Cianide's the New Lemonade
3
Ella wasn’t there yet because she was on the first floor where the language classes are. I didn’t really know anyone but that guy Josh from English. I walked over to where he was writing something down.
“Excuse me?” he looked up quickly then looked back down.
“Yeah?”
“Can I sit here?” I asked, pointing to the desk next to him. He shrugged so I took that as a yes.
Ella came waltzing in, literally waltzing in; she was dancing over to me.
“French was so confusing. Hey, Josh.” She said, sitting down next to me.
He ignored her and continued writing something down.
“Hey! I said hi.”
“Hi,” he muttered.
She stuck her tongue out at him and I giggled. Our teacher, Mrs. Stryder, stood up and the class got quiet. She looked really sharp and had that no nonsense air around her.
“Welcome to choir. This year you will learn to sing to the best of your ability. You must try in this class or you will fail. I don’t take ‘I can’t’ as an answer. If it’s to hard then try again. I won’t give you assigned seats, they’d be useless. You will get in a group and I want you to create a song. That is your project for the week. Since you all decided to show up today you will have an extra day to work and the privilege of picking your groups first. You have to have at least three people in your group, no more then five. Well get started!” she barked, causing some kid in the front to jump.
“We need another person,” Ella said.
“What about Josh?” I whispered.
“But he’s rude!”
“Maybe he’ll get better?”
“I hope you’re right. Hey, Josh?” he looked up at her. “Wow, he looked. Anyway, do you want to be in our group?”
“Sure, I guess.” He got up and sat in the seat in front of us. “Any ideas?”
Ella was about to say something and I was guessing it was close to starting a fight so I jumped in.
“What if we get a title first?” they looked at me. “Maybe that’ll help us think of some lyrics. Or maybe an idea for the song to be centered on?”
We sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to figure out a good title. I had nothing and being next to a window on such a nice day didn’t help.
“I got it!” Ella exclaimed, snatching Josh’s notebook and tearing out a clean piece of paper.
“Hey!”
“Is for horses,” she said also taking his pen. She scribbled something down on the paper and then put it between us.
“How do you pronounce that?” Josh asked, pointing to the first word.
“Cyanide. I learned about it in Science last year.”
“It’s spelt wrong.”
“No it’s not!”
“Yes it is! Check your Science book.”
“I don’t have it.”
He huffed and took his out of his bag. While he flipped through the pages I turned the paper to me and read the title.
‘Cianides the new lemonade’.
“I like it,” I said, loudly enough for Ella and Josh to stop bickering over the spelling.
“Really?” they asked at the same time then glared at each other.
“Yeah. I’m sorry, Ella, but cyanide is spelt wrong. But that just makes it that much cooler! Who says the titles have to make sense? Plus I think I just got an idea.”
I started writing down the line that was going through my head. Eventually I had the chorus done. I fixed a few things and handed it over to an impatient Ella. She quickly grabbed it and scanned her eyes over it.
“I love it!” she said, handing the paper to Josh.
“This is really good,” he said, sounding just a little surprised.
“Thanks! Are you sure though? Change anything.”
“There’s nothing to change. We’re using this. What part is it?” Ella asked, ready to write down what I said next.
“The chorus.”
“Ok. I’ll write the first verse if you want.”
“Then I guess I’ll do the second?” Josh said.
“And when it’s all together we can do the last verse?” I asked.
“This is going to be so much fun!”
“What are you three gabbing on about?” Mrs. Stryder asked, walking over.
“The song?” Ella squeaked.
“Let me see what you have,” she demanded, holding out her hand.
I gave her the paper and waited as she read it. She dropped it on the desk in front of me and we waited.
“This is alright. I expect a first verse by tomorrow. And who came up with the title?” Ella slowly rose her hand. “It’s different. You’re whole group is different.” Then her lips…twitched? Like she was going to smile. “Different in this class is good.”
The bell rang and she walked away. Josh, Ella, and I sat there looking at each other.
“Should we be scared?” Josh asked while we got our things.
“I don’t think so. She didn’t look mad,” I whispered.
We left the classroom quickly and headed to the dining hall.
“I’ll work on the first verse this period,” Ella said while we got in line.
Lunch were hamburgers and hotdogs with fries. Josh was in front of us so we just followed him to his table. When we sat down with me next to him and Ella next to me he looked up.
“What are you two doing here?”
“Eating,” I said.
“I can see that but why?”
“Because what if we need help on the song?” Ella asked.
He was about to say something but a freshman with dark brown hair sat down across from us.
“Hey, Josh. Did you get any homework yet? I got some in Math, man that teacher’s mean. History seems cool though. Hey, who are you?” he asked, pointing to Ella and me.
“Hi! I’m Ella and this is Hayley! We’re working with Josh for our choir project. Who are you?”
“I’m Zac, Josh’s younger brother.”
“You never said you had a brother!” I said.
“You never asked,” Josh sighed.
“Jeez you’re a little grumpy today.” Zac joked.
“Well someone woke me up way to early to ask what time classes started.”
“Would it have better if I was late?”
“If I got to sleep in then yes.”
Zac stuck his tongue out, causing Ella and me to laugh. He smiled at us.
“I like them! At least they have a sense of humor.”
“Har har.”
