Chapter 6

 

       Bridget looked around at the small, crowded lunchroom as she approached upon the door-less entryway of the cafeteria. She had no idea where to sit. She knew she could sit with Veronica and Julie, but for some reason, she didn’t want to. As she sighed deeply, and transferred her brown paper bag to her other hand, she took a step in and headed towards the far side of the cafeteria, where the eighth graders sat.

          Bridget quickly spotted Julie and Veronica at a table in the middle. The whole entire bench was filled with fashion-forward-looking girls, all wearing their hair, make-up, clothes, shoes, and faces to the latest style. Most of them looked like airbrushed Photo-shopped models, and on top of that, they looked pretty intimidating, too.

          Fortunately for Bridget, she had the characteristic of liking meeting new people. But for some reason, she just didn’t want to sit at that table. Even though they were just the same as her, age and all, she was hesitant to approach it.

          So, to save herself from looking like a drooling new kid, Bridget pretending to pace around some more, hoping she may find Henry in this mess. He was the only person she felt comfortable around, and, quite frankly, the only person she really knew.

          Okay, Bridget thought. Look for a slender guy with black hair and a navy shirt on. Every second she took to find a seat made her look even more like a friendless loser, which she didn’t want to be.

          She looked intently, all around her, to find Henry, but he wasn’t anywhere. But just as she was going to her last resort- Julie and Veronica’s table- she felt a double-tap on her shoulder.

          “Bridget,” Henry said. Bridget whipped around to see him smiling right behind her. “You look lost,” he chuckled.

          “Lovely.” Bridget laughed with him. “That’s just how I wanted to look.”

          Henry’s expression turned more serious. “Well, if it’s a table you’re looking for; you’re welcome to sit with us. All of us are in ICGS, so maybe we could explain it to you a little more. I’m sure they’d be glad to meet a possible member on the team. Charlotte, the vice president, will be especially"‘’ Henry was cut off by a nasal, girly voice.

          “Bridget! There you are. Julie and I were looking for you! We wanted you to meet the rest of our friends.” Veronica smiled brightly, every white tooth gleaming.

          Bridget looked questionably at Henry. She really wanted to meet the rest of the club. But would Veronica and Julie be offended if she didn’t sit with them? Still, no matter how many questions she asked to herself, she was still giving Henry the same dumb look.

          Fortunately for Bridget, Henry could read expressions. “It’s okay, you can sit with them. Charlotte and the rest of them can meet you sometime else.” His tone was upbeat, but his face was downcast. Bridget could tell he was a little hurt.

          “Thank you Henry, for the offer, but I---‘’ Bridget was cut off.

          “Really, it’s alright, no need to apologize.” Henry said. “See you in the hall!” He walked over to his table where all of the ICGS members waited for him.

          Before Bridget could say anything back, Veronica and Julie sat her down at the table filled with the airbrushed models and began to talk.

          “Why was Henry Vongaurt talking to you?” A girl with dark hair asked from across the table. She had only a salad and a water bottle in front of her, and every bit of it looked untouched.

          “Umm, well,” Bridget was ready to reply, but Julie cut her off and began to talk about something else.

          “How has your day been so far, Bridget?” she asked, putting up her ash-blonde hair into a bun.

          “Oh, great.” She replied. “The science teacher seems a little strict, though. I hope she isn’t like this the whole year.”

          “Mrs. Jefferson…” Veronica laughed, peeling her clementine. “I hope she teaches well, because if she doesn’t, I think I might fail.” Veronica looked genuinely frightened at the fact that she may not pass a class.

          “Oh please,” The dark haired girl said.

          “What?” Veronica said, looking curious.

          “Veronica, you know that you haven’t gotten anything but A’s since fourth grade on your report cards. Mrs. Jefferson isn’t the toughest teacher we’ve ever had,” she flipped her hair over her left shoulder. “Everyone knows that are the smartest girl in the grade.”

          Veronica bushed. “Thanks, Olivia, but I think there are a couple people more intelligent than me.”

          Julie spoke up. “Yeah, Henry Vongaurt’s one of those really smart people. He’s involved in that one club, International Culture Study, or something? I’m not sure.”

The dark haired girl, Olivia, nodded in agreement. “Yeah, why was he talking to you, anyway?” She asked to Bridget.

          Bridget paused. “Uh, well, out lockers are next to each other and he was sort of the first person I saw here, and, well, I got to know him a little. He seems really nice.”  Bridget managed.

          Olivia looked at Bridget in surprise. “Well…that’s Henry I guess…” she said. Then she laughed. “He’s kind of annoying, don’t you think? Like, he’s too…nerdy. One time, I was partners with him for this social studies project last year for this thing we had to do on the Industrial Revolution, and OH MY GOSH, he took it way to far. We ended up making one whole backboard for the steamboat, and the locomotive. The criteria said to write a report, and one backboard/poster on your choice of Industrial accomplishments. Him and me wrote two reports, and made three backboards. Now that’s going way over the top.” She scoffed.

