Someone Else

Chapter 3

I park my Mercedes Benz in the parking lot and walk in. I seems that I've gained Amelia's memories over night. I recognize these people.

Steph waits for me by the entrance with Jake and Macy.

Oh, right. I need to break up with Jake.

"Hey guys!" I say, smiling brightly. This school looks gorgeous.

"Hey, babe." Jake says, going in for a kiss.

I turn my head and he gets my cheek instead. "We'll talk at lunch. For now, I really don't want to be late."

"Since when did you care about being late?" Macy asked. Her tone is snarky and I don't appreciate it. I don't like Macy, neither did Amelia.

"Since I decided what I wanted for my future." I said. Only Steph had the same schedule as me, I grab her arm and we go in together. "Macy's extra annoying today, did you notice? "

Steph giggles. "Yeah, she's such a bitch."

We go to the Maths room and there's a test? Let's see what this school is made of!

"s**t, I forgot to tell you." Steph said.

I shrug and take my seat in the middle of the class. "It's alright, I'm not scared."

We're some of the first ones here and the other students come in, surprised to see us here early.

The teacher, a Vietnamese man, comes in and starts handing out sheets of paper immediately.

"Anyone who finishes early can leave the class and do whatever." He said.

I take out a blue pen and look at the paper. Are you shitting me? I learned this in the seventh grade.

The time starts and I quickly solve every equation and turn my test in with half an hour left to spare.

"Miss Shackler, why don't you try actually doing the test for a change?" He asked.

"Em xong rồi ạ." ("I'm already done.") I replied in Vietnamese.

He straightens up in his seat and looks over the test. "You can go now." He said, looking at me flabbergasted.

I get my things and leave the room. I find my way to the administration and talk to the front desk lady.

"Hi, Mrs Joyce." I said.

She looks up at me and raises an eyebrow. "Already got called in Miss Shackler?"

I laugh. "Actually, I'd like to transfer classes please." I said.

"Alright. What class?" She said, clicking something on her computer.

"AP calculus 1, AP Physics and AP English please."

She pauses and looks at me. "You will now be graded according to the AP classes, Miss Shackler. Are you sure you want to transfer? You'll have to take the tests again."

The more the better. "Yes, please, Mrs Joyce." I answer without hesitation.

I know what I want, I will graduate here with an acceptable GPA and great SAT score and I'll go to a great college.

"Alright, here's your new schedule." She said just as the printer whirs to life.

A tiny sheet of paper comes out and she gives it to me. My next class is AP Physics, this will be great!

"Thank you, Mrs Joyce." I say before going to the library.

I text Liam about what I did and he responds immediately with many smiley and thumbs up emojis. I tell Steph about it as well.

My textbooks are full of doodles, some of the pages are even ripped out. The Physics textbook is pretty much useless to me, since I've already learned all of this.

I wonder how easy the tests will be. From snooze to brain splitting, I'll guess it's eating cake easy.

The English syllabus is here and I've already read most of the books. Wow, guess I don't have anything to learn, literally.

In high school back then, I already learned calculus 2 but I didn't pay much attention. Plus, I can take calculus 2 in college, it's not necessary for me right now.

When the bell rings I rush to the AP Physics classroom since it's on the other side of this maze-like school.

When I get there I'm just on time. The Physics teacher here is the same as the normal Physics teacher. Mrs Theodore.

"What are you doing here, Shackler?" She asked, crossing her arms.

I show her my schedule change and she nods for me to take a seat. The others pile in and look at me in surprise.

Everyone has been doing that lately, it's so f*****g annoying.

"Class, we have a new student with us." Mrs Theodore said loudly. She comes to me and hands me a worksheet that's 3 pages long. "Complete this and turn it in when you're done. Don't ask anybody for help."

I grin. "Wouldn't dream of it, Mrs T." Trusty blue pen, deliver me to victory.

Mrs Theodore is the type of teacher who tells us to self study while she does god knows what on her iPad.

I write quickly. My handwriting nothing like Amelia's but I can't do anything about that.

With ten minutes left, I turn the sheet in and her jaw drops. She didn't expect me to be able to do this at all.

Most of the stuff in there was stuff I learned in the ninth grade.

I go back to my seat and sigh. No challenges yet. The most difficult thing I've had to do today was remember Newton's three laws and some some Collomb stuff.

Some students glance at me but they don't say s**t. Good, I don't want anyone to rain on my parade. It's feels nice being the smart one in the room.

"Good job, Miss Shackler." Mrs Theodore says. "You're in this class now."

"Huzzah!"

I get some laughs and I grin at them. I'm fitting in!

The lunch bell rings and my heart plummets to my stomach. s**t, it's time to dump Amelia's boyfriend, I mean my boyfriend.

I get my s**t together and leave everything in my locker before going to the cafeteria. I see my 'friends' sitting at a delinquent table that at freaking graffiti on it. Why hasn't that been replaced? Oh, right. They're rich kids too, they can have whatever they want, even if it's a dirty table.

I buy a sandwich and a bottle of water and go sit with them. Amelia always does this, so I can't not do it without them getting suspicious.

"So, you're an AP honors student now?" Steph asked as I put my tray down.

"Yeah." I said, averting my eyes.

"Who'd you have to sleep with to do that?" Macy laughed her donkey heaving laugh and I roll my eyes.

Macy must be in love with her brother or something to hate me so much. "It's called studying. I've learned how to do it." I said dryly.

"Studying? How hard did you hit your head?" Jake asked.

Okay, so both the siblings upset me. At least Julian hasn't said anything, he's playing a game on his phone though.

