First Day (01)

For a second, I wonder if I'm that person. But no...no, I don't think I am. I'm just the person who falls in love over and over again with different people. Right?

"Is that a trait you inherited too?"

I grimace at that. "Sorry," I answer softly. "My, uh, my mom wasn't a part of my life for a while too and it...sucked. My dad's great, though, so I really didn't have it so bad, just..." I don't really know where I meant to go with that. I guess I was trying to relate, but it's kind of hard to relate when I've reconnected with my mom now and she's a literal frelling goddess. "Where's your mom now?"

I follow his gaze to his pizza then glance at Hannah for a second with a well this sucks/feel bad for him look.

"That’s messed up," I tell him. "I bet she actually misses you tons and just pretends like she doesn’t so she doesn’t feel so bad about it."

I reach over and put my hand on Axel's giving it an encouraging squeeze. "That's got to help, right?" I say, giving Hannah a quick, grateful glance. "Hannah's hot af."

I let go of his hand and go back to eating. "No need to apologize. It's cool." I munch on a fry, then try to change the subject to something lighter. "So which classes are you guys most excited about this year?"

I can't help but wonder if Current Events is going to include any of the truth about what's been going on recently around here. Are they going to cover the sinkhole that mysteriously swallowed a police officer's house? Or the earthquake that ruined the school? Or the fact that I helped broker a peace treaty that prevented a war... for a little while anyway.

"Art seems like it's going to be pretty cool. Kaleena seems great. Have you guys ever taken a class with her?"

"Yeah," I agree, almost like I'm surprised a teacher could be cool. Mostly because I am surprised. "I just hope it sticks, you know? That it's not just a big show for the first day of class and then she turns out to be super lame as time goes on."

My eyebrows pull together a bit at Hannah's declaration.

"What do you mean similar souls? Is that...a good thing?" I try to lift the mood a bit by adding, "Or are you just trying to call me a terrible liar."

I laugh a bit at their teasing. "Okay, okay. Maybe I'm not the best liar." Of course, I've kept my real heritage a secret from people when I had to. "But...thanks, I guess? I'm not sure I want to be a teacher, really, but...I like the idea of bringing beauty into the world. Or expressing things, even if they're not beautiful. Just...meaningful."