Just Another Reason I Could Never Forget You

“Jericha Henderson?”
The girl in question looked up as the teacher called her name, her hand rising slightly to indicate she was present. The woman smiled and nodded before continuing on with attendance. Jericha’s mind was elsewhere though, as the teacher began to go over the class syllabus from the front of the room. In fact, Jericha’s mind was focused on the more social parts of being a new student at Dulaney High. Like how hard it would be to make new friends, especially with her personality. She wasn’t shy, at least, not too shy. She was quite the sarcastic person, and tended to piss people off within minutes of meeting them. It was a miracle she had made any friends at her old school. God, do I miss Belle and Nichole.

Jericha turned her gaze back towards the teacher, attempting to make it look like she really was paying attention. The woman looked to be in her late twenties, with short brown hair and startlingly grey eyes. Her slender frame was encased in a flowing black skirt and white dress shirt, something that Jericha thought was a bit too formal. It looked something you would see a choir student dressed in for one of their performances. How would she know that? She’d been in choir for three years, before coming here that is. Jericha loved to sing, but felt like she’d be making herself stand out more than necessary if she joined choir. Besides that, it was her senior year, and she wanted a break from choir. Her mind wandered before she forced herself to focus on what the teacher was saying.

“Alright, well…I think that is all I have to talk with you about. We’ll pass out the textbooks next class and dive right into the first unit then. You may have the rest of the class period to sit and talk amongst yourselves.”

Well ain’t that peachy? Thanks for making me stick out like a sore thumb, Mrs. Hanson,the girl thought as she watched her classmates all cluster together to talk about their summers. Watching all of them sitting and talking, she felt a sharp ache in her chest, reminding her that all of her friends were back in Baltimore.

Jericha looked at her chipped purple nails and sighed as she realized that they were in need of a new paint job. Just add that to my list of things to do after school, she thought as she picked at the remnants of the paint. Her red hair fell in her face as leaned down to grab her bag of notebooks and pulled out the checkered one. It wasn’t new by means, because the corners of the cardboard were worn, and there were pages that were visibly dog-eared, much to her dismay. Who had been looking through her lyrics this time? Biting her lip and glancing around the room, Jericha turned to a fresh page and began writing down lines that had been floating through her head since she walked into the classroom.

I’m all alone in this new place,
with nobody to turn to for help,
and when there’s no one around,
I think of you.

You were my rock,
and with both hands I clung,
because you were the only solid,
in my slowly crumbling life.

Save me baby,
take me away,
rescue me from here,
set me free again.

The Patron courses through me,
and I like the buzz I feel,
but the crash is catching up to me,
and I’m spinning out of control.

Looking at the words written on the page in front of her, Jericha sighed and went to write some more when the notebook was yanked out from under her hands. She looked up, her blue eyes blazing as she glared up at the brown haired boy in front of her.

“What do we have here?” he asked as his eyes scanned the page, a grin spreading across his face. Jericha stood and tried to snatch it back from him, but was too short. This boy had to be at least 5’8, which doesn’t seem that tall until you put them next to someone who’s only 5’3. His brown eyes sparkled with the obvious amusement that he was getting out of watching her getting madder by the minute.

“Zack, just give her the damn notebook back,” a boy called from the back of the room, where his friends were all laughing at Jericha’s struggling. The boy, Zack, looked down at her and grinned before giving the notebook back to her. The redhead watched him saunter back over to his friends, high-fiving a few before sitting down and winking at her.

Shoving the notebook back into her bag, Jericha slung it over her shoulder and tapped her foot impatiently as she watched the clock tick down the final seconds of this class. She couldn’t wait to get away from Zack, who seemed to find her anxiety just as amusing as her height issues. Eyes roaming over to the boy who had defended her, Jericha smiled slightly. He had brown eyes and was a little on the chubby side, as if he was still growing out of baby fat. With the set of drumsticks in his hands, he was tapping out a beat on the edge of the desk in front of him, one that Jericha vaguely recognized as the drum line of Fall Out Boy’s ‘Dance Dance’.

The bell ringing marked the beginning of Jericha’s quick exit from the classroom. The girl speed-walked to her locker, her eyes not straying from her feet as she hurried along. That was why she didn’t realize the person in front of her had stopped until she ran into them. It felt like running into a brick wall, which really wasn’t a pleasant feeling. She stumbled a bit before the person reached out a hand to steady her. It was…Zack. Great, just what I fucking need. She shrugged off his hand and walked around him, not wanting to see the smug look she knew would be on his face. Every school had a little group that liked to fuck with people, and it looked like Jericha had the displeasure of meeting them already.