Chapter 2 This Can't Be Happening

Text Me to Faith 6:33 A.M: I can't believe it is finally here...Senior year! I can't imagine walking into school without you! I punched the words into my iPhone and hit send.

     

Text Faith to Me 6:35 A.M.: Me either, but we will text between every class, ok? Her reply was immediate. You are only three hours away. We will hook up and do all our Senior stuff together. Just think, we get to do all the fun stuff twice! Once here, and again there! She was always looking on the bright side. How am I going to make it without her?
     

"Honey, let's go!" Mom's voice sang out from the bottom of the stairs like nails on a chalkboard. "Michael is ready to leave."
     

I didn't bother responding. The last thing I wanted to do was show up on my first day at school riding with a step-parent! How humiliating! But Mom refused to let me take her car to school, something about not knowing the roads yet. How in tarnation was I supposed to learn the streets of this backwoods town if she doesn't let me drive? That was my logic was it was lost on her. 
     

Text Me to Faith 6:40 A.M: I have got to get a car ASAP! DN3 is waiting. Gotta go. Love ya! I typed it out quickly and tossed my connection to civilization, aka my phone, in my bag.
     

"I would rather walk to school than ride with you," I spat at DN3, slamming the door as I got into his car.
     

"If that is what you want to do," he replied in that calm, serene tone he always used with me. "But you should know, it's at least five miles to get into town. I don't think you will make it to school by the first bell."

   

I thumped back in my seat. It was bad enough living in the same house with him, but to be trapped in the same car was too much. 

     

"You are going to love Holly Springs High," DN3 tried to make conversation. I just rolled my eyes and pretended not to listen. "They have a great football team." he beamed with pride like the team was his lovechild.

     

"Do I look like I play football?" I hissed and gave him my snarkiest lip curl.

     

"I am just making conversation to calm your nerves." He said to the windshield. I thought he could be nice all he wanted; however, I was not about to return the favor. "A new school can be intimidating." 

     

"Well, you are wasting your breath," I retorted in the snootiest voice I could muster. "I am not nervous in the slightest." Now, if only the swarm of butterflies in my stomach would get the memo before I threw up all over my book bag, all would be well.

    

The drive into town was silent. I refused to look at DN3. Instead, I stared out the side window the entire drive. My neck had a kink in it when I finally looked straight ahead at the brick building looming before us. HSHS was painted in black and red on a massive rock in front of the school. "Well, that's tacky" was my first thought. 

     

"That's the Victory Stone," DN3 stated with pride. "When one of the teams wins a State competition or championship, they get to paint the stone however they wish," he said, beaming like the stone was his creation. He scared the life out of me, making me jump. What I meant to be a private thought had slipped from my brain and escaped my mouth when I wasn't paying attention.

 

"Nice." was all I could utter. I was determined to hate this man, this town, this school, and even the cool accolades they gave their athletes, no matter what. I didn't want him to think I was impressed or even cared for, that matter.

DN3 pulled his black Volvo into the parking lot, bypassing the front entrance. I had a moment of panic.

"What are you doing?" I gasped. "I can check-in at the office on my own." I would be utterly humiliated for my step-disaster to walk me into the school like it was my first day of kindergarten! "I am finally a senior! Let me have my moment, please! I don't need a babysitter." my thoughts were racing as panic began to rise in my chest.

"I'm not walking you in. I'm parking." his matter of fact tone annoyed me.

 

"Why are you parking?" I barked in his direction.

  

"Because my classroom is here." I heard the silent "duh" loud and clear in my mind at the end of that statement.

     

"Wait, what? Here? At the high school?" stammering, I couldn't imagine him being smart enough to teach high school. "I assumed you taught little kids, like first graders."

     

"Nope, I teach English here at Holly Springs High." no wonder he beamed with pride over the Victory Stone. 

I audibly groaned and sank deeper into the leather seat. Can this day get any worse, God? I moaned in my head. What are you trying to do to me?

Stepping out, I announced over the roof of the car, "If you think I am walking in with you, you have another thing coming," I was setting the ground rules here, not him. "And don't speak to me if you see me in the halls. I will not acknowledge you." 

"Have it your way, Princess," he smirked smugly and headed towards the front doors of the school.

"My name is Frankie, not Princess!" I screeched. How infuriating! He just kept on walking, completely ignoring me. 

Squaring my shoulders confidently, I hitched my bag higher on my back and marched through the main entry of Holly Springs High School. I might as well get this over with, I sighed. Pulling the mammoth glass door open, it promptly snapped closed behind me faster than anything of that size should be able to move. The enormous door bulldozed me from behind and sent me tumbling into the main hall. Two hundred heads snapped simultaneously in my direction as I sprawled across the freshly polished linoleum. So much for being the cool new girl in school. My face turned fifty shades of red as I regained my composure and slinked off towards the office to get my class schedule. 

Walking into the main office, I felt like I was in a time warp. I could have been in the Administrative offices of Hickory High. I concluded that the same designer decorated all school offices. They all have the same beige carpet, dull, bland alabaster walls, woodgrain counters, and very few windows. Even the secretary looked eerily like Mrs. Schultz, Hickory High's secretary! She wore her hair in a tight bun, just like Mrs. Schultz. She had the same strand of fake pearls around her neck and a red striped polyester blouse that hugged her hips over a long black stretch skirt. Talk about Deja Vu! It was a weird sensation! 

