Chapter 2: Arken White

Chapter 2: Arken White

     Shane opened his eyes from a restless night of bad dreams and cold air. The heater for the house wasn’t working and his mom promised him that she would get it fixed over the weekend. Well it’s Monday morning and Shane still has two blankets on his bed. He got out of his bed, stretching the sleep out of him and walked towards the window. He pulled his thermal sleeve over his palm and wiped his room window clean. He looked out the window and saw the mailman walking past his neighbor’s house and going to his. He immediately ran out of his room, knocking over his floor lamp and took a swift left out the door. He shuffled clumsily down the stairs and skidded towards the front door. He opened the door, still recovering from a near fall, to reveal the mailman pulling out envelopes from his bag.

     “Shane,” the startled mailman said, “…excited to get your mail? Here.”

     “Thanks, any letters from the university” Shane asked.

     “Doesn’t look like it today. I’m sure they’ll send you something soon.”

     “Yeah…you’re right,” Shane said as he took the mail from the mailman.

     “See you tomorrow bud,” the mailman said as he walked off Shane’s porch. Shane turned around and closed the front door slowly. He looked through the mail and then tossed them onto a side table. He began to walk back up the stairs defeated when his mom yelled for him.

     “Shane…you have 20 minutes until the final bell. I hope you’re ready. That whole Saturday school tardy thing is really starting to disrupt my weekend mornings,” she said.

     “Well if you would drive me there, I won’t be late,” Shane said under his breath.

     “What was that?”

     “Nothing mom,” Shane said as he walked back into his room. He entered his room to find his cat Sherry on his bed next to the old rugged pair of blue jeans and a brown thermal long sleeve. Shane’s cat was a birthday gift from his father before his abrupt disappearance. He glanced at his clothes and then looked away. He knew his mother must’ve put his clothes on the bed. He walked past his bed towards the bathroom. Shane flicked the light on and looked in the mirror. “three more months of senior year Shane; you’re almost there. Can’t wait to get out of this town,” he said. He opened the mirror cabinet and grabbed his toothbrush. Once he finished brushing his teeth, he spat out the mixture of saliva and toothpaste. He gurgled some water and looked into the mirror. He then spat out the water and said, “who am I kidding.” He opened his mirror cabinet and placed his toothbrush back inside.

     He put the clothes his mother laid on the bed for him and grabbed his bag. He slowly walked down the stairs, making a loud knocking sound every time his foot landed. Shane opened the front door and yelled back inside, “Mom, I’m heading off to school now.”

     “Okay, don’t forget about afterschool. We have to meet with the principal about your tardies,” his mom replied from her bedroom.

     “Of course not…I can’t wait,” he replied as he closed the door. Shane stepped down his porch steps and walked towards the front gate. He glanced at the lawn and the dew of the morning grass made him upset because he knew he would have to mow the lawn later on that day.

     “Wait Shane,” his mom yelled from the second floor window facing the front. “What time was that meeting again,” she asked.

     “I don’t know…four,” Shane replied.

     “Alright, just making sure you remembered. I’ll meet you in the front then? We can walk to the office together.”

     “Yup,” Shane said as he closed the front door of the metal fence.

     He reached school with 10 minutes to spare. The first thought on his mind were lines of Othello that he would have to recite in first period English. He passed a sign posted with the words “Pacific High School” and “Home of the Hawks” painted in red and silver. Pacific High School was the newest high school in Scena, built specifically for the newer neighborhoods developed in the southeastern part of town. Shane called the people that lived in the area the “Upitties”. He lived in a rather mature neighborhood that wasn’t…the right fit for the new development and found it offensive if anyone asked if he was from those newer neighborhoods. Shane didn’t want to connect himself to any part of the “Scena Way”, or what Shane described when he first moved to Scena ten years ago as the “Scena Greed.” There are nine hundred students in the school, with four hundred of them being freshman. Shane belonged to the hundred or so who were lucky enough to say they were seniors. Pacific High School is separated into five buildings. Each building had its own distinctive look and personality. There was the “Main” building that housed the main office and the library. There was the “Academics” building that housed English, Math, and Social Science classes. Next to the “Academics” building was the “Science” building. Across the quad were the two other buildings; the one across from the “Academics” is the “Performance Art” building, where the theatre and art garages were located, and next to the “Performace Arts” or “P.A.” building was the “Physical Education” complex. Shane walked through the main metal gate and into the quad. He noticed the usual cliques standing at their usual spots. The Goths, with their all black attire and numerous chains hanging from every which direction, stood by the Performance Arts building. The jocks in their letterman jackets and cheerleaders in their red and grey windbreakers were sitting on benches by the Physical Education complex. The book worms and the school “geeks” stood by the Library or sat on the benches playing card games by the “Academics” building. Shane prided himself in not belonging to a stereotypical group and said they were just defense mechanisms that one chose to be a part of because of their lack of self-esteem. “Tis neither here….nor there,” Shane whispered as he walked towards the “Academics” building. Each building is designed differently to showcase the subjects each building housed. The Academics building was walled with red bricks and the front door resembled a gothic door one would see in a large cathedral. Windows lined one side of the building from ground to roof and Shane sometimes wondered if anyone conjured the idea of throwing large items out the second story windows. Shane noticed his literature circle standing by the gothic door that leads into the building.

