New Neighbor

This is the first of a series of shorts based an an animated series I'd like to make, but probably never will. It's about a group of nerds in high school. Please enjoy!

This story begins in Sophomore year.

It was the first day of school as Jonas was desperately trying to make it to school on time. Having overslept and missed the bus, he grabbed his bike and began to pedal furiously. He was making pretty good time, until he ran over a discarded nail on the sidewalk, causing him to lose control and plow into some nearby bushes. After picking himself up, he ran over to the bike to inspect the damage.

"Well, looks like I'm missing homeroom," he muttered to himself as he examined his flat tire. With no other option, he hid the bike, and began to book it. "Crap, why did I have to miss the bus?"

He arrived just before home room let out, exasperated and out of breath. He made his way to the lockers to find his two best friends, Ed and Hare. Ed was a bigger guy, with bushy hair and glasses; but beneath his exterior was a sensitive man with the heart of a poet. Hare was a lanky guy, still decently tall, with shorter hair. He was also a bit of a weirdo; the kind where you would hang around with them because they gave you really many humorous anecdotes. Like Ed though, he was a pretty decent and likable guy... even with his lack of a filter.

"What's up, Jonas," asked Ed, "you missed homeroom."

With a slight chuckle, Jonas explained that his situation.

"Heck, I couldn't even eat breakfast, so I had to grab this granola bar."

"So, you just left your bike near some bushes," asked Hare.

"Oh dang, I just realized what a bad idea that was," said Jonas, "Crap, why did I do that?"

"Hey, I'm sure it'll be fine," assured Ed. "Anyway, you have English next?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Sweet," replied Ed, "so do we."

As they walked through the halls, they began to discuss their next class, as Jonas was busy eating what little he had for breakfast.

"So, I hear they replaced Shumacher."

"Thank God," said Ed, "he was awful."

"But it's not like his replacement will be that much better."

"Well, you don't know that, Hare," said Jonas, as he was finishing his granola bar, "Maybe our new English teacher will be pretty cool. You just gotta be positive."

"Jonas, here's the thing," replied Hare, as they approached Room 131, "Shumacher's problem was that he was boring. You know why? Because he was an English teacher, and cool English teacher's don't exist*. Dead Poets Society was a movie. I mean, what, do you think we'll luck out and our new teacher will be like John freaking Keating or some crap?"

However, as they walked through the door, the boys were surprised to find, writing on the chalkboard, a pretty young woman, late 20's with long brunette hair.

"Well, so she's not Robin Williams, but alright."

"Oh hi," she said when she noticed them, "I'm Ms. Simmons. What are your names?"

"Uh, I'm Jonas, this is Ed, and that's Hare."

"Hare?" She pulled out her role sheet. "Oh, you must mean Harrison Hart. So you two are Edgar Hughes and Jonas Jameson?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Awesome, nice to meet you guys. Only..." she said, looking at Jonas, "why do you have leaves in your hair?"

"Crap I thought I got all of those out."

"Ha ha, well anyway, class starts in 1 minute, so you might want to take your seats."

After school ended, the gang walked out and discussed the day they had.

"Well, Math is gonna suck."

"Jonas," responded Hare, "has math ever not sucked?"

"Yeah, it was okay before we got to high school."

"And then it got hella hard," added Ed. "At least we all have the same schedule, though."

"Agreed," replied Hare.

"Although," Jonas began, "I actually think English won't be that bad."

"Oh yeah, Ms. Simmons actually seems pretty cool," said Ed.

"She seems really nice, too."

"She didn't give us homework on the first day, either."

"She also seems to like what she's doing."

"And on top of that," said Hare, "she is really hot."

The other two just stood, in a shocked and slightly disturbed silence, before Ed mustered a "... just... why?"

"What, you don't think she is?"

"I mean, yeah," explained Jonas, "but not like... how you just said."

"Such judgment you two put upon me. That is not how I meant it," he replied, defending himself, "although, now that you mention it, if I was over 18, and she wasn't my teacher..."

"DEAR GOD, STOP TALKING!"

"Okaaay," said Jonas, "I'm going to leave, before he crosses the point of no return."

"Wait, why aren't you taking the bus?"

"I gotta get my bike."

"Oh," remembered Ed, "okay, well, see ya."

Jonas was about five minutes away from the school when he heard a screeching noise. He looked behind, and saw racing down the road a bright green sedan, going unbelievably fast, and careening like mad. As it approached him he screamed and jumped into some bushes, just as it was about to hit him. After it passed, he got out of the bushes, and said to himself...