          Bridget couldn’t figure out what to say. She didn’t want to jump to his defense, or else Olivia and Veronica and Julie would thinks she liked him. Even though she did in fact like his character, she couldn’t stand up for him. And that made her feel miserable.

          “Well, you got the highest grade, didn’t you? Mr. Turner gave you a 105%. That’s nothing to frown at.” Julie said. Bridget was thankful for her speaking up.

          “Yeah, I guess. But it still was a lot of work.” Olivia replied. “And he wasso obnoxious.”

          Bridget decided to start eating her lunch now that she knew people were in full conversation mode. She swiftly unzipped her lunch pack, and tried to act interested in all of the conversations going on. Most of them were about clothes, shopping, how ugly Mary’s new glasses were, et cetera et cetera. Occasionally, she would nod trying to look concerned in the discussions. But really, she was oblivious to them. What she was really thinking about is how stupid it was that she had to do what she really didn’t want to do, just for something she thought would look “right”. But all she really wanted was to be over at the table by the entrance. The table where everyone had the same interests as her: geography, nations around the world, culture. But no. She had to sit with people she barley had anything in common just to look “politically correct”.  She had to hurt her only friend’s feelings to sit with shop-a-holics and gossips. What kind of privilege was that anyway? She didn’t want to be here. She wanted to be where she belonged. With people she liked. With people who didn’t care what she looked like, or how much gossip she could offer up in a conversation. They were people who were conversant, real, and down-to-earth. They were people she liked. They were people like her.

         

                             ~

          For the bulk of the day, Bridget took the terrible feeling of hurting Henry outside the lunchroom. She wanted to apologize for crushing his offer just to sit with popular girls. Most of the time, she didn’t do things because it looked right. She did to because it was right. That was why she felt so bad about what she had done. She decided after lunch she would see him at his locker and tell him she’d love to sit with the ICGS club tomorrow. But he was gone before she even arrived. And that’s what happened after the next class, and the next one, and the next one, and finally she saw him exiting the building after the last bell rang, when it was time to go home. But she couldn’t go after him. It was too late. Therefore, she went home, to the Hunt’s, realizing that for once her life, her first day back wasn’t what she wanted it to be.

                                     

~

 

The vibrant red door at the Hunt’s front entrance opened automatically before Bridget had the chance to open it. She had figured that Mrs. Hunt was eagerly waiting for her and Sophie.

          “So,” she said excitedly, as she greeted them inside. “How was my new seventh and tenth grader’s day at school?” Mrs. Hunt crossed her arms across her small build, her blonde curly hair bouncing as she smiled at them.

          “It was great!” Sophie said brightly. “Melanie and Lauren asked me to sit with them at lunch!” She was wearing a wide grin. “And Melanie’s in all of my classes. And no Lauren! Isn’t that just wonderful?” She urged Bridget and her mom to respond by grinning even wider than she already had.

          Finally Mrs. Hunt broke the silence. “That’s great, honey, but,” Mrs. Hunt softened her expression. “Haven’t they been a little, well, unpleasant to you these past months?”

          Sophie giggled. “No, mom. Don’t you see? They asked me to sit withthem. That means they like me. Obviously they didn’t mean anything by their jokes at the sleepover.” Sophie paused. “I’m going to go upstairs now, and Instant Message Lauren.” She raced up the stairs as if there was a million dollars waiting for her at the top. Mrs. Hunt finally turned to Bridget when she heard Sophie’s door shut.

          “I’m a little concerned about Sophie.” Mrs. Hunt walked into the kitchen, Bridget following, as she sighed. “She tells me that those girls are the worst and that she’ll never ever talk to them again. But then, today, she is excited because they are nice to her at lunch. I just want her to have friends that are kind to her always, not just occasionally.” Mrs. Hunt got out a cutting board from the bottom shelf of the cabinet.

          “I see where you are coming from, Mrs. Hunt.  From what she tells me, Lauren and Melanie are quite the popular sort.” Bridget replied, trying not to sound impertinent.

          Mrs. Hunt nodded as she chopped up a lettuce. “Yes, but unfortunately, the popular ones are usually the ones that are inconsistent in being good friends.” Mrs. Hunt sighed one last time. “But, you don’t need to worry about Sophie.” She nodded her head back and forth, like she shouldn’t have been discussing it with Bridget in the first place. Then she brightly smiled at Bridget again, brushing off the temporary mood that hung in the air.

“Anyway,” Mrs. Hunt slid all of the lettuce off the cutting board into a wooden bowl. “How was your day at school?” Mrs. Hunt went over to the stainless steal fridge and pulled out a container of cherry tomatoes.

