Chapter 3 3

I wake up today feeling as normal as usual but all that changes when I remember that it is going to be my first day in high school.

I silently pray to God to help me. If I blow it today, I will blow it for the rest of my high school days.

I pick up a sweet black skirt and a pink crop top. My black backpack, which I grudgingly picked out, I fill with all I would need.

I walk to my dad's door and hold up my hand to knock. I stop. I better find something to eat first before waking him up.

I walk down the stairs then as if someone has been waiting for me, I hear the doorbell ring.

I drop my bag on a chair and walk to the door. I am so shocked by who I meet in the front pouch that I slam the door right back in his face.

It's Keith, Ben's friend who I hate with every fiber of my being. The one who teases me all the time. The one who walked on me naked in Ben's bathroom, when I had to use Ben's because mine was faulty.

What in God's name is he doing here? I run upstairs and barge into my dad's room. It's empty, where has he gone to?

I lock myself in the room. Where has my father gone?

I decide to confront Keith, I will ask him to leave the house.

I walk back downstairs to see my dad in the kitchen.

My dad is drinking coffee from a cup and Keith is there too. They are talking and laughing with each other.

I look from one man to the next.

"Dad."

"Yes, honey?" He asks.

"I..I.. you weren't in your room." That's all I can say.

"Yeah, I had to run by the office quickly."

I swallow hard. What's he still doing in my house? My dad's house, I mean.

Keith notices how much I look at him and so does dad.

"You know Keith right?" He was trying to reduce the tension.

"She knows me, alright." He chuckles.

The fool! I will soon give him something to laugh about.

"What's he doing here?" I was just trying to get him to feel unwelcome. I wanted him to be the one who feels awkward.

He isn't disturbed by my rude question. He instead walks to the refrigerator and takes out a bottle of water.

"Why? He is taking you to school today."

Did I hear well? This clown takes me to school?

"Have a nice day, Keith" Dad heads upstairs.

"Will do, sir". Keith says.

I follow my dad upstairs. What is he thinking? He was supposed to take me to school on my first day, but no. He has left me in the hands of a pervert.

I'm passing through trauma and here he is pressing away on his phone.

"How can you do this to me, dad?" I ask.

"What, baby?" I'm sure he knows exactly what I was talking about.

"How can you ask a stranger to take me to school?"

"Keith is not a stranger." He insists, " he is Ben's best friend. I wouldn't give you to a stranger. What kind of father would I be?"

"To me, he is a stranger. I don't know him." I insist.

Dad looks at me like he is trying to figure out what exactly is my problem.

"I'm too busy to take you to school today, I'm sorry. I have to head back to the office." He doesn't see things the way I'm seeing it. He is not even bothered by my uneasiness.

"I'm not going," I say.

Since he wants to be this nonchalant, I will show him how hard I can be.

"What?" He asks. Now he gives me his full attention.

"If you won't take me, I'm not going." I fold my hands and lean against the wall.

He looks at me quietly. I'm sure he is deciding how best it is to respond to me.

"Oh yes, you will, sweetheart. Every great person gets to where they are through hard work. You can't do that without school." He starts a speech.

I roll my eyes. This isn't what I want to hear. Why can't he get into his damn car and drive me to school?

"So?" I ask rudely.

He sighs and gives me a light Pat on my back.

"See you after school, Annabelle." He walks away.

I stand confused. Not just confused, amazed. He has left me alone with a stranger and he has gone to work. Does this man even care about me?

I drag my feet back to the kitchen.

He is there, waiting for me. He is holding an apple which, I'm sure, he took from the fruit basket on the table.

When he sees me, he smiles at me. *scoffs* okay, I admit. He is fine and all, but who cares?

"You are set?" He asks.

Why won't he wipe that stupid smile off his face?

"Yes, I guess," I reply.

"Won't you eat breakfast?" He points at the box of cereals. " I could make you some."

The last thing I want is a stranger's hand all over what would get into my mouth.

"No, I'm good." I refuse. "We should go, don't want to be late on my first day."

He nods and stands up.

"Wait, are you not supposed to be in college or something?" I ask, genuinely out of curiosity.

"I am." He gives me a short reply.

"Are you just dropping me off?" I ask.

"Nope. I'm heading there too." He smiles and walks out.

I'm confused but I follow him outside.

The ride in his car is quiet. He is focused on the road and it's a good thing. Won't want to die with this lunatic.

Being curious about me, I begin to interrogate him again.

