That One Moment...

Chapter 3

Day 1, afternoon...continuing setting the stage

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Lunch

The cafeteria was situated in the middle of the school, along with the gym, locker and weight rooms, pool, and admin offices. One full wall of the large room was windows that looked out towards the main entrance. This was the spot for students to make an entrance. Freshmen and sophomores tended to have lunch at 11, while juniors and seniors were at 12. It was just the way fourth period classes tended to line up, upper divisions were in section 4a and lower division in 4b (or later start).

After chemistry, Sarah had stopped at her locker to add her pre-calc and chem books to the growing pile from earlier that included an American Lit textbook and a Computers lab notebook. Good thing there wasn't any homework yet, although maybe she should start reading for English now. It was often hard to get motivated to read some of the selections.

Carrying her lunch and a water bottle into the cafeteria, Sarah paused to look around. She didn't really have any friends she planned to sit with. Last year she rotated between some acquaintances and sort of sat off to the ends of tables, often reading a book or playing a game on her phone. As she glanced around, she caught Chris's eyes and he smiled as she paused on his table for a second. They were at the center of the windows in a pretty prominent location. Yup, he played a sport...football or soccer, which did he say? There were two tables that had a scattering of what would be categorized as jocks, or more PC the better athletes both male and female. It would be the hub of the popular clicks, along with a few other tables in the area. Along with Chris, Sarah saw the three guys from chemistry. There were a number of girls giggling near them, including the two from chem who had been trying to get their attention then as well.

Smiling back at Chris, Sarah made sure her eyes continued to wander. She recognized a girl from elementary school, Abby, was also at the tables. They had been almost friends back then, but her parents would never drive her anywhere so Sarah had slowly lost touch with even those "almost friends" along the way, especially when they hit middle school. That was when Sarah had begun to hone her loner status. Abby was popular, smart, and played sports, but she did not fit the mean girl stereotype at all. Sarah remembered that Abby still always said hi in class and the hall. Actually, now that she thought about it, Sarah also remembered Abby was in American Lit this morning and maybe pre-calc as well.

Continuing to scan the room, Sarah really didn't see anyone she wanted to sit near. In that case, and since it was still nice out, she decided to head outside and just eat alone on the greens. Walking through the doors, she really hoped that her favorite tree would be available.

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Period 5: AP US History

Hurrying into class after grabbing her notebook from her locker, Sarah was almost late. She had lost track of time lounging under the tree. It was so quiet and peaceful, a much needed break for her building anxiety. While she didn't hate school, the days could be long and intense. She wasn't always used to interacting with people. Her parents weren't exactly social, hardly ever leaving the house and only interacting with people at work or family when we visited. Social skills were not her strong suite, so it sometimes took a lot and today was one of those days. 

Now, to try and blend in. She saw Abby on the other side of the room and did a slight wave when their eyes connected. So much for blending in. At least she was on the other side of the room. This was her first real AP class. They had done some AP-like courses in sophomore year, but because it was a more rural, small school, they didn't have extensive options. To get into college though, Sarah had to make sure she got the grades and took the extra classes to look good on applications. It was her way out of this town and her family life.