The rest of lunch was filled with Zac and Josh bantering back and forth. Josh even cracked some jokes and smiled. Zac brought the best of him, at least in front of Ella and me.
“Excuse me?” he looked up quickly then looked back down.
“Yeah?”
“Can I sit here?” I asked, pointing to the desk next to him. He shrugged so I took that as a yes.
Ella came waltzing in, literally waltzing in; she was dancing over to me.
“French was so confusing. Hey, Josh.” She said, sitting down next to me.
He ignored her and continued writing something down.
“Hey! I said hi.”
“Hi,” he muttered.
She stuck her tongue out at him and I giggled. Our teacher, Mrs. Stryder, stood up and the class got quiet. She looked really sharp and had that no nonsense air around her.
“Welcome to choir. This year you will learn to sing to the best of your ability. You must try in this class or you will fail. I don’t take ‘I can’t’ as an answer. If it’s to hard then try again. I won’t give you assigned seats, they’d be useless. You will get in a group and I want you to create a song. That is your project for the week. Since you all decided to show up today you will have an extra day to work and the privilege of picking your groups first. You have to have at least three people in your group, no more then five. Well get started!” she barked, causing some kid in the front to jump.
“We need another person,” Ella said.
“What about Josh?” I whispered.
“But he’s rude!”
“Maybe he’ll get better?”
“I hope you’re right. Hey, Josh?” he looked up at her. “Wow, he looked. Anyway, do you want to be in our group?”
“Sure, I guess.” He got up and sat in the seat in front of us. “Any ideas?”
Ella was about to say something and I was guessing it was close to starting a fight so I jumped in.
“What if we get a title first?” they looked at me. “Maybe that’ll help us think of some lyrics. Or maybe an idea for the song to be centered on?”
We sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to figure out a good title. I had nothing and being next to a window on such a nice day didn’t help.
“I got it!” Ella exclaimed, snatching Josh’s notebook and tearing out a clean piece of paper.
“Hey!”
“Is for horses,” she said also taking his pen. She scribbled something down on the paper and then put it between us.
“How do you pronounce that?” Josh asked, pointing to the first word.
“Cyanide. I learned about it in Science last year.”
“It’s spelt wrong.”
“No it’s not!”
“Yes it is! Check your Science book.”
“I don’t have it.”
He huffed and took his out of his bag. While he flipped through the pages I turned the paper to me and read the title.
‘Cianides the new lemonade’.
“I like it,” I said, loudly enough for Ella and Josh to stop bickering over the spelling.
“Really?” they asked at the same time then glared at each other.
“Yeah. I’m sorry, Ella, but cyanide is spelt wrong. But that just makes it that much cooler! Who says the titles have to make sense? Plus I think I just got an idea.”
I started writing down the line that was going through my head. Eventually I had the chorus done. I fixed a few things and handed it over to an impatient Ella. She quickly grabbed it and scanned her eyes over it.
“I love it!” she said, handing the paper to Josh.
“This is really good,” he said, sounding just a little surprised.
“Thanks! Are you sure though? Change anything.”
“There’s nothing to change. We’re using this. What part is it?” Ella asked, ready to write down what I said next.
“The chorus.”
“Ok. I’ll write the first verse if you want.”
“Then I guess I’ll do the second?” Josh said.
“And when it’s all together we can do the last verse?” I asked.
“This is going to be so much fun!”
“What are you three gabbing on about?” Mrs. Stryder asked, walking over.
“The song?” Ella squeaked.
“Let me see what you have,” she demanded, holding out her hand.
I gave her the paper and waited as she read it. She dropped it on the desk in front of me and we waited.
“This is alright. I expect a first verse by tomorrow. And who came up with the title?” Ella slowly rose her hand. “It’s different. You’re whole group is different.” Then her lips…twitched? Like she was going to smile. “Different in this class is good.”
The bell rang and she walked away. Josh, Ella, and I sat there looking at each other.
“Should we be scared?” Josh asked while we got our things.
“I don’t think so. She didn’t look mad,” I whispered.
We left the classroom quickly and headed to the dining hall.
“I’ll work on the first verse this period,” Ella said while we got in line.
Lunch were hamburgers and hotdogs with fries. Josh was in front of us so we just followed him to his table. When we sat down with me next to him and Ella next to me he looked up.
“What are you two doing here?”
“Eating,” I said.
“I can see that but why?”
“Because what if we need help on the song?” Ella asked.
He was about to say something but a freshman with dark brown hair sat down across from us.
“Hey, Josh. Did you get any homework yet? I got some in Math, man that teacher’s mean. History seems cool though. Hey, who are you?” he asked, pointing to Ella and me.
“Hi! I’m Ella and this is Hayley! We’re working with Josh for our choir project. Who are you?”
“I’m Zac, Josh’s younger brother.”
“You never said you had a brother!” I said.
“You never asked,” Josh sighed.
“Jeez you’re a little grumpy today.” Zac joked.
“Well someone woke me up way to early to ask what time classes started.”
“Would it have better if I was late?”
“If I got to sleep in then yes.”
Zac stuck his tongue out, causing Ella and me to laugh. He smiled at us.
“I like them! At least they have a sense of humor.”
“Har har.”
The rest of lunch was filled with Zac and Josh bantering back and forth. Josh even cracked some jokes and smiled. Zac brought the best of him, at least in front of Ella and me.