THE ROSE AND THE THORN

Chapter 2

"That was fucking horrible!" I exclaimed as we walked out of the maths classroom.

"Indi, you're good at maths, I don't know why you're complaining!" my friend Aimee said.

"Just because I'm good at it doesn't mean I like it," I told her, and she rolled her eyes at me.

"It bothers me that you get good grades even when you don't give a fuck about the subject," Aimee said, punching me lightly on the arm.

"Do you expect an apology?" I joked, throwing my arm over her shoulder and walking the rest of the distance to our recess spot.

"How was maths?" Connor asked as we sat down with our group.

"Shit," Aimee said flatly, grabbing her recess out of her bag.

I put my bag and skateboard down next to me, grabbing the apple I had taken from home and biting into it.

"You've got a chilled day after English," Connor said to me, and I nodded back to him. It was true, a free period, and then Religion...can't complain.

"Did you hear that Mr Linder retired?" Scott joined in the conversation.

"I thought they were just rumours!" Aimee exclaimed sadly.

Aimee and I loved Mr Linder. He was our PDHPE teacher and soccer coach. He was on the old side, but I didn't expect him to retire so soon. That's how Aimee and I met, through our soccer team. We both joined in 8th grade and we instantly hit it off. We became like two peas in a pod, and she was the first person I told when I realised that I was gay. She didn't care either, she was super supportive about it...especially when my parents didn't accept me.

"So did I!" Scott continued, "But, he's staying on as part time soccer coach. They've hired a new PDHPE teacher and soccer coach. Sam Crocker told me this morning that she's pretty cool."

"Eh, I don't care if she's cool. I want Mr Linder back," I told him.

"You haven't even met her yet," Connor reasoned with me.

"I don't need to meet her, I just know she won't be anywhere near as good as Mr Linder," I shrugged.

"Agreed, Mr Linder is the best!" Aimee chimed in.

"Are you saying that because you actually think he's a good teacher, or because you think he's a 'silver fox' and you want to marry him?" Connor laughed.

"Both," Aimee said simply, shrugging her shoulders carelessly.

The rest of the day dragged on, the summer heat making the un-air conditioned classrooms unbearable. After taking off my blazer (yep, our school uniform included blazers...), I instantly got a dress code violation from my English teacher, Mr Cleary, for having my sleeves rolled up.

"Sir, it's literally a sleeve. Why do you care so much?" I asked.

"Well, if it's just a sleeve then you won't mind rolling it down to its proper length," he said.

"But it's hot!" I argued.

"But it's the rules!" he practically spat at me, and so I walked up to his desk, snatched the violation from his hand.

"Don't bother taking it to the office now, I'll be setting up a detention after school with the principal for you. You can take it then," he snapped at me, and before I could argue the bell had rung.

It was finally the last lesson of the day, Religion. Mrs Rysteck's eyes widened when she saw me, and I knew she was dreading the upcoming year.

"Hey Miss...God Bless!" I said as I walked past her and into the classroom.

"Why are you here, Miss Thorn?" she snapped at me.

"Woah, settle petal. I'm here to learn, why else?" I said back.

"We both know that's not the case, so why are you here?" she snapped again.

"Mrs Rysteck, I really don't appreciate you trying to prevent me from learning about the Lord!" I said, and she gave up with a heavy sigh.

When the final bell rang, I was about to hop on my skateboard when I remembered that I had detention.

"Fuck!" I swore under my breath, and walked slowly to the office.

Before I could turn the corner into the office, I could hear Mr Cleary and Mrs Rysteck talking aggressively to the principal.

"She's a piece of work, Tony...I tell you!" I heard Mr Cleary say.

"I just know she took my subject to mess with me!" Mrs Rysteck exclaimed. Were they talking about me?

"You don't know that for sure, Ingrid!" the principal, Mr Geoffrey, said to her.

"But I do! Why else would she? She has made it abundantly clear for years that she is a firm atheist!" she cried. She's not wrong...

"I can't stop Miss Thorn from taking a subject that she wishes to take. You're going to have to deal with her. And as for you Bart, as long as she continues to get good marks, I won't be moving her to a different class," Mr Geoffrey said. Wait...Mr Cleary's name was Bart?

"Also, a detention for a simple dress code violation is a bit extreme," he continued, and I smiled to myself. Mr Geoffrey had always had a soft spot for me. I've never been entirely sure why, but I think it might be to do with soccer. He's a huge supporter of he school team, moreso than a regular principal would usually be.

Deciding that I've heard enough, I walked around the corner and entered Mr Geoffrey's office with a smirk on my face.

"As much as I would love to continue listening to you say such pleasant things about me, I have a detention that I need to attend," I said sarcastically.

I strolled up to Mr Geoffrey's desk and placed my violation slip on his desk. I turned to sit in my usual chair when I realised that the three teachers weren't the only people in the room with me. A girl was sitting down, looking at me with a smirk on her face that she was obviously desperately trying to hide.

"I'm sorry our meeting was interrupted, Miss Rose. We will have to continue tomorrow morning," the principal said as Mr Cleary and Mrs Rysteck sulkily trudged out of the office.

Miss Rose, she must be a new student. Too bad I had my motto to stick to, because she was fucking hot. She had short black hair that was shaved on the sides, practically screaming 'lesbian'. Her lips were pink and plump, her eyes bright blue and wide. Her arms were covered from shoulder to fingertip in coloured ink, and I envied how her parents must've let her get so many tattoos.

"No worries, I'll be here tomorrow morning," she said, and she got up out of her chair and offered it to me.

"Cheers," I said, winking at her before sitting down lazily in the chair. Just because I couldn't fuck her, doesn't mean I can't flirt with her...right?