Something Different - Ch. 1

If he doesn’t stop clicking his pen I am going to turn around and break it.

Wyatt has always been able to find new ways to annoy me. We have been in each other’s lives since birth – our moms are best friends. When we were younger, we were best friends, truly inseparable. Then, when we got to sixth grade, it was no longer cool to have a best friend who was a girl and he just stopped talking to me. We honestly haven’t spoken since the night before that first day of school.

I can picture him behind me trying to hide a laugh. Annoying me has always been his favorite hobby. To his detriment he has very expressive green eyes, always has, and I know if I turned around in my chair, I’d see his amusement shining in them. I am just so glad that thanks to the way Mrs. Bailey has set up the room I can avoid seeing his face. And since I know his family went to Cancun over the summer, he still has the tan I wish I had & that his blonde hair has it’s natural highlights that come out when he spends a lot of time in the sun. It’s all the girls can talk about since we came back from summer break. It took everything in me not to roll my eyes at Vanessa when I walked into the room & overheard her talking about “how cute Wyatt got over the summer.” I’m sure if she saw the pictures of him knee deep in the cow manure from the ones his family has, she wouldn’t be saying that.

​But really, I am just jealous. I spent my summer break babysitting & trying to keep our conversations to a minimum at all our joint family gatherings. My saving grace is now that we are full time at the boarding school those have become less frequent when we are home.

Lincoln Academy is like every other public school for elementary school so, our parents or the busses would bring us to and from school. Then, once you hit sixth grade you must apply to be accepted to the boarding school. The boarding school campus is housed about two miles behind the elementary school and is hidden behind trees and a giant iron gate attached to brick walls. They split the living arrangements based on grade and gender, so each grade and gender get their own house. This keeps the grades small & everyone knows everything about everyone.

​The campus buildings look like they have since the school was founded, brick buildings with huge columns and white roofs. The quad on campus is scattered with trees so during the Fall and Spring they are so pretty to look at. My favorite place to spend time is under a tree by the library that has just the perfect amount of shade to sit and read. Especially now during the turn of the seasons, with the slight chill of the beginning of Fall.

I try to tune out Wyatt & tune back into Mrs. Bailey explaining what we will be doing the rest of the semester at the front of the classroom. She is wearing a maroon Lincoln Academy t-shirt & wide leg beige trousers with grey sneakers. Her straight brown hair is loose around her face & you can see her gold hoops peeking out. She is famous at Lincoln Academy for being the best middle school English teacher so, I was very excited when I got my schedule in the mail and saw her name instead of Mr. Thompson.

​She has the classroom set up with majority of the desks forming a letter ‘U’ shape with two rows of 3 desks in the middle. I am in the front row sitting directly in front of her, just like I requested. I focus better when I am near the front.

​“During the next month we will read a fictional book and spend time discussing it in class and there will be a few assignments to go with them.” Mrs. Bailey explains.

​The second the words leave her mouth; I can see out of the corner of my eye, Margot’s hand shoot into the air with a little wave.

​Mrs. Bailey gives her a soft smile before responding with all the patience she is known for, since this is the fifth time Margot has raised her hand so far this class period, “Margot, if you could please hold your question until the end.”

​“Of course, Mrs. Bailey!” Margot rushes in response as she makes sure to write whatever her question was down with such a hurry at the bottom of the page of notes, she has somehow amassed.

​As I observe I can’t help but chuckle to myself. The whole interaction is so perfectly my best friend. Margot & I have been friends since we were sat next to each other in the second grade, and she kept whispering the answers to our addition test when she saw I was struggling. Since that day we have been inseparable & we were so glad we were put into the same eighth grade English class. We spent all ofmiddle school in none of the same classes but somehow, we got lucky in our last year. Outside of English the only time I see her is back in our shared dorm room.

​Her curly blonde hair starts to fall in front of her face from how quickly she is writing. Poor Frankie is trying his best to keep to his space as he adjusts his glasses from the quick jump he did at how quick Margot moved, I see the worry forming on his face from across the room. He understands what we all learned at a young age, being in Margot’s space when she is in an academic setting is a hazard.

​Everything about Margot is just that much more. She has the lightest blonde hair with the tightest curls that match her bright blue eyes. Every moment is just a little bit exaggerated. But she is one of the smartest, most caring people in the world.

