Trouble next door

KAI I stood awkwardly in the school hallway not knowing what to do with myself, the first period was almost over, and I didn’t know where to turn, or what class to attend, The school’s map was neatly folded in my pocket and the paper that has all of my activities for the session as well, but the thought of bringing it out will make all of these real and I’m not ready to accept that. Rather, I stood there with no intention of getting to class, staring at the rows of lockers before me like it meant much more. About Two months ago I was in the city, having no idea my life would be interrupted abruptly by my parents. They woke up one morning and decided it was the best time to move, they wanted to spend the rest of their lives in a remote town, far from the city pollution, not caring if I wanted that as well, who am I kidding, it’s isn’t like my opinion matters at all. To be fair, I don’t have a lot going on for me there, except the art center I secretly enrolled in, my entire life might be centered around that. The only thing I have truly enjoyed was painting, I was able to escape whenever I did so, but my mother is strongly against it, she wants me to be a doctor like her or an architect like Dad, and she feels I would be distracted from this goal of hers if I make painting a priority. As she often says, “Drawing objects and painting them will take you nowhere, You have to be realistic. What if you wake up one day and this hobby of yours wears off, what would you do with your life then?” But painting is my reality, not just a hobby like she claimed. My life isn’t the best, my mother breathes down my neck and makes every decision for me, and it doesn’t help that I’m the only child. I can’t wait to go to college, I know I have some years left and I’m counting down like my life depends on it, because it does. When it comes to painting, the one thing I am passionate about and doesn't make me feel useless, I could only do that at the Art center, but when I brought the enrollment form home for my mother’s consent, she breathed down on me like a dragon, she almost burnt the house down in anger, I couldn’t even ask my dad, that man is so in love, he practically does everything my mother wants. The only person left to turn to was Peter, my best buddy, he jumped at the offer to sign like he had been waiting his whole life to play my parent, his penmanship was magnificent, and forging my mother’s signature was no sweat at all. Sometimes I wonder if my Mother hates painting or if she just hates the fact that I want to do it. That’s all behind me, painting and everything attached to it, Now I’m here, at “Oaksview High School” starting my first day of sophomore year (10th grade) after a long, tiring, boring summer break. I stood in the hallway still, the lightbulb flickering above me, the smell of bleach used to clean the hall was starting to make me feel nauseous. I started contemplating if I should just walk out of the school and go home when I noticed a girl a few lockers away from me, she was struggling with her locker, she had a lot of stuff in it so it refused to shut. Frustrated, She used her shoulder to push it close while she strained to push the lock, it clicked, and she smiled so big to herself before placing her hands on her knees in relief, a while later She stood upright like she realized she was late for a class, looked down and frowned at her dress after noticing something that shouldn’t be there, she tried rubbing at it but I guessed it didn’t work, she shrugged then raised her head, turned and looked right at me, maybe she had sensed someone was staring at her or it was just a coincidence, right at that moment my heart stopped, everything around me went mute, then slowly I heard the thumping sound of my heart, it picked rhythm like a drum and it started going wild, I held my chest hoping to contain the sound, I feared my heart would burst and splatter on the floor. She was beautiful, She smiled at me and the sound around me was back on, she attempted a wave then stopped, bent down, and picked up her bag that I hadn’t noticed, before walking the other way, turned at a corner and she was gone. I stood there for about 5 minutes not knowing what to do, my hand raised halfway up for a wave to her. The bell finally went off and students flooded the hallway, swallowing me up. By the third period, after I had figured out myself and found my way, I saw her again, this time it was in drama class, and her attention was focused on the students on the little drama stage as they exchanged lines from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” I was closer to her than I was in the hallway, just a seat between us. She laughed when the students said or acted funny, I noticed her braces and how conscious she felt when she laughed. When she couldn’t hold in the long laughter, she covered her mouth with her hands and laughed into them, I smiled at her, shifting my attention away from the class and to her alone. I didn’t notice the drama teacher was right beside me, She cleared her throat and I heard laughter erupt, my cheeks turned bright red when I realized that she had been standing there for quite some time and all of the class attention was on me, even those that were on stage, She asked me to be on my feet, I reluctantly did so, “What is it that is so interesting about Miss Vanessa Jones, that you couldn’t pay attention to the class?” Her voice sounded croaky even though she just cleared it loud enough to get my attention “Do you mind telling us Mr ? She paused briefly after she realized she didn’t know me or what my name was.. “you’re new” she stated, like I had no idea myself that I was. “What’s your name? She asked, “Ka..ii” I stammered “Mr. Kai” she repeated in a singsong, “ do you have a surname ?” She asked, a small smile playing on her lips, “Yes I do, it’s Itō” I replied, very slowly this time. “Please Mr. Kai Itō, pay attention in my class, I wouldn’t like to repeat this,” she said sternly and then so sweetly like she has a split personality, she added, “Welcome to Oaksview”. I nodded while saying “Yes ma’am” weirded out by her act. She motioned for me to sit and so quickly I did. I glanced over at the girl though I had just been warned to pay attention, but her focus was back on the stage, not on me, “did she ever look at me during the interaction with the drama teacher?” I asked myself, slightly hoping she didn’t and also hoping she did, I don’t know what I want. Looking at her, It felt like she was embarrassed and I wondered why, was it because I was caught staring or was it the silly laughs from the rest of the class? I hate that I had to be the reason behind that. Throughout the rest of the class she didn’t laugh or make any sound, even when the characters did something exceptionally funny, she sat there with no reaction.