The Alternative

It was my first day of senior year. I remember how much I was dreading it. That year I didn’t get to attend Astoria High School like everyone else. I was pretty much forced to go to Astoria’s alternative school. I know what you are thinking. Alternative school? Isn’t that where kids with “problems” go? Well, you are right.

I could tell my mom was disappointed in me, but she would never tell me that. My mother Nancy lived in Astoria all her life. She owned and worked at Little Critters, a daycare, for as long as I can remember. My mother loved her job. Even when she would come home with puke stains on her clothes and smelling like baby poop. She was a very loving and genuine person. She was everything I wasn’t.

 

Nancy was a terrific mother.

My dad Tony died when I was sixteen. It was my birthday. He was on his way home from work that night. He promised he would be there when I blew my candles out. It had been raining, of course, and it was apparently hard to see the road. He died instantly when the car hit the tree. People would tell me, “at least he didn’t feel any pain”, or “he is in a better place now”. Those words didn’t help. It only pissed me off even more. The best place I could think of him to be was with me and my mom. I’m positive that’s what he would have chosen.

Tony was a terrific father.

After my father died, I changed. I will be the first to admit it. I didn’t start doing drugs or sleeping around, I just didn’t feel like talking anymore. Literally. I had nothing to say. My friends starting calling me freak, rumors started spreading, and I was all alone. The only person I had was my mother. I haven’t said one word to anyone in almost two years, except for my “dad”, mom, and dog Lady. This is why the teachers sent me to the alternative school. Even though I was still a straight A student, I dyed my hair black, refused to wear anything with color, and didn’t speak to anyone. The teachers didn’t know what to do with me.

I was used to the rain, but I still hated it. In Astoria Oregon, my hometown, it rained at least every other day. It was raining the night my father died. Ironically, it also was on the day I was born. It’s more destined than ironic I guess. That’s where I got my name; Rayne Elizabeth Cornell.

 

I looked up at the clock and the numbers were blinking 7:14 a.m. The cool thing about the alternative school is that it didn’t start until nine, an hour later than the high school. I didn’t feel like lying there forever, so I thought I should get up and eat some breakfast. I climbed out of bed and my Golden Retriever Lady was at my feet. She followed me everywhere. I didn’t mind it though. I liked that I was never physically alone.

My house wasn’t very big. It’s a one story brick house with black shutters. It was an open floor plan, so the kitchen, living room, and dining area were basically all one big room. The bedrooms were towards the back of the house as well as the one bathroom. My favorite part about the house was the fact that it was in the country. We had about ten acres of wooden land. Sometimes Lady and I will just walk for hours. It was very peaceful out there. It was the only place I actually felt sane.

I got into the kitchen and fed Lady first. Then I grabbed the box of Fruity Peebles and poured me a bowl. When I sat down at the table, Lady was already at me feet. I looked over at her bowl and it was empty. “God Lady, you’re a pig,” It had only taken her less than a minute to eat. She barked at me and it almost sounded like she was laughing. I smiled at her and gave her a pat on the head.

 It took me more than a minute to eat. I wasn’t in a rush like Lady was. I rinsed my bowl in the sink and went to take Lady out. When I opened the door, the sun was shining. Lady had already run out and was sniffing around on the ground. I walked out and immediately felt the warmth of the sun wrap its arms around me. I loved days like this. I sat on the porch swing and took in as much sun as I could.

“Lady, come on girl!”

 I had lost track of her and was walking around the yard calling for her. I looked at my watch and it was already eight o’clock. I still had to get in the shower and get ready. “Lady!” I could hear her bark, but it sounded like it was way out in the woods.  I gave up calling her and left the sliding door ajar. She would come in when she was ready.

My shower was quick. I ran into my small room and started blow drying my layered black hair. I couldn’t believe how much it grew over the summer. It was just about four inches above the middle of my back. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had cut my hair.

I sat on the floor in front of my mirror that hung on the door of my closet. I didn’t like the reflection. Although I do admit that my black hair was beautiful, everything else I hated. The jett black hair only made my skin look even paler. My light blue eyes seemed too big for my face, and my lips looked like they were always a little swollen. I don’t even want to get started on my “cute button nose”, as my mom would always call it. My parents always told me how beautiful I was, but to me, I looked like what everyone else said I was; a freak.

I put my make up on. I loved the look of dark smokey eyes, so that’s how I always had my makeup. My mom wasn’t a big fan of my makeup, but she was one of those parents who let their kid “express themselves”. She did cry when I dyed my blonde hair black. After a while she got use to it.

I didn’t realize what time it was until Lady came in the room.

