Naomi Grim by Tiffany Nicole Smith Page A

staircase after your class so I can show you where to go next. Good
luck!"
    "Later, Dorian," I said.
    "Later," he muttered. I hated
that he looked terrified. I imagined I didn't look much better.
    My classroom was upstairs. I followed
Morgan as she shared important facts about the school that I tuned out. There
was no need for me to know any of those things.
    "Here we are," Morgan
announced. I got the same instructions Dorian got about meeting her in front of
the staircase after first period.
    "Thanks, Morgan. I appreciate your
help," I said, trying to be as nice as I could possibly be.
    She left me, and I stood in the doorway.
I remembered Doyle telling us to go up to the teacher and introduce ourselves.
I tried to recall what he'd told us to say.
    A woman with short black hair in a
yellow dress sat at a desk in front of the classroom. She typed on a laptop as
students filed into the room. I looked at the silver watch Father had given me
for my birthday. Class was scheduled to begin in four minutes.
    "Excuse me," a girl said from
behind me with an edge of annoyance in her voice. I was blocking the door. I
entered the classroom and stood to the side.
    I took a deep breath. Mother and Father
were the only teachers I'd ever had. I didn't want to start off on the wrong
foot with my first human teacher. I walked to the desk. "Good morning, Ms
. . ." I looked at my schedule. Her name was long and impossible to
pronounce, so I stopped talking. She must have thought I was an idiot. Great
first impression, Naomi.
    She stood and smiled. "Everyone
calls me Ms. G."
    "Today's my first day. My name's
Naomi Grim—Griswald."
    Ms. G. offered me her hand. "It's a
pleasure to meet you, Naomi. Hold on a sec."
    She went to a cabinet and pulled out a
book. "Here's your textbook, and you can have a seat in the first row,
second desk."
    I took the heavy book and followed her
directions. My first class was homeroom, but it would turn into American
History. I slid down in my seat. More students entered just as the bell rang.
No one paid any attention to me, which was a good thing. I wanted to blend in.
    Ms. G took attendance. She called my
name last. "Griswald?"
    I said nothing. I was busy staring out
of the window. Someone in a security uniform was wrangling up stray students on
the school's front yard.
    "Griswald?"
    That was me. I would have to remember
that. "Oh, here." The other students had said that when their names
had been called. Now everyone stared at me. Great.
    We listened to the morning announcements
over the intercom. I heard something about a bake sale and a basketball game.
After that, homeroom was over. It was time for American History. I tried to be
interested, but I wasn't. The information wasn't anything I needed to know. It
wasn't my history. Grades meant nothing to me. I spent the period staring out
of the window. It probably wasn't a good idea for me to have a window seat—I
fell into daydreams easily.
    After class, I spotted Morgan standing
in front of the staircase in all her pinkness. She looked around, probably
searching for me and Dorian. I went the other way to avoid her.
     On the way to Algebra, I spotted Keira
in front of an open locker. I pushed my way through the crowd of students
toward her.
    "Keira!"
    She turned and smiled, relieved. We
hugged like we hadn't seen each other in years. She was dressed just like me,
all in black.
    "I'm so happy to see you," I
said. "Where were you guys this morning?"
    "Nay, it took both my parents and
me to pry Josh from his bedroom this morning. All of a sudden he was terrified.
He made us late."
    I felt bad for Josh. I hoped he was
okay.
    Keira closed her locker. "So, how
was your first class as a human teenager?"
    I was about to answer, but then the bell
rang. The hallway was completely empty. "Uh, I think that means we're
late."
    Keira sighed. "Great. Look there's
an empty locker there." She pointed to a locker three spaces over from
hers. I removed my lock from my backpack and