A Life That Healed A Broken Heart With All That It Could

I entered the classroom for the first time, and all I saw was him.

He was in the back of the room, talking to some girl in a red and black Hoodie. He glanced my way and we made eye contact for a split second- enough for me to notice his ice blue eyes. I fumbled with my schedule, breaking eye contact, more to have something to do with my hands than make sure I was in the right room.

“Class, this is Adrienne Malone. She’ll be joining our class and I expect you to help her find her way around. Adrienne, do you have any nicknames we should know about?”

“I go by Addy or Ads, but I don’t mind Adrienne,” I answered.

“Well then, welcome Addy. You can sit at any open desk you’d like.”

I made my way to the back of the room, sitting to the boy’s right. His neatly groomed hair reminded me- I had my hair in two long ponytails. Stupid way to wear my hair, I thought, and sat down. Two long dark brown ponytails with lime green streaks. And I was all dressed in black and green today. Even my eye shadow was a smoky green. Idiot, I scolded myself. The boy turned to face me, cutting off my thoughts.

“Good morning,” he said in a friendly voice. “I’m Zacky, nice to meet you.” He extended his hand and I shook it, grinning.
The girl to his left leaned over and gave me the evil eye. I turned around- maybe it was meant for someone else?
“Oh, and that’s Holly,” Zacky explained.
“Is she your girlfriend?” I asked. They both blushed.

“None of your business,” snapped Holly quickly.

“No,” answered Zacky politely. He turned to her and said something quietly; it sounded like “You be nice.” She murmured something sarcastically and turned towards the front of the room.

“Don’t worry about Holly- she’s not as rough as she seems,” he assured me. “Hey, our schedules look pretty much the same. Want me to show you around?”

“Sure,” I said, grateful. I was going to end up totally lost without a guide, and Holly wasn’t exactly rolling out the welcome wagon.

“We have all of our classes together but one- that’s fourth period, right before lunch. See, Holly and I have gym. You have art.”

“Oh,” I said. “Is Holly in all of our classes?”

“Most of them,” he answered. “But I promise- you’ll warm up to each other soon enough.” The look on Holly’s face screamed “Fat chance.”

The bell rang. I tried to follow Zacky as closely as possible. Finding the science lab would be a challenge if I lost him. I squeezed my way through the mob of other students, almost getting lost. Zacky grabbed my hand to make sure I didn’t. Holly responded to that by oh-so-casually walked right between Zacky and I, making it impossible to hold on. When we finally made it, I could’ve sworn I saw Holly throw my a sideways smirk of triumph.

I managed to get a seat between Holly and Zacky in the lab- even though she wasn’t friendly, at least I knew Holly’s name. The science teacher started droning on about expectations, most of which I would’ve followed anyways. It didn’t take a genius to realize she was half-blind and over seventy.
I gave up trying to pay attention when Zacky passed me a note. I unfolded it.

Sorry, Miss Bernie isn’t the most interesting. Nothing she says right now matters. She doesn’t really assign anything, so bring her a muffin every so often and you’ll pass.

I smiled and wrote back.

Nothing like a good muffin in the morning.

Ha! So what kind of music do you like?

Rock, some metal, a little bit of pop.

Cool. Do you like art?

Yep, a lot.

We passed notes and had an entire Q & A session before the bell rang for the end of first period.

*Later*

I had survived the first four periods of the day, and I was starving. I entered the cafeteria and ordered a salad. Coming out from the line, I scanned the masses of tables. I saw Zacky waving to me from a table near the window. Holly tried to shush him before I noticed, but I was already on my way.

“So, how’s your first day been?” Zacky asked me as I slid my backpack onto the back of my chair. I laughed.

“You were there for most of it.”

“True,” he grinned. He jabbed Holly with his elbow. “Holly has something to tell you, don’t you, Holly?” She picked at her limp lettuce quietly.

“Yes,” she grumbled, but stopped there.

“Well? Go on,” I said.

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t nice,” she said in a mumbled voice, obviously not wanting to admit it.

“It’s fine,” I said slowly, a little confused.

“YAY! Now we’re all friends at Zacky’s happy table. WOOO!” he cheered. Holly laughed- it was the first time I’d seen her smile all day.

“You’re such a spaz,” she told him.

“YES I AM!” he said really loud. I laughed.

“So… do you guys want to hang out after school?” I asked them.

“Sure! Where?” Zacky asked.

“No idea.”

“She just moved here, remember?” said Holly.

“Oh yeah… so… like… your house? The movies? The park?”

“Are there swings at the park?” I asked.

“Yes…”

“Then TO THE PARK!!!” I said.

“In four more periods,” added Holly. We laughed and the bell rang. As we were rushing off to class, Zacky turned to me.

“Holly and I have decided we like you.”

“Good,” I said, “Because you’re stuck with me.”

I thought Holly would laugh, but her face was blank. I wasn’t sure how happy she was about being stuck with me, even if we were friends now.

“Stuck with a major spaz,” grinned Zacky. I smiled and took his hand again. This time, Holly let me. Maybe this school wouldn’t be so bad….