Of Moons, Birds, and Monsters

“Welcome to night school!” Mason shouted, waving his arms out like Vana White to the students passing by. There were about three girls that looked like they were about to pop they were so pregnant. A few boys passed by with their pants hanging past their butt, showing their underwear and practically tripping over their pant legs.

Mason walked a little bit In front of me and Luke, and started pointing out the vending machines, hallways that were off limits, and accessible bathrooms.

“And this is where you got to sign up and shit. The office or whatever they wanna call it,” he said, pointing at through a small window in the wall. There was a tiny fat woman who I knew as the attendance clerk. The three of us approached the door to walk in. The security guard, who was a large, bald man with a Hulk Hogan mustache, stopped us.

“Sikorski, where do you think you’re going?” he snapped, holding the doorknob to keep Mason from trying to grab it. I found it a little scary that the security guard knew Mason’s name by heart.

“Hey, Officer Delgado,” Mason smiled. “I’m just trying to get my friend Riley signed up for night school. Showing her where to go and what not.”

Officer Delgado just raised his eyebrow at Mason, and looked at me.

“Who’s the curly headed kid?” The officer asked, now scanning Luke. Luke looked around to see if the officer was talking about him, or someone behind him.

“Him?” Mason asked, pointing at Luke, who was still looking around for this curly headed person the officer spoke of.

“How many curly headed kids are with you right now, Sikorski? C’mon now, boy,” Officer Delgado snorted. “Son, what is he here for?”

“He’s Riley’s ride. He will stick with her, not me. Don’t worry Officer D, I got this!” Mason insisted, slapping the officer on his arm.

“Go to class, Sikorski,” Officer Delgado demanded.

“I’ll catch you guys tomorrow,” Mason winked, before walking off.

“You two just go in here, and talk to Ms. Cherry. She’ll get Mr. Higgins out to talk to you,” The officer aid, opening the door, and waving us in.

The office was the same as I remembered it. It was small, with two large desks and two doors leading to the principle and counselor’s offices.

“How may I help you two?” Ms. Cherry asked, looking down her beaded eyeglasses.

“Uhm, we’re here to enroll in night school,” Luke answered.

“Mr. Moreno,” she began, folding her hands together on top of her desk. "I’m afraid that I can’t allow you to withdraw from daytime hours to enroll into night school without a parent here.”

“Oh, it’s not for me,” he informed her, shaking his head. “It’s for her.”

"And are you in daytime hours?" she asked, returning her gaze down to her desk sized calander."

"N-no," I stuttered. "I dropped out last year."

“I see. Well, I’ll go get Mr. Higgins for you then,” she said, scooting out of her chair and walking to one of the doors that led to Mr. Higgins office.

I was extremely nervous. I was never good at one on one talk with anybody, much less teachers. Mr. Higgins was nice, but he talked a lot. Everyone always made fun of him and said he was Dr. Phil’s long lost twin. I had to agree with them. Mr. Higgins was the school counselor, and he sported the bald look, and always talked as if he was on life support.

“Moreno,” Mr. Higgins coughed, appearing from behind his office door. “Hats off.”

Luke slide off his beanie, making his hair flop out. It was insane looking. It was just standing up all on its own. It looked like a fro of long, individual curls. He probably didn’t wash at all this weekend.

“Ahh, Ms. Bridges!” Mr. Higgins smiled, holding out his hand for me to shake. “It’s good to see you back here!”

“Thanks. I’m here to enroll in night school,” I told him, shaking his outstretched hand.

“That’s what I heard! If you two would please step into my office,” he said, waving his arm towards his tiny little room.

Luke and I walked in, while Mr. Higgins shut the door behind us. I sat down in one of the chairs that were positioned in front of the large wooden desk, and Luke took the other.

“Let’s take a look at your records here,” Mr. Higgins sighed, sitting in his rolling chair and typing furiously on his keyboard.

I kept giving Luke nervous glances. I was sure I had a pretty good chance of being admitted, but what if I didn’t get in? I would be so disappointed in myself.

Luke noticed my worry and rubbed my shoulder, sending over a comforting smile.

“Well, your grades from when you left are outstanding. We can squeeze you into night school with no problems,” he said, still reading through his computer.

“Really?” I asked, a smile spreading across my face.

