The Last Defender (FINISHED)

Chapter 3: The New Kid

It was more of a disappointment then I thought it would be. Honestly, I felt relieved, as well. I wouldn't have to leave familiar grounds. I looked around the room, and I noticed that all the faces had about the same emotion in it. They looked sympathetic, but I saw that all of them were also relieved. At the same time, I felt Alex squeezing his arm a little tighter, in a reassuring motion. He wouldn't meet my eyes, though. Then I glanced at my mom, and I saw her trying to hide a relieved smile. Her eyes, while trying to look sympathetic, had a look of being able to hold on to something, or in this case someone, for a little longer. I couldn't blame her.

I calmly put the letter down on the low coffee table in front of me and smiled. 'I-it's alright,' I said, then I cursed softly, because I was stuttering again. That always happened when emotions and stuff happened. Then, with extra concentration, I said, looking around the room, 'I'm actually quite relieved... Of course I wanted to go, but now I get to stay with my family.' Honestly, I was trying to get the mood up... Which didn't work. It just ended in a slightly awkward silence. That is, until Nicky decided she didn't like it anymore. 'WHO WANTS CAKE,' she yelled, and as if reading her mind, Kim and Isabel made sure everyone had cake within 2 minutes.

-I don't feel like describing the rest of the party because nothing important happens-

That Monday, I went to my normal school, with my normal friends, and realized again that I was relieved that it was all still the same.

Or so I thought.

The first period, we had biology. There were several groups, sitting at the large, round tables. Me and my friends usually sat together, relatively in the middle of the room, but we always had one empty seat, because there were the six of us, and seven seats. On my left side was Kim, on my right side was the empty seat. Why wasn't Alex sitting on my right side? Well, Kim, for some reason, insisted that Jo sat next to her, and obviously, Nicky, who was Jo's best friend, sat on the other side of Jo. Everyone (except them) insisted that Vince sat next to Nicky, because all of us know that they have a massive crush on each other. As for Alex, he's Vince's best friend, so naturally he sat next to Vince. That left the empty spot on my right.

I was sitting there, wondering if that seat would ever get filled, when Miss Derman, our Biology teacher, paced into the room. She had grey eyes and dark hair, about shoulder length. She was small, shorter than me, or even Nicky, and in her fifties, but no-one ever thought to cross her. She always walked around the school proudly, chin up. Still, I enjoyed her lessons. She didn't have an annoying voice to listen to, and I thought biology was interesting.

Once she reached the front of the classroom, the whole class was silent. Miss Derman smiled coldly. "Everyone open your books. Page 132, come on now."
I opened my book. A new chapter. That's right, I thought, we're going to talk about genetics... I smiled silently to myself, this ought to be interesting.

Ten minutes in, I knew everything miss Derman had said so far. I saw Vince and Kim glare at me, like, how?  I grinned and shrugged. I continued to listen.
"Who can tell me what the difference is between genotype and phenotype," miss Derman asked, her gaze gliding over the room, looking for raised hands. I hesitated. I knew this, but I never raised my hand, because I don't like being in the spotlights (Why is it, that when a teacher calls your name, the whole class turns to look at you?). Apparently, miss Derman saw my hesitation. She smiled encouragingly. "Miss Gray?"
"Y-yes, ma'am," I said, cursing in my head. Stop the stuttering, I scolded myself.
"Do you know the answer?" I nodded. No reason to lie, right?
"Can you tell me the answer, then?"
"R-right. The genotype is-" I got cut off by the classroom door opening. It was our Principal, Alistair Brodel. He nodded his greetings to Miss Derman. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Claire," he said, addressing Miss Derman by her first name, as all teachers did, "but this class has a new classmate."

Only now did I see the figure standing behind Mr Brodel. He had mid-length black hair, green eyes, and looked like he'd been held back several times. But that was only because I estimated his age to be about 17. The oldest in our class was Alex, he was 15. Then came Jo, also 15, and the rest was all 14.
"Class," the principal now said, his voice carrying through the classroom easily, "This is your new classmate, Dino... err, what was it again?"
Dino grunted. "Darkblade. My last name is Darkblade," he muttered, and then, mostly to himself, "you'd think it's easy to remember.."

Then Mr Brodel went on and on about accepting new classmates and making sure they feel at home and that they might miss their friends from their old schools and blah blah blah. Everyone silently sighed in exasperation, including Dino, I noticed. Kim silently nudged me with her elbow and whispered something in my ear. I couldn't hear exactly what she was saying, but I knew her long enough to know that she was probably noting that he was good-looking or something. I shrugged. I didn't really pay attention to that kind of stuff. I already had a boyfriend.

I must admit that he wasn't bad looking or anything. It was just that I wasn't interested in him. I exchanged a quick look with Alex, and smiled. Damn, was I lucky.

Finally, the principal was finished rambling on and on and on about acceptance (I mean, we get it. you do this every time we get a new classmate. You reeeeaaally don't have to do that). He looked around the classroom, and his eyes locked on the empty seat beside me.
"Well, Dino," he said, gesturing at the seat, "take a seat." Principal brodel smiled at me. "Stephanie's a nice girl, and Alex isn't too bad either. They'll help you out."

I heard Nicky snorting, trying not to laugh. I glared at her. Teacher's pet, she mouthed. I stuck out my tongue as Dino say down next to me.

"So," he said, "you're my new classmates... This ought to be interesting."

I smiled at him. "I'm Stephanie Gray, and these are my friends, Alex, Kim, Nicky, Vince, and Jo," I said, pointing at them as I named them, "welcome to our school."

HEY THAT TOOK FOREVER NOW I GTG TO BED BAI

xx Rissa