Wacko Academy
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
WACKO ACADEMY
Faith Wilkins
Copyright © 2012 by Faith Wilkins
Book design by Christian Fuenfhausen
eBook conversion by
Alliteration Ink
All rights reserved.
For information:
Arundel Publishing, P.O. Box 377, Warwick, NY 10990
ISBN 978-1-933608-80-8
ePub 978-1-933608-82-2
Mobi 978-1-933608-81-5
First Edition: 2012
Printed and eBook created in the United States of America
Table of Contents
One Messed-up Christmas Present
Prologue
I stared out the window, head swimming from the height. The voices from behind me had grown louder, angrier. There wasn’t much time left. I had to jump now. My friend’s life depended on it. Heck,
my
life depended on it, but fear seemed to have frozen every muscle in my body. I was completely immobilized.
The others stared up at me, wondering why I hadn’t done anything yet. I was holding them all up, compromising everything. Maybe they would have to leave me. No, I couldn’t let that happen. This was my only chance.
Footsteps joined the voices now. I closed my eyes, wondering how it could have come to this…
The New Kid
I have to admit, when I entered the school building on that first day of eighth grade, I was nervous. And I mean really nervous. Like the heart-pounding, pulse-racing, sweat-inducing kind of nervous. I had no idea what to expect. This was my last year in middle school and I wanted to make it count. Without a doubt, this would be my toughest year.
I took a deep breath and started for my homeroom, Gamma 17, Mrs. Ellingham’s room. I walked in, scanning for a familiar face. Spotting my best friend, I dashed toward her. “Malerie, hi!”
“Lily, I’m so glad you’re in my class!” she exclaimed.
“Me too!” I squealed. We embraced each other, giggling with delight.
“Hello, girls,” I heard a quiet voice say. I would’ve known that voice anywhere. It was Louis Jennings, another good friend.
“Hey, Freckle Face. What’s up?” I asked him.
“Ah, nothin’. Just glad to see people I know,” he greeted me cheerfully. We all stood around chatting about what we’d done during the summer.
After a while, I noticed a boy lounging by the window who appeared to be very bored. His golden brown skin was smooth, almost flawless. The breeze from outside gently blew through his dark curly hair. He wore a black leather jacket. Peeking out from under the vintage jacket was a white polo shirt. Instead of the usual guy-wear of baggy pants, he had on jeans that fit him quite well. For a change I did
not
catch a glimpse of any polka-dotted undergarments. To top it off, he had on what had to be hundred-dollar sneakers. He was twirling a pair of designer sunglasses while he gazed out the window. The boy must have noticed me staring, because he slowly turned around to meet my curious gaze. I quickly looked away.
“Hey, Mal. Who’s tall, dark, and I’m-So-Handsome over there?” I whispered, pointedly turning my back on the boy model.
Malerie had been talking to Louis about her crazy vacation. She stopped mid-sentence.
“Oh, that’s the new kid, Dustin Chandelle. Rumor has it he moved here from Florida,” she explained. “He’s cute, right?”
I didn’t answer. He may have been cute, but something about him just wasn’t right.
Mal continued to talk to Louis while I stole a quick glance at Dustin. He was looking me up and down like he was checking me out or something, a little smirk on his face. There was something arrogant about it, like he already had me all figured out. I frowned. Just who did this kid think he was? As if to answer my unspoken question, he winked at me. Apparently he thought pretty highly of himself. Ugh. I felt like punching that annoying grin off of his handsome face. I surprised myself by smiling at the thought of hitting him.
Dustin raised an eyebrow and cocked his head, as if to ask what I was grinning about. This time it was my turn to wink.
“Okay, kids. You know the drill. Find a desk and take a seat,” said Mrs. Ellingham.
I chose a desk between Malerie and Louis. Unfortunately, Dustin sat at a desk right in front of me. I glared at him. He pretended not to notice.
The teacher explained what we would be doing in ELA this year. She handed out a schedule for the school day. Everyone groaned at the hot lunch selection, rib sandwiches. Nobody knows what the meat in those sandwiches is made of. Rolling my eyes, I pretended to gag. Mal giggled and pretended to gag too.
Mrs. Ellingham calmly waited until the groans stopped. She handed out textbooks and workbooks. This started the groans all over again.
It was the same in history and math. Only in math, Mr. Stallsberg made us do some equations and gave us a really thick packet to complete for homework. To my great annoyance, Dustin seemed to be in all of my classes so far. However, there was one class I knew he wouldn’t be in with me: Japanese. The people that went to Japanese class had been taking it since sixth grade, so there was no way he could be there. Not unless he just happened to have been studying Japanese for the last two years. I entered the classroom with a bounce in my step, and said hi to all my friends. I was thrilled to be reunited with them and relieved to be away from Dustin.
