Wonderstruck
Chapter 1
I opened my locker, a giant wave of books and papers falling all over me. I fell over, letting my classmates get the best of me. Senior year was already starting out awfully. I gathered all my garbage into a pile, putting it beside me and watching ninth graders kick them all over. The bell rang and everyone cleared the halls. I had no friends at all, so there was no one to talk to or ask for help. I saw one kid pass by me quickly and scuff to his class. The late bell rang, and I was still sitting gathering papers.
I stared at my locker, papers flowing out once more. I sighed, and just threw them all into the garbage. I stood up, gathering what remained of my books. Covers were off due to the other kids kicking them all over, and textbooks were now even worse than before. I gathered what I needed for the whole morning, closing my messy locker. There were about twenty minutes left in this period, fifteen of them already gone.
Walking down the hall, I saw the kid who had scuffed past me to get to his next class. Suddenly, my books dropped. "Oh, damn!" I screamed, bending over to pick them up. Papers were already littering the hallway, again. Mostly from me. The kid walked past me, but I heard his footsteps stop.
"Um, Noelle, is it? Do you want some help?" he asked. How did he know my name? Wasn't he a popular kid?
"Um, that'd be nice. Sorry, but I don't know your name." I stared at the ground.
"Brandon." he answered simply, gathering everything into one neat pile and handing it to me. Why couldn't I be like that? So swift and elegant.
"Thanks, Brandon." I whispered, standing up and walking down the hall. I felt Brandon's eyes piercing my back, and I didn't hear his footsteps. Something about him made me feel so...so comfortable. I looked back, and right when I did, he turned and walked away. "Bye," I said loudly, making sure he heard me.
"Goodbye, Noelle." he cooed, strutting away in that popular guy walk. My heart pounded, but I put it to the side and walked around hopelessly, terrified to go into my classroom. I decided to just go, and tell them what really happened.
Room 124 was ahead of me, math. I turned the knob slowly, and opened the door quickly. The teacher turned to look at me, and said, "Late pass?" I shook my head, looking for an open desk. "I said, late pass?"
"I don't have one." I shrugged, walking towards an open seat.
"Why don't you have one? Are you Noelle Penskoff?" he asked.
I wanted to tell the truth, so I did. "I was at my locker..and, um, my papers kinda spilled out everywhere. Then, some idiot-I mean, classmates, started to kick my stuff all over and I couldn't get it together. Then I was walking here and the books I had fell everywhere. This kid Brandon helped me pick them up. If you don't believe me, ask him," I finished, sitting down.
"Nice story, where'd you get it? Nickelodeon?" asked one of the jocks. "We all know you watch it!"
"You probably watch freaking Sponge Bob, and you're seventeen!" I blurted out. Then I sank down in my seat, and looked at the teacher.
"Very well, very well. Just sit down and get out a blank piece of paper." he said. I did as he told me, and he turned and started the notes back up. I didn't write anything, I didn't want to.
The bell rang, and I looked up at the teacher. "Noelle, you copied nothing the past ten minutes. Mind telling me why you didn't?"
"I don't know what I was supposed to copy," I made up an excuse.
"We made it quite clear, Ms. Penskoff." he said.
"Eh." I answered, picking up my books. Everyone had left the room. "I don't remember your name, teacher dude."
"Do not call me 'teacher dude'." he said sternly. "It's Mr. Oren."
"Almost like oreo." I said under my breath.
"Would you like to go to the office, Miss Penskoff?" he growled.
"No, Mr. Oreo." I said, walking out of the room.
"Noelle, I can tell this is gonna be a difficult year!" he yelled, face red like a tomato. I waved my hand, walking out into the hall.
I mean, I could be popular, right? I was normal looking enough, and I wasn't quiet-at all. I walked into my last class of the day--trig.
I blanked out the whole class, only thinking about Brandon and wondering when I'd see him again. The final bell rang, and I ran to my locker--legit, I ran. I got my backpack and slammed the door shut.
I turned around to leave, walking into one of the popular girls.
"Hey Noelle! That's your name, right?" she asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah, why?" I asked, shrugging away from her touch.
"Wanna hang out with us after school?" she asked, twirling her hair and batting her eyes.
I looked around. "Is this like some sick kinda joke?" I asked, wide mouth.
"No," answered one of the dolls.
"Shut up, I do the talking, Trixie!" yelled the blonde. "Um, I'm Molly, and this is Hanna. The idiot is Trixie."
"Kay cool." I answered, turning and walking away. Then I realized I was walking away from poularity. "Um, on second thought, let's do it. Now?"
Molly smirked. "Yeah, we'll take my car. Then let's go to my house."
"Nice," I said, following them outside. Everyone stared at me, walking with the popular girls.
It was almost like they were wonderstruck.
quitelovely