rang, and I was now off to the exciting world of chemistry. In chemistry, like in my other classes, I knew no one. Worse yet, I was assigned to sit near the front of the room, so there went all hope of being able to sleep some. The teacher, Mr. Messe, was actually pretty fun, but not everyone seemed to appreciate his humor. I left this class feeling a little better, but then I realized I was only halfway through my day. At least I had art next. Ms. Ford, my art teacher, had been at Chester High for some time, but I had never had her. People said she could be weird at times, but was very good at art. For some reason, I had always been attracted by art. I was not especially talented at it, but it provided a release of tension for me. As I walked into the art room, I smelled the familiar scents of paints, chalks, and crayons. I did not see anything, because the lights were turned off for some reason. I stood at the doorway, wondering what I should do, when Ms. Ford spoke up and told everyone to wait while she seated us. After turning around, I noticed some moving figures behind me and realized they were just as clue-less as I was. Some kids were whispering, and others waited silently. Then I felt myself being led into the room. Ms. Ford sat me down someplace. I did not know where I was, or even if I sat on a chair. Patiently, I waited. Soon I heard faint music being played in the background. Ms. Ford began to speak to my class in an almost eerie voice: �In front of each one of you is a piece of paper. Beside the paper, you will find a writing implement. Draw whatever you see.� This was followed by a nasal voice I recognized as Bridgit�s. �But Ms. Ford! How can we draw what we see when the lights are off? We don�t even know what our drawing looks like!� she wailed. Ms. Ford responded coolly, saying, �What you see with your mind, not your eyes. Of course, if you draw nothing, I can only assume that not only is your paper empty of thought, but your mind is, too.� I chuckled a little to myself after she said that with such confidence. Suddenly, I felt a presence behind me. �Hmm, a chuckle. Brave indeed to laugh at the popular,� I heard Ms. Ford murmur behind me. �Not brave, but easily amused by a clever joke,� I replied softly. �Admirable indeed,� Ms. Ford said, before I heard her move away. A little wind blew away some of the worries in my head. Now I felt like the day might not be so horrible. My hand began drawing some vague lines, and then my mind took over. I didn�t know what I was drawing, or even if the pictures looked like anything on the paper. Right now was the time for releasing my morning, and I was having fun. I was startled when I heard the bell ring. Ms. Ford told us to flip over our papers, and head to the door as she flipped on the lights. |
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