     “Well there he is,” Miranda said to Leroy in relief. Miranda, whom everyone called the red-headed step child, and Leroy, the self-proclaimed personality of the school, are the only two people Shane confided in since grade school. Miranda grinned at Shane as he walked up to the two of them.

     “Shane….we have five minutes,” Leroy said apprehensively. He crossed his arms and shifted his weight from one leg to the other.

     “Okay, yeah…sorry guys, but I think it is ridiculous that Mr. Seymour is making us recite these lines. I mean I am fine with doing it, but what is the point? When am I really going to say anything in real life that resembles words from Othello? It would be cool if teachers start teaching from books about our time and not of some dude from five thousand years ago…by the way, did any of you guys receive acceptance letters yet?” Shane asked.

“Not yet,” Miranda said.

“Me neither,” Leroy responded.

  Miranda looked at Leroy and shrugged. The three of them, Miranda, Shane and Leroy began walking to their class. In the hallway, there were banners of club names pinned on the wall. “Chinese club”, “Martial Arts Club”, “Free to Be,” were some of the many that were posted. Shane felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around. There was nobody there. He then turned to Leroy, who is known for practical jokes, but Leroy looked straight ahead.

 “Shane, are you sure you’re ready? You remember the last time we had to perform in his class? You know how Seymour is with his books and all those crazy characters,” Miranda said apprehensively.

“Yeah, I know,” Shane said.

“And yeah, dude was crazy when we forgot to do the assignment on the Technology Annexation,” Leroy responded. “It’s not like we all don’t know what happened two hundred years ago. Humans come up with the idea that we should start using machinea and science to help us instead of living in the Old Age and being all barbaric. What else is there to know? Thy teacher is malicious and foul!” There was a short pause in conversation as they walked down the hall.

“Leroy…that actually sounded good,” Shane broke the silence. He paused for a second and then reassured, “Guys, if you think I’m not ready, I am. I just…I think it’s all unnecessary that’s all.”

“I got thou my lord,” Leroy replied. The three of them reached the end of the hall where room A116 was. There was a sign posted on the front door. It read, “Mr. Seymour’s first period senior English class, report to room A216.”

“What? A216? Isn’t that freakazoid’s room,” Leroy said. Freakazoid was a nick name given to Mrs. Katoid who taught in room A216. She was the other senior English teacher. Mrs. Katoid had a reputation of coming to class dressed in the attire of the main characters from the novels her classes were reading. She made sure her classes read a novel every week and insisted that novels were the mediums in which our society trained young people into becoming active, positive living adults. Although Leroy, Miranda and Shane found Mr. Seymour’s class uneventful, they’d much rather have Mr. Seymour’s class for four straight years than to have Mrs. Katoid’s for a single year.

“You’re right, it is her room,” Shane responded. “Come on guys, let’s get this spectacle on the road…wait, if Mr. Seymour isn’t here…we don’t have to perform today!”

“Of course you would be happy with that Shane,” Miranda said morosely. “I think we should still perform even though Mr. Seymour isn’t here. Maybe Mrs. Katoid will be grading us instead. Or maybe Mr. Seymour and Mrs. Katoid are sharing the class to watch us perform our lines? He might be here ya know,” Miranda said.  Leroy and Shane look at each other in shock.

“Really, Miranda? Really? Walk two steps behind us please,” Leroy said. Shane chuckled and the two of them starting walking up the stairs to the second floor.

