"no. Not doing it." I said. "yes, darling. You need to." "do you SEE this uniform?" I held it up for my dad to see. "see, darling, I do. But come on- it's the only school that will take you." he said calmly. I am the opposite of my father, loud when he's quiet, challenging when he's understanding, looking at the problem when he looks at solutions. "please, Rita." "fine." --- "welcome to Hunnington, Ms. Smith. Here's your schedule and a map. You're first period class is marked- you've been assigned a buddy to show you to the rest of your classes. Have a good day." the secretary was kind. I liked her. "thanks." I walked out of the office- dad always said I had a slight swagger, and that I should walk like a lady. Screw that, daddy. I opened the door to first period- people talking and shouting and throwing and kissing, even. "hello, Rita, right? I'm Mr. Clawson. Welcome to English!" he shook my hand, and I could feel his eyes run over my uniform. Instead of the red skirt for girls, I had taken some red pants and cut them. I liked shorts better than skirts. "Pick a seat, any seat at all." he smiled warily and walked back to his desk. The bell rang and I sat down, last row, last seat. "you can't sit there." a blonde girl wearing her skirt two times higher than the regulation- even my short were higher, damnit- popped her gum at me. "too bad. I'm comfy." she rolled her eyes and I sat back, waiting for my possible introduction. "I'm Sammy. Your buddy by the way. Don't talk to me, just follow me to your classes." "we have a new student, if you'd like to introduce yourself, just stand up-" Laughter. A group of boys- no, only three- waltzed into the room and my smile broke. My eyebrows turned down and I scowled. I stood, and coughed. "if you wouldn't mind shutting your faces, my name is Rita Smith. I've already been welcomed by my wonderful buddy, Sam, who will be escorting me to my classes. 'Cause, you know, she totes wanted me to tell you guys that." "where are you from?" Mr. Clawson asked. "California. No, I am not from Hollywood or anywhere near. Think wine country." I sat down and Sammy shot me a glare. "the fuck is your problem?" she demanded, the boys who came in late where sitting next to her, snickering. "you, baby. You. What book we reading?" I asked, chipper as hell. I couldn't wait for second period.
"Ms. Smith, I know it's your first day, but would you please put your feet down?" the teacher sounded close to giving up. I smirked. "Shooooorrre. Sure." I repeated. "okay. You asked very nicely." I started to put my feet down, and when he turned away, they went right back up. I kinda feel bad for my teachers. Second period zoomed by. Uneventful. As did third, the fourth, until fifth. Physical Education. My favorite. I mean, my favorite when I attended. Today was badminton, another one of my favorites. Princess tennis. My partner was some tall Asian girl named Mako. She was nice, and very athletic. We were against two girls who looked like the most they did was shopping. Too easy, and we moved up a court when we won. We started with the birdie, and I hit it too hard. It hit some guy in the back of the head. His face was turning red and he started to yell. "what the hell? Watch where you ****ing hit your ball!" "do you mean birdie?" I asked. "dude. Call down. It's obvious she didn't mean too." his friend- his HOT friend, I mean- stepped in and prevented my fun. "what if I did?" I crossed my arms and Mako walked over to me. "I wouldn't. The calm one is the resident baddie, and the other is the rich bro. The one you hit. They're friends." "then you must be a stupid little girl. I could have my father sue-" I cut him off. "so you can't do anything yourself? Gonna run to daddy to have him take care of the big, scary girl?" I laughed. His face turned redder and his friend shook his head and pulled him out of the gym. "that's what I thought. Bitch." I mumbled. "who's turn?" I smiled.