In the Eyes of a Wallflower

Same old Same old

        Casey POV

              The drive to school was as quiet as usual. Surprisingly, we ended up being a good bit early. Traffic was nowhere near what I had expected with where we are but, hey, I will take it. getting out of the car I grab my bag and head for the front entrance into the school. Upon walking inside, I realize that the high school really isn’t much different the middle school was. It’s all the same bland colors and designs. The same classmates are moving around here and there, but the only difference in faces is that of the teaching staff. Watching my feet, I make my way into the office to get my class assignments as well as my locker information and such.

                   Unsurprisingly I walk into the office and no one even notices me. The secretary hustles around as the phone rings and she continues typing away on her computer as I stand in front of the desk. Kids wander in and out asking questions then leaving again. Willing myself the voice after about 15 minutes, I finally walk up to the desk and clear my throat. The secretary looks as though she's never seen me before. In all honesty this is a very normal occurrence for me. Now it’s just being seen in the eyes of a Wallflower. Hmm I like the sound of that, sounds like a podcast or blog maybe I'll have to ponder it a bit. "Hello how can I help you dear?" She asks. "Ma’am, I’m Casey McFadden I'm starting school today." I respond. "Oh no dear I do all the new students and I am sure I don't remember that name." Sighing, I present my medical paperwork and school district leave papers. Handing them over she quickly flips through. "Ah yes you are the one who was in that terrible accident, such a shame. “Yea,” I look down. “So, do you have my class information? My Dad said he called ahead?” She looks over her glasses at me and spins in her chair to grab a manilla envelope from a shelf behind her. she slides envelope then turn around to walk back out of the office.

              Stepping into the hall I see that several students have started to file in. ‘Ugh. That took so long,’ I it across the desktop to me. “Now with your work that was already turned in, you qualified for Sophomore classes this year. Keep it up and you just might graduate early.” She states turning around and going back to typing whatever it is that she was working on. I grab the

think to myself. A couple people bump into me as they head off to their lockers, but it seems as if they don’t even notice. I work my way through the growing crowd, pulling out my locker information. Glancing at the numbers as I walk by, I finally spot the locker 113. I walk over to it and set my bag down before entering my combination. On the first try it pops loose and I open the empty locker to begin my freshman year of high school.

After sorting a few filers into my locker and tucking my gym clothes into the top shelf I pull out my class schedule and hang it on the empty locker door. My first class is Biology, so I grab my bag and head off for the classroom. I slip into class and hand a note to the teacher that explains my absence over the past few months. He glances down at it before setting it aside and grabbing a textbook and workbook and hands them to me. “The work that you have done while you were gone were printouts from this book. Now that you are back, all work is to be completed in this workbook. Go have a seat.” I take my books nodding that I understand and turn to choose a place to sit. I know the popular kids always want the back and the golden students sit up front. To try to avoid landing in an already claimed seat, I shift over to the second to last seat on the right and sit.

As the first bell rings a bunch of my classmates start filing in. They all go to their usual seats as far as I can tell, and it seems that I have made a good decision on where I sat. Relaxing into my seat a bit, I grab out my journal to write a little about my morning. Before I can get beyond the entry number the second bell rings, so I put it away safely in my bag and prepare for the beginning of the lecture on human anatomy. Knowing the criteria basics from reading online courses when I was bored at the hospital I just patiently sit through the lesson.

Getting lost in the different bones and muscles that the body has I didn’t hear the door open until it closed again. “Thank you for joining us Ms. Caldwell. Please have a seat and turn to page 214 in your textbook.” I look up long enough to see the innocent look on her face as she apologizes, “Sorry Dwayne. I got caught in some traffic on my way to school.” Mr. Shaylor crossed his arms over his chest with the way Brittany chose to call him by his first name. Once she was seated, he turned back to the board and continued pointing out bones on the diagram.

The rest of class flies by rather quickly and after it I have PE. With the accident I have written excuse from the doctor to not have to participate so I hand the note over to the teacher and head to the bleachers to observe. Maybe if it isn’t too much running or any sort of contact sport I may join in later. My morning continues on rather quickly. After PE I have Home Economics and then Art before the first lunch bell chimes. I head to the cafeteria and grab a tray of food before looking for an empty table to sit at. I eat my food and try writing a little in my journal to log how the first day has been thus far. After writing a few paragraphs about my new classes and teachers I get up to throw away my trash and I head for my next class before the bell chimes that way I don’t get caught in the sea of students. I see Brittany take off into the bathroom as I walk by, but she doesn’t seem to mind being late to class so I just keep going. Once I make it to my Algebra class, I repeat the same greeting process with the teachers that I have been doing all morning. Once in a seat I open my textbook to look over the lesson that is written up on the white board.

