Chapter 4

When I was a child, I always thought that summer occupied a third of a year. Growing up, I began to realize that I thought that not because summer felt like a longer time, but I wanted summer to last longer.

If I were to describe this summer in one word, I would say that this summer was a blur. Nothing very notable happened, except for the sleepover and most importantly, the trip to Mahogany. I spent quite a chunk of my summer at home, occasionally taking tranquil walks to a nearby park to just clear my mind out for a bit and breathe some fresh air.

Today, everything will change. I and hundreds of thousands of other young people like me will go back to the dreaded place we call school. The place where people get judged on what their personality is by the clothes that they wear or how good they look. The place where you get stacks and stacks of incomprehensible math homework. The place where there is something I would call “popularity capitalism”, where the popular people get more popular every passing second, and the unknown, unpopular people get more inconspicuous.

My backpack is filled with nothing but a blank notebook, a blue pen and an apple to serve as a snack. I leave the house at exactly half past eight, as the subway ride to the school will take no longer than ten minutes. Assembly is at a quarter past nine, and all people in the ninth grade are instructed to go to Room 205.

The subway ride is always filled with random surprises. As I take a seat, I see a man with a Mohawk made with an assortment of bright colors, a middle aged woman next to a baby stroller with what I can assume is her grandson, a teenager maybe a few years older than I with piercings just above her lip and a streak of purple hair and a couple, maybe in their early-twenties talking to one another.

“Excited?” Asks Lizzie, coincidentally sitting next to me on the train. I didn’t recognize her as I was busy describing the people in front of me.

“Exactly the opposite.” I answer. I’m not the type of person who prefers homework than free time.

“Well, we’ll see how you feel after you’ve met new people.”

“I’m still not looking forward into this.”

-++-

Liz and I walk towards Room 205, located on the second floor where everyone is supposed to meet. She immediately sees Danica, to which she gives her a hug and leaves me. I wave at Danica. “Hey Elliot!” She says excitedly.

The worst feeling is to be alone on the first day, so I just greet her and give her a smile as I search for Lola and Louise. Where are they? I think to myself.

“Excuse me” One man says, as the whole crowd turns quiet in the corridor. “My name is Martin. Please look at the bulletin board that way to find out which class you are in. You will be meeting in the rooms assigned to you.

I notice that all of these people scattered around are going to be in ninth grade. Some of them will be in the same class as I, and some will be split up into another class. I manage to squeeze myself into the sea of people in front of the bulletin board to figure out which class I am and I see this:

9th Grade, Class A
Andrew	Henry
Ashton	Kate
Danica	Lizzie
Elliot	Lola
Farah	Louise
Francesca	Maggie
Fred	Mitchell (Mitch)
Gabrielle	Nash

“Elliot!” Louise and Lola say in unison. “We’re in the same class!” The happiness on their face is quite indescribable.

We walk to the room together and sit down. “How does it feel with Gabrielle in the same class as you?” Louise asks.

“The same feeling you feel with Mitch right there.” I say.

“Okay everyone,” Martin begins once again. “Please quiet down.” It’s a bit rare to see the class actually turning down the volume of their chit-chat. “My name is Martin, and I will be your homeroom teacher. Welcome to your first day in school.”

As Martin explains the school’s history and background, Louise nudges my arm. “I can already tell that this is going to be a very fun year.”

“Why do you think so?” I ask curiously.

“Well, for starters, Mitch, Gabrielle and Fred.” She pauses. “And all the new people seem very nice. I got to talk to some of them earlier.”

“I bet you all of them will change in the next two weeks.” Based from most of the occurrences last year, my statement is ought to be true. A prime example would be Mona, who was this delightful girl at the beginning of the year. My faith in humanity has obviously downgraded.

“We’ll see.” She murmurs back.

“Okay, so let’s start by getting to know one another. Yes, sir, please start.” Martin points to me.

“Uhh…” I delay for a bit, thinking of something to say. It’s quite awkward introducing yourself to a bunch of people who already know you. But then again, I need to remind myself that this is for the benefit of the transferees. “I’m Elliot, I’m fifteen and this is my fourth year in this school.”

There are a total of six newcomers in my class, less than last year, where almost half of the whole eighth grade was new. As they introduce themselves, I can see that most of them are very shy and humble. However, I am not someone who has the capability of summarizing someone’s personality based on their voice alone. 

-++-

The lunch hall is packed will both old students and new people. Young people, old people, a variety of ethnicity and a multitude of personalities yet to be discovered.

Surprisingly, the school offered burgers as the first lunch of the year, trying to make a good impression on the new students. The lunches are never this good. In fact, they’re never half as good as this.

Astonished, Louise starts talking to herself about the lunch. “Wow. They have burgers for lunch for the first day!” She says as she picks up her plate, fork and knife.

“Aren’t they usually like this?” The girl behind her asks. Kate.

“They’re never like this. Probably trying to impress you guys. Usually, they give us something really bad like pork liver or undercooked potatoes or something.” Kate doesn’t give a reply, but instead makes a disgusted face.

As we walk up to one of the vacant tables in the hall, Kate follows Louise. “Can I join you guys?”

“Yeah! No problem.” The two of them sit down.

“Hey!” I try to spark a conversation. “Elliot. You’re name is Kate, isn’t it? Welcome.” Kate is a girl about my height. I haven’t seen her without a smile on her face. She wears a cactus green jumper.

“Thanks” She replies with a cheerful smile.

Lola sits next to meet at the table. She introduces herself to Kate, and they both share stories about their past.

-++-

The next day, I observe Kate and Louise walking to school together as they chat. Kate sees me from across the road, and I wave back. They stop for me to cross the road and join them. “Good morning.” I say as we walk.

“Louise and I met yesterday after school.” Kate tells me.

“Just the two of you?”

“No, Francesca, one of the other new girls also joined us. Lola couldn’t come.”

“Sounds like fun” Hopefully, they can hear the sarcasm emitting from my voice. “Did you talk about anything worth sharing to me?”

“We just talked about where we lived and things like that…” Kate glances at her watch. “Can you guys wait for me? I just need to buy something here.” We stop at a sandwich stall.

“Kate’s actually a really, really nice person.” Louise whispers to me as Kate goes and picks a sandwich. “She likes gossiping as much as I do.”

“Don’t be so sure. You’ve met once and there’s still ten months of school left.” I don’t mean to be a negative person and disagree with Louise’s statement, but I want her to think about what Mona was at the start of last year and what she became towards the school year’s conclusion.

I don’t understand how people can radically change in a short period of time. It’s times like this where I think about what sparked Mona to transform from her once innocent and meek self to become this person who craves to control and turn other people into horrible monsters. Hopefully, if Kate and I become close friends, she doesn’t behave like Mona.

As Kate goes back after buying her sandwich, we continue to talk. “So…” Louise leads into a conversation after just ending one about the weather. “I know this is a bit straightforward, but do you like anyone?”

“Louise, it’s her second day in this school.” I point out.

“Actually, I’m quite… I’m very curious about… one guy.” Kate says, although I’m very unsure on what “curious about one guy” means. She points her finger enough for us to notice, but not enough for anyone else to.

Mitch.