Chapter VI

Fast-Forwarding Through the None-Sense

The rest of my summer in Moose Jaw went by uneventfully. The couple of weeks I had left of holiday I spent them in my room catching up with my reading.

            I had many small goals in life—one big one to become a reporter—and reading all the books who had won a Pulitzer’s Price was one of them. So I read three biographies and also the fiction winner for 2010, Tinkers, by Paul Harding. I wrote reviews for all of them, for future use, though I did a more thorough job with Tinkers because of the skilful descriptions and also the fact that it had won even though it came from a small publishing house was impressive. And well, I had a preference for fiction.

            Aside from reading I got familiar with the house. It was big and if we ever lost electricity or a smuggler came in I wanted to be able to walk around properly without killing myself over a desk. I walked again in the field a few times, always careful to go when there weren’t any workers there. Tank constantly followed me around when I did. My great aunts came for dinner a few times and I stayed clear of the humping-Pekingese. I lost many precious hours on my computer, caught up with episodes, stalked my friends back in Beverly Hills on Facebook and surfed through fashion blogs.

            Samantha and Valerie came by the house a few times—usually not together—but they were a little bit more preoccupied with my brother than me to be really considered as social calls. As for Jared, he left for a football camp for the rest of the summer so I didn’t get to see him again.

            Plain simple, it was a sucky summer, but I had partly myself to blame for it because I didn’t exactly go out of my way to make it nicer. I liked wallowing in my misery. It felt more dramatic that way. I could already feel that my friends back home were slowly forgetting about me. I called Neha as much as I could, but the other ones, with what I could decipher of their pictures and status on Facebook were moving on smoothly.

            I loved my friend back home and I was more than happy knowing they were doing well, but couldn’t they have least fake missing me for longer than two weeks? For my sake?

            Subsequently, when it was time to start school, I wasn’t the one to complain. I needed human interaction outside of my family and brother’s fan-girl club members. And I needed to go to school, get good grades and feel better about myself because of them. And I also needed to prepare my outfit for the day and have people actually seeing them. I didn’t need praise; I just needed to get my clothes out a little. They were like my pets; they needed a walk around the block from now and then and get attention from strangers. Also, you never got a second chance at making a first impression.

            After many hours of trying on everything I had I settle for my Carven cotton-canvas and grosgrain skirt, my Chloé ruffled silk top, with my Miu Miu glitter-finish leather sandals who had five inches heels and my Stella McCartney Iris tailored wool-twill blazer if I ever got chilly.

            The first day of school I got up extra early to get ready. I took a shower, arranged my hair into a stylised braid, put on my outfit and light make-up. I took my sweet time, enjoying the morning routine. It made me feel like I was back home in Beverly Hills. It was a nice feeling.

            Downstairs, breakfast was waiting on the table yet again. So much for “only a Sunday ritual”. I would probably need to arrange my schedule so I would have time to sit at the table—not something I was used to do, to be honest.

            Noah was sitting in front of his food and he looked like he was about to fall face-first onto his plate. Poor boy, he was definitely not a morning person.

            “Good morning everyone,” I greeted as I sat at my usual place. It was kind of weird to realize that I had a usual place now. 

            Noah grumbled something incoherent while my mother smiled at me. “You look lovely,” she mentioned before taking a sip of coffee.

            I smiled back at her. “Thank you. I wasn’t sure what to wear,” I admitted while pouring hot water into a mug and took on of the tea bag of Breakfast tea

            “Who picked your outfit? A blind guy that hates you,” Noah commented.

            I glared at my brother and threw a grape on his face. “I’d call you stupid, but that would be an insult to stupid people.”

            But obviously he was just getting started so he grinned at me. “Hey Nao-pee-pee, the Pink Panther called. He wants his fur back.”

            “Why don’t you slip back into your morning coma?”

            I would have thrown food at him again but our mother interjected. “Why don’t you two try not to argue on your first day of school?”

            “Come on, you won’t deprive me of my constitutional right to torment and make my sister’s life miserable. I have seventeen years of catching up to do!”

            This time I did throw the piece of honeydew on him. Idiot!

            “Mom, she’s wasting food,” Noah whined, but he had a hard time t hide his mischievous grin.

            She wasn’t having it. “Knock it off, Noah,” our mother warned him before getting up to bring her dirty dishes back to the kitchen. When she had her back to us, I pulled my tongue out at Noah and he threw his toast on me.

            Our mother had obviously heard because she turned around. “Kids!”

            “Sorry mom,” we both replied at the same time and laughed.

            After that I quickly ate, I brushed my teeth, made sure everything was still correctly in place, grabbed my Chloé’s tan leather Marcie tote that I used as a school bag, always carrying it with the strap on the crook of my arm, while holding my Blackberry in the same hand—I was a creature of habit—and waited for my brother to be ready by the entry. Unluckily, I still didn’t have a car, so I had to drive with my brother to school.

