Wanna Tell You How I Feel Inside

I let out a sigh, finally sitting down at the circular table in the farthest corner of the lunchroom. I sat silently as the guys ate and chatted. I let my eyes roam around me, my mind wandering. Science and P.E. had passed uneventfully. All I found out was that Zacky played baseball. History was far from boring. Jimmy and I already have a detention for Thursday’s lunch. In PFD I learned Brian wasn’t as creepy as I believed him to be. He is actually really cool. Matt and I just left Math, him copying my paper. I didn’t mind. Hell, I finished all the work in fifteen minutes so I sat around listen to my music for the other half an hour.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” My head snapped back to Johnny who sat next to me.

“I’m not really hungry,” I replied simply with a smile.

“So how are you liking our school?” He asked, making small talk. I was relieved. As much as I liked the other guys, only Matt and Johnny seemed laid back. And since I have no classes with Johnny I guess this would be our only talk time.

“Eh. It’s alright. I really wish my damn teachers will stop calling me a prodigy,” I groaned. He chuckled at me with a grin.

“How come you hate being called a-that?”

“I’ve just been called that since I was little. It really just bugs me. I’m smart, yeah. But prodigy is pushing it.”

“Well you do have a genius IQ.” I groaned again.

“Thanks Johnny. Making me feel loads better.”

“I try my best,” he replied. I playfully shoved him, a smile creeping on my face. Suddenly a high pitch squeal was heard, making everyone jerk their heads to the left. A bleach blonde ran up to Brian, who sat in front of me, kissing him square on the lips. Brian tensed up, but hugged her around the waist and kissed back.

“Who the fuck is that?” I whispered to Johnny who had a look of disgust on his face.

“Amberly.”

“Are her and Brian…?”

“Barely. They have an old past and Brian will feel bad for dumping her. She‘s madly in love with him,” Johnny informed me.

“And him?“

“Not so much.“ I nodded at this.

“Who’s she?” I looked up at the harsh, nails-on-a-chalkboard like voice. I was greeted with blue eyes glaring down at me. I had to do a look over to realize this girl Amberly was the one sending the glare.

“This is my foster sister Sage. Sage, this is Amberly. She’s Brian’s girlfriend,” Zacky introduced. The way he said ‘girlfriend’ led me to believe he doesn’t count her as one.

“Pleasure to meet you,” I faked, sticking out my hand.

“I’m sure it is,“ Amberly stated snottily. She stared at my hand like it was diseased before she sat on Brian’s lap. I took my arm back and rested it right in front of me on the table. Class A bitch I guess. I turned away from her to face Johnny, my inner temper flaring. Why do I have a feeling we’ll never get along?

“Don’t take it personally, she’s like this to all of us,” Johnny tried to reassure. Oh. That’s why.

“I hate her already.” Suddenly the bell rang and the lunchroom became alive. Kids picked up their trays and all but ran out of the cafeteria. I followed our table’s lead and stood, grabbing my backpack off the floor.

“Time for art,” Zacky announced, walking over to me and draping an arm across my shoulders.

“Finally,” I sighed. After bidding the rest of our friends goodbye, Zacky led me out the backdoor of the cafeteria. We were silent as we walked from the main building to the secondary one between the first building and the track. As soon as we walked into the Fine Arts department building, my interest flickered to a cello I could hear in the background.

“So how are you liking school?” My attention was ripped away from the cello back to my new brother. He gave me a smile as he continued to lead us to class like he memorized the way. Kids were literally swarming out of our way as if they were afraid to touch Zacky.

“It’s okay. Well, minus that Amberly chick. Why, just why?” I groaned.

“She wasn’t that bad when we first met in sophomore year. Then she slowly started to get caught up in popularity and turned to the ice queen. I think Brian’s just hoping she’ll go back to being how she use to be,” Zacky replied with a sigh. I slowly nodded as we crossed the threshold to our art class. A woman who seemed very young to be a teacher faced us from behind a canvas. She smiled at Zacky and I, standing and wiping paint off her hands.

“You must be Sage. Welcome to Huntington,” the lady greeted me, offering a hand. I grinned and shook her hand happily. “I am Mrs. Jackson.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Her long blond hair, that was pulled back in a messy ponytail, reached the middle of her back. Her black eyes sparkled with happiness and creativity. She wore lose jeans, a tank top, and a white apron draped over her top. I can well see why everyone says she’s the coolest teacher at this school. She seems just like us.

