Hey!
It was the first day of my sophomore year. I had just turned fifteen, and I was scared as I could be.
"You're going to do great, Cameron!" yells my mom from the car. "Don't be nervous!"
Oh yeah, mom. That's really going to help, I think to myself.
When I get through with all of the welcoming things and stuff, I begin walking to my first class. English.
"This week, you will be paired up," says my teacher, Mr. Young. "You and your partner will be reading a book together. This book will be 'Emma' by Jane Austen. You'll evaluate the book, and discuss it. Now, most other schools don't do this sort of thing, but I like having open discussions about literature. Any questions?"
"Do we get to pick our partner?" asks one of the students.
"No," he replies. "I will assign them for you. As a matter of fact, I'll tell you exactly who you're paired with right now. Brent Ingle and Jordan White. Vera Linzer and Justin Brooks. Cameron Trenton and Zoey Brooks. And Damien Grate with Philip Parks. You have twenty seconds to find your partner and your time starts...NOW!"
"Zoey? Zoey Brooks?" I call out, and out walks a girl. She's about my height and has black hair and heavy makeup. "Are you Zoey?"
"Yeah."
"I'm Cameron," I say, smiling.
"Hey!" she says. "It's great to have a partner that doesn't look brainless. Are you smart?"
"I don't know." I shrug.
"Don't be modest. You look smart enough," she says. "What are your grades?"
"Well, I got all As and one B last year," I answer.
"Good," she says. "Because English is extraordinarily easy for me, and getting paired with some dim-wit just makes it harder."
"Oh."
"Twenty seconds is UP!" shouts Mr. Young. "Is everyone acquainted with their partners?"
"Yeah," answers the class.
"Okay, good," he says. "Now today, we're discussing..."
My mind begins to wrap itself around things about Jane Austen and her works. Before I know it, class is over.
"Easy or what?" asks Zoey.
"It's pretty easy." I nod. "Is Justin Brooks your brother? I noticed that you two had the same last name..."
"Yeah. It's complicated, though," she says. "What's your next class?"
"History," I reply.
"Mine, too. I'll walk you there."
We walk to history, the teacher introduces himself, and then he begins the lesson. After several similar classes, it's finally time to go home.
I walk outside of the school building, to find my mom sitting in the truck. "Hey, honey! How was your first day of school?"
"Fine."
"What classes do you have?"
I hand her my schedule and get into the car. "Just those."
"Well, that's a pretty good schedule, wouldn't you say?" she asks hopefully.
"Yeah. I guess," I say. "I met a girl named Zoey. She's my partner for Englsih. She's really cool."
"Oh, that's great!"
"Yeah, I guess so," I say.
School is school. There's nothing really great about it. We get home quickly and I do my homework.
My phone rings. "Hello?"
"Hey, Cameron? This is Zoey." We exchanged phone numbers at school.
"Hey," I say. "What's up?"
"I just have one question," she says.
"Yeah, sure. What is it?"
"Have you ever had sex?" she asks, out of the blue.
"What are you talking about?"
"Have you ever had sex with a guy?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I'm a Christian. We're not really supposed to have sex before we're married," I explain. "Why would you ask me that, though?"
"I don't know. I sorta ask everyone I know."
I pause for a minute. "Okay. THat's sorta weird."
"Yeah," she says. "Hey, I gotta go. Have sex soon!"
She hangs up the phone, and I sit on my bed, puzzled. What in the world was she talking about? Has she had sex? Probably.
I sigh. "Okay, then."
Today was the first day of school. And the first time I ever got asked if I'd had sex. But either way, neither of them were that bad.
Brilliant. Sums up her personality really well for me too.