"Huh, my bike is still here."

He walked on to his driveway, and he began to think to himself...

'Man, who was that person? They must have really needed to get somewhere to be driving like that.' "Oh, hi Ms. Simmons." 'And what is it with me an bushes today? I'm going to be picking...' "Wait a minute, Ms. Simmons?"

"Oh, hi Jonas," said his teacher, standing in the yard of the next house.

"I didn't... I didn't know you were my neighbor," he said, incredibly confused.

"Well, I only just had my things moved in today."

'Oh yeah, they sold that house recently. Come to think of it, there were moving trucks when I left this morning.'

"So, what are you doing with that bike," she asked him.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I missed the bus today and had to take my bike, but it blew a tire, so I had to leave it. I got it on my way back."

"Really," she said, "well, if I'd had known we were neighbors, I would've help you out."

"Oh, no really that's fine." As he said this, his dad pulled into the driveway.

"Hey, kiddo. Who are you talking to?"

"Oh Dad, this is my new English teacher, Ms. Simmons."

"Tiffany," she added, "nice to meet you."

"You're kind of young to be teaching in high school, aren't you?"

"I mean, they hired me," she joked, "so I guess not. Anyway, I just came to get the mail, and now I gotta make dinner. See you, Jonas."

"Bye."

She entered her house, and left the other two in the driveway.

"Well," said Jonas' dad, "she seemed really nice."

"Yeah, I think so too."

"Say...," the father responded slyly, "you don't have the hots for her, do you?"

"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GO THERE?"

"Because it is so much fun picking on you."

The next morning, a half asleep Jonas began to hear the noise of a very loud engine.

"Hey... the bus is here... OH CRAP, NOT AGAIN!"

He rushed to dress himself and grab an apple, only to come outside to see that, too late, the bus had left his subdivision. He slunk down to his knees, and groaned in agony.

"How did this happen again? Why the crap don't I ever set the alarm? Wh... oh, hi Ms. Simmons."

"Wait, did you just miss the bus again?"

"Yes," replied a dejected Jonas, "I can't be late two days in a row on the first two days of school!"

"It's okay," she responded, "I can just drive you."

"Huh?"

"I mean, if you were late yesterday, I don't really want you to be late again."

"But wouldn't that be kind of..." he began, until he realized he really didn't have any other option, "okay. Thank you."

"Hey, don't mention it." With that, the garage door began to open.

'Wow,' Jonas thought to himself, 'I really lucked out here. But, I guess if it gets me to school, then I'll just have to... oh, crap no.'

For, you see, sitting inside Ms. Simmons' garage, was a light green 1995 Dodge Neon which Jonas recognized as the car he saw yesterday.

"So, um... (gulp)... is this, your car?"

"Yep," she said cheerfully, "it might not look like much, but I got it for a bargain, and wow  is it fast. Granted, the handling could be a bit better, but I'm a teacher and on a budget."

"Yes," he replied, honestly kind of traumatized, "I... I imagine... you are to buy this."

"Uh huh," she continued, with a smile full of pride, "the dealer told me that this thing once went so fast, that it went through a house. Not 'crashed into a wall' either, but went through the entire house. How awesome is that!"

"And, we're going to ride in it... yay." There was no kind of traumatized, anymore. At this point, he was completely terrified.

"Alright, so let's... oh wait, almost forgot my lunch. One second please," she said, as she disappeared back into the house.

Alone now, he looked long and hard at this car, and noticed that it had seen better days. The color wasn't naturally that bright, but faded, and on the side were a few dents and scratches. And then he remembered just how crazy it was driving yesterday, and that he was about to trust his life to the driver he saw yesterday. 

As the thoughts and possibilities of what could happen filled his head, he noticed on the wall a wooden crucifix, with Jesus carved in the center. He approached it, laid his trembling hand on the carving, and simply said...

"Watch over me."

As they made the drive to school, however, he found he actually kind of enjoyed the ride. They talked a little bit, and found that they actually had a fair deal in common. He liked movies, so did she. He played video games, so did she when she was younger. He watched anime, she... didn't really, but she didn't judge him for watching it, and he though that was good enough. 'Wow,' he thought to himself, 'she's actually pretty cool. I was just worrying about nothing. I mean, maybe yesterday was just a rare occurrence, and her driving wasn't actually...'

