Chapter 7 New School Life

Chapter 7 New School Life

June 4, 2012 (New Present) 

After my brief and ridiculous introduction, I slumped onto my designated chair. The familiarity of it was unsurprising - the same old metal frame with a faded cushion and creaky joints. My eyes darted around the classroom, searching for any sign of danger. 

  My seat was positioned in the middle left side of the room, the second chair next to the window. I took a deep breath and tried to relax, but my legs were restless, and my chest tightened.

  My gaze landed on the table in front of me, memories flooding back of the hateful words they wrote there. They mocked my father and me, wishing for our demise and calling us trash. Every insult they could conjure was etched into that table. The chair I sat in was not always there; sometimes, they threw it out of the window, and other times they smeared it with vile substances. I could tell by their smug grins that they enjoyed every moment of my humiliation.

  "Aaaaaaaa!" I screamed internally, my mind racing with fear and confusion. I felt the malicious intent of my classmates as their eyes bore into me, and I couldn't help but wonder what they were plotting. I glanced behind me, hoping to catch a glimpse of their laughter, but they were all focused on the teacher. Suddenly, one of my classmates caught my eye, and I froze.

  "Shit! This is bad," I muttered under my breath. I braced myself for the disgust that I was sure would follow, but instead, he smiled and waved at me. My heart fluttered with surprise, and I hesitantly waved back, offering an awkward smile. I turned my attention back to the front of the room, my mind racing with conflicting emotions.

The air was still as our teacher's hands clapped together, echoing through the classroom. "Alright! We will start our class now," she announced, her voice filling the room with a sense of purpose. I took a deep breath, trying to calm the sudden anxiety that coursed through my veins. 

  Everything felt different today, ever since I woke up this morning. My parents' strange behavior towards me had left me on edge, and now I couldn't help but wonder if my classmates and school were going to be different too. I knew deep down that I was just comforting myself, but it was what I needed to do to keep my nerves at bay.

  "Everyone listen to me. Our first activity for today's class is a group activity," our teacher declared, and my stomach churned. A group activity? The very thought made me break out in a cold sweat. I hated being forced to work with others, knowing that I was everyone's least favorite person to have on their team. But I had no choice, so I took another deep breath and tried to steady my nerves.

"In this activity, you need to group yourselves into 6," our teacher continued, pulling out large sheets of paper and a colorful array of pens from a box. "On this paper, draw yourself in the future. Anything that you can see in your future self, just picture it out. And using color pens, make it much more colorful and creative."

One of my classmates eagerly raised his hand, and as I glanced over, I realized it was the son of my father's Lawyer. He was undeniably the smartest student in our class, and I had to admit, it made me feel a little intimidated. But, I couldn't help but be curious about what he had to say. 

  Our teacher noticed his hand and called on him, "Okay, what is it?"

  "If this activity is just about drawing our future selves, why does it have to be done in a group? Wouldn't it make more sense to do it individually?" he questioned, while adjusting his glasses.

  Our teacher smiled, impressed with his inquiry, and responded, "That's a great question! Yes, this activity is all about envisioning your future selves, but it's not just about that. The reason why we're doing it as a group is that I want you to think about how your future selves work with each other. Let me give you an example."

  She drew a burning building on the blackboard, and we all looked at it, intrigued. "As you can see, there's a burning building. Who do you think we need in this situation?"

  "A firefighter!" my classmate answered with a hint of excitement in his voice.

  "That's correct! We need a firefighter," the teacher confirmed. She drew a stickman figure with a firefighter helmet and hose spraying water. "But after the fire is extinguished, what if there are people injured? Who do we need to help them?"

  "A paramedic," the son of the Lawyer responded with confidence, causing our teacher to pause for a second, seemingly impressed.

  "Very good! We do need a paramedic," she exclaimed, drawing another stickman figure with a rescuer helmet next to the firefighter. "And what about transporting the injured person to the hospital?"

  "An ambulance," another student chimed in.

  "Exactly! We need an ambulance, and of course, we need a driver who can drive fast and safely," she said, drawing yet another stickman figure. "Finally, who do we need to take care of the injured person in the hospital?"

  "A doctor," someone else said.

