In this chapter, our hero goes to his first class in a girl's uniform, rewords a proverb, and meets a boy with flair.

Copyright 2020 by Heather Rose Brown

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When I walked out of the office, a bell rang, and the doors on either side of me opened. An avalanche of noise filled the hallway as students poured out of the classrooms. I was seriously considering going back the way I came, and finding someplace to hide, when someone called my name.

Well ... my last name.

"Hey, Tracy!" yelled a familiar voice.

I had looked up and down the hall a couple of times before I saw Richie running towards me. "Whoa," she said as she skidded to a stop in front of me. "Lookin' proud and true in the red and blue!"

A handful of students passing by us raised their fists in the air as they shouted, "Proud And True!" A couple of the boys and one of the girls who had shouted gave me a thumbs-up before moving on.

I shook my head in confusion. "What was that all about?"

"Just some school spirit." Richie said as she took a step closer. "So, where ya headed for first period?"

I held up my tablet, and pointed to the arrows on the map. "Wherever this leads me."

Richie touched the area of the map where the arrows led. "Oooo," she said when a window popped open. "Ya got Ms Cho."

I gulped, then said, "Is she nice?"

"¡Si! I had her for English Lit last year."

I scoured my brain for a reference to the class name. "Wait a minute. Ain't that like, a high school class?"

"Sorta, but Ms Cho only teaches intro stuff." She scrunched up her nose as she said, "I was kinda worried when I first started, but it wasn't too bad."

"Ah," I said as some of the bunched up muscles in my shoulders loosened, "I'm so glad to hear that."

"If you'd like, I could walk ya to her class, and do intro's."

"I'd appreciate the help, but I don't wanna make ya late for your own class."

A spark ran up and down my side when Richie slipped her arm between my waist and elbow. "Don't worry," she said. "Hall monitors get extra time when they're helping other students."

She smiled at me when she tugged at my arm, and I did my best to not trip over my own feet while running to keep up with her.

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"Hey, Ms Cho," Richie said as she led me into a noisy classroom.

A youngish woman sitting behind the desk at the front of the class looked up from her keyboard. A smile spread across her face as she said, "Miss Hernandez! It's so nice to see you again."

Richie let go of my arm and returned the smile. "It's good to see ya too!" She placed her hand in the small of my back, nudged me forward, and said, "Ms Cho, I'd like ya to meet Tracy, who's starting in your class today."

The teacher was still smiling when she turned to me, but her forehead wrinkled when she said, "It's always a pleasure to have another young ... person ... joining my class."

Something cold dropped into my stomach when I heard her pause.

While I was trying to think of a way to explain why I was wearing a girl's uniform, Ms Cho nodded at the scanner on the corner of her desk, and said, "Would you mind tapping in?"

I reached for my card, slapped my hips a couple of times, then remembered the skirt I was wearing didn't have pockets. I took a deep breath to steady my nerves, swung my backpack off my shoulders, and dug through it. Once I found my student ID, I walked a few shaky steps towards the desk, and pressed my card against the top of the scanner.

The teacher looked at her screen when the scanner beeped. Her smile brightened when she looked at me, melting the shards of ice in my stomach. "Welcome to Introductory English Literature, Miss Thomas. Please feel free to sit at any unoccupied desk."

Richie stepped up next to me and patted my shoulder. "I gotta head off. Good luck, and have fun!"

I smiled and waved to her as she ran out the door, then walked to the nearest desk. I slid into the chair a couple of moments before my legs gave out on me. A few students looked my way as they entered the class, but nobody pointed and laughed. By the time the bell for first period rang, I was only a little nervous about what might happen next.

Ms Cho looked up as a couple of late arrivals rushed in. "Okay, ladies and gentlemen. Once everyone's tapped in, please find your seats, and take out your tablets."

The chatter around me dropped to a low murmur, and the room was filled with the clatter of devices being placed on desktops. I pulled out my tablet and placed it on my desktop as well. After switching it on, my tablet lit up, and a window appeared, with a header that said, [English Literature Class Notes].