"Oh, crap!"

Jonas lost his train of thought, and gazed at the long line of traffic in front of them.

"Are you kidding me," yelled a jarringly distressed Ms. Simmons, "oh, and the school's right there!"

It was true. From the vantage of the hill, they could actually see the high school, next to a large, empty park. If it wasn't for the traffic, they could have probably made it on time. At this point, they'd be about 5 minutes late.

"Crap," she said, pounding her head against the rim of the wheel, "crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!"

"Look, it's okay," he assured, his nervous feeling coming back and growing with each passing second, "I know we might be a little late, but hey, it's only homeroom. You don't need to be upset about missing homeroom! It's fine!"

It was not fine. She had never been late to anything in her life, and she wasn't about to let this kid be late again. She raised her slumped head, revealed a fire burning in her eyes, and uttered in a voice quite terrifying...

"Like hell it is."

Before he could react, or say anything, or even think for a split second about jumping out of the car, she turned a sharp right and sped off the road. Down the hill they went, at a speed he had never before experienced, somehow dodging ever bush, tree, and small plant that sprung into their path.

Within seconds they were at the field. It was flat, and most devoid of anything but a rusted out fence and a few tree stumps. The car wouldn't stop. it was going at a speed, unwavering, unyielding to anything it it's path. They burst through the fence and came onto the field, their destination lying just beyond.

"Don't you worry, Jonas, we're going to make it!"

"Deer!"

"Uh, yeah, I'm not really comfortable with you calling me that..."

"NO, I MEAN DEER!"

She quickly turned her gaze to where he was pointing, and in front of them was a young doe. Acting quickly, she made a hard right turn, but the velocity she was traveling caused her to spin out, and hit a large stump. But it did not stop them; it catapulted them into the air, still spinning in a mad fashion. They flew over the deer, who gazed like a curious child, over the fence, and over the trees.

Just as it looked like they would crash and die in the school parking lot, a miracle happened. They landed facing the forest, but the car somehow managed to land perfectly on it's tires, right side first, then left. She then put the car in reverse, and managed, again somehow, to perfectly park in an empty space.

"We made it! Phew, and with three minutes to spare. See, you were worried that we would be late, but there was nothing to worry about, because you are in expert hands."

She continued to speak to him, seemingly oblivious to what just happened.

"Well, it was fun riding with you. Look, if anything like this ever happens again, don't be afraid to ask, alright? Yeah, I know what you're thinking: you're thinking that it would seem really weird for a 15-year-old kid to ask for favors from his, not bragging here, attractive young teacher, especially in this day and age where people would assume that something's up. But we'll know that there's nothing, and that they're just assuming. It's like my grandmother used to say: People will assume because everyone's an a*s except for you and me. Oh, you would love my grandmother, she's a riot."

"But more than anything," she continued, "she used to tell me, Tiff, you should always remember to try and help your neighbors when you can. Granted, she was always terrible to people, but regardless of that, I'm your neighbor. And I'm your teacher, and I promise I'd do the same for any of my other students. So look, regardless of what others say, if you ever need anything, don't be afraid to ask. Alright?"

As he listened more to her talk, he could tell that she honestly was being sincere. His initial reactions of her seemed correct; she really was a good-hearted person. So he shook her hand in agreement.

"So, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Like I said anything."

With that, he said...

"Is it okay if I cry in front of you? Because I really need to let out right now before going inside."

"Um... sure," she replied.

"... Actually, no, I'm fine. See you in class."

Later, in English class...

"Jonas," said his friends, "you actually made it on time."

"Yep."

"So, what'd you have to do to make it on time," asked Ed.

He replied, seeing an opportunity "Oh, you know... broke the laws of physics, went beyond the impossible and kicked reason to the curb."

"Damn it, Jonas," replied a disgruntled Hare, "why do you keeping quoting shows we don't know?"

"It amuses me."

"Alright, class," said Ms. Simmons as she entered the room, "please take your seats. Now if you'll turn to page 12 after the Introduction..."

And as he turn toward the page, Jonas got the distinct feeling,

'You know what... this is going to be a really interesting year.'

*Disclaimer: I am not saying that English teachers nor the subject they teach are not cool. I have had cool English teachers. This was merely a joke.

Author's Note

Just say what you think could improve the story or humor.

Also, if you can include any tips for writing without getting distracted by everything around you easier, I'd appreciate that as well.