i walked with charlie to our first period, seeing as adam had a different class.

i gripped tightly to the straps of my backpack,"who do you think our new coach is gonna be?"

charlie shrugged,"not bombay."

i frowned, nudging him,"yeah, but i at least hope he's like...not a total dick."

he sighed, shaking his head,"one can dream, scar. one can dream."

i rolled my eyes and we took our seats next to each other. our teacher looked like the personification of pessimism, and i could tell that this would not be a good year for us.

she didn't smile at all, didn't even greet us at the door. i hoped this wasn't how all the teacher's would be, but i think being decrepit and scary was part of the job application.

the bell rang, and she stood up, wasting no time on semantics,"every monday you'll have a practice quiz, every wednesday you'll have a real quiz, every friday you'll have an exam. and anytime i feel like it you'll have a surprise quiz or exam."

i looked at her with wide eyes, leaning into charlie,"she has to be kidding."

he frowned, watching as she passed out the syllabus,"i don't think she's ever made a joke in her life."

i rolled my eyes, grabbing a pencil from my bag,"charlie, please cut my throat with your right skate."

he raised his eyebrows at my specificity,"the right one?"

i nodded,"please."

once we had the syllabus, she promptly handed out a quiz. what she had to quiz us on, i have no idea. i blocked the trauma out of my memory.

after, what had seemed like forever, that class had ended, but unfortunately there were still five others to attend.

i sat with adam in history class, rubbing my temples,"our american lit teacher is insane. she's making us read the grapes of wrath, concluded by writing an essay on the major themes of the story."

adam sighed,"i should not have signed up for quantum physics. what science are you taking, again?"

i looked at him with sympathetic eyes,"forensic science."

he groaned, resting his head on the desk,"i don't make good choices."

i laughed silently, putting my hand on his shoulder,"don't worry, banksie. you're smart, you can do it."

he rolled his eyes, sitting up,"not smart enough."

we turned our attention to our world history teacher, who held a stuffed dwarf and a textbook. i watched him quizzically, wondering where he could possibly be going with this.

"it's been said that the present is to the past like a dwarf on the shoulders of a giant," he started, and i could already tell this would be more dramatic than my dramatic arts class,"if the dwarf holds his seat, he can indeed see further than the giant. but beware if the dwarf should grow careless and forget his place," he stopped at fulton's desk and slammed the book on top of the dwarf causing me to jump back,"history is a giant. get ready to ride."

i laughed nervously, not sure what to think. i didn't realize that every single class would be so intense.

•

finally, the lunch bell had rang, and we were officially halfway through the day.

adam grabbed my hand as we walked with averman, goldberg, julie and charlie. luis was stalking some cheerleader and was slammed into the lockers by a varsity guy.

i knit my brows,"is it just me, or did luis get super fucking creepy?"

adam shook his head,"no, it's weird."

we watched as kenny got his lunch taken away by a varsity team member. i frowned, knowing he didn't deserve to get picked on. i had to do something about it.

"i'll catch up with you guys." i muttered, my mind already in another place.

i walked up to the boy who know held a brown paper bag full of kenny's food. i believed his name was cole.

i smiled sweetly at him, my main objective to get the lunch and run,"hey, are you cole?"

he eyed me, liking what he saw,"in the flesh, baby."

i swallowed my disgust, trying to remain an innocent maiden,"i left my lunch at home, and i was wondering if you had anything."

he smirked,"well, what can you do for me?"

i glanced at ken for a second, remembering what i was in this for,"i'd obviously return the favor."

he grinned and handed over the brown paper bag,"anything for a damsel in distress."

a sense of triumph filled me,"thank you."

i started to walk away, but he held me back, "what about the favor?"

i rolled my eyes, dropping the act,"the favor, is letting you walk away unscarred."

i yanked my arm from his grip and walked away, squaring my shoulders. i handed the lunch back to kenny, who smiled gratefully.

"thanks, scar."

"you got it, kenny." i patted his shoulder and ran to catch up with my friends.

i squished myself between julie and averman causing them to laugh and move over.

averman groaned, starting to complain, "homework on the first day? i don't believe it."

goldberg concurred,"we better be careful or me might learn something here."

i snorted, looking at him facetiously,"damn, wouldn't that be awful? your iq going from a six to a seven. no thanks."

"yeah, yeah." he dismissed my teasing, having no available comeback.

•

i walked down the stairs with charlie and, on our way to spanish, we were stopped by an overzealous girl with a clipboard.

"hi. uh, will you sign this petition?" she smiled politely at us, holding up a pen.

charlie just stared for a second, captivated by the girl. i rolled my eyes and elbowed him, trying to get him to come back down to earth.

charlie groaned, fully away from his daydreaming,"what's it for?"

she chuckled, answering,"we're demanding the board change the demeaning warrior name."

i furrowed my brows together, not understanding the big deal,"what's so bad about the warriors?"

charlie nodded in agreement,"yeah, i mean you got the indians, the braves, the redskins-"

i frowned, feeling the need to correct him, "actually, indians and redskins are pretty offensive to native americans, so i would actually change that one, but warriors seems fine."

she rolled her eyes, putting the pieces together, "you guys are jocks, aren't you?"

"we play hockey." i replied, not appreciating the demeaning undertones of her words.

charlie smirked, choosing to brag to the unimpressed girl,"i'm the captain of the new j.v. team."

i joked,"not if i get it."

charlie rolled his eyes playfully. he knew i would never actually go for his spot, but he still didn't love the joke.

she scoffed, shaking her head,"forget about it. all you warrior jocks stick together."

charlie threw his arms up in defeat,"but i'm not a warrior, i'm a duck!"

i rolled my eyes, pulling him away,"forget her, char. she's too self righteous."

he sighed, throwing his head back,"i kinda wanna bother, scarlett."

i chuckled,"i'm sure you do, and if she got off her high horse, i would be glad to help you."

"until then?" he raised his eyebrows, looking at me expectantly.

"until then," i started, trying to think of what to say,"look for another girl."

"whatever." he muttered.

i shrugged, trying to understand why he was so hung up on her,"plus, how do you even know you want that girl? you didn't even get her name."

he had grown tired of talking about this, and decided not to answer,"we're gonna be late to spanish."