“Crap, I’m going to be late.” The clock was saying it was 8:37.

I threw on my black skinny jeans and an oversized white shirt. Mom tried giving me money to go clothes shopping for school, but I wouldn’t take it. What’s would be the point of shopping for new clothes if only twenty other people would see them? Not worth it to me. I did buy a pair of new shoes though; cheap white slip ons.  The best part of my outfit was my necklace. It was a long silver chain with a black onyx owl pendant. My dad bought it for me.

I ran out of the house to the garage where my white Geo Metro sat. Before I knew it, I was almost to the school. The alternative school was a small building outside of the high school. It was one classroom and had one bathroom everyone had to share. The only reason I know what it looks like is because that’s where they held after school detention.

When I pulled into the small parking area for the alternative school, I was five minutes early. I saw a few people outside of the building talking. As I walked up, I only had bottle water, a spiral notebook, and a pencil in my hands. I wasn’t entirely sure what we needed. A few people said hi to me when I walked up. I nodded at them. It would probably take them a few weeks to realize that I wouldn’t talk to them. At first they will think I’m just shy, and then I will be a b***h. It could never just be that I was quiet.

The building felt stuffy. There were no windows, which could be good, but it also could be bad. I wouldn’t mind looking out the window on a day like today. The sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. On a day when it was raining, I would think the windowless room was a blessing.

 I wanted to get a seat in the back so I hurried to the closest one I saw. I looked around the room and it looked exactly like a regular classroom. There were even cheesy posters on the wall. One of the posters was one where about ten people were holding hands and skydiving. They were in the shape of a circle and the only word on the poster was “Teamwork”. Another one was a colorful poster and in different fonts that read “Only YOU are RESPONSIBLE for your FUTURE”. I rolled my eyes.

“Everyone sit! Rob, will you go outside and get the others?”

“Sure Mrs. Gallishaw.”

The teacher was sitting at her desk in the front of the class. She was probably about fifty pounds overweight, but she was very pretty. He brown hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and she was wearing no makeup. I wish I was that confident not to wear makeup. She was wearing navy blue dress pants, and a flowing white blouse. Just above her left breast, she was wearing an apple pin. What’s up with teachers and apples?

The guy she called Rob, came in with about five students following. Everyone sat down for class to begin. I knew nobody and I was very happy about that. There were only sixteen of us. A few less than what I thought. The Rob guy sat down at a teacher looking desk in the back behind me. I’m guessing he is the student teacher, or maybe the muscle of the two. There were a few people in the class that I was even scared of. I had a feeling there would be fights in here, and poor Mrs. Gallishaw wouldn’t be able to stop it alone.

“Okay class, I’m Mrs. Gallishaw your teacher. And back in the back, that’s Mr. Housen.” Everyone in the class turns around except for me.

“You can call me Rob.” I notice a few girls in the class that didn’t turn back around. They were just staring at him. I didn’t notice if he was cute or not, but I figured that’s what their problem was.

“Rob,” Mrs. Gallishaw corrected, “is here to help as well, but he is also here to make sure everyone stays in line. Don’t underestimate him,” she warned us. A few of the guys looked at each other with a look that said “Yeah right” or “We will see about that”. Mrs. Gallishaw was looking at the guys like I was.

“I wouldn’t try it fellas,” she said looking at the guys. I really wanted to look to see who this tough guy Rob was, but I didn’t want to look like an idiot when I turned around. “This class will be simple. Every day you will work on Math, English, History, and even Science. But this is where we are different from those guys,” she gestured over her shoulder to Astoria High; “In here you will read sections of the books to yourself and do some worksheets. Then, after you finish the chapter, you will have a test. Just like any class you would take at the high school, but I won’t be teaching. I will be here to help with any subject you need help with, but other than that, you do everything on your own. Does everyone understand?” She asked looking around the room. Everyone nodded. Except me.

“Now, let’s do roll call, and when I call your name, go get your books from the table there. I forgot to mention that not everyone has the same books or will be taking the same classes. It was all determined by your teachers and grades from last year. Any questions before I begin?”

“Will there be a seating chart?” Asked the blonde girl in the front. I don’t think she liked sitting in the front row.

“No, but only if you guys can behave yourself. If you can’t, then I will make one,” Mrs. Gallishaw replied. “Alright, let’s begin. Rayne Correll,” she was looking around the room again. I raised my hand. I should have figured I would be the first one. I got up and retrieved my books from the table. On top of my stack of books was a post it note with my name on it. I got the books and went back to my seat.

