Chapter 2 I walk inside my school, Mayview High School. I look around at all the students. To the left of me, I see a group of nerds. Not ones that study all the time, but the ones that smell bad and love anime. There is nothing wrong with loving anime, but these kids ACT like they are in an anime. They say poorly pronounced Japanese words instead of common phrases. I start walking past the group, but I step on something. I look down to see that I stepped on a figurine of some anime girl. I lean down to pick it up, but then I hear an ear-piercing shriek. “YOU DARE STEP ON MY GODESS? FOR SHAME! YOU ARE FOREVER BANISHED FROM OUR LAND!” One of the nerds pushes me over, grabs the figurine, and walks away. “Ok?” I continue walking towards my class, trying to forget that ever happened. Finally, I reach my homeroom class. I look at the seating chart on the chalkboard. I see that the desks are arranged in pairs. Aria…Aria…Aria…there! Seat 12. Next to… “CHERRI?” Everyone looks at me. I accidentally said that aloud. “Sorry!” I bow quickly and head to my seat. Out of anyone to sit with, I have to sit with Cherri. I slump into my chair and start arranging my desk. I put my textbooks in my desks in order of my class periods, and put my pencil case, water bottle, and eraser and pencil in a perfect ninety-degree angle. I reach down to put my bag under my chair. I lean down under the desk and put the bag down. As I sit back up, I see a hand covering the corner of my desk. I look to my desk-mates seat, and, lo and behold, Cherri is reaching over to stop me from hitting my head. “Really. Was that necessary?” I say bitterly. “Of course! I don’t want to damage that pretty head of yours.” I scoff and turn away. My teacher walks into the room. “Good morning class! My name is Ms. Rasher, and I will be your homeroom and math teacher for this year!” She spoke with so much cheer, making me forget all my worries. Ms. Rasher is a tall black-haired woman, with a blinding smile. Her overalls are stained with paint, and her shirt is a bold polka-dot pattern. Her attire matches her attitude perfectly. Ms. Rasher walks to the chalkboard and picks up a piece of chalk. She writes her name on the board, as well as a small drawing of a rabbit. “To kick off the year, we should do something easy and fun! When I call your name for attendance, come up to the chalkboard, write your name, and draw something that resembles yourself. Sound good?” My class agrees and exclaims. Ms. Rasher calls the first name, Winn. A short boy walks to the front of the class. He has on a large t-shirt and biker shorts. He writes his name on the board with confidence, then draws the sun next to it. He turns and faces the class, giving a warm smile, and walks back to his desk. “Next is Cherri! Is Cherri here?” Ms. Rasher says. “Watch this,” Cherri whispers to me. She got up and skipped to the chalkboard. She writes her name down and made the dot in the ‘I’ of her name a heart. She then drew a puppy next to her name. She turned to face the class, and then did the Macarena. The class erupts with laughter, and I’ll admit, I laugh too. Once Cherri finishes the Macarena, she bows to the class. My classmates think it’s over, but then Cherri turns around. She puts her right hand on her invisible hat and starts moonwalking back to her seat. The class starts to laugh again. Finally, Cherri reaches her seat and sits down next to me. “You really are something, aren’t you, Cherri,” I sigh. “Does that mean you think I’m cool?” Cherri replies with a sly grin. “Never in a million years.” “Alright! That’s the spirit! Next is…Aria!” Ms. Rasher exclaims. I hear my name and freeze. I don’t know what to draw! I walk towards the chalkboard and write my name down. I look at the other drawings on the board. A dog, huh? I know what I can draw! I draw a circle. Then 2 triangles, 2 smaller circles, a ‘w,’ and 6 small lines. “Aww! Such a cute kitty!” Ms. Rasher says sweetly. “Next is Hannah!” I walk back to my desk and sit down. I look to my right and see Cherri staring at me, lost in thought. “What?” I say. “I drew a puppy, right?” she says. “Yep.” “And you drew a cat, correct?” “Uh-huh.” “That means, we are a perfect match,” Cherri says with a honey voice. She winks at me, and I turn away. “Not a chance. You’re getting ahead of yourself.” “We’ll see.”
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