The Download

Chapter Two

The Download

Chapter 2

The momentous, life-changing experience of starting high school began as Mom burst into Em's room all smiles and back-to-school sweatshirt.

"Waffles, sweet potato, rise and shine!"

"Okay I'm coming," Em grumbled, her voice muffled by Big Cat's fluffy paw. Augh, Mom's ray of sunshine wasn't helping the flutter in her stomach. She rolled out of bed. Three outfits hung on the door. Thanks, Mom, but no thanks. She pulled on her old jeans, took a deep breath and headed downstairs.

Waffles, eggs, sausage, strawberries, ice cold milk; Mom had outdone herself at overdoing it.

"Thanks, Mom." Em sighed, her stomach now officially in a knot. She forced down half a waffle and a sausage. Dad came rushing through, simultaneously scooping up a waffle and giving her a fist bump.

"Knock 'em dead, baby girl! I want to hear good things when I get back." He gave Mom a quick peck and swept out the back door, overnight bag in hand.

"Thanks," Em said with a feeble smile. Great day for another business trip. "Gotta go too, bus is coming."

"Okay just one more thing," Mom said. She ran upstairs and was back in a flash, camera in hand. "Traditional first day of school pix!"

"Really?" Em complained half-heartedly as Mom herded her toward the front door.

"Now smile, sweet potato. Say 'high school!'"

#

"Emanny, uh, Emanay . . ." The English teacher stumbled awkwardly over Em's name. Two, maybe three, kids snickered. Em scooted down a little lower in her seat.

"Just call me Em," she said quietly.

Having suffered through two periods of teachers barbecuing her name, Em was relieved to go to third period PE. The locker room dungeon and ugly uniform were a small price to pay for an hour of fresh air. Also RJ and Dee were in this class with her.

The girls' locker room was nice enough; everything was really shiny. The school had just finished a renovating project that gave everything a face lift. Of course, this made no difference to Hurricane Third Period PE as it blew through, leaving piles of backpacks, clothing and hair products in its wake. Em tried to suit up quickly; a few girls stared as she tied her braids back.

There was another girl two lockers down who was having even more trouble. She yanked and pulled at her lock as if the sheer power of her chubby body would make the thing surrender. She worked so hard the sweat stuck some of her blonde hair to her forehead. If she kept this up, she wouldn't need PE.

"Hey, maybe I can do it," Em offered. The girl looked at her, released her throttle hold on the lock, and flopped down on the bench. One little turn and the lock opened easily in Em's hand.

"There you go," Em said, smiling to lessen the awkward factor.

"Thanks," said the girl, embarrassed anyway. She hurried out of her clothes and into her uniform, slamming the locker shut without bothering with the lock.

Em went to her own locker to stash the last few things. She tossed in her jeans. The pocket holding her phone was warm.

"Really?" Em muttered, looking around. The rules were no phones, period, and no exceptions. She hesitated then quickly pulled it out. The screen glowed lovely lavender, the single icon danced about, inviting her to touch it.