            Reporter tip one-oh-one; a reporter needs to be able to move around on his own.

            “Hurry up Noah! I don’t want to be late on my first day at a new school,” I screamed, not bothering about the fact that I could wake up grandma.

            The blond idiot finally arrived, dragging his feet and lead the way outside.

            “Where’s your bag,” I inquired.

            “Please, it’s the first day of school. Like we need to carry stuff around,” he huffed in annoyance and unlocked the doors.

            “You’re just being lazy,” I pointed out as I fastened my seat belt and laid my blazer carefully on my lap so it wouldn’t have any creases.

            “Like probably half of the seven hundred and sixty nine students other students at our school,” he joked.

            I didn’t find it funny though. “Wait, wait, wait? Are you saying that there aren’t even eight hundred kids in your school?” That wasn’t good, not good at all!

            “Jeez, don’t start hyperventilating,” Noah complained, looking at me like I was some kind of basket case. “What’s wrong with that?”

            “What’s wrong with that is that the smaller a school is the more they notice the new comers,” I blurred in a rush. In my old school back in Beverly Hills where we were always in the four digits numbers, new comers were barely ever noticed, and that was a good thing.

            Reporter tip one-oh-one; stay clear of unwanted attention.

            “So?”

            “I don’t want to be the new kid,” I all but squealed.

            My brother rolled his eyes at my freaking-out. “You’re in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, sweetie. Nobody moves here. I hate to break it to you but you’re going to be the new attraction in school. And with the way you dress and walk around with those loud clacking shoes of yours, you’re bound to get noticed fast.” He totally gets an A for moral support. Not.

            This was just friggin’ perfect. Something registered with me though. “What’s wrong with my clothes?”

            Once again, he rolled his eyes. “What’s wrong with it is that if anyone touches it you gouge their eyes out with your nail clipper.”

            This would have been a good time to make one of those awful snorting sounds. “Well, all they have to do is not touch my clothes!” Morons.

            Noah kept his eyes on the road, but his lips stayed fixed into a condescending grin. “This is going to be one entertaining year!”

            I crossed my arms over my shoulders and huffed in annoyance. I didn’t exactly agree with him. Actually, I didn’t agree at all with him. I had been trying to be positive before today at the perspective of going back to school but the truth was that it friggin’ sucked. It was awful to think I wasn’t going to go through senior year with my friends in Beverly Hills. No, I would go through twelfth grade with my moronic brother and his groupies. I seriously hoped I would see Jared soon. He was probably the only slightly bearable thing in regards of school.

            Reporter tip one-oh-one; give yourself goals, even if they’re just small ones to begin with.

            When we arrived, Noah parked on the street in front of an imposing building in red bricks. At least the school looked nice. It was three stories high and there was what had probably the main building at first which was asymmetric and there what could be considered as an extension on the left. The path that led to the front door was all in concrete and students were hanging around it, talking together.

            “Stop fidgeting you turd. You’re going to be fine and everything is going to be alright,” Noah told me in a reprimanding tone. Aside from the smoothly inserted insult, it was a nice enough thing to say, for him at least.

            I made a face. “Thanks.”

            “Now let’s go.” He pushed me out of the car. “You’re going to have to go to the principal office first.”

            “I know, I remember,” I grumbled. Stupid small country cities and their need to know everyone.

            Balancing everything correctly in my hands, smoothing down my skirt, I took a deep settling breathe and walked all the way to the other side of the front doors in my nice Miu Miu sandals.

            People here and there stared at me but I just kept on going with my head held high, my brother by my side. He led me to the principal office and after telling the woman at the desk what I was here for he pretty much dumped me there because he had “things to do” so I ended up alone, waiting to see the principal, sitting on a hard wooden chair in the corridor.

            This was ridiculous and completely unnecessary. I tapped my heels impatiently on the ground. I ignored the people passing in front of me, giving me stares. Instead, I looked at my nails. The golden coloured polish with glitters in it was a nice touch.

            After a good five minutes of waiting, the door to the office finally opened.

            “Miss Naomi Flinch,” a fifty-something looking lady asked.

            I got up on my feet, picking up my Chloé tote. “That would be me.”

            “Please come in.”

            I put on my best smile and followed her. She motioned for me to sit on the chair in front of her desk. Her office was nice enough, her desk very standard. A few green plants here and there. Diplomas and landscape pictures on the wall. No family portraits. Interesting…

            “Miss Flinch, how are you?”

            She was smiling broadly at me and it was unsettling me a bit. “I’m very well, thank you.”

            “Good, very good.” This was going to be boring, I could just feel it. I was tempted to just start texting people. “I speak on the behalf of all the staff here at A.E. Peacock Collegiate when I say that we are very happy to welcome you to our school.”