  "Correct. We need a doctor. And that, my dear students, is why this activity is a group task. We need to think about how different people in different fields work together towards a common goal, which is saving someone's life. Now, I want all of you to think about your future selves, and how you can work with others in different fields to benefit our society. That's all. Do you understand?" our teacher concluded.

The class was in disarray as we were all confused about the activity, but eventually, we got the hang of it. Being first-graders, we found it a bit complicated, but it was also easy because we were all idealistic and didn't know much about the harsh realities of life. The teacher was all smiles and cheered as she clapped her hands and ordered us to form groups.

  Everyone started making groups, and I was anxious because I didn't know if anyone wanted me to be in their group. If 'he' were here right now, I'm sure he would have recruited me immediately. But alas, I'm just a first-grader, and I won't meet him until six years from now, at the start of high school. I looked around, and my classmates had already formed circles. I felt defeated and slumped my face onto the table.

  "Ha~" I let out a sigh, feeling sorry for myself. Suddenly, someone patted my left arm. I lifted my head, and it was the Lawyer's son. He smiled and asked, "Hey, wanna form a group?" I was surprised. He used to be serious and antisocial, always studying and avoiding people. But now, he was asking me to be part of their group. I answered with a confused smile, "Ah- y-yes, I would like to." He replied with a cool nod, and then turned to recruit the person behind me.

  "Hey, let's form a group," he offered in the same way, and I heard a familiar deep and serious voice say, "Okay." My whole body went cold, and I slowly turned my head. It was him, the delinquent guy who used to bully me because of my father. He despised me before, and I suffered physical abuse from him every day. But now, it seemed like he didn't care about me anymore.

  I sighed to myself and realized that everything was different now. After the Lawyer's son recruited the person behind me, he looked towards the person in front of me. And, of course, he was going to recruit her too.

  I followed his gaze and turned to the front, where I saw a familiar head of long and shiny blonde hair. Yup, it was her, sitting in front of me as always. The Lawyer's son recruited her, and she responded with a bright smile on her face. "Okay, then I also want my seatmate to be part of this group." She tapped her seatmate on the left side, who happened to be the airhead of our class. I called her that because she used to be so silly and weak academically. She was your typical hyperactive classmate, but she struggled with her grades.

  The blonde girl looked at the Lawyer's son and said, "She'll join us, is that okay?" He replied with a confident "Yeah, sure." I didn't even notice because I was too busy staring at her. I mean, 

I could only see half of her face, but I was already mesmerized by her radiance. Her azure eyes were alluring, her eyelashes were long, and her skin looked as smooth as milk. You may not know this, but she was my first crush. She was so beautiful that she even became an actress and a multi-awarded model in the future. And seeing her as a child still amazes me because there's no change in her beauty at all.

The beautiful kid glanced at me. At that moment, I quickly turned my eyes in another direction. Did she notice me?! Shit, this is bad. I didn't know that I was staring at her! Maybe she's thinking of me now like a creep! Thoughts are bombarding me right now. I suddenly felt that someone tapped my left arm again. "Hey, maybe you should recruit your seatmate too." The Lawyer's son pointed his finger toward my seatmate. "I got it," I replied reluctantly. 

  I turned myself towards my right side seatmate, and I remembered her. She's our classmate whom I never once heard speak. She's so quiet and just spends her day looking everywhere. Our classmates before thought that she was mute or deaf, but they couldn't be sure because it seemed that she could understand our speech or language and react to it accordingly. I heard a rumour that her tongue was cut off, but I can't confirm it, nor am I interested to know. But even so, I spoke up to her.

"Hi so uhm would you like to join our group?" 

"Yeah, I would like to." soft and shy voice.

"That's great." I was supposed to turn myself towards the Lawyer's son again, then I realized that she spoke and replied to me. I looked at her in disbelief. 

"Just now, she speaks right?!" I thought to myself. Then our teacher clapped her hands once again. "Alright! Does everyone have their own group?" The whole class replied with a yes. 

My classmates are still the same as before, but there are changes in them that my brain can't process right away. Suddenly the changes really happen to them, but I'm not saying that's bad. I'm still really confused by what's going on. All of those things are unbelievable, and at the same time, it's pretty realistic. I still have doubts about whether all of these things are illusions or what. But even so, I'm still happy though because for the first time, no, for the second time, someone was willing to let me join their group. 

CHAPTER 7 -END-

To be continued.