Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
CHAPTER TWO: THE NEW GIRL
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
LIZ WATCHED AS students started filing into the classroom and sat at their seats, waiting for the bell to ring so class could start. Dustin and Lucas sat in the very front row, while Mike, Liz, and Will sat behind them. They had had the same seating arrangement since kindergarten. The bell finally rang and Liz leaned back in her seat, crossing her ankles over each other as she waited for Mr. Clarke to get started. He smiled at the class before placing a plastic brain on his desk, "Meet the human brain. I know. I know, it doesn't look like much. A little gross even, right? But consider this." He paused and help up his pointer finger. "There are a hundred billion cells inside of this miracle of evolution. All working as one. No, no, I did not misspeak. I did not stutter. A hundred billion."
The door closing made everyone's head snap up in that direction. Mr. Clarke looked up and smiled as a girl Liz had never seen before walked into the room. She had fiery red hair and freckles littering her tan face. Liz thought she looked incredibly pretty, "Ah, this must be our new student."
"Indeed. All yours." The principal said before exiting the room, leaving a girl with fiery orange hair who quickly tried to go to a seat only to get stopped by Mr. Clarke.
"All right. Hold up. You don't get away that easy. Come on up. Don't be shy." Mr. Clarke says. The girl rolls her eyes but obeys and stays at the front of the room. Liz bites her lip and almost feels bad for the girl. She would hate the new kid introduction, too.
"Dustin, drum roll." Dustin obeys and starts to pat on his textbook, making Liz smile as he does so. "Class, please welcome, all the way from sunny California, the latest passenger to join us on our curiosity voyage, Maxine."
"It's Max." She corrects.
"Sorry?" Mr. Clarke questions.
"Nobody calls me Maxine. It's Max." She explains to him in a snarky tone.
"Mad Max?" Lucas whispers to the group. Liz glances up at the girl, and instantly becomes intrigued. She wants to know more about this girl, and she isn't entirely sure why.
"Well, all aboard, Max." Mr. Clarke states. Max immediately heads to the very back corner desk and takes a seat, crossing her arms over her chest. The boys and Liz's eyes follow her as she sits down, but Liz immediately looks away once Max looks back at them.
◌ ◌ ◌
By recess, the gang was still very intrigued by this new girl. The boys were determined to find out if this was Mad Max, but Liz had other plans. She just wanted to be friends with the girl, she thought that Max was beautiful and mysterious. Liz wanted to know more about the redheaded skateboarder from California.