“I wonder who the teacher is this year,” I mused. “Or what field tri-“ My smile faded and I gawked at the person walking in. The class turned their heads to stare at the newcomer.
Just then, our new teacher appeared on the television at the front of the room. “Hello, class. I’ve heard great things about you guys.” She paused to look at the class list. “Seems that we have a transfer student. Dustin Chandelle, is it?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Dustin replied.
His voice didn’t surprise me, smooth and a little conceited. Like that smirk of his.
I was sitting there seething, watching Dustin kiss up to the teacher, when Ella tapped me on the shoulder.
“Lily,” she whispered, “you’ve been staring a hole into that guy’s head for like twenty minutes. We’re supposed to be reading page 47 in our textbooks now, so get to it!”
I started reading, grateful that she had snapped me out of it. This is why she’s one of my best friends. She’s always got my back.
I made sure not to look at Dustin for the remainder of the period, even though I occasionally felt his eyes on me, sending chills down my spine. Somehow I knew that if I looked up, that stupid smirk would greet me. So I kept my eyes firmly on my work.
When class was finally over, I hurried to my locker to put my binders and pencils away before lunch. While I worked on my combination, someone came up from behind me.
“I couldn’t help but notice you staring at me back there,”
With a startled yelp, I jumped about a foot off the ground. I whirled around to back up against my locker.
“Whoa, too close,” was all I could muster.
Dustin heard me and backed away. “Excuse me for asking, but did I do something wrong?”
I looked him over. He seemed genuinely concerned. I mean, I would be too if it were my first day at a new school and already somebody was staring daggers at me. Maybe I had made the wrong assumptions. This wouldn’t be the first time.
I sighed. “No, I’m just having a weird day. It has nothing to do with you, really. Speaking of weird…don’t take this the wrong way, but don’t you think it’s kind of strange that we’re in all the same classes?”
He shrugged. “I dunno. No offense, but I didn’t really notice. Anyway, sorry you’re having a weird day. To tell you the truth, I’m not really having that normal of a day either.”
His warm chestnut eyes bored into mine as if he saw right through me. Then he let me have the final blow. “Sorry if I made it worse.”
I froze, mortified. He walked away, leaving me still frozen by my locker, feeling like a total jerk.
By recess, I was still feeling terrible about the way I had acted with Dustin.
I sat on the bleachers next to my chatting friends, but I didn’t join the conversation. Instead, I swept my eyes across the field, looking for him. Why? I wasn’t exactly sure. I soon found him sitting in the middle of a mob of giggling girls. They were apparently laughing at some joke he’d made. Dustin seemed completely at ease with being the center of attention.
Crossing my arms, I turned away, not believing that I had been so ashamed. He was just like I thought, egotistical and arrogant. Or was he? Maybe I was just making assumptions again.
“Uh, Lily, are you okay?” asked Ella.
I had been so lost in my own thoughts that I hadn’t noticed when my friends had stopped talking to stare at me.
“Yeah. Why?” I answered.
“Well, you seem kind of spacey. What’s on your mind?”
I looked around at the sea of eyes focused on me. I bit my lip, wondering if I should tell them. The problem seemed so minor. They would all probably just laugh at me.
So I simply said, “Nothing. I’m just tired.”
Ella gave me a look like she didn’t believe me, but didn’t press the subject. Everyone went back to their conversations.
Now I jumped down and took a walk along the field. I wasn’t sure why this was bugging me so much. I thought about the way he had looked at me in our first class. If I didn’t know any better, I would say he was sizing me up. Why would he be doing that? He didn’t know me. I felt like I was missing something here. Perhaps he had simply been looking for a friend. He really wasn’t going to have any trouble there. The boy was downright handsome. The popular kids probably had a place at their lunch table reserved just for him. Besides, a fair number of good-looking boys turn out to be total arrogant jerks. Dustin seemed to be no better than the rest.
This whole thing was driving me crazy. Suddenly I changed direction and headed for Dustin and the mob of giggling girls. I would get down to the bottom of this now. If this bothered me so much, then what better way to solve the annoying problem than to go directly to the source?
As I got closer, I started having second thoughts. What if this was a mistake? What if I just ended up looking like a complete idiot, making a big deal out of nothing? But by the time I had decided to turn around and walk away, it was too late. I was already standing in front of him. It would look really dumb if I just turned and left.