Ship Falling

Chapter 4

 Just as the last bell rang, Mary sat down in her seat. Her first period was Math. she pulled out a page of loose-leaf paper for notes. Today they were learning about linear functions. The teacher, Mrs. Tailor, talked for the whole class period. Mary knew she was just trying to answer questions, but the constant droning was making her irritable. She plugged in her earbuds and listened to the video they were assigned to watch. The overenthusiastic voice of the man who looked too shiny to be human and the constant talking from the teacher that she could still hear made her zone out. Moments later, someone tapped on her shoulder. She pulled out her earbuds. The video had finished. "Mary, you were daydreaming the whole class period. I'm assigning you extra homework so you can catch up for tomorrow's class." Mary sighed and took the paper. "Thanks, Mrs. Tailor," She said haphazardly, gathering up her things. Hopefully she wasn't late for her next class. The day went on pretty much the same; more homework to do and more things to learn. It was always something new but repetitive. She didn't mind, though, school was easy for her as long as she kept track of her work. When the bell finally rang for lunch, she practically bolted out the classroom door. Lunch was her favorite time of the day. Not because of the food, but it was the only time she could see her friends for more than 2 minutes in the school day. She grabbed a sandwich from the cafeteria and speedwalked to the last table on the right, her and her friends' designated spot. Katherine was always first since she always had classes closest to lunch. Mary plopped down next to her and they started talking. "Can you believe I got extra homework from Mrs. Tailor?" Katherine cringed. "We already have enough homework to go around, no one needs more of it. I mean, teachers have to grade it anyway. It's a lose-lose situation." Mary nodded valiantly. "Exactly. It helps no one. Anyway, did you hear that someone got expelled when we were gone yesterday?" Katherine asked. Mary was taken aback. No one had gotten expelled from her school, ever. "You say that like you're talking about your breakfast this morning. Getting expelled is like endgame." She scratched her head. "Well, he deserved it. He pushed some guy down a stairwell." Mary smiled. "Well, I think-" right then, Oliver and Ted sat down on the other side of the table in unison. "Did you hear Griffin got expelled? I sat right next to him in Music." Mary started eating the sandwich she'd gotten. "Yeah, Kath was just telling me about it. No one's gotten expelled since ever at this school." Ted was stuffing his face with noodles when he spoke up. "That's not true. What about that kid in 1980-something? He wrecked someone's car, but before he could get expelled he disappeared." Oliver chuckled. "That's just a myth, Ted. People made it up to scare gullible horror fans such as yourself." Ted narrowed his eyes at Oliver. Kath changed the subject before it got awkward. "Are you still doing the talent show, Oliver? It's on our designated hangout day." He sighed dramatically. "You guys treat Saturday like it's the new holy day. Just cause I won't be there doesn't mean I'm gonna miss a zombie invasion or something." Mary finished the last bite of her sandwich. "Yeah, fair enough." She glanced at the clock, then did a double take. "It's halfway through lunch. Where's Anya?" She looked around at the group. Everyone shrugged. She shrugged back. "She must be eating on the rooftop," Ted piped up, waving his hand in a don't-worry gesture. Sometimes Anya liked to be alone at lunch when the classes before were too overwhelming for her. Mary admired her sensitivity. Anya had always been very observant, some would say high-strung. The group went back to their conversation. "Anyway, I think we should all go to the talent show." Everyone looked at Ted. Kath made a confused sound. "Look, I know our talent shows suck but at least we'd be together on Saturday." Oliver frowned. "I don't want you guys to sit through, like, 2 hours of crap just to hear me sing. I may have the voice of an angel, but it's not gonna be worth it." Mary rolled her eyes. "First of all, your voice is average. Second of all, I'm coming, and so is Ted." Ted looked confused for a moment. "I am?" Mary formed her mouth in a straight line. "You're literally the one who suggested it, Ted." He seemed to get the gears in his head working again. "Oh yeah. I'm going. Kath?" She crossed her arms. "There are much better things to do with my time than hear him sing Wonderwall." Oliver waved his hand around. "Whatever, but you're paying for your own tickets." Mary looked around at the cafeteria. It was nearing the end of lunch. "I'll text Anya and see if she wants to go. I want to get to my next class early, i'll see you guys." They murmured various goodbyes and sarcastic good lucks and a moment later she was sitting in an empty classroom, reading Frankenstein. "-It is true with a repulsive physiognomy, but not on that account of the less valuable. In M. Waldman I found a true friend. His gentleness was never tinged by dogmatism,-" The teacher and a gaggle of students had entered the room. She dogeared the next page. She could never catch a proper reading break, could she? The rest of the day was spent focused on her work. She couldn't help but worry for Anya every time she ate her lunch on the rooftop all alone, although she'd done it at least 5 times since the start of the year. Mary distracted herself with work. Mary made a mental note to text her as soon as school let out.