Meet You There

Meet You There - Chapter 2

Chapter TWO

The first day of school came too soon.

   Renaissance was downtown as well, basically a hop, skip and jump from the condo building that Caleb lived in. The condo had a gym, a pool and an arcade - it was like a hotel. Caleb had made up the spare room for me and told me to make myself comfortable.

   His apartment was cozy, yet fancy. He collected super hero figures and he was a musician, so there were walls of records and sheet music everywhere, along with at least two guitars and a violin that I'd seen so far. I was comfortable there right away, unlike when I had first gotten to California, to live with my dad.

   Caleb's day job was as an electrician, so he worked irregular hours, was on call and worked late sometimes. His weekends, he told me, were for jam sessions and gigs. I promised I would stay out of his way.

   On the first day of school, he was up before me, very early, and had fresh waffles with fruit on a plate for me.

   "Please, eat. Breakfast is important," Caleb told me, pushing it towards me. "Oh, and I picked up your uniforms."

   There, spread out on the sofa, was numerous pieces of the private school uniform. I had forgotten about that. The skirts were short. The tops were tight. I had to wear a plaid tie. When I came back out after changing, Caleb's eyes went wide.

   "Oh, god," I said quickly. "How bad is it?"

   "No, it's fine," he told me. "Now eat."

   He wanted to drop me off on his way out, but I wanted to walk and get used to the route. I had bussed in from Bellport when I'd gone to Renaissance for ninth grade, a thirty minute drive each way. So a five minute walk would be easy-peasy.

  The school gates were just as I remembered them. We had to buzz to get in and show our ID card at the door. I didn't have one yet, so security took me down and into the office. I felt like an outcast; other students were staring at me.

   The lady behind the window in the office looked familiar. She had big bright eyes and reddish orange hair.

  "Ms. Rothfield," she said to me, smiling. "Welcome back."

  "Thanks," I said. "Uh, I need a student ID card?"

   "Of course, come on in," she told me, opening the door to let me in. "Have you seen any familiar faces yet?"

   "Oh, no. I literally just got here," I answered.

   "Right, of course. And how was... California?" she went on.

   "Yeah, it was good. Different. But it's nice to be back," I said.

   She smiled again, clicking away on her computer. "Okay, look right ahead of you and smile."

   A camera flashed in my face, surprising me.

   "Good enough." The secretary let out a laugh. "Okay, I'll just print the card for you. Oh, and I have your schedule here."

   I nodded at her, but turned to look out the window as a group of students walked passed. Mostly guys, one girl. One of the guys caught my eye, but they were gone as fast as they showed up.

   I remembered how to get around the school; it all came rushing back to me as I walked to first period. Starting both the tenth and eleventh grades at new schools with no friends, and getting lost every day was not fun. I made it to American History before the bell rang, amazingly. Since I didn't have a locker yet, I was carrying around my sweater and bag. I sat down in an empty desk near the back and put my bag by my feet.