The New English Teacher Sucks (GxG)

Chapter One

"Rory! Rory, over here!" I glanced up from my novel and caught sight of an impatient figure sprinting towards me. I bookmarked my page and pressed the spine of the book against my forehead to shelter my eyes from the glare of the sun as I inspected the quickly approaching blob in the distance.

It was my best friend, Jayda.

"You're late again," I greeted heavily when she approached me, all out of breath and gasping for air as if she had just run a marathon when in reality her house was now less than a five-minute walk away from school. She recently moved closer to campus yet still somehow managed to be almost twenty minutes late.

"I know, baby. I am very sorry." She kissed my cheek as I stood and wrapped an arm around my waist. "But I'm here now, okay? I'm here to protect you from all the big bad bullies of Saint Stanhope Academy." She mocked in a childish tone. I elbowed her in the ribs and tried my best to hide my smile.

"Eff off, Jayda. I'm a strong black independent woman, I think I can handle myself."

Jayda gave me a look and I knew all too well what was coming.

"Half black and semi-independent, teenager," she corrected automatically.

"Don't make me knock your teeth out at 7 in the morning."

My best friend simply laughed and pulled me closer as we entered the double doors to the school.

"My apologies, ma'am."

To say I was happy to be thrust into this prison-like institution again after three months of freedom would be the first lie I ever told. I didn't resent school or so much the idea of it like the majority of my peers. I just resented the system. It had the potential to be better. So much better, but no political figure with any beneficial power had any intention or interest in the concerns and demands of teenagers in our society today.

That is why I, Aurora Halewell, want to become the next president of the United States of America.

Well, I wanted to, anyway. But ever since my life was handed over to a wannabe orange Cheeto lookalike... A lot of my future plans have changed.

Sorry to disappoint you, ten-year-old Rory.

If I could, the first adjustment I would make concerning the schooling system was the learning hours.

What is the point in waking me up at 6 in the morning to be here by 7:15 so classes can start at 9? My brain doesn't even begin to function properly unless it's 10 AM or later.

Much, much later.

But whatever; I don't formulate the rules and I only have one more year left so I might as well make the best of it and bring my internal political debates to a standstill.

"Do you think we'd be getting any new teachers this year?" Jayda inquired as we passed the security guard who was dozing off in a chair by his booth. He wore sunglasses to disguise it, but besides his obvious slanted form in the chair and the occasional drooping of his head, it wasn't that hard to tell his eyes were closed behind them. "I'm tired of seeing all these plain old faces, aren't you?"

"Shouldn't you be more worried about us getting a new guard?" I joked as a loud snore finally caught Jayda's attention, causing her to flinch. Her lips curled up in a half-smile as she looked over her shoulder and I could tell she wanted to laugh but was probably sharing the same uneasy feeling as me.

"Now that's a topic for this morning's assembly," she stated suggestively, glancing over her shoulder one last time at Phill before visibly shuddering and speed walking further into the building in the direction of our lockers.