Heat. It rolled up my spine and sent ripples running over my skin.
Unbearable. Why did it have to be so hot here? I hated these last couple months of summer, the hottest of the year. Wasn’t it too early in the day to be this hot? I glared up at the sky, shielding my eyes against the sun with my hand. Sure, it was pretty, but I’d be perfectly happy with just moonlight and starlight, if only it weren’t so hot.
I longed for fall to start, for winter to come. I thought of cool rain, harsh winds that didn’t come through Santa Ana with the heat. Snowflakes falling from gray clouds, floating down in little spirals, twirling in the light breeze.
There wasn’t even a breeze here.
“Samantha? Hellooo!”
I blinked out of my reverie. My friend Chelsea was waving her hand in front of my face. Her eyebrows were pulled together in a look I didn’t quite understand. Frustration? Oh, of course. She’d been telling me about the cute senior boy who was the TA in her second period class. What was the name she’d said...? Joshua...Joshua Frost.
Nice name. Was that what had set me off on my daydream?
I knew Joshua Frost. Heck, who didn’t know Joshua Frost?
Chelsea, apparently, didn’t know Joshua Frost. Or hadn’t, until this morning. But she was so oblivious to most things that went on around here. Joshua Frost had been the object of many girls’ affections since middle school. I’d known him since before then. He was two years older than us, incredibly handsome, and a bit of a jerk. I’d even fallen for him in the third grade. I could hear his teasing in the back of my head now.
I shook myself out of it. “Sorry Chels. Daydreaming again, I guess.”
What a sorry excuse. It was only the first day of school, and already my mind was going. I drew in a deep breath.
Sophomore year.
I hated this place. Well, not the place, so much as the people. Why couldn’t I be homeschooled? You need the experience, honey, my mother said. No one should miss high school. It’s where you learn everything.
Gah.
It was too bad that I couldn’t make her see that the only experience I was getting here was being ignored by upperclassmen and annoyed be lowerclassmen – it was hard to remember that I’d been one of them just last year.
I wiped the back of my hand against my sweaty forehead, and was almost glad I’d worn my hair up. I hated wearing it up, because I didn’t think it looked good up. Especially on a first day, making first impressions. But a first impression wouldn’t be very good if I just had wet hair stuck all over my face. In my distraction I ran into the shoulder – or more like the elbow, since that was all I could reach – of a tall football player. His name escaped me, but it didn’t matter. He shoved past me, cursing, and said, “Hey watch it, freshman!”
“Geez,” I said, fixing my shirt and turning to watch his retreat. He’d nearly knocked me off my feet, and I knew if he had he wouldn’t even have stopped to help me up.
I was practically invisible here.
The bell rang – more of a buzzer than a bell – signaling the end of break, and the start of the next class. I didn't have to pull out my schedule to know what it would be. I'd made it into one of the best high school choirs in the state. The OHS Chamber Singers. I smiled to myself and quickened my pace.
[unfinished. of course]
rachyourface Community Member 
|
|