“Jerks,” Miranda replied as she shoved past the boys and walked briskly upstairs.

“Woman, you better watch yourself! I might not know kung fu, but I know crazy foo! Wataww” Leroy said jokingly as he threw karate chops and kicks at Miranda. Miranda stopped and turned around. She approached Leroy slowly. “Okay, Okay,” Leroy interjected as he put up his hands in submission, “I was just kidding girl.”

The three of them reached A216. The door was already open and Leroy peeked inside. “Nobody’s in the class yet, you wanna wait,” Leroy said.

“Are you scared Leroy,” Miranda asked.

“Pshh…I don’t wanna be the first person to walk into class. I have a reputation to uphold girlie. You on the other hand have every right if you want. Age before beauty,” Leroy responded as stepped aside to let her through.

“Hehe, come on guys,” Shane said as he walked inside. Mrs. Katoid’s room was filled with books on the back wall. The front wall had posters of famous authors from Shakespeare to Steinbeck and from Thoreau to Faulkner. The covers of books filled the other wall. The far wall was lined with windows from floor to ceiling. Shane abruptly stopped at the door when he noticed the figure whose back is turned towards the door. He is facing out the window. He turned around and smiled at Shane.

“I’m sorry for being so rude. Come on in, Mrs. Katoid is out today with a cold. My name is Arken White,” said the man with long straight black hair that reached his waist and light grey eyes. His attractive ivory face grinned. Shane stood at the door, still hesitant to walk in. Miranda pushed in between Shane and Leroy and sat down in the front row.

“Good morning Mr. White,” Miranda said as she looked at the two boys giving them the eye to come in. Arken walked to the teacher desk and sat down. He smiled at Miranda, opened the Scena Agenda and dived into the local section. Miranda looked at Shane and Leroy and opened her mouth like she was mimicking a scream. Both guys realized that Miranda was extremely excited to be in the class for no other reason than to be in Mr. White’s presence. The boys both walked in and sat behind Miranda. More students started walking in and stopped to notice Arken. Miranda took out a compact and looked into it, powdering her face and immediately putting it away when Arken put down the paper. The bell rang and a few students scrambled into the door. The room was full of conversation even after the bell rang. Arken got up out of the teacher desk and walked to the classroom door. He grabbed the door handle and slammed the door shut. The noise of the slamming door made the class fall into complete silence.

“My name is Mr. White and I will be your substitute for the day. I was informed that you are in fact Mr. Seymour’s English class and not Mrs. Katoid’s. Mrs. Katoid’s class is on a discovery trip at a local museum. I imagine you might be concerned in why he is gone. In fact, the school does not know how long he will be gone and therefore, I will be your substitute until he comes back. For the time being, I will try to make this time period very easy for you as long as you abide by the rules I set out and respect me as your teacher,” Arken said. He turned around and wrote his name on the blackboard. “My name is Arken White but you will call me Mr. White. My rules are simple; you do not talk when I talk and you will only use the restroom between passing periods. You must stay engaged in your work and you must respect each other.”

“Dude! We got Sergeant Uptight,” Leroy whispered to Shane.

“Again, there is no talking when I am talking,” Arken interjected. “What is your name young man,” Arken asked Leroy as he walked up to his desk.

“Leroy Jenkins.”

“Mr. Jenkins, are these rules unfair,” Arken asked.

“Uh…no sir,” Leroy responded unsure as the rest of the class giggles. Arken stared at Leroy for what seemed like a minute before Leroy moved in his seat uncomfortably.

“I see,” Arken said as he walked away from Leroy’s desk. “Anyone in here that does not like the rules I set in my class can leave right now.” He paused. “Again, it is my job to make this room a safe learning environment for everyone. Anyone trying to change that can leave now.” Arken paced around the front of the room, hands behind his back. “Let’s begin. First I will take roll and then I will talk about your assignment for the day.” Arken walked to the teacher desk and grabbed the roll sheet. He sat down and started calling out the names of various students and stopped to make sure students replied orally when called on instead of just raising their hands. “Please say here or present,” he said. He called Leroy’s name and then Miranda’s. Shane knew his name was always one of the last to be called because his last name is Young. “Shane….Young….,” Arken called and looked up to see who responded.

“Here,” Shane said, doodling in his notebook.

