Biker Class (2 page)

“Honey, are you going to get out?"

"Yeah," Melanie answered.

Silence.

"When?"

"Soon."

Silence.

"You're going to be late."

"No, I'm not."

Silence.

"Melanie,
go
!"

Her daughter jumped at her sharp tone. "All right, Mom,
gosh!"

She had been sitting in the passenger seat of the Prius, watching all
of the students passing by attentively. A couple of people acted like they
never saw it, others glanced at it and looked away, and some were watching it
curiously and waiting to see who got out. There was a short brick fence
circling out from the entrance on either side, serving as a meeting place and
seats for students. Melanie sighed and looked down at her outfit: a black and
white polka dot top with a dark blue button-up sweater that was open,
complimented by a white skirt that went a couple of inches above her knees with
black high heels. She glanced out of the window at what girls were wearing.
Some were wearing skinny jeans and
Converse,
others
were wearing stilettos and short skirts. Hers was in between, she supposed.
Surely acceptable in the public eye.

After yet another annoyed look from her mother who needed to get to
work, Melanie sighed and opened the door, her eyes darting around to see who
was watching. Only some were, most people minding their own business. She put
her foot on the ground, soon standing to her full height and closing the door
behind her. Her mother sped away quickly, not even giving Melanie a chance to
wave goodbye. She pouted for a moment before turning around to face the crowd
of students outside and her new high school.

There was one thing she immediately noticed: this was nothing like
Wisconsin. Sure, there were the cliques like cheerleaders, nerds, football
jocks, etc. But never like this. There weren't so many Goths, there weren't so
many Druggies,
there
weren't hardly any bikers. But
they were all here. Bad boys, cheerleaders, football players, nerds, theater
lovers, gangsters, drunks, the girls who didn't care who touched them where,
the shy ones, the bossy ones, the skaters, the surfers,
all of them
. She
had no idea where she would fit into all of this chaos.

A couple of eyes followed her as she walked slowly, books in arm,
towards the doors. She tried to make sure she came off as friendly, but for
some reason she had an odd desire to please her peers. It was human nature of
course, but back in her hometown, she was just herself and people either loved
her or hated her for it, and she was okay with that. But here, she already felt
the pressure for people to approve of her. But with all of the different social
groups, she knew that wouldn't be possible. Nevertheless, she held her head
high and tried to ignore the curious eyes and murmurs.

Throughout the day, Melanie realized that the actual
school
part of school wasn't that foreign after all. There were the fun teachers, the
strict teachers, the teachers that just didn't care, and the teachers that just
loved to hear the groaning of students when they assigned homework
;
just like back home. Her fellow students, however, were so
different that she could barely comprehend. They acknowledged she was new, but
unlike back home, none of them took a particular interest in trying to be her
friend. In Wisconsin everyone wanted to know everything about you, they would
talk to you, then you would just subconsciously fall into the clique you were
meant to be in.

Well, people didn't
completely
ignore her. Guys tried to make
their moves.

And she gently declined.

She was still adjusting. It was just her first day. She needed time
to…
settle
. And none of them appeared to be her type. None of them
seemed very nice; just the stereotypical teenage guy who only seemed interested
in looks. She had curves, and that's all they saw. No personality or the person
she was. Just interested in getting the gain and nothing else. She hadn't
really expected anything different, to be honest.

What really made her sad was the lack of desire to learn in the
student body. There were the students that
wanted
to learn, like her,
but not many of them. Most were only doodling in notebooks or… other things.
She could have sworn she saw some white powder being exchanged between to guys
in the back, but she was honestly just too scared to say anything. Melanie Hart
doesn't get involved in those
kind
of things. She's
tried to prevent herself from meddling. She has always had a problem with that.

At the very last period of the day, Melanie didn't pay much attention
herself to class. She ignored a few of the looks being sent her way and thought
about what she could do to make this a better place. Everyone could get more
excited in the academic area of things if maybe there was some kind of program
to better the school. That's what she'd do! She'd sign up for a club to help
the school. That's what she'd do directly after school!

The bell rung, and after walking quickly past a set of boys who had
been glancing at her the entire class period, she headed to the office. Melanie
sighed as she listened to the silence of the hallway next to the offices and it
made the clack of her heels seem loud. Just as she was about to open the door,
it flew towards her face, making her fall back and nearly stumble.

She was about to unnecessarily apologize to the person who had almost
opened the door in her face, but the air of the person who stepped out made her
suddenly shy. A tall, slim, but sturdy guy with blonde hair wearing dark colors
collided with her, almost making her drop her books. She glanced up, and
immediately decided not to say a word to him. His face was cloudy, angry, set
;
and somewhat familiar. He was clearly not in the mood. The
guy didn't even glance at her or bother to say sorry, he just kept walking,
almost stomping, with fists clenched. She gulped and looked after him, more
determined now more than ever to help the student body.

"Excuse me?" Melanie asked the secretary as she stepped into
the small office. "Hi, um, I was just wondering if there were any clubs
for educational betterment for the school?"

