The New Girl's Secret

Part 1-The First Day: Chapter 3: The Science Teacher

Olivia’s P.O.V. 

    After about 10 minutes of searching for my locker, a teacher came out of the science lab. He was a young and at least a foot taller than my 5-foot 4-inch pipsqueak body. Everyone at school was way taller than me. He saw me and made eye contact with me. I look away fast. I was kind of hoping he would just pass by, but he didn’t. 

    “Hello,” he said. His voice was calm and soft. “Can I help you find something?” I jumped when he spoke to me. He walked toward me. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

    “Hi. You didn’t scare me, and yes, I’m trying to find my locker,” I responded after a moment. My voice was shaky. Why was I so nervous? I’m never nervous. 

    “Do you know your locker number? If you don’t, I can look it up.” The look on his face went from a normal teacher smile to a different look. It was almost confusing but comforting all at once. I just stood there watching him. His hand stuffed in his khakis. He was wearing a purple polo that showed his muscles in his chest. He stood staring at me, then said, because he knew I wasn’t going to answer, “What’s your name? I’ll look it up for you.” 

    “Okay,” I said after a moment, “it’s Olivia Shelcyer. You are?” By the time I had asked who he was, he had turned around and headed back into the classroom. I followed, waiting for an answer. He pulled a slip of paper off his desk and wrote a bunch of numbers on it, then put it in his pocket. 

    “I’m Mr. Stokes.” A moment passed. “Do you need your schedule, too?” 

    “Umm...yeah. Thank you.” 

    He sent it to the printer and got up. He left the room, and I followed. He grabbed the page and handed it to me. It was still warm. He quickly changed directions, stuffing his hands back in his pockets. I went to catch up with him. 

Mr. Stokes P.O.V. 

    I’d never seen Olivia, knowing exactly who she was, even with never meeting her. Everyone knows everyone around here. I had seen her name on my roster, too. I knew her life was about to get harder fast. I knew how Olivia felt. I knew what happened, where she came from. I was there when I was 16 and 17; although I was on the opposite side, I understood. She’d tell people when she finally trusted them again. I wasn’t going to ask though, knowing it was only a couple of months ago when it finally ended and she came here. Yes, it was the first day of school for everyone, it was really her first day, unlike everyone where it was their third year. She needed someone to care for her. I know she likely needs normalcy and somebody to talk to and trust. She needs a close-nit group to hang out with. I could be a friend to her; the age difference wasn’t that bad (eight years, her 16, and me 24), but also still have to be a teacher to her and her classmates. 

    I saw Olivia in the hallway. She was a cute short girl, nobody else was around here. I was at least a foot taller and that was average around here. She had long brown hair and bright blue eyes. Though, there was a darkness and sadness to them. The look on her face was the look everyone gets when they’re lost. I could see the tension in her shoulders. I walked out of my classroom lab and helped her get her schedule and her locker information, asking her for her name to make things seem more comfortable and normal for her. 

    To break the silence and pulling me out of thought, she asked, “What do you teach?”

    “Juniors’ science teacher. I mostly teach AP courses for Physics and Chemistry. I do other classes sometimes, but nothing too special. What grade or year are you in?” I was trying to be polite.

    “Junior year. Eleventh grade.”

    I wanted to roll my eyes, but I didn’t because it was rude. Of course, she was going to be that way. She seemed to have started warming up to me fast. The nerves seemed to ease in her body. The tension in her shoulders seemed to go away. “So I’ll see you around for the next two years,” I said it in a more excited than I wanted to. 

    “Yeah, I guess so.” she seemed nervous again, but her voice was neutral. The tension started showing in her shoulders again. 

    We reached her locker, and I handed her the slip of paper from my pocket. “Here,” I said. “My school email, if you need anything, and your locker combo is on the back.” It looked like a business card. It had my name, emails (school and personal), and my phone number. 

Olivia’s P.O.V. 

    “Thanks,” I said. “Will you show me the health classroom with Ms. Lansberg?” 

    “Umm...yeah. Then I need to get back to my classroom to finish helping my student teacher with the last preparations for class today.” He walked me to the health room and back to his classroom. “Well, you better get ready for class. It was nice meeting you, Olivia. See you around.” 

    “See you around,” I said. He turned around and walked into his classroom. I liked talking to him. He seemed nice. 

    The warning bell rang. It was time to go to class.