“Look up at me,” Arken responded. Everyone turned to Shane to see his response. Shane looked up to see everyone looking at him and he then looked at Arken. Their eyes stared at each other for a few moments and then the uneasiness in looking at Arken’s eyes made Shane look back down to his notebook. “Mr. Young, never once did I say you were to draw in your book,” Arken said as he got up out of his chair.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t think I was bothering anybody,” Shane responded.

“How do you know? Did you ask anybody if it bothered them? Did you ask me,” Arken said as he slammed the roll sheet on the desk. Everyone in the class jumped when the roll sheet made a thump, everyone except Shane. Arken walked up to Shane’s desk and put both of his arms on Shane’s desk. Shane looked pass Arken and took a deep breath. He then closed his notebook. Arken immediately turned around and said, “today, I want to get to know the students I will be working with. Your assignment is to write a one page summary of who you are. Please include your interests, your family history and your future ambitions. You have 45 minutes. Please begin.” Arken walked back to his seat and began scanning through the roll sheet again. He hovered his finger over every line. Every once in a while, Arken would glance up at Shane, as if he’s studying him or looking to see if he’s on task.

“Shane, dude up on you man,” Leroy whispered.

“You’re not writing when you’re talking,” Arken said as he glanced up at Leroy.

“Sorry sir, I was asking Shane for a pencil,” Leroy said. Arken went back to his reading. Leroy looked to make sure Arken wasn’t looking and lifted his notebook for Shane to see. Leroy drew a caricature of Arken holding onto a leash wrapped around Shane’s neck. Shane took a shot at Leroy’s shoulder, punching him playfully. Arken witnessed the covert move and got up out of his chair. He walked over to Shane, who did not notice the hint Leroy gave him as Leroy stopped giggling and coughed.

“Shane…Young. This is the third time I have had to keep you on track. Your behavior is unacceptable and I cannot allow you to continue with this childish endeavor,” Arken said quietly. Shane looked into Arken’s eyes and then looked out the window in disbelief. “Do you have anything to say to defend yourself,” Arken asked.

“Dude, get off my case man. I’m not trying to be disrespectful. You’re just acting stupid,” Shane responded belligerently. The whole class stopped writing in their journals and turned their attention to the conversation between Shane and Arken.

Arken grinned. “I expected that reaction from you Shane. After school detention. Be here at three forty-five,” Arken said as he walked away.

“You can’t give me detention. You’re just a substitute. You don’t have the authority to keep me after school,” Shane objected pugnaciously.

“Stop!!!” Arken yelled back as he slammed his fists on Shane’s desk. He glared into Shane’s eyes. Shane felt his anger dissipate and an uncontrolled desire to end the confrontation made him weak. His vision became slightly blurry and he could hardly keep his eyes open. The class was completely silent, waiting for Shane to respond. Leroy looked on; secretly hoping Shane would get up and walk out of class.

“Sir,” Leroy said, “if I may interject…I should be blamed because I..”

“Do not interject,” Arken responded, still looking at Shane.

“Yes sir…” Leroy said defeated. Miranda looked down at her assignment, hoping Shane would just stop. Shane couldn’t control his body. He couldn’t stop looking into Arken’s grey eyes. Arken turned away and calmly said, “Again, I wish to see you after school so we can discuss your behavior in my class. Everybody back to work,” Arken said and sat back down on his chair.

The rest of the class period fell completely silent. If there is one thing many teachers discussed during the beginning of each year, it is how to set a tone for the first day of class. Arken has set the tone that he was the omniscient ruler, and everyone else is subject to his command. After the short spectacle between Arken and Shane, nobody dared even ask a question without fearing punishment. Miranda slipped glances at Shane whenever she paused from writing and Leroy looked rather upset at the fact that he got his friend in trouble. Shane, defeated and not knowing why he didn’t react with defiance, began to do the work for Arken.

About ten minutes later, Shane felt a buzz in his left front pocket. Shane looked up and found Arken skimming through the technology section. He slid his left hand down his left pocket and pulled out his phone. He tried to sit complete still as he looked down at the screen of his phone. “SORRY ABOUT THAT BUD, I OWE YOU ONE.” Shane looked at Leroy to let him know he got his text but Leroy was busily writing into his paper. He looked toward the front desk and noticed Arken staring him down. Arken nodded in disapproval and Shane looked away.

