I arrived at school today around ten, and headed to my first class. I was already feeling the fatigue from not having slept last night. It was a struggle to even stay awake in the first class of the day, but I managed somehow.
The next class in the series was one I looked forward to every year. I don't know how the teacher finds the time to prepare all the activities, but it's really cool. She has us do everything from learning how to hide a knife in a sleeve under our jacket to practicing eye attacks, with an assortment of objects coming at us every time, just to rank our reflexes. She hasn't explained where she got all the materials she uses, but they're always interesting to me.
As always, she lets us choose the testing weapon, but the first choice is always dull on purpose. A small hammer had been provided and we were instructed to use it to hit some of the signs and targets positioned around the room. Of course since this class was conducted on the second floor of a building and there were objects set up on either side of the classroom, we were both aware and were told that the target we were aiming for would be in plain sight of anyone in the hallway.
When it came time to punch the first target, I performed my duty flawlessly. If a teacher found out that I had been skipping lessons in high school, I'd be in massive trouble, even if I wasn't supposed to be here. I guess doing well at this was worth the trouble. When it came time to aim at the second target, a butcher knife appeared out of nowhere, and I simply could not resist the urge to lick it, like I had been instructed to, in order to hide the blade. The flinch I had in performing the task closely paralleled an unconscious action I had seen in the movies. Later that day, the room protector was provided and I was proud to find my own attempt led it to miss the pipe at an angle and fly out the window above my head. That was not intentional.
Economic and history were the next classes, where I paused my reading of a relatively interesting novel they had placed in the classroom stacks. We had an essay due soon in history and the words seemed to have their own agenda during class. It felt like I was doing all the homework I wasn't supposed to be doing.
I enjoyed my time on lunch break. I had been hoping to run into the new girl, who had just been transferred to my school here. I really wondered if I'd ever see her in a place like this. She was brilliant and very beautiful. I had seen her each morning on my way here and she was always wearing a very large heavy coat. It was an odd time of year for that.
I figured that I'd get through most of my lunch and head up to the roof like I wanted. I was almost finished eating when I noticed the new girl sitting beside me. I was always drawn to her. She was always alone, sitting on a staircase to eat lunch. I felt like a complete jerk. She was always so adorable to me that I had tried once to bring her a sandwich I had bought for myself, but she wouldn't take it. I was frustrated because I was so love struck over her.
''Are you a student?'' she asked.
''Um. Yeah I go here. I'm new in town. Hey, what's your name?''
''Sam. No, I mean...you're a student, right?''
''Yeah I am.''
''Good. Well then you should know better than to ask me the likes of that.''
''Huh?''
''Never mind. I'm trying to hide my knife.''
I looked away and was immediately happy that she was still with me. I really wanted her to be there. It would be so awesome to have a friend here.
''So where did you move from?'' I asked her.
''New York.''
''Oh. That's even greater than I thought. Any good movies or something here?''
Before she could answer, I heard the bell ring and we both stood up, instinctively leaning over to help each other with our bags, only to find everyone looking at us with the same puzzled expression I had seen on the bathroom mirror this morning.
We both started making race up the stairs, past everyone's confused faces, to the room protector. We had just gotten it into position when the bell rang again and we both rushed to get to class.
We were on our way to history when we noticed a pair of feet just to the side of the door.
''Hello?'' we said in unison.
''Hi,'' she said in a very faint voice.
''What's wrong?''
''I'm waiting for my friend."
We both noticed the room protector leaning against the wall right above her head.
The next phase of our day was mundane for a class I had never done before. We spent the first hour of the test, sitting in a circle with pencil in hand, looking at a poster in the classroom. After fifteen minutes, all the lights in the classroom dimmed, and we removed the headphones from our ears, each of us looking at the others. The room had been cleared of all students and objects, the position of which was now revealed.
I looked at Sam, only to find she hadn't moved. I wanted to show her that I was interested and that she was a great person, so I leaned over and touched her shoulder. She jumped, making a slicing motion with her hand, hitting the pencil on the desk she sat at and sending it through the wall.
''Agh.'' She looked up at me.
I noticed the piece of pencil on the floor in front of her and said, ''As you were,'' without thinking. All of a sudden, the pencil was back in her hand, wound around a rope. She now had a pair of nunchucks.
''Close one there,'' I said, ''I guess I'll be thinking about that for the rest of the class.''
She didn't return my comment.
The second hour took place on the top floor of the building. We took an elevator up from the bottom floor with a few other students and got off on the highest floor.
The teacher had us perform a series of tasks separated by a gate. I noticed Sam had a rope on a wheel while the others had a pair of scissors and a ball of twine. I was ahead of her in my turn, so she was trapped at the gate, waiting for the bell to ring. I made a point of sitting right next to her as she waited.