Something told me not to care about my appearance today but my old instincts still kicked in while getting ready. As opposed to wearing the sweat pants I wanted to wear, I through on some slim fitting low rise jeans and a tight yet comfortable shirt. I wore some black converse as opposed to my heels that I used to wear with an outfit like this and decided that these were much more comfortable. I did manage to brush the knots out of my hair and the red curls looks strategically placed. I also went as far as putting on a pale lipgloss and just a single line of black eye liner on each eye. Miguel would be praising me for my natural "stunning" beauty if I were back home in Chicago however Im alone here; With no friends.
I zipped up my leather jacket and threw on my hood. After grabbing my bag from the passenger seat I took a deep breath and exited the vehicle. The weather right now was cold and the air felt sharp. If it was windy it would really suck and probably sting my face. I would have to get used to this here, new weather patterns and all. I looked around my surroundings taking everything in. The high school was directly across the street from the elevated Interstate 90 which for some reason never seemed to have many cars on it. It probably had to do with the fact that most people refused to drive out to the middle of nowhere Idaho. The closest night club was almost three hours away for Christ sakes.
My surveillance of the area had me so occupied that I barely noticed almost every, single student staring at me as I stood by my car. I felt the heat rush to my pale cheeks and quickly moved towards the door. I had a lot of parking lot to cover before making it and while doing so I saw a group of girls wearing cheerleading uniforms snicker at me and giggle, a group of jocks check me out and a curious bunch of loners stare from underneath their black dyed bangs. Day one and already the attention was all on me.
The only thing that stopped everyone from staring directly at me were the sounds of sirens and cop cars speeding down the interstate. Everyone turned and watched as the cars all zoomed down passed the high school heading in the direction of the mines. We all looked stunned and worried at the same time. I may not know anything really about this town but I know that seeing cops in such a hurry to get somewhere is something thats definitely out of the norm.
The Homeroom bell began to ring which meant that we all needed to hurry and get to our destinations. A pain in my chest was now very apparent but I had to ignore the memory of seeing the accident scene that my parents were killed in. I couldn't break down here, not now. I shook it off and pressed on past some of the cheerleaders, one of which said hello and walked into the main doors. Once inside I didn't bother looking for signs or anything, I found the first teacher I could and asked them where the main office was. The man who I stopped was tall and had salt and pepper hair. His blue suit and tie definitely gave him away as either a teacher or a vice principle so I had the right choice by picking him.
"Hi, my name is..."
"Rebecca? Rebecca Rhodes correct?" He said while cutting me off. I stopped my sentence and stared at him for a minute with a confused look on my face.
"Oh sorry, I've been expecting you, My name is Mr Phillips, I'm the schools Principle. Your Uncle informed me of your arrival. How was your flight? Are you getting accustomed to things here in Wallace?" He asked.
"Uh, yeah. It's different from what I'm used to but I'm getting there. Flight was fine... Um, I need to know where my classes are and stuff" I replied. I felt completely uncomfortable in the first place but now to be having a complete conversation with the Principle in front of all the students as they filtered in and traveled along their way was mortifying.
"Well thats good, I see your in a rush so lets just make our way to the office and I can get you all set up. Sound good?" I nodded in agreement and began to follow close behind him as he made his way though the crowds. All the students continued to stare at me as I walked by but I kept my head held high and pressed on.
Once in the office, the ladies at the desk all greeted me with huge smiles and warm welcomes. They didn't seem to be like most other people who pry into your personal business and ask uncomfortable questions. The principle and I walked down a narrow hallway into where his personal office was and we both sat down. On his desk was a file with my name on it. He sat across from me and opened it up and began to type in information at his computer. Being nosey I noticed that there was my application to Juilliard with a note attached to it. I leaned in to read it but he quickly moved the file away.
"Well Ms Rhodes, I see you have a taste for fine art and dance?" He said with a smile on his face. He definitely caught me.
"Uh, yeah ... I guess" I said as I began to fidget with my red curls.
"Your Uncle Chris called me this morning and explained that you would say no if I asked you about it... Change of heart?" he asked.
"No ... but judging from the file you have in your hand there was no point in trying to hide the fact that I used to dance." I replied.
"Used to?" he asked looking puzzled.
"I don't want to get into it ... and really prefer if we discussed something else"
"You applied to Juilliard Rebecca. Thats huge. For them to even consider you means your talent is a statement in and out of itself. Why would you stop dancing?" He asked.
"Are we here to discuss my classes and schedules or to lecture me about something that is really none of your business?" I said sharply. He smiled and sat back in his seat. We stared at each other for a few moments until he finally reached for the paper that sat in his printer. He slid it across the desk to me and waited for me to look at it.
"Your schedule." he said. I grabbed it and looked over it. The top half had the classes and room numbers; the bottom had a map of the school. Other then seeing the room number for first period, I didn't look over the rest.
"Thanks" I said.
"No problem, I'll show you to your first class." He said.
