Auroras Academy

Chapter 3

The class goes quiet, heads spin around to look at me. Mrs.Lowfield, who was up at the board, stops her lucturing.

“Ahh, Mrs.Hayes! Nice of you to join us. It’s nice to know that all my students are present on the first day of school. Though, some value punctuality more than others.” The class snickers and by Mrs. Lowfield’s reaction, she doesn't usually get such a positive response for her jokes. Her pinned up hair bobs as she trots back to her desk to adjust the attendance.

“I’m sorry. I had a bit of a medical emergency,”

“I don’t care about your excuses. Go to your- oh…” Mrs.Lowfield pauses as I step forward, her eyes narrowing. Her thin eyebrows pinch, folding the skin in the middle. She stares long and hard before shaking her head, lightheartedly chuckling, noticeably in a better mood. “Go sit in the back.”

“Oh, okay.” I beeline toward the back, flinging my bag to the ground. Weird. That's the second time someone has had that reaction near me. First with Clarke then Mrs. Lowfield? It’s almost like they had to physically shake themselves back to reality. I whip out my notebook writing my name and date on the top right hand corner. Mrs.Lowfield continues the lecture, though it takes on a breathy rushed air that increases with each glance towards my desk.

Maybe it’s just my imagination?

A few rows up a boy turns around slipping a scrap of paper on the desk behind him. Then they turn around, passing it on to the next, then the next. Until the folded scrap reaches my desk.

“Here.” The girl in front of me chucks the note on my desk, the paper fluttering until it lands on my notepad. I turned to pass it on but there was no one behind me. Was I supposed to pass it to the side? I tap the girl's shoulder. She ignores me, flipping her hair back over her shoulder.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” I whisper-yell, catching a few of my classmates' attention. The girl lets out a low grumble.

“I don’t know! Read it?” She bites out over her shoulder giving me an evil side eye.

“But I don’t know anyone?” I mutter looking at the scrap of notebook paper like it was an asteroid that fell from space. The girl angrily sets down her mechanical pencil and fully turns to look at me.

“Are you dense?! I spent months trying to get Hayden to notice me! Then all you have to do is be late once and he’s already asking for your number. Stop talking to me. Are you going to give it to him or not?” She fumes her nails digging into the back of her chair. Very pointy nails.

“Uh I-“ I finally flip the note over, reading it myself.

Hey, I think there is something wrong with my phone. It doesn’t have your number on it.

~Hayden

My jaw drops. Was this some kind of prank? And what was with the cheesy pick up line ever? Without realizing it I’m shaking my head no, handing the note back. The girl in front of me triumphantly smirks, snatching it from me. I’m too stunned to pay much attention to the rest of the class.

By lunch I had three people ask for my number, several others fighting to sit next to me, and two random guys lean in and say “you smell nice”. I didn’t know if I should be revolted or embarrassed. This is beyond bazaar. I know I’m not ugly but I’m by far not pretty enough to be getting this much attention. Maybe they really didn’t get new students that much and it was just the ‘New Girl Effect’. Though a school this large I found that hard to believe.

I weave my way back to my first class. The long unending hallways and time it takes me to remember the way back eats up ten minutes of my precious lunch. Lauren is waiting for me. She leans against some lockers parallel to Mrs. Lowfields classroom. Two girls wait nervously, too scared to talk to her to get to their lockers resting behind Lauren’s back. She senses me near and glances up from picking at her nails, grinning.

“Lynn! How was your first day?”

“Heh… not over yet.” I darkly mutter through clenched teeth. Lauren burst out laughing, causing me to jump at the sudden sharp noise of it. She grasped my upper arm and began dragging me down the hall. I stumble after her. She really should give a warning before hawling me along like a sack of potatoes.

“You’re funny.” She masterfully winds through each corridor, other students stepping out of her way as she passes. A small sense of pride blooms in my chest even though I didn't intentionally mean to be funny, at least she’s giving me the time of a day. It’s clear that Lauren was like the sun; everyone gravitates towards her. If she is the sun though, I’d be Mercury; about to be burned to a crisp because I was standing a little too close. Finding friends comes naturally to her because everyone wants to be her friend. I doubt there was even a time she wasn’t popular. Her tone turns serious. “No, really, how’s it going?”

