In Which Summer Makes a Grand Entrance
September 1
First day of school! I can’t wait I can’t wait I can’t wait! Once I’m at school I start my awesome plan for the school year: make it interesting. Anything's possible, so of course making school fun falls into that category of possibility. I mean, everybody says that these years are the start of the glorious “Golden Years!” Doesn’t it just sound positively awesome? I really have to go now, or I’ll be late! Wish me luck! Oh, wait! In order to make school life interesting, I need help. In other words, I’ll have to recruit interesting people. Maybe I’ll start a club that does cool stuff for the school! Oh, no, I’m going to be late for sure now...
Chapter 2
In which Summer makes a grand entrance
I groan as Mom pulls up in front of my new high school. It’s so crowded! I’ve never before imagined that the teenage population of Midland is so big. Or at least seems so big. Looks like I’ll practically blend in with the wallpaper here. And I had even begun thinking about my new and improved high school life in a last bout of hopefulness last night.
I step out of the car with my backpack in tow. After I wave halfheartedly at the back of my mom’s car, I make my way up the dreaded steps and into the obnoxious yellow hallways. The smell of deodorant, cosmetics, and sweat assault my nose as people push past me, trying to find their classrooms. I think I must be invisible because nobody seems to see me until they’re practically plowing me down in the hall.
I’m finally able to see the general location of my locker when I notice the hallway population dissipating. “Oh, no...” I breathe, rushing to get my books before I’m late to-
Ding, ding, ding, dong!
Crap. My first day and I’m late because I’m practically see-through. I grab my new books out of my locker and heave my backpack in, and then, since the halls are empty, I start running to home room. This is just the ideal moment, of course, for Mom to be right about my hair. It flops in front of my eyes so that I’m blind and invisible, but since I’m clutching my books I can’t do squat. Great. Just great.
Suddenly, I hit something. A wall? I trip and fall down, scattering my annoying hardback books everywhere. I look up to see what I hit and I realize I had run into a person, sending them to the ground as well.
“Ouch,” remarks a girl’s voice. “That kinda hurt, you know.”
“Sorry,” I mumble as I start crawling around to collect books.
“So, I see I’m not the only one late, then,” she says amicably. “Why are you running around late? By the way, my name’s Summer.”
Exasperated and not in the mood for chitchat, I reply, “I’m late because I’m invisible. We should really get going-”
“You’re invisible?” Summer asks curiously. “I can see you.”
“Only because I ran into you. You wouldn’t have even noticed me if I’d just walked by like somebody who isn’t running late on the first day.”
“Okay, then.” She just completely disregarded everything I said! “What’s your name, invisible boy? And look at me when you say it. I find it annoying when people won’t look at me when they talk. It’s considered rude, you know.”
“I really have to go!” I practically yell. And, just to satisfy her, I look straight into her eyes.
In one of those annoying “fresh light” moments, I realize that Summer’s pretty. She has long, light brown hair still a little gold from vacation, olive skin, and hazel-green eyes. God, is she confident, though. Even the way she holds herself hints at self-assurance, as does the way she looks at me, her gaze unwavering. She’s practically oozing ego.
“Wow,” she says. “If you’d just look up every once in a while, you wouldn’t be so invisible, not with those eyes.
“I don’t need people to notice me because my eyes are wacked.”
“You have it all wrong!” Summer declares. “You have to get people interested in you, and then they’ll want to learn more about you. People would see your eyes and they’d ask you about them and then they’d realize how interesting you are.”
“Me? Interesting? I’ve never heard that before....” I wonder at that. Nobody has ever thought of me as interesting. I’m just not what you’d consider someone worth talking about.
“What’s your name? We really need to go to class.” Oh, so now she’s acknowledging our tardiness, now that she has me all wound up. “Your name, please!”
“Why does my name suddenly matter?” I ask suspiciously. What would she do with it?
“I’m just looking for interesting people and you’re an interesting person. I would like your name now, before the teachers count us as absent.” It’s that interesting person thing again.
“Fine... Just... don’t do anything weird, okay? My name’s Zac Greenborough. By the way, I didn’t catch your last name-”
“I’m not telling you that! We just met, after all,” she laughs and then starts fast-walking to her homeroom.
“That’s not fair!” I call after her, but she’s already turned a corner.
