The Cheerleader's Side Piece

Club Chaos(1)

"Only one person got a hundred on the test last week," my math teacher passed back our chapter exams. When the hundred percent paper landed in front of me, I wasn't shocked. She continued down the line, lecturing, "About twelve of you failed, so you will be doing the makeup work. The ten of you that are barely passing... please study more. The rest, good job and the hundred, perfection." Everyone took a look at me, knowing who was the hundred. Instead of dwelling on their stares, I was already starting the next batch of notes.

The actually learning portion of the day was probably the most boring. To me, the subjects were easy. After one or two problems, I quickly grasped the idea. Most of the time I was either finishing club activity work or doing the night's homework. There have been many times I'm even previewing the lesson after the one we're learning. If only I could fast forward the learning, then I wouldn't be so bored all the time.

The teacher tells us all to confide in each other, figure out why we got certain answers wrong. As everyone is chatting away, I take this time to preview the ASB tasks for tomorrow and proofread all the stories for the school newspaper.

A book goes flying in the air and hits me on the back. The room instantly quiets. Slowly, I reach down to the floor and pick up the book, flipping it over to see it was a composition book for Physics. Getting up, I walk over to the student whose name is on the front, seeing their face darken with fear. Every step, the room gets even more silent. As I stand in front of the student, I place the book onto his desk and mutter, "I would appreciate it if you stopped acting like a child. You could hurt someone."

"Uh... yes," he snatched the book into his arms, trembling. Turning around and going back to my desk, the room was still quiet. I feared some even stopped breathing. Everything went back to normal once everyone realized I wasn't going to grow horns and tail to murder the kid. I just continued with my work, ignoring the madness around me.

When the bell goes off, kids fly from their seats. Stampeding out of the classroom door, everyone scatters to get to the lunch line. Unlike them, I bring lunches everyday, mostly fruits, a nut and some protein. I organize my area, waving a goodbye to my teacher, "Have a nice day."

"Oh before you leave," she rushes over from her desk, "my club, the Coin Club, wants to ask for permission to go on a field trip to the old people's shelter."

"Why?" I look over the request form.

"You see, the students want to go over there for the holidays to make those who can't see their families feel loved," she said, "I'm really hoping ASB can verify this."

It didn't seem like it would cost too much and from their budget, it seemed the club could pay for it themselves. Plus, the trip would be over break so no cutting school and it's not mandatory. I put the paper into my bag and tell her, "I will have everyone look over it. I don't see why not, but if it is verified, you have to make sure all your students sign a permission slip."

"Definitely," she clapped her hands with excitement. Just before I step out, she says, "Also Ani, perhaps you should think about... smiling a bit more."

"Excuse me?"

She walks over to me, giving me an awkward grin, "Your face always says 'stay away from me or I'll eat you'. I think if you smile a bit more, your peers wouldn't be so... on edge with you."

Fixing my strap, I say, "Mrs.... I'm not exactly upset with their reactions nor do I really care how others view me." I stare off at the empty desks, knowing just a few minutes ago bodies occupied them, "Yes, it may be a bit... warmer to have others around, but I'm not really interested in pleasing people. This is how I am at school. To me, my school work is my job. I treat this place as if I was an employee. So the act of smiling or pretending to be kind isn't exactly something I'm interested in."