​Frankie is like her exact opposite. He has black straight hair and the darkest eyes that are magnified by the glasses he wears. He is on the tall side, but he is the definition of gentle giant. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. Actually. I once had to kill a fly in the library because he refused to do it. He cares so much for others, but he cannot function in spaces with more than two people paying attention to him. Margot essentially latched onto him as a protector and since Margot and I are pretty much a package deal – I now have two people I would defend with my life. Those two tend to cause quite a stir since they tend to lack, and how do I say this nicely, self-awareness. Whether it’s Frankie stumbling around in gym class or Margot reminding teachers of assignments, I find myself acting as their buffer to the rest of our classmates.

​Mrs. Bailey must’ve heard from other teachers about how Margot reins it in when she’s sat by him. They tend to balance each other out energy wise which is for the betterment of the rest of the class.

​“Now, before we begin to pass out the first book we will read as a class,’ Mrs. Bailey continues from her spot at the front of the room, ‘Some of you will be joining Ms. Throne for the semester.” I turn in my seat a bit so that Margot and I can lock eyes & I know our faces mirror everyone else’s in the classroom, confusion. All of us wondering who Ms. Thorne is.  

​Since the campus is so secluded and small, it is very rare that there is anyone new to our school whether it be teacher or student. Clearly, Mrs. Bailey can sense our confusion. As she crosses the room to her desk, ‘Ms. Thorne is new at Lincoln Academy set to teach High School English, but she is starting off with a small group of you for the year. So, each day you will report to her class instead of coming here.’ she glances at the clock above the door, “Hmm she should be here by now, well, I guess I can get you guys together so you’re ready when she arrives.”

​Mrs. Bailey proceeds to pull something up on her computer which she then projects onto the board. It’s a list of five names.

Ms. Thorne’s Class:

Wyatt Bauer

Frankie Chen

Margot Jackson

Milo Newman

Sawyer Robinson

I am shocked to see my name at the bottom of the list. Not sure I was picked really, I mean yeah, I do well in school, but I’m nothing extraordinary like Margot.

​I look around at the other four people picked; Frankie looks nervous- probably because the less people the more he’ll have to talk, Margot is bursting with excitement and is probably rearranging her color coordinated class organization system. New teacher, new color. I can hear Wyatt behind me packing up his stuff already working his way to the front of the class.

I turn in my seat to see Milo just sitting with a kind of unbothered expression. Ever since he moved here at the beginning of sixth grade, I’ve never really spoken to him or even had a class with him. I take a second while he’s distracted to look at him. He’s dressed in athleisure – the basic maroon Lincoln Academy sweatsuit – I knew he played soccer & that they practice in the mornings, so that makes sense. He has this mop of reddish-brown hair, green eyes, and a few freckles. He must have also hit a growth spirt this summer because he is now taller than Connor who is sitting a few seats down from him who has held the title of tallest in the grade for last two years.

Milo must have felt me staring at him because he turns to look at me and we lock eyes just for a second and he raises his eyebrows & tilts his head in a questioning way. I quickly look away and feel my face get hot from getting caught. I put my head down to hopefully hide the slight blush of embarrassment on my face and start collecting my things.

Just as I am putting my yellow folder, I have designated for English papers into my bookbag, the door to the room flies open which pretty much startles everyone in the room but especially Wyatt who had been standing right in front of it while he waited. He dizzily finds his balance and moves out of the way. Fairly quickly everyone’s attention turned to look at what the cause is.

​Into the room floated a woman who looked younger than Mrs. Bailey who we knew was in her mid 30’s because she shared pictures surrounded by her wife and their twins from her birthday party she had over the summer on the first day of school. The woman who has entered the room looks younger than that. She looks around my oldest brothers age & he graduated college last year, so I guess she’s somewhere between mid 20’s and mid 30’s. Not that it helps narrow it down.

​She has her bright red hair braided into a crown atop her head with a few curly pieces framing her face. She has these big green eyes framed by chunky green glasses and her face is covered in freckles. Her outfit consists of a flowy navy-blue jumpsuit with wide legs and billowy sleeves that float around her as she moves which allows you to see her brown heeled boots as she walks. We are all taking her in as she enters and glides across the room to Mrs. Bailey.

​“Oh, I am so sorry I am late! Still getting used to the new building!” as she talks you can tell she’s not from around here because she has a funny sounding accent that I can’t quite place.