I looked up, and saw our teacher typing as she said, "For those just joining us today, we've been studying Poor Richard's Almanac, by Benjamin Franklin." She did a final key press as she said, "If you will take a look at your notes window, you'll see Mr Franklin's version of a proverb we'll be discussing today."

I looked down when my tablet chimed, and saw some text, which said,
[For want of a nail, the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost.
For want of a horse, the rider was lost.
For want of a rider, the battle was lost.
For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.]

A few seconds after I finished reading, Ms Cho said, "Would anyone like to comment on what this proverb might teach us?"

A blonde-haired boy sitting across the aisle from me raised a slender hand.

The teacher smiled at him as she said, "Your enthusiasm is always appreciated, Mr Brunford, but let's hear from one of our newer students first." Before I could look down, and pretend I was still reading, Ms Cho turned her attention to me. "Would you like to share your thoughts, Miss Thomas?"

"Uhhhh," I said while trying to not look at all the eyes on me. "I ... ummm ... don't know?"

"Considering this is your first day in class, that's a perfectly valid response." The corners of her eyes crinkled as she said, "Being aware we don't know something can be the first step towards learning something new."

The boy next to me raised his hand again, and Ms Cho nodded at him. "Okay, Mr Brunford. Please share your thoughts."

He stood, brushed out a couple of creases in the legs of his dark blue pants, then said in a light, almost musical voice, "It seems like it's saying little things can be important, and if you don't take care of them, big problems can happen." He frowned when someone snickered, then sighed as he slumped back into his seat.

Ms Cho glared at the back of the room until the snickering died down, then smiled at the boy who answered. "Very good, Mr Brunford."

She turned her attention to the rest of the class, and asked, "Would anyone else like to add anything?" When nobody answered, she did a couple of mouse clicks, then said, "You should see a new entry in your class notes. Please be sure to fill in both blanks before submitting your response."

I looked at my tablet, and found a sentence under the proverb, which said, [For want of a _____, a _____ was lost.]

While I was trying to think of an answer, Ms Cho said, "Extra credit will be awarded if you submit something you can relate to on a personal basis. So long as it's not something rude," she added while giving the back of the room a meaningful look, "feel free to enter whatever you like."

I spent a few minutes trying to think of something personal. My pulse started racing when inspiration struck. I tapped the blank spaces, typed in 'comma' and 'gender', then hit the submit button before I lost my nerve. Less than a minute later, a chat window opened.

[Ms Cho: That's a very interesting submission.]
[Me: ty]
[Ms Cho: Is it based on personal experience?]
[Me: sorta]
[Ms Cho: Sorta?]
[Me: I mean yes]
[Ms Cho: You're a very brave young lady. I'm glad to have you in my class.]

I was distracted for the rest of the period as questions raced through my head. Did the teacher really think of me as a 'young lady'? Why'd she say I was brave? Was she really glad to have me in her class? Would my other teachers be as nice as Ms Cho?

I was so deep in thought, I didn't realize the class was over, until someone poked me in the shoulder. The cloud of confusion drifted away when I looked in the direction of the poker.

The boy who'd been sitting next to me smiled and adjusted the knot in his tie. "Hi," he said. "I'm Vic." He held out a hand with an elegant flair as he stood. "Vic Brunford."

"Hi," I said while giving his hand a quick shake. "I'm T-" For a nanosecond, I considered giving my real first name, reconsidered, and said, "Tracy." I thought about the way my name looked on my student ID card, and added, "Tracy Thomas."

Vic did something between a bow and a curtsey as he let go of my hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Tracy." He picked up his tablet after unfolding from the curtsey-bow. "I noticed we're in the same second period. Would you mind if I walked with you to our next class?"

"Uhhh ... sure," I said as I stood.

"Brill!" he said as his smile turned into a grin. "We're gonna knock 'em dead in Social Studies."

"Oh joy," I said, the acid in my voice matching my opinion of our next class.

"Hey, don't get all gloomy on me," he said as he slipped his tablet into a huge tote bag. He smirked and pulled the handles of the bag over his shoulder as he said, "Don't worry, your girlfriend'll be there too."

My stomach tightened, and my fingers tingled. "My ... my what?"