"I don't understand. You said you are in college. How come you are still in high school?" I ask.

He smiles but keeps his eyes on the road. A few moments passed and he doesn't give me an answer. I'm beginning to think that he doesn't want to reply me. But he hums and turns to me.

"You're curious, aren't you?" He laughs. "Well, I'm helping out the basketball coach. Had an injury that is going to keep him bedridden for four months. So I'm stepping in for him."

Oh. I never thought of this. I thought he was a dummy who is still stuck in high school while his mates are in college.

"What about school? Won't you miss lectures?" I ask, again.

"I will miss, but will catch up." He says.

"How?"

"I have my ways." He winks at me.

My face turns soar. He notices and laughs.

"I don't think I should be going to school with a staff," I say. I want to hear his reply.

"Who said I'm a staff?" He asks.

He just said he is stepping in for the basketball coach, doesn't that kind of make him a staff?

"I'm just a normal guy. Practicing with the basketball team, no biggie." He says.

I keep shut. Enough of the talking. Can't forget I don't like this guy.

"Do you play?" He asks after some minutes of awkward silence.

"Me?" I ask stupidly. Of course, he is talking to me.

He nods.

"I'm not tall enough." I shrug and he laughs.

I smile too. I like that I can't at least tell a half-bad joke. Maybe with this, I can make some friends there.

Minutes later he pulls up in a school parking lot.

The school is bigger than I pictured and it has a lot of students.

For some time, my legs won't move until Keith says.

"Are you coming out or what?"

I then step out. Some cheeky-looking girls stare at me. It was so intense that I didn't know I was backing off until I hit Keith.

He holds my shoulder and leads me to the school building.

********

I'm now sitting before the principal, Mr. Owens.

He is a bit too young for his age. I thought only old people with zero social life were principals. Here before me is an early thirty, too young for a man his age.

He is holding a pen to his mouth as he brushes through do's and don'ts that I'm supposed to follow.

Half of what he said, I can't remember.

I was going to tell him to rephrase, to come again. But the next thing I remember is standing before a class and the teacher asking for my name.

"Go on, sweetheart. What's your name?" Mrs. Fred, the class teacher, says.

I have lost my tongue again. I stare at the teenagers staring back at me. I open my mouth but nothing, absolutely nothing comes out.

"Her name is Annabelle Hopkins." The principal helps me.

I'm grateful he did. We would have stayed here all day if not for him.

"Everyone says welcome to Annabelle." Mrs. Fred urges.

"Hi, Annabelle." The class says without enthusiasm.

I expected this. High school isn't the best place to be a newbie.

"Be nice to her okay?" The teacher says. None of them replies to her.

"That's your seat, Annabelle." She points.

Slowly, so as not to trip, I walk to my appointed seat.

The students all ignore me. Not even a friendly smile to say welcome. A group of girls at my left. They are talking loudly. Loud enough to distract the class but the teacher pretends not to hear or see them.

One of them stands out. Pink hair (is that even allowed in high school?), Short skirts and heavy makeup.

She looks like the leader of this clique. She meets my eye and I turn my gaze away. My instincts tell me that she is not one person I want to offend.

They throw rude glances at me. And I look away and ignore them for my own good.

After some hours. Lunchtime is here.

The students file out of the class, but still, none of them have said a word to me.

As they file out, I stand awkwardly, waiting to trail them.

"Hey, are you Ben's sister? Ben who died in an accident months ago?" I hear a voice.

I turn and it's this beautiful girl. She is in a white short skirt with a tiny gray top.

At last! Someone has spoken to me. I will make a friend after all.

"Yes, that 's me. I'm his junior sister." I answer eagerly.

I wait for smiles of pity. Or a long chain of words on how good my brother was. How they miss him here although he was an ex-student they didn't know all that well.

Instead, she walks past me with her friend who looks similar and is dressed in the same way.

The shock on my face can't be described on paper.

She just spoke to me and now she is walking past me? Can girls be any more dramatic?

I can hear murmurs from her and her friend.

"I told you she is the one." Her friend says with victory.

"Don't blame me for doubting you." She says. "She looks nothing like him."

With that, they walk away.

For a moment I step back and pause. So much is happening in just my first day in school. This isn't going as I hoped. It is going way worse.

"You can do this, Anna," I assure myself. "You've got this."

With that, I pray to all the gods I knew, to guide me and took a step outside the hall.

The hall is crowded. Every inch of every space is holding too many people.