            “That’s very nice of you,” I pitched in. Maybe I should just tell her that my father wasn’t going to donate millions to her school or that he definitely wasn’t going to hold a conference…

            “We’re always happy to welcome a new student in our ranks, especially someone with such a nice—”

            A knock on her door cut her speech short.

            She smiled at me. “Excuse me…” and then she practically shouted towards the door. “YES?”

            The door squeaked open. “Ms Harbor?”

            “What is it?” The principal seemed annoyed.

            “Colt is waiting to see you,” the secretary said in a small voice. I could recognize it.

            “Well I’ll see Mister Colt once I’m finished with Miss Flinch here,” Ms Harbor answered sharply. Things were finally getting interesting.

            “Could you see him now?”

            The principal breathed deeply. “What seems to be the problem?”

            “Well…” she looked my way like it was wrong for her to speak in front of me, “He’s been making… I’m not really… I… I’m scared that he might… He’s been… I’m not sure… I… huh…” she mumbled and then added in a rush “Hescaresme”

            The principal sighed heavily, almost rolling her eyes “Just send him in,” and then she looked back at me. “Bottom line is, we’re happy to have you with us, and if you ever need anything, or have any question, feel free to come visit me.”

            “Will do” I grabbed my bag and got up.

            Ms Harbor was already switching to her next meeting, looking behind me towards the door. “Mister Colt, do I need to remind you our policy on sexual harassment and destruction of property?”

            “Oh no, don’t worry it was very clear the first time around,” a deep masculine voice answered, amusement clear in his tone.

            “Mister Colt,” the principal reprimanded.

            At this point, I was about to get through the door, but the boy got in my way. I looked up to meet brown eyes. The boy in front of me looked me age. He was my height but I was wearing five inch heels. And he was pretty cute. But that was irrelevant because he was in my way.

            “Ever smelled burned hair, Malibu Barbie” he whispered, his voice low and a Zippo suddenly appeared, lighted in his hand.

            “I’m from Beverly Hills,” I huffed. I was not going to be affected. I could already list him. I-think-I’m-a-bad-boy-but-truth-is-I’m-a-sad-loser.

            He half smiled, an evil glow lighting his eyes. “Same thing to me.” He wasn’t looking away and it was a bit unsettling. He was just staring straight at me, like he was unravelling secrets from my brain or something. I wasn’t amused.

            “Mister Colt,” the principal called again.

            He finally stopped staring at me and gazed behind me. “I’m sure at one point Ms Harbor you mentioned to me that it was rude to interrupt.” I took the opportunity to slip out at that point.

            “A little respect Mister Colt!”

            “Sure thing Ms Harbor.”

            “So, what have you done this time?”

            “I’m not sure…”

            The conversation died down behind me once I closed the door. I should remember to stay clear of that boy.

            And now that I had meet with the principal, I had other things to do before the bell rang. Problem was, I had no idea where to go. Luckily, that’s when Valerie walked my way.

            “Hey, Naomi, how are you holding up,” she inquired, smiling.

            I had to admit, I was relieved to see a familiar face. My brother was kind of mean to have just abandoned me like that. Of course, I always had been used of taking care of my own self, but now that I had a brother, shouldn’t I be counting on him? “I’m fine… I just had a weird meeting with the principal though.” I frowned at the thought. Weird, and completely unnecessary. Poor principal must really be bored.

            She laughed. “Completely normal.”

            “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know where the office for the people working for the school paper is?”

            “As a matter of fact, I do. I actually take pictures for it,” she explained.

            “Seriously?”

            “Yeah.” Hum… that could come in handy at times… “Come on, I’ll show you where it is.”

            I followed her. “Thank you so much.”

            “You’re welcome, I should warn you though, our editor in chief is a complete idiot,” Valerie cautioned me.

            “Always good to know,” I concurred.

            “Oh you have no idea.” She stopped in front of a door with “School Paper” written on it. “Here it is.”

            Well that had been fast.

            “Thanks again.”

            “Anytime. Do you want me to wait for you,” she offered.

            “No, I’ll be fine.” I had always taken care of myself. My brother didn’t want to help me? No big deal. I would do things on my own, like I always had.

            I took a settling breathe and stepped in. The room was empty except for a girl sitting in front of a computer. She hadn’t heard me come in so I walked closer to her, close enough to see that she was on Facebook. Completely unprofessional. She finally realized someone was there though because she got up on her feet, frowning at me.

            All or nothing… “Hello. I’m Naomi Flinch.” I offered my hand but she didn’t take it. Fair enough. “I’m here to know if you have any openings. I used to be editor in chief in my old school so I have experience.” That might have been the wrong thing to say…

            “Well, I’m the editor in chief here. I’m Constance. That’s French for patience,” the blonde girl informed me smugly.

