"Good morning, class." The booming voice of Mr. Fitz echoed through the room and pounding the ears of of every lousy student. Lousy in Christina's opinion, anyway. They muttered their good mornings, and a few groans of protest escaped some of them as well. Christina rolled her eyes in the most subtle manner she possibly could.
The other students' lack of enthusiasm should have worn on her by now, but Christina, with her brown hair and pretty hazel eyes, decided to ignore them. It had worked for the past three years, and it would work today.
"As you must know, today is the first day of the 20-14 school year." Mr. Fitz didn't seem to realize that his 'outdoor voice' wasn't necessary unless he wanted to blast everyone's eardrums. He wasn't a small man by any means; he stood around six feet tall, and was very big. He had a big smile and an even bigger belly. Everything involving him was just big.
"We have a couple new students so-"
The door creaked open, bringing the yacking from the man's mouth to a stop. Mr. Fitz turned his head towards the door, waiting for something to happen. It was a weak attempt, but a skinny guy with large, thick-rimmed glasses finally managed to get inside. Either the door was really heavy, or skinny guy needed to work out. A couple giggles went around the room as skinny guy stumbled over his words.
"I uh- um- w-well, sir. M-Mr.- Mr. Fitz? Yeah, um, Mrs. Ronald, she, uh, she asked if y-you could be a bit quieter," the boy's shaky voice finally managed to say.
Even Christina, who was usually very considerate towards others, was growing impatient.
The boy cleared his throat and shifted nervously on his feet, his hand still resting atop the door handle as if he were ready to flee.
"Oh, did she now? Well, I guess we're gonna' have to be a little bit quieter, huh, class?" Mr. Fitz glanced sideways at the students, winking at them. He was a fun teacher, slightly loud, but still fun. His morning class didn't like him much for being so noisy, but the rest loved him.
"Alright, boy, go head back to your class, alright? Wouldn't want to burst your puny eardrums now would we?" Mr. Fitz teased, causing the whole class - minus two - to burst into not-so-quiet laughter. Christina only offered a faint smile to the boy and returned her attention to the notebook on her desk.
The boy nodded before hastily leaving the room, somehow humiliated by the comment.
"Alright, quiet down class. What was I saying?" he asked.
When nobody seemed to know the answer - or maybe they just didn't care - Christina huffed and raised her hand, deciding to get it over with.
"Yes, Christina?"
"New students," she answered, avoiding the peering gazes of the other teenagers. She didn't appreciate the new attention directed at her for answering, but it seemed no one else was going to contribute to the question.
"Oh, yes!" He boomed. "We have two new students today, so one-by-one, we're going to introduce ourselves. State your name, age, where you are from, and what your favorite subject is. I'll start, and then we'll go from the back, beginning at the left. My left, not yours."
There were a few murmurs of protest around the room, but none of them were too noticeable unless you were really paying attention.
"My name is Edward Fitz, I'm forty-eight years old, I'm from West Virginia, and my favorite subject is History."
After the rather obnoxious teacher had finished his 'introduction', the class started theirs from the back left, as Mr. Fitz had instructed.
"I'm Jennifer Wild, I'm seventeen years young, I'm from New Jersey, and my favorite subject is Art." A tall girl with wild, dark brown hair said. Christina recognized her from a couple of her other classes in the past few school years. She didn't know her well, though.
And so it went, that the rest of the class went on peacefully, give or take a couple sarcastic comments or jokes. Once it was Christina's turn, she was slightly uneasy and feeling sick to her stomach. She was never good with public speaking.
"I'm Christina Valentine," she started, careful not to stumble over her words, "I'm seventeen, I'm from Washington, and my favorite subject is English." She finished, taking a careful breath before she sunk back into her seat, unable to meet the gazes of her peers.
The rest of the class went by quickly, for it was mostly just games to get to know each other better.
The bell rang and Christina gathered her belongings - a notebook and a black ink pen. It wasn't much, but it was plenty enough for her to take notes with, and she was satisfied with that. She headed for the door along with everyone else, only stopping when Mr. Fitz called her name. She paused and looked towards the man, glancing back at the door briefly before she walked over to him.