“Of course!” He grinned. “It’ll be nice to have one of our top students back! It says here you were fifth in you class. “

“That’s awesome!” Luke cheered, giving me a high five.

“Now, into the dirty work,” Mr. Higgins began, turning to face the two of us. “Since you have come in a little late in the year, I would recommend taking two courses a day instead of just one. I would rather you do it this way so you can avoid summer school. Therefore, we’ll split it up like this: You’ll spend two hours in English, and then two hours in math on one day. The next day you’ll spend two hours in history, and two hours in science.”

“Yeah, that sounds perfect!” I smiled. I was getting back into school! My insides were squirming in excitement.

“That way, you can graduate at the same time as Mr. Moreno and the rest of the class,” he continued. “When will we be expecting your absence?”

“Absence?” I repeated, thoroughly confused. Why would I be absent during school? I had nothing to do.

“When your baby is due,” he answered simply. “You can’t come to night school two weeks before your due date. When is your baby due?”

“Huh?” Luke asked his eye wide and his mouth hanging open. He spoke before I was able to.

“Isn’t that why you are here with her Mr. Moreno?” Mr. Higgins asked with a confused smile.

“Oh, no!” he exclaimed, shaking his head. “She’s my baby sitter. Well, not my babysitter. She baby-sits my sisters, not my baby. I don’t have a baby. I’m baby-free at this point,” Luke babbled, still shaking his head. His face a turned a brilliant bright red. “I don’t--”

“Luke,” I interrupted with a chuckle. “stop."

Luke shut his mouth, and stared down at his feet.

“I’m not pregnant, Mr. Higgins,” I told him, feeling extremely embarrassed.

“My honest mistake. I apologize,” he said, fiddling his thumbs. “All of our female students are either delinquents or pregnant. I knew you weren’t a troublemaker, so I assumed the other. My apologies.”

“It’s okay. But can I still do they two hour split?” I asked, rubbing my knuckles to calm my nerves.

“Oh, of course,” Mr. Higgins answered, leaning back in his chair. “Is that what you want to do?”

“Yeah, I’d like to graduate as soon as possible,” I nodded.

“You know you can come back to regular school next year?” Luke asked, looking up from the floor to my face.

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

“Colby and Karen are starting Kindergarten. We get out of school before they do, so you can finish your senior year out here in regular school,” Luke explained, playing with a lock of his hair.

“Well, then this will definitely work!” Mr. Higgins clapped.

I felt my heart kind of tear. I had been taking care of Colby and Karen for a little over two months now. Jack certainly didn’t want me around, and I wasn’t sure if Luke would talk to me on his own. I felt that he was only talking to me because I was around. There was no way that I could be near the girls and watch them grow up.

“Yeah,” I nodded, a little bummed. “I’m excited.”

“How about you stop by tomorrow, and I’ll give you your new schedule. How about we set your first day to be next Tuesday?” Mr. Higgins asked.

“That’s fine,” I answered, forcing a small smile.

“Well, thank you for returning back to school, and I’ll let you two continue on with your night,” Mr. Higgins smiled, turning back to his computer.

Luke followed me out of the office. Ms. Cherry didn’t acknowledge our presence as we passed by her desk and leaked into the hallway.

“Dude, that’s amazing!” Luke squealed, slipping his beanie back on.

“Yeah, I’m glad it worked out,” I said quietly, flashing a weak smile.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, stopping in his tracks.

“Nothing,” I lied. “I’m fine.”

“C’mere,” he demanded, wrapping his arms around me in a hug. “School will be a breeze for you. Mason will keep an eye out, so don’t worry. Okay?”

I had never been hugged by anyone other than my mother. It felt strange. Not only was Luke as flat as a board and as skinny as a rail, he was a boy. I felt a little weird about allowing him in my extremely large space bubble, but he really didn’t give me time to object. It was a comforting hug, nonetheless. I wrapped my arms around him, and we just stood there for a while.

“Thanks, Luke,” I mumbled into his chest.

“Not a problem,” he chuckled. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

I pulled away from him and continued to walk towards the exit. Luke considered me as a friend. That was odd to me. We only just started talking four days ago, after I’ve been baby-sitting his sisters for a few months. Dawn and I talked for months before she called me her friend.

“Want to go get an Icee? I’m freakin’ thirsty,” Luke said, rubbing his throat.

“Sure,” I agreed.