Before It Rains

*Warning... this chapter is very little dialogue... a lot of description...*

For the first time since we had arrived, the alarm clock went off. I rolled over to hit the snooze button, only to find that it wasn’t there. I reached farther, but my hand only hit the dresser beside me. As I sat up I realized that not only was the clock all the way over by the TV, but that it was also Monday, and the first day of school.

Ruben was already in the shower as I made my way over to the clock and shut it off. 7:02. Classes started at 8:30, and we had promised to meet the guys in the hallway to walk over to breakfast at 7:45.

I had already packed my bag with the stuff I could imagine needing on the first day. I gathered all my clothes for the day together and sat on my bed patiently (or not so patiently) for Ruben to get out of the shower. I had picked out my favorite pair of jeans, the same flats I had worn on my first day here, a white tee-shirt, and a green zip-up hoodie, since I had been so kindly informed that some of the classrooms had air conditioning for the first few weeks and the last few weeks of school.

I was in and out of the shower in record time, leaving ten minutes to spare before breakfast. As soon as the clock switched to 7:45, I grabbed my bag, crossed the hall, and banged on the door.

“Let’s go, people, I’m hungry!” I shouted through the closed door. It opened and both Will and Austin stepped out, both with school bags, and both looking very hot indeed. Max, Kai, and Shane were walking towards us from down the hall.

“What the hell is all this racket? Sam...?” he added grinning at me.

“I’m a firm believer of being on time,” I explained. Ruben snorted and I gave him a look. “Shut up.”

Asia was already in the cafeteria when we got there, and she waved us over. As everyone started chattering and eating, I took my schedule out of my bag and smoothed it out on the table.

Biology
History II
Pre-calculus
Gym
Lunch B
French III
Creative Writing

“Hey!” I waved my hands around to get everyone’s attention. “Can someone show you where the science building is after breakfast, considering I’m clueless?”

“I can!” Will piped up. “Do you have bio first block?” I nodded. “Me too.” I smiled. At least there would be someone I knew for the start of the day.

After we had dumped our trays, Will and I walked over to the science building. It was the farthest one away from the cafeteria, pretty much in the middle of nowhere on this campus, but Will explained it was so the nature and bio classes would have easy access to the forest right behind it.

And so the morning passed. All of the classes were relatively uneventful. I found out that my pre-calc teacher was a monotonous bore, and that my history teacher was a Renaissance enthusiast who was way too cheerful for a teacher. Lunch came quickly, but of course, it was only the first day, and it was all about passing out books and reviewing curriculums after all.

Will, Asia, and Shane weren’t in my lunch, and I ended up walking to the language building with my own brother. We parted at the door, and I headed for the French room. I was the last one there, but I didn’t recognize anyone, so I took a seat in the corner and pushed my bag under my desk.

I quickly found out the standards were much higher here than at my sending school. We were expected to not understand the teacher’s perfect French, but also speak back to her... no English allowed. I was in for a rough semester.

A wave of relief washed over me as I exited the French room. I saw Ruben for only a minute as we were leaving, but the look we exchanged told me his Spanish III class had been a similar experience.

Creative writing was interesting, though. I hadn’t lied to Austin, I wasn’t particularly good in English, but I found that the teacher was the same Mr. Samuels who I’d seen the night before, and he appeared to be a good teacher. Regardless, by the end of class, the first page of my notebook was covered with random pictures and doodles.

“Samantha?” Mr. Samuels called as everyone else left. “Can you come up to my desk?” It was the end of the day, and as much as I wanted to leave and meet up with my friends, I met him at his desk.

“Hi, Mr. Samuels,” I said. “You need me for something?”

He nodded. “Absolutely. I’m the director of the drama department. And I heard you last night with Max James and that other boy. The three of you sounded great. Are you considering auditioning for the musical this year?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know? What is it?”

“Oklahoma.”

“Oh, well, I think probably. That other kid was my brother by the way. When are auditions?” I asked.

“Friday in the auditorium after classes get out. Rehearsals will start on Saturday.” He wrote all this down on a Sticky note and handed it to me, and I stuffed it into my bag.

“Thanks, Mr. Samuels.”

“No, thank you, Samantha. See you tomorrow.”

“Sure,” I said. “And it’s Sam.”

He looked puzzled for a minute and then smiled. “Sam then.” And with that I left the English building, in search of Austin, Will, Asia, and everyone else.

I was crossing the lawn, wondering where to look for them, when I heard someone call out, “HEADS!”. And so of course I turned around just in time to see a soccer ball come hurdling through the sky and everything went dark.