Waiting for Superman

"Y'know, if you keep frowning like that, you'll get wrinkles."

I laughed and rolled my eyes, looking up over my papers at Cherrie. "It's called preparing, babe. Maybe you should try it sometime."

"Oh, hell no. The only thing I'm preparing for babe, is getting the hell outta Dodge."

"Please graduate first."

"Obviously, Gracie. I'm not stupid."

I grinned and shook my head, highlighting a section of materials needed for the class. I put the pen down long enough to let a breath out I didn't know I was holding, pushing my hair behind my ears. Before I'd left this morning, the only thing said to me went along the lines of living up to the standards I was held at. I knew my mother wanted to tell me to have a good day, but doing so would've let my father know that his words held no substance. Not that they did, really, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to listen.

"I'm honestly kind of relieved you're taking this with me."

Cherrie raised an eyebrow but nodded once I tapped the paper with the end of the pen. "Yeah, I mean, I heard it looks good on applications for college. Anddd, Smitty isn't the one teaching it this year."

"Smith isn't teaching this year?" I gaped, staring at her in shock.

Cherrie laughed, sliding off the table to sit beside me on the bench. "Nope. Heard she quit after Sarah Parker pulled that stunt last year."

"What am I supposed to do now?" I groaned, gripping the syllabus in my hand. "I already bought half the books on this list."

"It pays off to be an underachiever."

"Maybe," I agreed, stuffing my books and papers into my bag. I stood up with a small sigh, adjusting the strap on my shoulder. "And maybe the replacement won't be that bad."

Cherrie snorted. "Right. And maybe I'll get into Harvard."

Silence fell over us as the bell rang, signaling the end of our free period. Cherrie fell into step beside me and we avoided the glances and whispers, as per usual. With a town like ours, speculation wasn't something that was hard to come by--if it wasn't the fact that Cherrie was gay, it was that an underclassman was sleeping with someone on the football team or that one of the oldest members of church withdrew from services (even if health was to blame). It bothered me when I was younger, only because I was still naïve and refused to accept that people were people and deserved to be treated as so. If my father didn't like someone, there had to be a reason; thank God that I grew up and out of that.

"Gracie, you're coming Saturday night, aren't you?" Lana asked, sitting on top of one of the desks in the classroom.

I gave her a small smile and a nod, though I was almost positive I'd make some kind of excuse up throughout the week. Lana Sommers was the kind of girl that my parents had always encouraged me to be friends with and when we were younger, there was a time that we'd been inseparable. Our parents were neighbors and our mothers were best friends so naturally, we were expected to be nothing short of it. Over time, though, Lana had gotten a taste of her older brother's friends, completely unbeknownst to her mother, and I had homeroom with a girl that cursed a little too much with too bright red hair. And the rest, as they say, was history.

"Can't wait," I eventually told her.

I heard Cherrie giggle from behind me and I turned around, giving her a look. "What?"

"You know as good as I do that the day you go to one of Lana's 'bible studies', you'll kill over."

I shrugged, folding my arms over my chest with a small grin. "Never know. I'm sure I'd learn a lot, C."

"Oh, whatever, Gracie," Cherrie laughed, hitting my arm lightly, pausing for a second. "That's bound to cause hell."

"What?" I furrowed my eyebrows, looking at her in confusion.

She nodded behind me and turned my shoulder in the opposite direction in an attempt to get me to turn in my seat. I turned around once the curiosity set in, falling silent like my peers around me had as soon as the man walked in.

He was sitting on the edge of the desk, one leg over the other as he waited. His eyes were narrowed slightly and I could tell from where I was sitting that they were a light blue. His skin was almost a caramel color and his posture was stiff as his eyes searched the students sat before him. He took a second to glance at the watch on his wrist, letting out a small sigh once the silence continued. He offered a small smile, standing to his full height as the last student shut the door behind him.

Seth gave the man a disgusted look before taking a seat next to Lana, setting his bag on top of the desk. The man swallowed the lump in his throat, gathering the stack of papers settled beside him, thumbing through them before holding up a piece of paper. "I'll start with attendance and then we'll be moving on to discuss the plan for this year. Sound good?"

Silence still. I could tell that the lack of feedback was upsetting him, but he did little to show it. I could only guess that he used to the hospitality given to him since arriving. The town didn't take lightly to newcomers, but even more so when they didn't fit the mold. He was exotic and intriguing, an obvious difference from the white middle and higher class the community was accustomed to.

He sighed, dropping the paper. "I should start by introducing myself, then? My name's Jackson Avery, and I'll be your AP Literature and Composition teacher for this year."