First day of school! I can’t wait I can’t wait I can’t wait! Once I’m at school I start my awesome plan for the school year: make it interesting. Anything's possible, so of course making school fun falls into that category of possibility. I mean, everybody says that these years are the start of the glorious “Golden Years!” Doesn’t it just sound positively awesome? I really have to go now, or I’ll be late! Wish me luck! Oh, wait! In order to make school life interesting, I need help. In other words, I’ll have to recruit interesting people. Maybe I’ll start a club that does cool stuff for the school! Oh, no, I’m going to be late for sure now...
Chapter 2
In which Summer makes a grand entrance
I groan as Mom pulls up in front of my new high school. It’s so crowded! I’ve never before imagined that the teenage population of Midland is so big. Or at least seems so big. Looks like I’ll practically blend in with the wallpaper here. And I had even begun thinking about my new and improved high school life in a last bout of hopefulness last night.
I step out of the car with my backpack in tow. After I wave halfheartedly at the back of my mom’s car, I make my way up the dreaded steps and into the obnoxious yellow hallways. The smell of deodorant, cosmetics, and sweat assault my nose as people push past me, trying to find their classrooms. I think I must be invisible because nobody seems to see me until they’re practically plowing me down in the hall.
I’m finally able to see the general location of my locker when I notice the hallway population dissipating. “Oh, no...” I breathe, rushing to get my books before I’m late to-
Ding, ding, ding, dong!
Crap. My first day and I’m late because I’m practically see-through. I grab my new books out of my locker and heave my backpack in, and then, since the halls are empty, I start running to home room. This is just the ideal moment, of course, for Mom to be right about my hair. It flops in front of my eyes so that I’m blind and invisible, but since I’m clutching my books I can’t do squat. Great. Just great.
Suddenly, I hit something. A wall? I trip and fall down, scattering my annoying hardback books everywhere. I look up to see what I hit and I realize I had run into a person, sending them to the ground as well.
“Ouch,” remarks a girl’s voice. “That kinda hurt, you know.”
“Sorry,” I mumble as I start crawling around to collect books.
“So, I see I’m not the only one late, then,” she says amicably. “Why are you running around late? By the way, my name’s Summer.”
Exasperated and not in the mood for chitchat, I reply, “I’m late because I’m invisible. We should really get going-”
“You’re invisible?” Summer asks curiously. “I can see you.”
“Only because I ran into you. You wouldn’t have even noticed me if I’d just walked by like somebody who isn’t running late on the first day.”
“Okay, then.” She just completely disregarded everything I said! “What’s your name, invisible boy? And look at me when you say it. I find it annoying when people won’t look at me when they talk. It’s considered rude, you know.”
“I really have to go!” I practically yell. And, just to satisfy her, I look straight into her eyes.
In one of those annoying “fresh light” moments, I realize that Summer’s pretty. She has long, light brown hair still a little gold from vacation, olive skin, and hazel-green eyes. God, is she confident, though. Even the way she holds herself hints at self-assurance, as does the way she looks at me, her gaze unwavering. She’s practically oozing ego.
“Wow,” she says. “If you’d just look up every once in a while, you wouldn’t be so invisible, not with those eyes.
“I don’t need people to notice me because my eyes are wacked.”
“You have it all wrong!” Summer declares. “You have to get people interested in you, and then they’ll want to learn more about you. People would see your eyes and they’d ask you about them and then they’d realize how interesting you are.”
“Me? Interesting? I’ve never heard that before....” I wonder at that. Nobody has ever thought of me as interesting. I’m just not what you’d consider someone worth talking about.
“What’s your name? We really need to go to class.” Oh, so now she’s acknowledging our tardiness, now that she has me all wound up. “Your name, please!”
“Why does my name suddenly matter?” I ask suspiciously. What would she do with it?
“I’m just looking for interesting people and you’re an interesting person. I would like your name now, before the teachers count us as absent.” It’s that interesting person thing again.
“Fine... Just... don’t do anything weird, okay? My name’s Zac Greenborough. By the way, I didn’t catch your last name-”
“I’m not telling you that! We just met, after all,” she laughs and then starts fast-walking to her homeroom.
“That’s not fair!” I call after her, but she’s already turned a corner.