            I raised an eyebrow just to show her that what I was about to say wouldn’t be in favour of her intelligence. Adding that had been completely unnecessary, not to mention, wrong. “Actually, the more appropriate translation to constance would be constancy. The French for patience is patience.” Idiot had been the understatement of a lifetime. I already didn’t like the girl and she had barely said more than fifteen words. She sounded and looked snob.

            “Constancy. You mean consistency,” she snorted.

            Snorted. Wow.

            “I took advanced French classes back on Beverly Hills. I kind of know what I’m talking about.” This was going to quickly escalade to a “my father is better than yours” fight, I could just feel it.

            Today was definitely not my day to make new friends so far.

            “And I’m Canadian and Canadians know the two languages because it’s our two official languages and my grand-mother is French so I know what I’m talking about.”

            I any other situation I would never admit this, but this bitch was messing with the wrong girl. “You are aware that I’m a born Canadian, right?”

            “Yeah, but you’ve lived in the United Sharks of America all your life so you’re not really Canadian.” Dear baby Jesus, I’m going to punch that girl. “And constancy is not a word.”

            “Dear baby Jesus, seriously? How in hell were you picked as chief editor? No one ever applied for the job? Honestly? You know what, I don’t care, pick a dictionary, you’ll see. And if you don’t own one, which wouldn’t surprise me, use Google. You know how to use that, don’t you?”

            Reporter tip one-oh-one; keep your calm, Naomi.

            Constance crossed her arms over her chest. “I think you should leave.”

            “I think we’re just getting started here,” I grinned at her.

            “You don’t know who you’re dealing with!”

            “Oh but I do, Constance”. Have a wonderful day.” I gave her one of my best smile and left the room.

            The first thing I thought when I closed the door behind me was that I was an idiot. There was no way in hell I was ever getting a spot in the school’s journal now, unless I went to see the principal… Maybe I could do that later, but for now, I had to find the gym so I could listen to the “welcome back to school” speech.

            The fact that everyone were heading that way worked in my favour.

            When I reached the gym, I looked for two girls with long brown hair with a blond boy sitting between and automatically spotted my brother. They were way too predictable. I made my way to them and smiled broadly when I saw who was also sitting with them; Jared.

            “How did it go,” Valerie asked me when she saw me.

            I laughed and it seemed to be answer enough for her. Anyway, I couldn’t care less about Constance right now when I had Jared in my sight.

            “Hello there,” I grinned at him and went to sit at his side.

            “Hello back.”

            I would have wanted to chat more but the feedback from a microphone made me cover my ears and was quickly followed by a never ending speech but probably all of the staff present. I was honestly just waiting for the janitors to present themselves too.

            When it finally ended, it was time to get to our second period class. Jared and I had our next two periods together so we made our way there.

            I asked him how his football camp had gone and he went on into a rant about how wonderful and instructing it had been. Obviously, I couldn’t care less about football but it was obviously important for him so I simply nodded at the right time and listened through all of it. Surprisingly, he had a lot of things to say about the subject, so he had time to go through the entire walk to the class, the two period class and then the walk to the cafeteria without even running out of material.

            My brother was nowhere in sight, and Jared had to meet with his teammate and coach so I was left alone sitting at a table with my brother’s two groupies.

            Nobody had eaten me yet though and I only had to tell my name at the beginning of the class—like every other student had—so I couldn’t exactly complain.

            Valerie and Samantha were chit-chatting about one of their teacher’s new haircut—I wondered how those two could be friend while they obviously both liked my brother—while I sat there, smiling and eating.

            A bit bored, my gaze travelled and landed on the guy I had met at the principal’s office. He had his hood on and an apron and he was cleaning up tables. How weird? “Who is he,” I asked the girls, interrupting them, pointing at the boy with my chin.

            “The guy you want to stay as far from as possible,” Samantha immediately replied.

            “I saw him when I left the principal’s office,” I clarified so they wouldn’t think I was checking him out. After all he wasn’t exactly ugly to look at—brown hair, fit built, tall, angular face—but that wasn’t the reason why I was inquiring about him.

            “He practically resides there,” Valerie added. 

            “I figured that much…” I admitted, frowning. “Why does he work at the cafeteria?”

            “It’s not so much a work, more as a… sentence,” Sam said, a little unsure.

            I frowned more. “What do you mean?”

            “This morning, he burned a table down. Already. That’s got to be a record,” Valerie explained, rolling her eyes.

            “What?”

            “Well not completely down but definite damage was done,” she clarified but it did not make me feel any better.

            I narrowed my eyes, staring at him. Now that I was looking at him, really looking, and from a distance… Could that be…? “What’s his name,” I inquired. I only had gotten Colt.

            “Colt, Caleb Colt.” Friggin’ hell.

            I got up. “Excuse me.”