All of the classes have been the same. Give the teacher a note, find a seat, do the lesson, class is over. I don’t know if I just get zoned in on the lesson or what, but it is nice that the first day hasn’t seemed to drag on endlessly. After Algebra. I have social studies, then I have a free period in the library. I go ahead and rush through my homework before heading to music class to get warmed up, since I will be trying out for which tone, I will be singing in the choir for the rest of the year. Luckily for me the choir director hears me singing and chooses to have me be among the second altos. He also gives me the music books we are working from currently. This way I can jump straight into the class rather than have to audition in front of everyone.

Once choir is finished, I rush excitedly for my last class of the day which is my favorite by far. I love writing, so to be placed in a college prep English class as my final class means that I will always have a good end of the day. The teacher, Mrs. Langley, is extremely sweet and gets me caught up on the things I missed while in the hospital. Sure, I did the work but the things that went along with the writing were awesome, so I am sad I missed them. As the second bell rings I am getting seated with everyone else as Mrs. Langley writes the lesson for today on the board. We are starting Macbeth and as the rest of the class groans, I just smile inwardly as the lesson begins. This has been a pretty great start to high school so far.

Leaving the school after getting engulfed in Macbeth, I find dads car waiting for me out front. The driver walks around opening the back door for me and I climb in to see a card sitting on the seat. As the driver returns to his post and we pull out of the parking lot I pick up the card and see it has my name on it, so I tear it open to find a note inside.

 I hope your first day back at school was good pumpkin.             -Dad

It may be simple, but my dad does know how to put a smile on my face even when he isn’t here. I tuck the note into my backpack and get lost in the scenery moving around me beyond my car window. We end up stuck in traffic, though, so I nod off to sleep in the back seat of the car after about ten minutes of not moving.

The driver wakes me gently once we get back to the house and I head inside and straight for the kitchen for a snack. Anna is setting the table while Lucy seems to be stirring a soup when I walk in. “Hi Anna, hi Mrs. Lucy. That smells really good.” I say taking a seat at the counter. I reach over and grab an apple and take a huge bite out of it. They both look over with tender smiles, but Lucy is the first to inquire, “So how was school dear?” They both stop what they’re doing, watching me expectantly. I fidget a bit with my apple, but my smile doesn’t falter. “School was nice. English class is the last one of the day. It’s my favorite, and I am actually ahead on most of my studies from my hospital stay. Oh, and I have a free period before music, so I got all of my homework done already.”

Anna walks over and squeezes my shoulders, “That’s awesome Casey! Now you have more time for fun.” I nod right as a yawn creeps up on me. Anna chuckles, “Or more time for rest. Do you need your medicine?” I hadn’t realized I was mindlessly rubbing at me legs trying to dull the ache. Anna must have noticed because she doesn’t even wait for my answer before disappearing and then popping back in with my pills in hand. “Thanks Anna,” I say before tossing them back and swallowing a large gulp of the water she sat down. “I am going to head up to my room for a bit. What time is dinner?” I ask as I get up from my seat. Lucy turns and says it will be ready in about an hour, so I head up to take a hot bath and change into some comfy clothes.

After soaking for quite some time, I turn the shower on to rinse the soap from my body. Stretching out I can feel that most of the pain has subsided in the bath. I hop out of the shower and into my closet to throw on a baggy sweat outfit. Snuggling up I sit down on my bed and pull my journal out again to write a bit more of the end of my day. I lay my pencil and journal over on my bedside table and decide to get a jump on the stairs before Anna comes to find me. Turning the corner into the dining room Lucy looks up as she sets the last bowl of soup on the table, “Perfect timing Deary. Come on now. Let’s say our grace and eat.”

We all sit down to eat after the blessing and this soup is amazing. I forgot how great chicken noodle soup good be after having the crappy hospital version for so long. I moan behind my spoon as I slurp another scrumptious bite into my mouth. Anna and Lucy both laugh before Lucy asks, “So it’s good?” I just nod as I slurp another warm spoonful past my lips. This earns another giggle from both of the ladies before we all get lost in a comfortable silence. After we are all done eating, I head back up to my room and hop into bed to get a good night’s rest.