I decided I should take a look at this Rob guy that some of the girls were still looking at. He was now standing and leaning up against the back wall. I wasn’t even sure if he was an actual teacher because he looked like he wasn’t any older than twenty. He wasn’t as muscular as I would have thought either. Especially since some of the guy students were pretty huge. Rob only looked about 145 pounds. Don’t get me wrong, he had some muscle, but it didn’t look like enough. I was sure that I could take him.

His tousled hair was a light brown color. He had amazing light green almond shaped eyes. Rob had thin lips, but somehow they were perfect. He was wearing dark gray trousers and light blue button down shirt, which he had tucked in. I knew then why every girl in the room was breaking their neck trying to stare at him. He was gorgeous. He smiled at me when I sat down in my seat. I didn’t smile back.

I looked through my books and realized that Mrs. Gallishaw was right. I only recognized one of the books. The first book on the stack was a novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I’ve read this book once before and really liked it. I could have thought of worse things than reading that book again. Below that was a big blue text book with a picture of atoms. It read “CHEMISTY: Change and Matter”.  The next text book was Calculus. I hated math with a passion, so I skipped that book completely. And finally, the last book had a picture of the Taj Mahal from India. It was my World History book.

“Does everyone have their books?” Mrs. Gallishaw asked. People nodded or said “yeah”. “Rob, is going to pass out your folders with the work you have to do by the end of the week. Every week there will be new worksheets in your folders. You must do all of them. If you get a head, then I will have some extra worksheets you can do.”

 While she was talking Rob had already started passing out the folders. The girls were thanking him more than necessary and there was even one girl who was trying to chew her pencil seductively. Rob smiled politely at her and when he walked away, I saw him roll his eyes. I smiled.

“You are Rayne, correct?” His voice was soft but stern. I looked up in his green eyes and nodded. I took the folder from his hands. “To Kill a Mockingbird,” he took the book from my desk and looked at it. “This is a great book.” When I didn’t say anything, he put the book back down and walked to his desk.

“God, he is so sexy,” I heard the girl in front of me say. She had her blonde hair up in a ponytail and I could see a hickey on her neck. It was gross.

“I heard that he is only nineteen. I’m only a year younger so…” The other girl was actually really pretty. She had short red hair and freckles. I’m sure she had no problem getting guys. “I’m thinking I should just get in a fight so that he can pull me off the person,” she said giving the blonde a wink. They both started giggling.

School was over before I knew it. We got out of school thirty minutes before the high school did. I was excited about that because I hated the parking lot when school was over. There was at least one accident every day because people don’t paid attention to what they were doing. Some people stayed behind to see their friends that went to Astoria High. I, on the other hand, wasn’t going to wait for the insanity to begin.

“Rayne, may I see you for a moment,” I was one of the last students in the building. I really wish that I moved a little faster. I don’t like talking to teachers. Mainly because it would end with them getting mad because I didn’t say anything.

I walked over her desk and stood there.

“Grab a seat honey.” She pointed to the chair that was right beside her desk. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Rob sitting at his desk. He was watching us. Reluctantly, I sat down. “Now I know this will be a short conversation,” she said smiling at me, “but I just wanted to let you know that I am here if you need to talk.” I just sat there looking at a cup full of paperclips that sat on her desk. “I was shocked when the teacher put you in here. You see, most of the kids in here are failing most of their classes. They are in here because that can’t seem to pull themselves together. You on the other hand, are an excellent student. You are just quiet.” I looked up at her. She didn’t use the word shy or the word b***h, not that I expected her to use the last one. I smiled at her and nodded.

“I just hope that if you need anyone to talk to, that you can trust me or Rob.”

 She put her hand on my shoulder and gave it a pat. “I won’t keep you any longer. Have a good evening Rayne.” I began to walk outside when Mrs. Gallishaw stopped me again. “Rayne,” I turned around and looked back at her. “I’m sorry about your father. He was a good man.” I turned around and walked out of the building. When I felt the warmth of the sun, I sprinted to my car.

Tears were filling my eyes.

Reviews

[LochnezzMonster]

I really liked this! it's very detailed and comphrensive. I felt really bad about her father and her grieving. I was laughing when she discribed her features. she made them sound bad but she's actually very pretty. I have little critizim about this work. because it's very well put together. the detailing is correct and so is the dialogue and that's something most people get incorrect.

I'm wonder if Rob has an accent, it sort of seems like that with they way he say, "You are Rayne, Correct?". Usually that was said like, "Are you Rayne?" *shrug* maybe not.

They way you described people responding to quietness is absolutely correct. I liked that. ^.^ keep up the good work on this book . 4 1/2 outa 5!!!