"Jake, I'm breaking up with you." I said. The words came out easier than I expected. "And Macy, I'm tired of your frequent quips and sarcastic retorts. You're exhausting to deal with and I can't tolerate your idiocy for a minute longer."

They look at me, completely stunned at what I said. Macy probably didn't understand all the big words I used.

Jake glares. "Who are you seeing then?"

I roll my eyes. "Delete all the photos of me and us." I said. "If I see any floating around, I will file charges against you and I will win the case. Then you'll be charged with child pornography and violation of privacy policy and you'll go to jail for twenty years."

Amelia's birthday isn't until next month, so she's actually sixteen and underage.

He pales and takes his phone out. I snatch it, open the lock and delete everything from his gallery, trash and cloud.

"Who do you think you are?" Macy demanded as I handed her brother's phone back.

"Someone with a f*****g brain, you retard." I snap. "Be a good girl and console your brother but in f*****g silence so I can enjoy my f*****g lunch."

She huffs and they both stomp away. Now's there's just Steph and Julian and I.

Julian finally looks up. "Where'd they go?" He asked, confused.

"I don't know and I don't care." I answered. This BLT isn't bad at all, but it could use hot sauce.

"I'm really liking this new you." Steph says, grinning. Macy and Jake were my friends, she just sat here because of Julian and I. Steph isn't the social type, she doesn't really act out either.

She's pretty much me but with less weed.

"Where's your lunch?" I asked her.

"I'm on a diet." She said sheepishly.

A diet? I scroll through Amelia's memories like they're stories on i********:. I don't remember seeing Steph actually eat anything other than candy. Bulimia?

"You're not on a diet." I said finally. These memories are hazed and they hurt my brain. So much s*x and alcohol and drugs. I feel like taking a shower. "Take a bite. Now."

She huffs and takes a bite out of my sandwich. "This tastes good."

I give her all of it and drink my water. "Julian, are you gonna talk to us or just play that game the whole lunch period?" I asked.

He puts his phone away. "So, are you okay? I wanted to go visit at the hospital yesterday but my mom said I couldn't go."

Yes, Julian's mom thinks I'm a bad influence. Everyone's moms think I'm a bad influence.

"That's alright, there was nothing wrong with me anyways." I said. "Do you guys have a lot of homework or can we hang out after cheer practice?"

They glance at each other. "Where should we go?" Steph asked with her mouth full.

Not whatever you think is. "To the arcade? Maybe we can see a movie together." I said, texting my parents I'll be home around seven.

"That actually sounds fun." Julian said, brightening up. "Who are you and what have you done with Amelia?"

Oh, if only I could answer that.

___________________________________

The locker room is a struggle and I try not to get too close to the other naked girls.

Everyone changes into shorts and a sports bra and I sigh. It's mandatory to wear black shorts and a red sport's bra to practice. The pervert who put up that rule needs to be sacked, immediately.

We run out the the football, soccer and track field and do stretches. All the other teams are staring. Oh I get it now, we're their 'motivation'. Disgusting.

I've never been a cheerleader. I actually fit track and field and diving profile more.

The captain of the team, Brianna, leads practice while the coach is away on maternal leave.

We do kicks and flips and pyramids. Turns out we're all stars who also cheer at school matches? I don't remember scholastic cheerleaders doing any pyramid formations and so much tumbling. Jesus, this is difficult.

I gained Amelia's talents as the top of the pyramid and a tumbler and the flips and balance come naturally. But I'm still winded after my set. s**t, I might throw up.

When practice is over we'll all red and panting and sweating buckets. "Keep this up, we might just be ready for regionals!" Brianna says happily. She's so bubbly still, it's annoying as f**k.

Steph and I collapse side by side on the grass. "That was tough." She said between panting.

Thank God it wasn't just me.

"I need food." I said. "We should go get the tickets before the theater is crowded and shit."

She nods and we force Julian to get up and shower.

When we're fresh and changed, we drive to the Googleplex mall. We park in three spots next to each other.

"What should we watch?" Julian asked as the smell of fresh buttery popcorn wafts up.

"An action movie or horror movie probably." I said. Steph likes horror.

"How about A Quiet Place 3?" Julian says.

We agree on it and I get popcorn and drinks while they get the tickets.

I wait by the ticket box and text Liam where I am and book him a seat right next to where ours are.

The movie doesn't start for twenty more minutes, he should get here in ten minutes.

"Hey, you guys go in first, I need to go to the bathroom." I say, handing them their large popcorns and drinks.

They leave. I print out his ticket, buy more popcorn and drinks and wait. When I see him I wave him over.

"Our first movie together." He said, kissing me on the cheek.

"I'm here with two of my friends, we'll be seated next to them so no funny business." I warned him.

"So we're on a secret date." He said, grinning.

I giggle. "I'll come up with an excuse to leave right after the movie and we can get dinner together. But only if I pay."

"No, I'm paying."

"Then I'm not going."

We have a staring contest before he gives in and we go into the cinema.

Our seats are in the exact middle of the cinema and I sit next to Steph.

"Took you long enough, were you dropping a deuce or something?" Steph asked quietly.

I laugh. "No, I fixed my makeup." I lie easily. "Hey, my parents are expecting me to come home so we can have some important talk. I'll have to leave right after the movie."

"Oh, is it anything bad?" She asked, now concerned.

"They might have found my edibles." I said, grinning.

She sniggers and turns to the screen where the movie is just starting.

Liam lifts the armrest between us and puts his arm around me. I snuggle into him and eat a whole lot of popcorn.

I could get used to this.