Disaster Class

13. the rest of the idiotic pack

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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟑
" 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤 "
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          Mack:
          running late today. go on without me.
          i'll catch you at school later.
          Received 7:15 a.m.

Sighing, I stuff the phone in my blazer pocket and stand from the porch. Guess I'm walking to school alone then. Doesn't matter because I have a class to meet.

I arrive at St. Madeleine a good ten minutes before homeroom. As I walk down the patio, I grab my phone to recheck my room assignment. I've printed out my new schedule and placed it in my clear phonecase right under a polaroid from the time Mack and I stumbled into an old photobooth down by the beach. He was wearing a yellow bucket hat. I had strip of sunblock on my nose. Good times. Can we ever go back? 

Dramatic, I know, but I just walked to school alone for the first time in years. Feels weird. 

I'm probably overthinking it.

Shaking the thought away, I stuff the phone back in my pocket.

Room S-24, nearest to the field, farthest from the library. I guess even the placement speaks volumes, doesn't it?

There are already other students around, loitering outside, swapping holiday stories, waiting for the bell to ring. A group of eleventh graders burst into laughter just as I pass them. Were they laughing at me? Do they even know me? God, I feel like everyone's staring.

I pick up the pace and arrive at the S-building. Now, I have to climb a flight of stairs. This is good. Now my daily routine will include a workout.

Stepping in to the S-building is like stepping into a whole new school. Rowdy students, messy uniforms, absent faculty members. Am I even still in St. Madeleine?

"Heads up!"

A football whizzes by, an inch away from my ear. Shaken, I walk even faster. I must have bumped into six other students along the way. There are football players tackling each other down the hall. Kids dancing to loud pop music. Everyone seems to be running or roughhousing. This is madness. This is mayhem. This is high school.

Where the hell is S-24?!

Down by the very end of the corridor, I finally find my homeroom. I pause by the door. As ridiculous as it sounds, I am hoping that the people inside this room will be better than the animals loose outside. But the heavily-vandalized door already tells me everything.

A deep breath. I reach for the doorknob, twist, and pull the door open.

"EVERYONE WATCH ME EAT THIS ERASER!" a boy wearing smudged mascara yells over the thumping music. A crowd forms around him, engulfing him from my view. Thank God! The last thing I need to see right now is someone eating synthetic rubber.

One step in and I almost slip. Jesus Christ, someone spat on the floor. It's fine. I can disinfect my shoe later. It's fine, fine, fine, fine, fine.

The crowd around Eraser Boy cheers, and I assume he's achieved his goal.

"That was lit!"

"An absolute legend!"

"Eat this pencil next!"

Well, at least they're a supportive bunch, I'll give them that. Gotta have that in a team.

I steer clear of the crowd for now. I don't think I'm ready to deal with that level of crazy. Maybe tomorrow.

Cutting across the classroom, I make my way towards the front. The optimal classroom seat is always frontrow, in the column nearest to the teacher's table. This way you're always in the teacher's line of vision, unignorable when you raise your hand.