"No thanks, I got it." I said as I stood up and grabbed my bag.
"Ok then" He said as he sat back down in his chair. He had a smug smirk on his face that made me more curious as to why he was still pressing the dance issue.
"Oh and Rebecca, take notice to your class schedule. You'll see that you have an extra class added." I stopped and looked at him and then back at the schedule. He was right. There was a 9th class added to my schedule and that class was not something that I was happy about.
"You see, the credit system from Chicago's Schools and ours, is a bit different, so in order to assure you graduate on time, we needed to add an additional class. That is what I was reaching for in the beginning of our conversation however you decided to inform me of what my business is." He said. I stared at him in shock waiting for him to continue.
"I was going to give you another option but now that I was informed and reminded of what my business is, I think the class or club that was selected to help you reach the necessary credits will do. Rebecca as a principle my job and business is to ensure that all my students get the education needed in order for them to pursue their dreams, goals or simply for them to become an upstanding citizen in the country we call home. I have yet to have a student not graduate in the the years that I have run this school so I intend to make sure you are not the first to do so. The Modern Dance and Ballet club was something that we collectively thought would suit you well. Your good at what you do so this should be a breeze right?" He said with a large grin on his face. Rage engulfed me and I wanted to fight back but he began talking again before I could begin.
"If you don't want to be a dancer that's fine, but what your not going to do, is mess up our graduation rate here. You will graduate with the help of this modern dance class. Oh and Rebecca, One last thing ... try to enjoy it." he said as he sipped from his coffee cup. I stared at him for about a whole minute before he looked back up at me.
"Your dismissed." He added then went back to looking at his computer screen.
I was truly at a loss for words. I didn't know what to say so I just walked out of his office. Any thoughts of him being a nice guy suddenly disappeared. Any hope of not being reminded of why they died was now gone.
My first three classes featured a majority of the students who stared at me on my way in this morning. None of them spoke to me, all of them whispered amongst themselves, most of them stared. None of them were welcoming except for one student whose name was Devin. He seemed nice and waved at me when I caught him staring at my red curls. He seemed a little feminine and no one really talked to him. His fashion sense was above the level of most the guys in this school and reminded me of Miguel a lot. We didn't exchange words or anything but I'd be stupid not to return the smile and wave back to him. He was the only person so far who seemed interesting here at Wallace High.
Fourth Period Gym was interesting to say the least. We were outside and had to play a weak version of LaCross. Of course there were two team captains who had to chose their teams out of the group of us. Of course the three remaining students were Devin, a girl with thick glasses with no lenses in them and myself. The first team leader was a guy named Carl. He was one of the jocks who was outside this morning and seemed irritated by his choices and the other team leader happened to be the head cheerleader. Veronica stared at us for she was the next to chose and twisted her lips a bit. Her scowl reminded me of that girl who seemed really uninterested in the Summer Olympics recently.
"New Girl. Your on our team." she said as she pointed at me. I was shocked at first but shrugged it off as I walked over to the group. They all looked at me and seemed uninterested so I gave them the same look back; except mine was a little more rude. Carl laughed and looked back at his team of mostly men.
"Well I'm not picking the fag so Angela your over here!" he said as he adjusted his sweat pants and gave Devin a dirty look.
"Ok Dev your on Veronica's team. Lets get this game started." The gym teacher added without even hesitating. She didn't even acknowledge the harassment and abuse that just occurred. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach with rage and now couldn't wait to get this over with.
The whistle blew and we were off. I was selected to play goalie while the other girls played offense. I watched on as the game erupted into a full on competition but my main focus was on Devin. I hate a bully so I wanted to make sure he was ok. The guys were definitely playing rough and it showed by the amount of girls who were being knocked down by them. Most of them giggled for they took it as flirtatious but I wouldn't be able to do that. I hate a macho man who acts tough when their dick's are probably as small as a baby's pinky. Judging by the lack of bulge in their sweat pants, I was right.
Carl was who I spotted first coming at me with the ball in his net. His eyes were glued on me, fixated on his target. He charged in my direction, dipping and dodging all those who ran at him to stop his shot. Devin was not too far in front of me but he seemed very uninterested and would probably even let Carl run by him. Judging by the direction he was running in, I didn't think Carl was going to do that.
He came right at Devin, who at this point looked frightened. I wanted to run out and block him but it was too late. Carl rammed his elbow and shoulder right into him, making contact with his face and chest. Devin went down screaming in pain as Carl hurled the ball into the net behind me. I was so pissed that I could feel the rage radiating in my ears. Only one person ran to Devin's side at first and it was Angela.
"Should have been paying attention fairy" he said as he turned away.
Carl through his helmet off in victory and cheered himself on as his buddies laughed in Devin's expense. The girls here were cowards and didn't even acknowledge the disgusting act. Infuriated, I picked up the ball with my net and lunged it at Carls head. The impact made a loud thud and even I felt the pain from where I stood. Carl fell to the floor and held the back of his head with both hands.
