Our homerooms were in buildings that were side by side. We were ushered by school officials to make our way there before the next bell rang and as the crowds of students began to disperse, it was difficult to keep up with Derrick or even move. Out of nowhere, he grabbed my hand and led the way to our buildings.
“Come on, just follow me,” he said over his shoulder.
Walking and holding hands with a boy was new to me. Besides Daddy and Grandpa, I had only held Jacob’s hand years ago. I wondered if people would think we were a couple, but wait, were we a couple? We had never had a conversation about being boyfriend and girlfriend, but why else would he wait on me and hold my hand? Could it be that on the first day of high school I start my first relationship? I had to look down to hide how hard I was blushing at the thought. Walking through the lawn, we were able to walk side by side again, but Derrick didn’t let go of my hand. Maybe I was imagining it, but I could swear that people were looking at us.
“Alright my lady, this is where we part ways. I’ll see you at lunch”, he confirmed as he gave me another hug.
“Yup, it’s a date.” As I turned to walk in my building I wanted to kick myself for saying something that probably sounded so corny. Why was that the only thing that I could think of to say?
Homeroom check-in was just as routine as it had been in middle school. We all sat there like zombies while the teacher took attendance and offered to answer questions. My class was either full of all quiet people or no one wanted to be the only one asking questions. We had 15 minutes to just sit there and wait for the bell since no one had questions. As I looked around the room, I noticed there were only two people I recognized from middle school. Strangers surrounded me. It seemed surreal that over time, it would all become familiar. To pass time, I pulled out my schedule to figure out where I was go next when I heard a male voice behind me.
“How long have you been with your boyfriend?”
“What?” I turned around to see a grungy, red-eyed boy leaning over his desk. It took a few seconds to process that for one, he was talking to me and secondly that he thought I had a boyfriend.
“I don’t mean to get in your business but I saw you hugged up out front. Did he buy you that dress?”
“No he didn’t buy it.” I didn’t want to let on to how flustered I was, but I was annoyed. I couldn’t figure out if he was picking on my dress or if he had some problem with Derrick. Why would he even care?
“No? If he’s your man, he’s supposed to buy you dresses and pretty much anything you want. That’s how I would do my lady.”
At this point I knew for sure that he was heavily under the influence and only wanted to get under my skin. Unfortunately, it was working. As I turned around to end the conversation, I was glad to hear the bell to ring. Just when I thought I was in the free and clear, I heard his voice behind me again.
“You better tell him to take better care of you or someone else may step in and do it.”
He left the room still wearing his stupid grin. It was if he felt victorious knowing that he had successfully made me upset. I couldn’t let him ruin my day; he was nobody to me. I didn’t even know his name and wouldn’t have known he was in the room if he wouldn’t have talked to me. The only good thing from the conversation was that it confirmed that people were thinking we were a couple.
I managed through my first two classes without any problems. I had English with a friend from my middle school team followed by History with two other people I recognized from middle school. I was glad to be around people that I actually knew and best of all, they didn’t ask anything about Jackie. Third period was my dreaded Math class. It was also the lunch period, where I would go to lunch first then class. Lunch in high school was nothing like it was in middle school. We were not restricted to
“Come on, just follow me,” he said over his shoulder.
Walking and holding hands with a boy was new to me. Besides Daddy and Grandpa, I had only held Jacob’s hand years ago. I wondered if people would think we were a couple, but wait, were we a couple? We had never had a conversation about being boyfriend and girlfriend, but why else would he wait on me and hold my hand? Could it be that on the first day of high school I start my first relationship? I had to look down to hide how hard I was blushing at the thought. Walking through the lawn, we were able to walk side by side again, but Derrick didn’t let go of my hand. Maybe I was imagining it, but I could swear that people were looking at us.
“Alright my lady, this is where we part ways. I’ll see you at lunch”, he confirmed as he gave me another hug.
“Yup, it’s a date.” As I turned to walk in my building I wanted to kick myself for saying something that probably sounded so corny. Why was that the only thing that I could think of to say?
Homeroom check-in was just as routine as it had been in middle school. We all sat there like zombies while the teacher took attendance and offered to answer questions. My class was either full of all quiet people or no one wanted to be the only one asking questions. We had 15 minutes to just sit there and wait for the bell since no one had questions. As I looked around the room, I noticed there were only two people I recognized from middle school. Strangers surrounded me. It seemed surreal that over time, it would all become familiar. To pass time, I pulled out my schedule to figure out where I was go next when I heard a male voice behind me.
“How long have you been with your boyfriend?”
“What?” I turned around to see a grungy, red-eyed boy leaning over his desk. It took a few seconds to process that for one, he was talking to me and secondly that he thought I had a boyfriend.
“I don’t mean to get in your business but I saw you hugged up out front. Did he buy you that dress?”
“No he didn’t buy it.” I didn’t want to let on to how flustered I was, but I was annoyed. I couldn’t figure out if he was picking on my dress or if he had some problem with Derrick. Why would he even care?
“No? If he’s your man, he’s supposed to buy you dresses and pretty much anything you want. That’s how I would do my lady.”
At this point I knew for sure that he was heavily under the influence and only wanted to get under my skin. Unfortunately, it was working. As I turned around to end the conversation, I was glad to hear the bell to ring. Just when I thought I was in the free and clear, I heard his voice behind me again.
“You better tell him to take better care of you or someone else may step in and do it.”
He left the room still wearing his stupid grin. It was if he felt victorious knowing that he had successfully made me upset. I couldn’t let him ruin my day; he was nobody to me. I didn’t even know his name and wouldn’t have known he was in the room if he wouldn’t have talked to me. The only good thing from the conversation was that it confirmed that people were thinking we were a couple.
I managed through my first two classes without any problems. I had English with a friend from my middle school team followed by History with two other people I recognized from middle school. I was glad to be around people that I actually knew and best of all, they didn’t ask anything about Jackie. Third period was my dreaded Math class. It was also the lunch period, where I would go to lunch first then class. Lunch in high school was nothing like it was in middle school. We were not restricted to
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