"Can I help you?" asked alias Mrs. Schultz in the same high-pitched nasal voice.

'Yes, I'm Frankie Montgomery. I'm new-"

"Oh yes!" she exclaimed, interrupting me mid-sentence. "You are Mr. Winters' daughter!" 

"Mr. Winters married my Mom. I am not his daughter." I responded icily, certain she got the message. "Can I get my schedule, please?"

"Yes, just one moment," she recovered from my tone relatively quickly. "I will call your Lodestar, letting her know you have arrived."

"What is a Lodestar?" cocking my eyebrow in confusion. 

"Your guide. All seniors must perform a service project before graduation, and being a Lodestar is one way to fulfill the requirement. Your Lodestar will be taking you to classes for the next three days to help you acclimate to the school and your schedule," she informed me and went to a computer behind her to print my schedule and called over her shoulder, "Ms. Cresman will be here shortly."

Five minutes later, schedule in hand, I turned in time to see a red-headed girl bounce through the office doors. She was short, cute, and bouncy. Her hair was long and framed her freckled face beautifully. She spoke to the secretary for a minute and then turned to me, thrusting her hand forward.

"Hi! I'm Ginger," she announced with a smile in her voice. I awkwardly shook her hand in return. I wasn't used to such formalities from kids my age.

"I'm Frankie," I replied with only a tenth of her enthusiasm. 

"Oh, Frankie, I love your name! It is so unique." she mused. "Mine is so predictable," she said, twirling a long red strand around her index finger. "I wish my Mom had named me something unique like Cherry or Autumn." 

"Don't get too excited," I attempted to tame her mini-rant, "My real name is Frances, and I hate it! So I go by Frankie. Don't sell me out and introduce me as Frances." I was only half kidding with her. 

"Wow, we have mutual secrets to keep already!" she smiled like the sun. At the moment, she reminded me so much of Faith - always finding the silver lining. "Let's see your schedule and head to 1st period. The bell will be ringing soon." 

I smiled a genuine smile, the first natural smile since I left Hickory last week, and handed her the yellow piece of paper alias Mrs. Schultz had given me a few minutes ago. I hadn't even looked at it. 

"We have several classes together," she remarked thoughtfully. "Trigonometry, Biology, and English." She looped her arm in mine, and we started down the hall. "Trig is first, Room 210, Mr. Beloy. I hope you had your coffee this morning." she giggled. "You will need it to stay awake in his class." she beamed another bright smile at me, and off we went. 

She wasn't kidding about Mr. Beloy. As if Trigonometry wasn't dull enough, the poor man could only speak in a monotone. I started to think coffee wouldn't cut it in this class; a double shot energy drink might be required.

The rest of the day was uneventful. I met a lot of students, none of their names I remembered except for Ginger's. She was so sweet, always standing outside the classroom door when the bell rang, waiting for me. I knew it was part of being my Lodestar, but she made me feel like she wanted to help me, not that she had to help me. 

"Last class of the day!" Ginger chirped when I walked from my art class with charcoal-stained fingertips. 'We have English together with Mr. Winters. He is my favorite teacher!"   

"Michael Winters?" I stammered as my eyes bugged out.

"Yup!" excitement spewed from her pores.

"Why are you so excited?" I asked as calmly as I could, trying my best to keep the venom out of my tone. Dread cascaded over me, making my stomach churn. "It is English class, not front row tickets to see Justin Beiber!" I realized I was being overly harsh but seriously, God, I asked silently, do I have to be in DN3's class too?

"Oh, he is the best teacher!" she gushed. "He is so much fun in class. He is more like a friend than a teacher. Not to mention, he is H-O-T!" she spelled out with exaggerated emphasis on H-O-T. Now I knew I was going to be sick. 

"Come on," she said, dragging me down the hallway. "We don't want to be late for Mr. Hotness's class!" It was apparent my displeasure was not evident to her.

Hesitantly, I stepped through the door to Mr. Winter's English class. Hoping to go unnoticed, I stared straight at the floor and took a seat in the back. The smell of floor wax filled my nostrils, and I recoiled. 

Ginger sold me out just before I planted my butt in a seat. "Mr. W. we have a new student to our school." Ginger's red hair bounced as she spoke, "This is France- Uhm, Frankie Montgomery." she recovered quickly.

My face turned fifty shades of red as all eyes turned towards me. Please, God, don't let him embarrass me by allowing the entire class knows he is my step-disaster. I pleaded silently, fervently, but silently.

"Ms. Montgomery, welcome to our school and Senior English," he responded in a pleasing voice. "I hope you like it here."

Turning to address the rest of the class, he simply said, "I trust you all will make Frankie feel welcomed in here and elsewhere in the school if you see her. Now, take a seat and let's get this semester started!" he clapped his hands together and rubbed them like an evil mastermind with a sinister plot in mind. Everybody laughed...and took their seats.

"See, I told you he was cool!" Ginger was actually giddy. I think she had a crush on our teacher. 

"Oh, how gross is that?" I thought and sat down too.