Young Writers Society

[pre]Chapter 2: μυστικός (Secret)

“Is he okay?” Brandon’s familiar voice was easy to pinpoint in the cafeteria’s crowd, which it just happened to be right before the bell was supposed to ring so all the students were crowded around the doors waiting to be let out to go to their next class on time. Damon and I made our way through the students going past us to join Brandon at the table.

“I’m fine,” He repeated the same phrase he told me in the nurses’ office. Brandon gave him a look that told him it wasn’t believable but ended up shrugging.

“What do you have next, Damon?” I said, trying to shift the mood. He seemed pleased with the change of topic.

“Pre-calculus with Mr. Grevas,” He said with a smile, his smile. “What about you?”

“We have English three with Mrs. Lewis,” Brandon said before I could answer, bringing my attention to him. The bell rung and Brandon swiftly picked up his backpack, nearly throwing it on his back. “Let’s go.”

Damon seemed to have a smug look on his face as we walked towards the door, he had to go a different way to the math section of the school, and Brandon seemed to have the word ‘annoyed’ written all over his face.

“What’s wrong with you and Damon? You just met him and it seems it’s off to a bad start,” I asked him purely out of curiosity.

“Nothing’s wrong, we just don’t know each other yet,” Brandon said and I could tell he was lying.

“That doesn’t make much sense. I’ll never understand boys,” I said with a sigh. The little I did understand was merely ways to deal with them.

“You don’t have to,” He said with a smile. “I’ll do that for you.”

“Thanks,” I said and rolled my eyes playfully. “What did you do in Psychology?” Brandon had Psychology third period while I had it sixth so I always found out from him what we would do that day. It was the only Advanced Placement class we decided we would even attempt at. It turned out to be very interesting to learn how the mind works.

“We did nothing but reading some pages in the book. It was something about how our behavior changes in growth not because of age but because of the people around us…or something like that, anyway,” Brandon said and I knew he hadn’t been paying much attention again. “We started from were we left off yesterday, at page 162 to page 169, the end of the chapter. I think he said we’re going to have a test in two days.”

“The schedule’s on his website, right?” I asked as we turned into Mrs. Lewis’s room. The teachers seemed to be using the internet much more than years before. I personally didn’t think it was reliable enough.

Brandon nodded as he sat in his assigned seat, which was unfortunately on the opposite side of the classroom as mine but I would always hang around his desk until the bell rung. “I’ll check it later.”

“I doubt that,” I said. After knowing Brandon for six years I could easily figure out if he was serious about something. That reminded of how he acted around Damon. It was still so confusing to me.

“You’re right,” He said jokingly, sticking his tongue out. The tardy bell rung and I went to sit in my seat.

---

English wasn’t one of my favorite subjects but I did like to read, unlike the majority of the class. We were supposed to be starting something new that day but some girl in the class decided they wanted to get into a debate. I think it was something about how it wasn’t fair an honors class was a grade level higher in all English classes but I wasn’t really paying attention. I did never get that, though…

Mrs. Lewis decided to let us out of the class early but told us to start reading some short stories in our literature books for homework sense we didn’t do it in class. I remember thinking to thank that girl later, though I never did.

Brandon and I used the few extra minutes to chat and, as always, he talked about how horrible Chorus was.

“Nori thinks she can sing so well,” Brandon complained as he waited with me by my sixth period class’s door. He had chorus, his first period, with Nori and he never seemed to enjoy her presence. He was surprisingly a very good singer but I thought he would be better off going solo than in a choir. “I know she can sing but she’s not that great! She has a lot of the other boys fawning over her. I don’t see why, though.”

“Take it easy on her. That’s just her personality,” I tried to reason with him. There were parts that I agreed with, though. She seemed to be a total brat at some points in time.

The real bell rang and Brandon and I talked for a few more minutes before he left with a wave as he went to his sixth period class. My sixth period teacher, Mr. Smith, didn’t have a fifth period class so nobody came out as the bell rang, so after Brandon left I walked in and sat in my usual seat. The desks were set up differently than a normal class room, with the chairs facing the center of the room in rows. I wondered if it has anything to do with how you worked in the class…if Mr. Smith was using psychology on us.

I was thinking some way the class might be able to learn what we use on him when I saw Damon walk into the classroom.

“Garnet, so we do have this class together. I thought we did after you asked Brandon about it,” Damon said as he walked next to my desk, which was near Mr. Smith’s desk. “It’s so much fun to mess with the mind.”

I laughed softly as he gave the teacher a slip of paper, I’m guessing his transfer slip, and Mr. Smith pointed him to a seat that was across the room from me, therefore right in my line of sight. I smiled at him before the tardy bell rang.

Mr. Smith walked to the front of the room, making it so we can to look to our sides to see him, as he started to talk. “Continue reading from where we left off yesterday. Another reminder, the schedule is posted on my website so don’t expect me to tell you when every test or quiz is. Finish this chapter for homework if you don’t finish it in class.” So Brandon did pay attention a little. I’d have to congratulate him next period.

I looked up after reading the first page to see Damon reading intently. It looked like he was starting from the beginning, though. He was going at a fast pas which reminded me that he had photographic memory. The class would be so easy for him.

I continued reading but couldn’t help glancing up every once in awhile to look at where Damon was in the book, or at least that’s what I convinced myself I was doing. I finished before most of the other students, as usual. I was proud of my speed reading.

I, again, looked up to Damon to see him around the area the rest of the class was in the book, which was a huge achievement sense he started from chapter one. He was a faster reader than I was! He let out a sigh of relief as he -I guessed- finished the chapter and looked up at me with a smile. I felt my face heat up immediately at getting caught staring. I swiftly looked back down at my book, pretending to read, as I tried to hide the blush I knew was evident on my face.

The silence before seemed so much different now. It wasn’t a soothing silence but more of a tense atmosphere as the rest of the class hurried to finish reading so they wouldn’t have homework.

When the bell finally sounded throughout the classroom I quickly closed my book and shoved it into my backpack, still trying to make it seem I was never staring at Damon.

I put my backpack over my shoulder as I started walking towards the door and Damon shortly followed. “What class do you have next?” I asked as I heading toward my last class of the day, Spanish three with Señora Kendra.

“You first,” He demanded and I told him. “Same here.”

“Wait, you have Señora Kendra next, too?” I asked, surprised to say the least.

“Yep.”

“That means all four all us will end the day together,” I said with a smile.

“What do you mean by ’All four of us’?” Damon questioned. I smiled at his confused expression. It was priceless, just like when I had told him I liked change.

“I mean Nori and Brandon also have Spanish with us,” I explained as we turned a corner, weaving through the students rushing to their classes. I couldn't figure out his expression so I didn’t know if he liked the idea or not.[/pre]