"Christina!" he bellowed with a smile on his face.
"Yes sir?" Christina asked, her gaze still flicking towards the door. She was quite adamant about being on time for everything, and being held back by her History teacher was not in her agenda.
"It's a bit early in the year, but I wanted to know if you might be able to tutor a student or two." he inquired. Christina looked uncertainly at him.
"The school year has only just started. Do you really think anyone will need help?" She asked, hoping he would see things from her perspective - or at least from a better one. She wasn't entirely comfortable tutoring anyone.
"That is exactly why I said it's still early. But I know some students will struggle and I just needed to know if you would ever be available." he responded, still a little too loudly for Christina's liking. She frowned slightly.
"Well, maybe... If I have the time." She conceded.
"Great!" Mr. Fitz exclaimed, bits of saliva flying through the air and landing on Christina. She grimaced, wiping her face with her sleeve while the oblivious teacher dismissed her with a wave of his hand.
***
As she walked down the corridor to her next class, there was a tap on her shoulder. Christina looked up in surprise to see a girl she recognized as one of the two new students. Her name - if Christina remembered correctly - was Sasha Miles. The girl was sixteen, and just moved here from Georgia.
"Hi, I'm Sasha. Sasha Miles," she introduced herself with a big smile. Christina was briefly jealous of the girls perfect white teeth, but quickly dismissed her envy with a small, close-lipped smile of her own.
"I'm Chr-" she began to say her name but was cut off by the girl. She hid her irritation at the interruption.
"Christina Valentine, right? I've heard plenty about you." She gushed with a grin on her face. Christina was shocked, to say the least. She's heard about me? Who the heck was talking about me? She stared at Sasha, unsure how to respond. The girl must have realized her surprise, and quickly explained.
"You're the smartest girl in school, right?" She asked, unsure of herself. Christina narrowed her eyes suspiciously and came to a halt.
"If you think I'm going to do your homework for you, forget it." she snapped harshly. Sasha recovered quickly though, much to Christina's annoyance.
"Oh, of course not! Well, I heard people talking about you and wanted to meet you myself - ya' know, see you with my own eyes?" Christina again wondered who was 'talking about her,' "I saw you in class obviously. You didn't laugh at the skinny boy like everyone else did. I guess that's what made me want to talk to you. You seem different, and I like that." she explained, still smiling. Christina wondered if her cheeks hurt from smiling so much.
She pondered over what Sasha had said. She remembered the skinny boy, too. Almost everyone laughed, but she hadn't really payed attention to who hadn't. Thinking back, she recalled seeing the dark-skinned girl remaining silent instead of further humiliating him like the rest of the class had. A small smile appeared on Christina's face.
"Yeah, I remember you now. You didn't laugh either." Christina said and began walking again. "If you don't mind me asking, who was talking about me?"
Sasha laughed. "Just a couple guys I met. I don't really remember them all that well, but-"
"Guys?" Christina was immediately agitated. "Do you remember their names?" she asked. Why on earth were they talking about me? She began to panic slightly as her mind began to overwork things in its attempt to understand. She needed to calm down, but she had to know why she was even mentioned in a conversation between guys.
"I don't know who they were. They weren't actually talking to me - I just overheard them." Sasha explained.
"Well what did they say?" Christina asked- or more demanded.
"Um, they said you were hot- but I'm not sure why. You're not hot, you're pretty. There is a difference." Sasha said, tipping her head to one side as she paused to let her eyes rake over Christina's body. Is she gay? Christina shifted her weight with discomfort.
"Anyway, they said you're hot and smart, and-" she stopped and coughed, her gaze briefly landing on a brunette that Christina didn't recognize. "Anyway, you get the idea." She rushed out. "I've gotta go, but... could I get your number maybe? I would love to hang out sometime."
Christina paused hesitantly, unsure if she should trust the girl. With a reluctant sigh, she pulled out her phone and handed it to the girl while taking hers. After they had exchanged numbers, Christina hurried away, her gaze landing on the brunette for just a moment. Just long enough to meet his green eyes.
pud / demigirl / pan
