Empty

The classroom door opened slowly, almost hesitantly. Everyone in the room, teacher included, turned to see who would come through. It was first period Math and Mr. Anderson had handed out a pop quiz. This meant that surprisingly, for once, the room was an unnatural quiet. Quiet enough, in fact, to hear the door opening.

A girl stepped in, dark hair, brown eyes. She looked up to see the class staring at her and her cheeks; an almost Asian yellow, turned pink. The boys looked at each other, exchanging glances and a girl's voice giggled. Mr. Anderson cleared his throat, glaring at his students. "You have five more minutes. I'd suggest you use it wisely."

Turning back to the girl, he walked forward.

The girl met him halfway, something that was almost a smile on her lips. In her hand, she held a letter. Mr. Anderson could tell, even from that far away, that it was printed on the school letterhead.

New student, he figured lazily.

"I'm Ka…" he waved her shut and pointed to a chair at the back. "The class is having a test. You can go sit there until it's over."

Kara's mouth opened and closed, as if she wanted to say something else and a small flare of defiance glinted in her eye. But the flame was quelled and she nodded, face turning again to her sneakered feet.

She shuffled noiselessly through the aisle, face burning even hotter. When she got to the chair at the back, she sat down and put her books – brand new and unused, on the table. The classroom was not so large, but it was big enough not to seem crowded with thirty students sitting in it. There were large windows on the left and a board up front that the teacher had scrawled 'SILENCE' across. The teacher's table, made of cheap wood and varnished was set between the board and the first row of students.

Everyone around her, except Mr. Anderson, was Native American. Most of the boys had silky long black hair that they either had in a single plait down their backs or tied haphazardly at the nape of their necks. Kara focused on this for a while, admiring the shininess and rich darkness that covered her colleagues' heads. The girls too had the same rich black cascading around their faces like black halos, but some had chosen for a more modern cut. The rest of the boys had cut their hair to almost military style neatness. The straight planes on their faces, symmetrical and proud, screamed beauty and grace; Kara had never felt so ugly in her whole entire life.

On the walls were posters of people, places, things that Kara had never heard of before. But she recognized one with Calculus formulas on it and she smiled. She'd always loved Math. It comforted her of some sort – a link to the home that she'd been forced to leave behind and a family that she'd loved.

Suddenly, unconsciously, her chest tightened and her eyes started to burn. She thought of her home, her mother, of the tearful farewell and also, of her father. It had been too long since her mind could conjure up a decent memory of him again. He was smiling, laughing… always laughing.

Kara's throat choked with the sadness but she beat it back down. A brand new start her Uncle had told her when he'd picked her up from the airport.

A brand new start.

With all her heart and soul, Kara sincerely wished that he was right.