Between the Land and the Sea - By Derrolyn Anderson Page 0,36
a schedule. “You’re late for your first class,” she waved dismissively.
I found my way to first period English and peeked in. There were about twenty five teenagers in rows facing the door and they all looked up at me simultaneously. I spotted Cruz sitting in the back and he waved at me. The teacher looked up.
“Marina Vanderpool?” she asked, apparently expecting me. “Come in and take a seat. I’ll need to speak with you after class about make-up work.” I could feel twenty five pairs of eyes follow me to the back of the room, where Cruz was sitting at an empty row. I plunked down next to him and he squeezed my hand reassuringly.
The rest of the first day went pretty smoothly. Cruz and I had all of our morning classes in common and we stuck together until lunch. We met up with Megan and took a table in the lunchroom. No one joined us, and pretty soon it became apparent to me that Cruz and Megan were social outcasts. I was mildly outraged by the stupidity of this, but at the same time I was relieved that we were left alone to talk about our little secret. We sat laughing and joking like we were at home on the couch. At least lunchtime would be a good part of my school day.
I spotted Ethan sitting at a table of surfers and their girlfriends. The girls all seemed to be giggling and tossing their hair theatrically, trying to get his attention. The blonde was sitting next to him, and I could see her glowering in our direction. Ethan kept looking over at us and it made me nervous. I switched seats so I didn’t have to face him.
We hadn’t talked about swim lessons yet, and I was uneasy, wondering what he must think about me after our encounter in the hospital. I suspected he pitied me, and it grated away at my pride. I wanted to tell him to forget it, for I knew he felt obligated because he worked for Abby, but I was afraid to approach him.
I was also unusually curious about what he was really like, and inspected his behavior surreptitiously, trying to decipher him. He didn’t seem at all interested in his appearance, although everyone else clearly was. I noticed that he dressed plainly in inexpensive casual clothes. He was never sloppy, but always sported the same well-worn jeans, plain shirts and sweats. He was such a gorgeous specimen he would look good in a burlap sack... or nothing, I thought with a flush of blood to my cheeks.
I turned to look again and met his eyes; I was glad he couldn’t read my mind. There was something about him that I liked, a seriousness that the other high school kids lacked. He seemed to move about with purpose, like he was always thinking ahead, operating on a strictly ordered schedule. Disciplined.
I noticed that everyone else at his table seemed to be eyeballing us, and I wondered exactly what they knew about me. I figured that wildly exaggerated rumors about my watery mishaps were flying.
“It’s just ’cause you’re new,” Megan said with a sympathetic look, “They’ll move on to something else soon enough.”
“I don’t care,” I said, holding my head high. I reminded myself out loud, “None of these people matter to me at all.”
Later in the day we had electives. I had chosen an art class and Cruz was taking Spanish so we parted ways for the day.
“See you after school,” Cruz said.
I got to class early, and had a chance to meet the teacher, Mr. Briggs. The art room was large and bright, with easels on one side, and a cluster of tables on the other. I liked the teacher, and the comforting smells of paint and turpentine made me feel right at home. I realized that I missed the art studio in my San Francisco apartment with a little twinge of sorrow. I surveyed the room and took a table in the back.
A familiar voice made me look up to see Ethan walking in, followed by a couple of girls. He didn’t seem at all surprised to see me, making a bee line over to my table to sit down next to me.
The girls were taken aback, and took the two opposite chairs, facing us.
“Hi Marina,” said Ethan nonchalantly. The girls just stared. “Marina, this is Heather and Jamie,” he said, gesturing towards them.