I hold on to my tray a little bit tight. I use my eyes to scan around the room for a vacant table. None.

My hope is failing but I soon see one. At the far end of the hall. I walk to it and I don't like the occupants.

The gossiping girls from class are sitting around the table. They are three in number.

Normally, the table is made to occupy six people but here two are sitting at one side and a single girl at another.

I quietly join the second girl without a noise. And that's when the girls who I thought never knew of my existence raise their heads to me.

Their face holds no compassion or friendliness, to say the least.

"Who are you?" The one with the meanest asks.

"I'm Annabelle. Annabelle Hopkins." I say.

"Who cares? I say who are you to think that you can sit with us?" She snaps.

Nearby attention has just turned to us.

"I'm sorry, I thought the seat was empty," I mumble.

"Unfortunately it's not, so scoot."

To say I am embarrassed is an understatement.

I am waiting for the ground to open up and swallow me.

The other kids around were laughing and whispering to each other. Is this going to be my life? Am I going to be that girl that has no friends?

I turn to run out of the hall and hide in the toilet. Their eyes are still boring through me.

Quickly I turn to run. And that was a grave mistake.

As I turn, I hear a gasp. From the mean and girls and other students.

The look on their face told me that I am in big trouble. I can hear the whisper of the name, Taylor.

I turn around to behold the leader of the gossip girls. So that's her name, Taylor. The pink freak that I took my eyes off in class. How on earth did I do this to myself?

"Are you kidding me?" She shrieks.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I try to clean off the pieces of food all over her.

"Get your filthy hands off me." She pushes me away.

I stagger back and hold my hand to my mouth. I'm about to cry. I do that always when I am about to cry.

I want to cry because I have just been embarrassed by this girl in front of the whole school.

I feel a warm hand on my shoulder. I turn to see Keith looking down at me.

"Are you okay, Anna?" He asks. With genuine concern in his eyes.

I don't answer him but turn to look at Taylor and the mess I just made.

One of the girls is cleaning Taylor's body with a small handkerchief.

Keith looks at her. He knew I have gotten myself into some deep girls' shit.

Boys may overlook simple mistakes like bathing someone with your lunch but not girls and not this girl.

"Did you do that?" He whispers.

Well, what did he think? I wouldn't be standing here at the very center of it if I'm not responsible.

"Do you know this psycho, Keith?" Taylor asked.

Did she just call me a psycho? Can this girl be any more meaningful?

"She's not a psycho, Taylor. Annabelle made a mistake, no one is above that."

Keith is standing up for me? I've been nothing but rude to him. I almost tear up again.

Taylor looks surprised. She looks from me to Keith and back again.

"Wait. You know her?" She seems surprised.

"Yes." He says. "she is Ben's junior sister."

The hall comes to a standstill.

"Oh my God," Taylor exclaims.

Not only her, but everyone around seems to be surprised too. They are talking loudly.

I don't know who Ben was around here but I'm grateful we were siblings.

"Annabelle, let's get you another lunch," Keith says.

"Sorry about your blouse." I apologize.

"No worries." he shrugs with a smile. "it was an ugly one anyway."

I nod and Keith leads me away.

"Hey, you can sit with us. If you want." She calls after us.

Did she just invite me to sit with her? After all, that just happened a few minutes ago?

I turn around in surprise. I'm torn between saying yes, I wanted to say yes and saying no. So as not to sound desperate.

"I think she's fine. She is going to sit with me and the boys." Keith says with his hand over my shoulder.

He pulls me along. He didn't even give me a chance to decide for myself.

He pulls me all the way to the "boys" table.

About twelve teen boys are sitting at the table. It's like being handsome is one of the criteria of being on the basketball team.

Unlike the girls, they smile and wave at me. As Keith waits for me to sit before taking a seat next to me.

"I can't believe you're Ben's sister." One of the beams.

"I don't understand." I laugh. "Why is being Ben's sister so special around here?"

"That's because your brother is a legend around here." Keith chips in.

"He is my legend." One of the finest of the boys says.

He straightens his hand with a smile. Offering me a handshake.

"I'm Kevin." He adds.

I take his hand in mine.

"Annabelle," I reply. Returning his smile.

The whole students and staff are looking at us. Something tells me not everyone gets to sit at the "boys'" table.

"Here." Keith interrupts my thoughts. He pushes his snacks to me and his can of coke.

"Don't worry," he smiles. "I haven't touched it."

The boys laugh and so do I.