“Good. Little nervous.” More like a lot of nervousness. She abruptly stops. This time I’m more prepared and halt with her.

“Hey, everyone gets first day jitters. There are a ton of other freshies like you out there.” She smiles reassuringly, but I couldn’t help eyeball the other people around me. I almost say “really?” because almost everyone looks like they are in their late teens and have been pumping some serious iron from the age of ten. Puberty must not exist here and teens are lucky enough to jump straight to adult form.

For me, despite getting over my awkward middle school phase, I’m still not very tall. My vision wasn’t magically cured either, thick glasses remaining magnifying my eyes. I have never felt this way before but my ‘curves’ were what set me apart from the others. Almost every girl was lean with muscle, athletic and long with broad shoulders and a certain confidence I lacked. I was soft and squishy where they were toned and tight. I certainly was nowhere near the term ‘thick’ but compared to them I looked like I binged on Happy Meals while they effortlessly walked around like models. Lauren’s words did help though, it was nice to know I wasn’t alone.

“Yeah,” I sigh, nodding. “it’s just… does it seem like everyone is acting weird?” I say as I step in closer, hoping nobody around us hears me.

“Ha, they’re always kinda acting weird, but you get used to it. I mean, this is what the school is for. Right?” This time she links arms with me and continues on her way. I try to decipher what she meant by “this is what the school is for”. But I was stumped. Did Aunt Lily somehow enroll me in some kind of special education school? There is something seriously wrong here.

Soon, we enter a large set of doors, from there the room gaped open extending out and up into high arched ceilings. Beams shoot across, casting large shadows down on the tables filled with students already from multiple large skylights. Four rows of long wooden tables fill up most of the room. A metal chandelier dangles from the rafters where hundreds of real candles are holstered, unlit.

“Wow…” I mutter. Lauren beams, her school pride obviously showing through.

“If you think this is cool just wait until you see our science department. We have our own body farm!” Lauren guides me to where a large clump of students are being funneled into a line. I nod absently, watching as the light from the skylight refracts, making the air sparkle. “So which lunch do you want?”

“I’ll just take whatever you get.” I mumble, absently.

“Oh?” Lauren's amused tone recaptured my attention as she arched an eyebrow. Her mischievous face sets me on edge. “Are you sure you can handle it?”

“Yes..?” I replied hesitantly, already regretting my answer.

“O-kay! We’ll get two number 13 specials please.” Lauren leans over the glass holding up two fingers to the lady. The lady grunts and lifts a metal lid to a steaming metal pot. She took a large ladle and scooped two serving out into bowls setting them on trays. We each grabbed our separate trays and as I glanced up to thank the lady, I noticed her face turning a little green. Before I could ask if she was okay the next person in line was already ordering.

We slid our trays down the counter getting an assortment of fruits and vegetables of our liking. Even a fluffy golden roll with a thick slab of butter graced our plates. As we reached the end of the line we met a register. I quickly reached into my backpacks side pocket pulling out my wallet, to see Lauren hold up a hand.

“Just say your student number. Number 3.” Lauren explains turning to the register lady and saying her number. The register lady nods, turning to me.

“I don’t have a student number.” I stare hopelessly at my tray. Am I going to have to put all this delicious food back?

“Oh yeah!” Lauren slaps her forehead. “You're a freshman, duh! You’ll get one after midterms. Just say your name for now.”

“Lynnon Hayes.” Embarrassed, I state my name. I watch for Lauren’s reaction but she doesn’t seem to be paying attention. The lady grumbles, clearly upset about the inconvenience. I squinted my eyes and noticed she was looking a little green too. It might just be the lighting inside the dim kitchen but I could have sworn that the lunch lady had a severe underbite and pointy canines that went over her lip. Lauren starts to walk off and I jog to catch up with her.

“Did the lunch ladies-” I begin, but Lauren has already taken off.

“Over here,” She calls out, walking past all the long tables to a platform with one large round table in the center, directly under a skylight. The entire platform sparkles from it.