“So there is only two rules in this class. First, you have to do something every class period. Draw, paint, pottery, hell, a coloring book. I honestly don’t care. Secondly, if you have to pee you need to ask me for the pass before leaving. As long as you follow those rules you can talk to friends, listen to music, talk on the phone, I really don’t care. Have fun.” Mrs. Jackson gave one last smile before sitting back in front of her canvas.

“That’s it? No introduction? No five million questions about my life before this?” I asked, astonished.

“Do you know who you are?”

“Yes.”

“Do you care what others think of you?”

“Not really.”

“Do you want to talk about your life before here?”

“That’s not at the top of my list.”

“Then I see no point in either,” she replied with a grin. I grinned back before following Zacky to the back of the room. Definitely like this lady, a lot.

“I love this teacher,” I said simply. I sat on a stool in front of a canvas, dropping my backpack on the floor next to me. I picked up a pencil as Zacky sat next to me.

“Believe me, you’ll never want to leave this class.” I smiled, my pencil flying over the white sheet in front of me. Soon black and shades of grey began to cover the paper, making a picture. The image literally left my hand, my mind not even really thinking of it. Who knows how many minutes later, I was complete.

“That is amazing.” I jumped at the familiar voice of Mrs. Jackson. I turned to see her and Zacky staring awestruck. In front of me was a simple drawing of Zacky. Well, I thought it was simple. The closer I looked I noticed how I actually went far with his details. The glistening of his lip rings, the sparkle of his eyes, the fold of his clothes.

“It’s not that great,” I murmured, a blush creeping onto my face. I really wish I would have tried doing something else. Maybe a lion or something I couldn’t simply look over at to get little details. Maybe my work wouldn’t have been so…amazing, in their words.

“It’s magnificent. Take this home with you. I think you’ll like it more than me,” Mrs. Jackson told me with a smile. Suddenly the bell screamed out. I quickly slid the thick drawing paper into my backpack, almost running out of the room. Zacky caught up to me just as I exited the Fine Arts building.

“Sage! That was fantastic! How can you do that?” He asked in amazement.

“I’ve always been able to,” I replied with a shrug. Just as he was about to say something Matt walked up out of almost nowhere.

“Time for English,” Matt chirped happily. I gave a quick smile to Zacky before grabbing Matt’s wrist and running off. Once we were in the main building and lost in the crowd of teenagers, I let Matt take the lead. He led us down a hall to the very last door on the right. Inside it was empty, but a kid that screamed nerd and the teacher. The boy shifted uncomfortably as Matt’s gaze met his. As I was about to scowl him, the teacher walked up suddenly.

“Matt, stop staring at Evan. You must be Sage?”

“Yes sir,” I answered with my signature smile. He was about forty-three with graying hair. A pair of thin glasses were perched on the bridge of his small nose. He wore a dark blue, collared shirt and black slacks.

“Welcome, I am Mr. Stevens. You picked a good day to come. We are reading a short story in partners and answering a few questions. Here is your book and packet. I will enjoy having you in my class.” With that he walked off. I followed Matt to the far left, middle part of the room. All the desks were set up with two desks touching each other like a small table. I sat on the one closest to the window and Matt in the other. Just then the bell rang, teenagers flooding into the room.

“So what’s up with you and this Evan guy?” I asked accusingly. Matt gave one of those puppy eyes, his eyes shining innocently.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about Sage.” I rolled my eyes, opening the book to the page written at the top of our packet.

“You are a horrible liar. What’d ya do? Terrorize the poor boy?” Matt’s silence was enough to make me roll my eyes. “Matthew Sanders, what is wrong with you? It’s obvious the boy can’t take on a damn basketball star.”

“How’d you know I play basketball?” Matt asked, kind of surprised.

“I have P.E. with Zacky. His teacher had to brag to me how you, Zacky, and Brian are the best basketball players he’s ever seen,” I explained with a roll of my eyes. “But that’s besides the point! Why did you torture him?”

“It was kind of how Brian, Jimmy, and I spent last year during our Math class. He was forced into our group and we gave him hell.” I smacked him upside the back of the head. I saw the Evan kid’s eyes grow wide when he thought I wasn’t looking. “What was that for?!”

“If I see you picking on that boy at all, I will personally break everything precious to you.”

“Yes mommy,” Matt muttered sarcastically. I smacked him again and he turned to me to protest, but I cut him off quickly.

“You read the first paragraph and we’ll alternate.”