“Oh, it was great. I really like my classes. And I made a new friend…” Bridget trailed off as she said that. Henry was still her friend. But was she stillhis? The thought of him taking back about what he had said about her in Algebra II made her dismal.

          “That’s wonderful hon. I’m so glad you had a good time. Did you get lost at all? I wouldn’t be surprised if you did. It’s a small school, but it goes in so many different directions.” Mrs. Hunt smiled, while she dumped the cherry tomatoes into the colander to wash them. Bridget watched them tumble out. 

          “Well, it was really hard finding them, that’s for sure. They were sospread apart. It was hard to tell if you were in the right class half the time, because you didn’t think that room twenty was so far apart from room nineteen. It was on the other side of the school, I found out eventually.” Bridget laughed at her cluelessness.

          “I understand completely.” Mrs. Hunt said, as she was peeling and slicing carrots. “I went to that school when I was your age, and all I can say is, whoever designed the format of the school didn’t do a very neat job.”

          Bridget smiled. There was a small pause as Mrs. Hunt scurried from left to right trying to find her cabbage.

Finally, Bridget decided to ask about something when Mrs. Hunt retrieved it. “Is Concord one of the more wealthy schools in the area?”

          Mrs. Hunt stopped at the counter Bridget was standing behind. “Well, it certainly does have money. Why?” She asked.

          “Well, there is this certain club that I was interested in, and I learned that they take trips every now and then if they win this certain competition to different countries that they study for the whole year. What I was wondering was how they pulled all of that money together for so many students to go on a trip that large?” Bridget pondered.

          “Well, since our school is so small, and we get very high achievement test scores, we receive a large amount of money for funding programs for our more gifted types. But before I go on,” Mrs. Hunt exhaled as she started to dry off her hands on a green towel.  “What kind of club are you interested in?” Mrs. Hunt asked.

          “It’s a club called International Cultural and Geographical Studies, meaning, the people in the club research a country until this competition in December when they present papers and backboards about its people, geography, history, flag, rulers, et cetera. Then, as I heard from Henr---, I mean, I heard that they needed to pay for some of this trip. If they win, that is. If they did, the trip would be to Greece.” Bridget explained.

          “Oh, yes. Lizzy told me about that. Is it associated with gifted programs or anything like that?” Mrs. Hunt asked, now wrapping the top of the wooden salad bowl.

          “Um, I don’t think so…but, to stay in the club, you need to have a 3.7 grade point average. You’d think that was for a select group of academic achievers, which would relate to being gifted, right?” Bridget inquired.

          “Yes, of course. That would definitely be considered as a gifted club, which would most certainly be funded.” Mrs. Hunt said, as she slid the bowl in the fridge.

“So you think it would be possible to go to Greece for the ICGS club?” Bridget asked.

          “I suppose it is possible.” Mrs. Hunt walked over to Bridget’s side, finally giving her undivided attention. “But it depends. How many people are in the club?”        

 

“Um, well, I’m not extremely sure, but I’m sure I’ll find out sooner or later.” Bridget replied.

          Mrs. Hunt put her hands on her hips. “Well, it sounds like fun to me, and if I were you, I wouldn’t hesitate to sign up.” She then walked towards the laundry room; but Bridget stopped her      before she could reach the door.

          “Mrs. Hunt?” She asked.

          “Yes?” she said, turning.

          “Were my school records sent to the school from Oxford?” Bridget called.

          “As a matter of fact, they were.” Mrs. Hunt said, completely turned towards Bridget now. “Why, do you need them for something?”

          “Oh, well, I was just wondering if I could use them to check to see if I am eligible to join, you know, the club.” Bridget asked politely.

          “I’m sure if you asked the director of the club to see if you could get them for eligibility, the office would let you have them for that.” Mrs. Hunt answered.

          “Great! Thanks, Mrs. Hunt,” Bridget said, as she walked towards the stairs.

          “Your welcome, hon,” Mrs. Hunt said, as she entered upon the laundry room door.

          Bridget then ran up the stairs to her room and got out her orange bag. She unzipped it and pulled out her phone, to see if anyone had called her. It displayed that no one had. Bridget then snapped it shut and then, once again, flopped down on her bed, waiting for the next day to come. Just this time, she wasn’t so concerned about all of the other people at school and about how she would appear to them. She was more concerned about how she treated and acted around one particular person. And that person was Henry.

 

Reviews

[Short.Nerd]

SHe should'v esat with Henry. WHo cares if he's a nerd he is an AWEsOME NERD! :D Haha Imma nerd and I know that for a fact we're awesome. lol... Can't wait to read more!

[compositionc]

AWH. Veronica and Julie sound fake too. I wish Bridge kindly refused their offer and wnt to sit with Henry. I hope she sits with Henry and they become really really good friends. I like Henry. He seems cool. And I don't like Concord. WHY DO THEY GET ALL THE MONEY?
Epic chapter.