​‘It’s no problem! I have already had your kids pack up and they should be ready to go. They know they are to report to you every day from now on.’ Mrs. Bailey replies, she is the only person who has moved since, who I am now piecing together is Ms. Thorne, has entered the room. Mrs. Bailey has stood to greet her but has now taken to hurrying me and Milo, who are the only ones still near our desks to join the others at the door. The entrance of Ms. Thorne froze all of us in our spots, but I quickly zip my bag and take my spot next to Margot and Milo sidles up near Frankie at the end of our little line.

​Ms. Thorne finally turns and directs her full attention to us as if she is sizing us up like a drill sergeant. Her demeanor immediately changes, and she walks over & does a slow once over all of us individually starting with Wyatt. I notice Vanessa’s eyes widen from across the room as she shrinks slightly behind her desk. Gone is the light energy who entered the room, replacing her is a woman who could command an army.

As she finishes analyzing Margot with a head nod of approval, she moves in front of me & looks directly into my eyes. My coffee brown meets her grass green & I don’t know why but I know its somehow a test. As badly as I want to shrink away like Vanessa, I do my best to hold her stare. To let her keep looking and judging - hoping she comes to some kind of conclusion soon. After what feels like an eternity but could not have been more than 30 seconds she smirks and says just loud enough for Margot & Frankie on either side of me to hear, “Well done.”

She gives Frankie a soft smile and quickly moves on as if sensing how easily he would melt into a puddle at our feet if she stopped for more than a nano second. Milo at the end of our line stands up just a little bit taller to be at his full height, still wearing that same unbothered expression. To this, she meets it with an impenetrable look. She raises a single eyebrow and only then does Milo move, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. At that, Ms. Thorne turns back towards Mrs. Bailey with a radiant smile, claps her hands and exclaims, “Oh they are just perfect! Okay my little knights, let’s get a move on!” She does a slight sashay to the door. Margot leans in to whisper to me as we be begin filing out of the room, “But our mascot is a Bulldog.” The best response I can come up with for what just happened is a shrug.

We shuffle down the hallway in a blanket of silence only broken up by the clicking of Ms. Thornes boots. Frankie leans in toward me & Margot and as quietly as he can asks, ‘Do you guys have a good feeling about this?’

‘It’s too early to tell but, it’s an adventure, right?’ I reply in an attempt of trying to lighten his mood with a little shoulder nudge and a smile.

‘Yeah! I mean who knows, maybe she will let us write a paper instead of giving tests!’ Margot adds in a hushed excited tone. Frankie nods in agreement as if this really is a better option. Wyatt must’ve overheard us because he chuckles to himself, and I see Milo giving a slight smirk. Oh, just perfect. They better not say anything about Frankie being nervous or Margot’s comment or Ms. Thorne will need to take a detour to the nurse’s office in the admin building on the way to her classroom.

I was so wrapped up in our conversation that I wasn’t paying too much attention to the amount of turns we have taken. The English building is one of the oldest and biggest the school has & every year at least ten 6th graders get lost trying to find their classes. Thank goodness I have Margot who prints out maps of each building and makes me a copy & highlights where my class is, or I would still get lost. I have never been the best with directions.

We have made it to the opposite end of the building where there are less renovated classrooms than where we began. They started redoing all the classrooms in chunks, so they didn’t have to close the entire building at once.

‘I forgot this part of the building was even open.’ Wyatt says just loud enough for everyone in our little group can hear. Ms. Thorne is ahead of us still walking at such a brisk pace for someone with heeled boots on.

‘They aren’t planning on redoing these rooms until next year, but they aren’t holding classes in them this year anyway. I’m not sure why we are over here.’ Margot responds as she looks around to take in our surroundings.

We are passing closed classroom doors with all the lights turned off. Even the lights in the hallways are dimmed, giving the narrow hallway an unsettling feeling.

Finally, Ms. Thorne stops abruptly in front of the only door that has a light on and turns to face us. ‘Welcome to our home for the year!’ she says this with a slight huff and a clap of her hands as she pushes open the door to reveal her classroom.

All 5 of us take a pause in front of the door and share a look of hesitation.

‘Well?’ Ms. Thorne says expectantly with a slight raise of her eyebrows.

Once it’s clear that no one else is going to be the first one to walk in, I take a step forward.