My Fair Lady

"Shit."

Seventeen year old Jakob Armstrong swore as he threw a pile of shirts out of his closet. He went to a drawer and rummaged through more shirts, not finding the one he was searching for. He made his way to his bedroom door, kicking piles of discarded clothes out of his way. "Mom " He yelled down the stairs. "Where the Hell is my black ambassador shirt?"

Jakob was an ambassador for Hillcrest Academy in Oakland, California. The position of an ambassador was reserved only for the brightest and most respected students on campus. Jakob was also the new captain of the Varsity Soccer team, in the honor society and one of the more popular guys on campus.

"I don't know." His mother's voice wafted up the stairs.

Jakob blew out his cheeks to keep from swearing more. He had to show incoming Freshman around for their first day at Hillcrest and he had to wear his black shirt. Problem was, he hadn't seen his black shirt since June and it was now the end of August.

Jakob grabbed his school bag and pounded down the stairs and stalked into the kitchen. "You haven't seen it anywhere?" He asked his mother who was sitting at the table drinking coffee and reading the morning paper.

"No." Adrienne Armstrong said calmly as she looked at him over her reading glasses. "I haven't seen you with it since you came back from the ambassador retreat in June. Why do you need it today?"

"I have to show little Freshman around." Jakob grumbled as he went into the laundry room and rummaged around the smaller piles of clothes in there.

"I doubt it's in there." Adrienne called over her shoulder. "Have you looked everywhere in your room?"

"Yes." Jakob was more than a little aggravated as he hissed out his response to his mother.

"What are you looking for?" Jakob's father, Billie Joe, came into the kitchen. He was fully dressed and was preparing to leave. Billie Joe was the lead singer and guitarist for a punk rock band called Green Day. They had been recently inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. He was dressed to do some work for his record company, Adeline.

Billie Joe shook his head at the muttering backside of his son as he threw clothing all around the cramped laundry room. He never understood Jakob's tendency to be an overachiever. Perhaps because he, Billie Joe, had always been an underdog slacker in his youth. Their differences often caused tension in the house from clashing personalities.

Jakob took a breath to keep from lashing out at his father. "My damn black ambassador shirt." He said again through clenched teeth.

"Oh." Billie Joe said, a slight tone of disfavor in his voice. "You mean that one?" He pointed to a black polo shirt with the Hillcrest logo on the left breast plastered near the floor underneath several other black shirts.

"Yes." Jakob took the shirt and smelled it. It smelled like the laundry room so it was mostly clean. He threw it over his undershirt and grabbed his bag. His cell phone rang so Jakob took it out of his pocket to answer it. "Yeah?"

"Jakob, please, please, please tell me you don't have a lab partner yet." A frantic female voice said on the other side.

"Lauren, school hasn't even started yet. You don't even know if you have a lab to partner about." Jakob took an apple out of the refrigerator.

"I know, but I just know I'm going to be in Chemistry and you have to be my lab partner because you're good at that kind of stuff." Lauren's high pitched voice said, a bit more sedately than before.

Jakob furrowed his eyebrows. "Lauren, if you are in Chem, you'll be in Chem I and I'll be in Chem II."

"Oh yeah." Lauren wasn't exactly the brightest person sometimes. "But you'll still help me won't you?"

"Yes, yes." Jakob was trying to find his car keys, which his mother dangled from her fingers to show him where they were. He snatched them away. "Thanks." He told her as she continued to read her paper. "I'll see you this afternoon. Bye."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jakob slipped into the gymnasium of Hillcrest. He was late and the orientation for the Freshman had all ready begun. He quietly slunk to the stage to sit with the rest of the ambassadors. He could see his advisor glare at him from the podium where she was giving the welcome speech.

Jakob glanced down the line of seats at the other ambassadors, some rolled their eyes and some just shook their heads with an amused expression. Jakob was well known for being late for the occasion.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Jakob discreetly took it out to see that Frankito was trying to call him.

Frankito was the son of the drummer of his dad's band, Tre' Cool. Jakob and Frankito were the same age but Frankito went to South Valley, the rival school of Hillcrest. Frankito was Jakob's closest friend and favorite person to get in trouble with.

Catching the heat from the fury of his advisor's eyes, Jakob rejected the call and hoped his voice mail would pick it up. He slipped the phone back into his pocket and pretended to look innocent.

"And we hope your four years at Hillcrest are filled with experiences unrivaled by any." Mrs. Canton, the advisor and speaker, lifted her hands and signaled for the Freshman and ambassadors to stand. "Please wait as we call your section alphabetically for the tour and initiations."

The ambassadors began to file down the steps of the stage but Mrs. Canton held Jakob back. "No, no Mr. Armstrong. I have a special job for you. Since you are obviously not reliable to be on time, I can't trust you today with a tour for the Freshman. Go to the office and give a private tour to a new scholarship student."

Jakob groaned. The scholarship students were always the weird students. "But Mrs. Canton,"

"No buts Jakob. You know the school has to accept a certain amount of scholarship students from moderate homes a year. There is nothing wrong with them. Just because they don't come from a wealthy family doesn't mean their strange. Go." She pointed in the direction of the office.

Mrs. Canton brushed by Jakob to call out letters for the tours. Jakob's mouth hung slightly open at the fact that she practically called him a spoiled, stuck up brat just because his parents had money. Jakob shook his head, his mood had not improved since the morning, and went to the office to give the private tour.