A New School

     "Amythest! Wake up!" Ruby's shrill voice blares in my ear. I pull my blanket over my head. "I'll wake up in a few minutes," I mumble. I barely got any sleep last night, only falling asleep around four.

     "We have to get ready for school!" Ruby yells, yanking my blanket off me. Ugh, let's get this over with. I stand up, following Ruby to the bathroom. While I brush my teeth in the first sink, Ruby takes a shower. I stare at myself in the mirror, wiping eye mucus out of my eye. My black hair is messy and I look tired. I have a somewhat flat nose with no nose bridge and a cross between a round and square face shape. I wouldn't call myself ugly, but I wasn't pretty either. Ruby says I have an expressionless face. If I had to choose which part of my face I thought was my best feature I'd say my eyes. However, they're just a plain dark brown.

     For breakfast I eat leftover pho from last night, while Ruby eats a salad. "I need to maintain my figure," she says with a sniff. My brothers, Ethan, Cha, and Xang have already left for school. Elementary students start school at seven thirty while high schoolers start school at eight-thirty.

     "You're only sixteen," I state. Ruby stares at me like I just said something stupid. "Have you ever heard of starting early? And besides sixteen is the right age to start maintaining my health. You're seveenteen already Amythest, you should think about it too."

I place my bowl in the sink, "No thank you. I'm fine the way I am." Ruby shakes her head at me. 

     "Ready for school?" my mom asks, walking into the kitchen. Her hair which was usaully in a bun was loose. She looked like she had just woken up. 

"Ready as I'll ever be!" Ruby toots. I don't reply going to my room and putting on my purple and gray jacket. When I turn around I find Ruby at the bedroom door watching me with disapproval. "What? You're going to wear that jacket to school? Really? It's not even cold outside!"

Ruby had dressed prettily in a red plaid skirt, a white t-shirt with printed black ribbons, with a black vest ontop. She had on knee high black socks and brown boots. 

"My jacket is like a comfort blanket. Without it I feel uncomfortable around people," I answer. "Not that it's much help," Ruby sighs.

o     O     o

     We get to school by the subway. I stare at my schedule, hologrammed on my black watch. Where is Biology 2?  "What's your first class?" Ruby asks, peering at my schedule.  "Biology 2," I answer. Ruby bites her bottom lip, "I have Earth Science." She glances around the hallway, looking for someone to ask. She spots someone. Cheerfully walking over to a blonde haired girl she asks her for directions.

"Thanks, I'm Ruby. What about you?"  "No problem. It's Erica."  She sure makes friends quickly, I think to myself as I watch them walk away. I sigh, where could I find a teacher?

A student walks by, his hologram watch showing a map. It hits me. Duh! I could look up the school's map! Why did I not think of that earlier? I quickly type in what I'm searching for on the hologram keypad. A map of the school pops up. Yes! A flashing blue dot indicates where I am. Scanning the map I find the Biology 2 classroom. Room 208! I start walking.

     I arrive in class just before the late bell rings. I look around for a desk, feeling shy in front of my new classmates. Only two desks were empty. Nervously I walk over to the desk at the corner. I'm about to sit down when a girl sitting across from the desk says, "That's Mia's seat."  I freeze about to take off my bookbag. "Oh," I say quietly and head for the other seat. I avoided it because it was in the middle of the room.

     I walk down the row, careful not to bump the other students. They all stare at me as I walk by. Finally I get to my seat. Taking off my bookbag I set it under the desk. My face is hot, I'm too shy to look around, staring straight down at my desk. Ugh, I hate this.

In my old school I got used to everyone since most of the students in my class were the same students from last year. I knew them to an extent and was comfortable. Here, it was a completely new start. I am among people I don't know. Complete strangers. 

I feel my eyes begin to water. I don't know why it happens, but everytime I get nervous my eyes begin to tear up.

     "Hey, you're new."

Startled I look up to find the speaker. It was a boy sitting to my right. He was wearing a gray hoodie, the hood pulled over his head. His pale gold hair sticking out all over the place like he had just woke up.

"Uh, yeah," I answer.

     He rests his head on his arms, looking like he was going back to sleep. He stares at me with pale gray eyes through his thick bangs, "Where you from?"  I stuff my hands in my jacket pocket. "I'm from Candridge. We moved because of the government."

The boy nods his head slightly, "Oh, so you're from the Outside." He closes his eyes and goes to sleep. I go back to staring at my desk.

Yeah, my family was relocated by the R.F.M. which stands for Relocation from the Myst. I used to live out in the country with my family, however as the threat of the Myst came closer we had no choice, but to leave. No one knows what the Myst is or where it came from, but we know what it can do. People who are swallowed by the Myst slowly die from inhaling it. Others turn into Mutants. The effects of the Myst differed with each individual, but they were all deadly.

My parents stuck it out as long as they could, not wanting to leave behind the house my dad inherited from his father. Not that the house was 500 years old or super expensive. It was just the house my dad lived in when he was young.

Many people moved to the city to avoid the Myst. Each city had a force field surrounding it that kept out the Myst. Here in the city it was safe. The world outside of the protection of the force field was simply called the Outside. Those who lived in the Outside were called Outsiders. It was a somewhat rude term to use. I'm glad the boy didn't call me an Outsider, only stating that I was from the Outside.

     The Biology 2 teacher walks in. He had gray hair and a bald patch on the top of his head. He glances at me as he walks in. He walks over to his desk in the front. "Before we begin class, I'd like to introduce our new student who just transferred in the middle of 2nd semester. Would you introduce yourself?"

Really? I gulp. Did he have to draw attention to me? Nervously I glance at a few students around me. Here I go.

"Um, I'm Amythest Vang------"

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you," the Biology 2 teacher interrupts. 

I blush. "Um, I'm Amythest Vang. Uh...I just transferred from Candridge High---I transferred from there. Um, my favorite color is purple and um...I'm seventeen."

I take a deep breath after finishing, feeling a little shaky.

"Candridge? Isn't that a town from the Outside?" the Biology 2 teacher asks. I look up, "Uh, yes."

Everyone in class turn in their seats to stare at me. My cheeks turn hot at the attention.

     "She's an outsider?" someone says among the chatter. I feel extremely embarassed. "What's it like in the outside?" the teacher asks. I'm not sure how to reply. How should I describe it?

"Um, it's normal. It's not that different from here...just no subways....uh, it's just like living in the country." Was that good enough?

Everyone suddenly begins bombarding me with questions.

     "Do you see any mutants?"

     "Have you encountered the Myst?"

     "Is it scary?"

     "Is everyone from the outside like....messed up?"

     "Can we catch the Myst from you?"

I'm not sure who to answer first. "Um..."  "Okay, that's enough!" the Biology 2 teacher bellows. Everyone quiets down, turning back around in their seats. I sigh in relief.

o     O     o

     I'm eating lunch by myself when someone calls my name. "Amythest, right?" I look up wondering if it was somebody trying to be friendly again. It was Lana from my English 3 class. "What a pretty name," she says. She doesn't sit down, only standing in front of my table with her two friends---whose names I forgot.

"Uh, thanks," I reply. Was she going to invite me to sit with her because I'm going to refuse.  

"You're the Outsider from Outside."

Did she have to say it like that? What exactly was she trying to accomplish here? Lana smiles, "Well, it was nice meeting you....Amythest," then walks off.

"Yeah, nice to meet you," her friends say. "I like your jacket."

I go back to eating my lunch. What was that?