The bell rang and Arken walked by the door. “Please hand your assignment into me as you walk out,” he said. One by one, like ants getting ready for winter, the students walked out the door while handing their papers to Arken. Not a soul in the room dared looked into his eyes.

 Leroy walked up and gave Arken a pat on the shoulder. “Here you go sir. That’s an A plus paper right there,” he said and smiled at Arken. Arken mimicked his smile as Leroy walked out the door. Miranda handed her work to Arken without looking at his direction nor did she pause to make sure Arken receive it from her hand. Shane did the same as Miranda did but Arken managed to stop him with a tug of his sleeve.

“Remember, you must come after school at three forty-five. I’ll be waiting,” Arken said.

“Eh…yeah, of course,” Shane said and walked quickly down the hallway to catch up with Leroy and Miranda.

“Dude, teacher tough enough for you,” Leroy sounded relieved as Shane caught up to them.

“Shane, I don’t know what you were thinking messing with that sub. You know you have a meeting after school with your mom and Principal Lantiss as it is. How are you gonna work out both situations,” Miranda said.

“First of all, I wasn’t messing with that sub. He probably just was trying to play the tough substitute role. Anyway, I’ve already figured it out. I’m not going to detention. That Arken whatever his name is probably won’t even be around tomorrow. And if he does show up tomorrow, I’ll just say I forgot about detention and serve it tomorrow,” Shane responded.

“My man…you see Miranda, that’s why me and Shane are the coolest cats in this school. We don’t let nobody tell us what to do, know what I mean,” Leroy responded, putting his arm around Shane’s shoulder.

“Right…that’s why when Mr. White confronted you in class you couldn’t even look him in the eye,” Miranda said.

“It’s cause I didn’t wanna scare him. You know these eyes charm the ladies and scare the haters,” Leroy said through his smile.

“Oh my god, you are so right. Anyway Shane, you sure you’re gonna make things work out? I saw how he was intimidating you. He slammed his fists on your table! What substitute does that?” Miranda asked.

“All champions know how to pick their battles, ain’t that right baby,” Leroy reassured Shane.

“Of course, see you guys later…” Shane said when he reached S214.

Shane wandered through the rest of the day thinking about the confrontation he had with Arken and why he wasn’t able to retaliate. Was Miranda right? Shane thought to himself. This Arken fellow must’ve known some voodoo magic trick because I couldn’t say anything. The end of the school day finally approached and Shane was sitting in his history class. He was staring into his history book, thinking about his meeting with Principal Latniss. Then another buzz came from his front left pocket. It was Miranda. The text read “DON’T 4GET ABOUT YOUR MEETING 2DAY. I BET YOU ALREADY FORGOT! I ALWAYS HAVE TO REMIND YOU!!!” Shane smiled and then looked back into his history book. Miranda, or Mira, as Shane called her, was more than just Shane’s best friend. She became the sister he never had, always protecting him, always knowing how Shane would behave even before he did himself.

 “Can anyone summarize the reading on Machiavelli,” Mr. Woods asked the class of restless seniors.  Everyone looked down into their notebooks hoping that because Mr. Woods doesn’t make eye contact with them, he wouldn’t call on them. “Mr. Young, you seem to be thinking really hard about the question. Can you please summarize last night’s reading?” All eyes turned to Shane. He looked up and realized he was called on. Shane couldn’t recall what Mr. Woods asked. He looked over to Leroy for help, but only found Leroy laughing and pointing a finger at him. Just then, a campus security walks into the classroom and approached Mr. Woods. The campus security looked at his clipboard, whispered something to Mr. Woods and Mr. Woods looked at Shane. “Shane, looks like Gerald here is picking you up.” Shane immediately got up out of his chair and grabbed his bag. He looked at Leroy and smiled, giving a nod as he walked towards the door.

“Come on son,” Gerald said, escorting Shane out the classroom.

“Mr. Woods, I can answer the question,” Leroy said as he raised his hand. Shane turned around to see his friend owing him one.

As they walked down the hall Shane, relieved because he didn’t have an answer for Mr. Woods, asked, “Did my mom request that I need picking up?”

“Uh…no,” Gerald said looking at his clipboard. “Says here I am to take you to A216. Mr. White called the office and asked that someone pick you up before the end of the day. I guess he wanted to make sure you were in his room at three forty-five. I’m to escort you there.” Shane looked at his watch. It read “three forty”.