"WHAT THE FUCK RED!?" he shouted at me from under the group of people who surrounded him.
"Oops. Shoulda been paying attention small dick" I replied back. Some of the girls giggled, and even one of the guys. To my surprise even the gym teacher had a smirk on her face but what was important was the triumphant look on Devin's face as he looked at me with gratitude.
Police sirens and big black unmarked trucks caught everyones attention now. They were heading in the same direction of the other cops this morning. What was going on? The outside over the head speaker system came on now. It was our principle.
"Attention classmates and faculty of Wallace High. We need all students to return to their homerooms immediately. I repeat all students need to report to their homerooms immediately." The speakers cut off and everyone looked frightened. The gym teacher instructed both Devin and Carl to change and head to the nurses office first, while the rest of us change and go to our homerooms. Some of the girls finally began to acknowledge me down in the locker rooms as they congratulated me on the shot I made on Carls head. They must have been victims to his womanizing. I smiled and kept my wording to a minimum for I didn't trust any of them, especially Veronica who I over heard saying that I had better watch my back. I guess she was Carls latest victim.
Once in our homerooms I noticed that Devin was there and there was a seat next to him that was empty. I walked over and placed my bag on the table. He looked up at me from under the ice back he held on his now bruising eye and smiled.
"Seat taken?" I asked. He shook his head and pulled the seat out for me. I sat down next to him and looked over his wound.
"It's not too bad, you'll be pretty again in no time" I said in a whisper. He smiled again and looked around nervous.
"Thank you for doing that outside by the way. You didn't have to" he said as he looked played with the ice pack.
"Well someone had to. I can't believe how pathetic people are around here to allow such bullying to go on. It makes me sick. My best friend back at home is gay and..."
"Who said I was gay" he said trying to hold his smile back.
"Girlfriend, I am myself a gay man trapped in a females body. Gaydar is in fact a real thing" He laughed out loud as did I and everyone turned to look at us. We both stopped, looked around then began laughing again.
Carl walked in and had everyones attention. His head was in a complete bandage and he looked like he was in a daze. I choked on my giggle and watched as he walked over to the table behind us.
"Awww does the sissy have a black eye? Is he upset he cant wear make up now to the dance this friday?" he said trying to avoid eye contact with me.
"He probably doesn't have a date, you know since same sex couples are not allowed to the dance and everything." another guy chimed in and everyone laughed. Everyone except for me and Devin. I looked at him as he looked upset and again felt like throwing something at Carl.
"Actually, he does have a date." I said.
"Really Red? Who?" he said in a mocking tone.
"Yeah who?" Devin whispered.
"Me ... so if you don't shut the fuck up and leave him alone, I'll be sure to find something else heavier to accidentally throw at you. But this time I'll aim for somewhere below the belt. Laughter broke out in the room again and Devin smiled at me. He mouthed the word "really?" and I shrugged as if to say "yeah why not"
The laughter was brief because the teacher soon came in and closed the door. She had been crying and still had a tissue in hand. We all got quiet and awaited her announcement.
"Class, We are unfortunately closing school early today. There was a horrible accident, a murder down at the Animal Shelter. A dog they caught last night escaped and attacked everyone there, and now is on the run somewhere. We are being ordered to close school today so that the family of the victims can go be with their loved ones. The busses are parked and waiting. Everyone stay safe and call the authorities if you see any suspicious animals." She said. Everyone looked shocked and stunned but slowly began gathering their things and moving out.
This was serious. Who died? I reached in my phone and sent a text to my uncle to see if he knew anything.
"Was it Dylan?"
I wasn't all the way to my locker yet before he text me back.
"Yes... and two others. I'll be late coming home, have to deal with this. I left money on the table for dinner if you want to order out"
My throat felt tight for I knew this was probably hitting him hard. Dylan was his friend and being that this is such a small town, he probably was close with the other two as well.
"Are You Okay?"
I waited by my locker for Devin to come by as he sent me another message.
"No ... I'll see you tonight. Please be safe."
I fought back a tear and shook it off. I put my phone in my bag and put my books in the locker. Devin was beside me now and looked concerned.
"Hey are you okay?"
"Yeah .. just my Uncle knew one of the victims. I just feel bad for him you know?" I said as we walked toward the parking lot together.
"Yeah death is a hard thing to deal with especially when its your loved ones..." He stopped talking when he realized what he was saying. By his sudden look of horror I knew that he already had heard why I moved here.
"Rebecca I'm sorry" he added.
"It's fine. Really. Hey .. do you wanna grab a bite to eat?" I said trying to quickly change the subject. He smiled and looked around.
"Me? Yeah sure! I know a few good places I can show you around town" he said sounding more excited then normal.
"Ok well that will take all of ten minutes to do so sure why not!" I replied. He frowned and shrugged his shoulders.
"It's a small town but you'll surely love it soon." he said as we walked across the asphalt
"I hope so Devin, I hope so"
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