The woman glanced at her, surprised, and almost as if she were crazy.
"Let me guess, you are new?"

"Yes…"

"That explains it," she laughed, putting down her pen and
peering over her glasses. "The day there will be a club for 'educational
betterment' is going to be after I'm buried under this ground."

Melanie's brow raised as her spirit broke.
So much
for that idea.

"
But
," she woman mentioned significantly, "the
closest thing I can give you to that is a
program
." Melanie's head
rose. "There is a tutoring program for students that need help with their
grades. What is your GPA?"

"A four-point-O," she said immediately, smiling.

"Sign up if you'd like," the secretary grinned, placing a
sheet in front of her on the counter. Melanie couldn't grab a pen and sign up
fast enough. "They are meeting tomorrow in room D6, right beside what
should be your English room," she said, turning back to her computer.

"Thank you!" Melanie thanked, turning and walking back out
of the office with a face-eating smile on her face. She skipped to the door and
thought,
Maybe this year won't be completely
horrible!

She bounded to the car, hopping in and ignoring her mother's shocked
facial expression at her behavior.

"So, how was your first day of school?" she asked a little
weakly.

"It's great now," she cheered. "C'mon, I want to get
home and see Lucky."

"Okay…" her mother cleared her throat. She shifted the car
in drive and slowly pulled out of the school's campus. "So, what has you
so cheery? More than usual, I mean."

"It's just my first day and I am already certain that I am going
to make the school a better place," Melanie smiled dreamily, sighing a
clasping her hands together.

"Really?" her mother asked, not sure why she was surprised.
"What are you going to do? Volunteer for office hours? Help out teachers
after school?"

"Nope," Melanie shook her head, still grinning, "I
signed up to tutor people who need help academically. In the long run, I bet
I'll raise my person's GPA by a lot, and maybe even their SAT scores!"

"Good for you, honey," Ms.
Hart
said half-heartedly, and Melanie noticed.

"What?" she asked, her voice slightly exasperated. What
could her mother find wrong with being a responsible tutor?

"Nothing," she said quickly. "But, sweetie, you need to
realize that this isn't Wisconsin."

"What do you mean?"

"In some cases, it
will
be like Wisconsin and the people
in the tutoring program will be people who just need help understanding a
subject or two," Ms. Hart began. "But… Melanie,
a lot
of them
will be… ones that have trouble in school because they
are
trouble."

Melanie's
smile
faltered and her brows
creased. "Mom, you are making California sound like it's a
jailhouse."

"No, you know that's not what I mean," she rolled her eyes.
"But I've heard some stories from ladies at work today. A lot of people at
the school with problems
are
problems, dear."

"I'm sure I can handle it."

"I have no doubt about that." She didn't sound completely
truthful. "But you are used to associating with sweet, honor rolling
people like yourself. Not everyone is like that, sweetie.
Especially
if you get stuck with a guy.
Be
careful
. Always make sure you two
aren't alone with no one around, because–"

"
Mom
!"

"You can never be too careful!"

"Oh my God, Mom!"

"I'm just thinking about your–"

"
BE QUIET
, please. Mom, stop."

"Sorry."

"You'll get me paranoid."

"Sorry."

Melanie sighed and rolled her eyes, cupping her chin in her hand and
staring out the window at the passing palm trees and large buildings.

"So… did you make any friends today?"

"… Um, yeah," Melanie stuttered, trying not to sound
antisocial.

"Well? What were they like?"

"She was really nice," Melanie began to fabricate the girl
in her mind. "We didn't talk much, but um… she did help me find some of my
classes. She had short brown hair and lots of freckles."

"What was her name?"

"R-Rachel."

"Oh! You should invite her over sometime."

"We didn't talk
that
much, Mom."

"Did you sit with anyone at lunch?"

"Yeah."

"… And?"

"R-Rachel."

"I thought you two didn't talk much?"

"We didn't! We, uh, just sat together at lunch. And she helped me
find my classes. That's it."

"Well you should keep talking to her. She seems sweet. I bet you
two could be great friends. I'd love to meet her."

"Yeah. Sure, Mom."

Melanie bit her lip and looked worriedly out of the window. She hated
lying to her mother, and she was never really any good at it, but she supposed
that she was so determined to make her happy that her voice didn't go up a
couple of octaves. Melanie's main goal in life was to make others happy, and at
many times it made her forget herself. Here she was, on her first day, already
trying to make the school a better place for academics and lying to her mother
to make her perhaps adjust to California even better.

Eventually the car pulled into the starting-to-be-familiar line of
trees, and Melanie began to daydream and think about what her mother had said.
What if she was right? What if the person she got put with
was
a
trouble-maker
, a danger? Someone who didn't want to learn?
What if they took advantage of her sweet personality and eager-to-please
disposition and blew her off? Unless it came down to the wire, she was not
confrontational and at many times found it difficult to stand up to people.
What was she to do?

And she most definitely did not want to go to high school and not have
any friends. She needed to try and be a little more social tomorrow. She knew
she had it in her; heck, she was the most talkative person in her grade back in
Wisconsin. Melanie was determined to let out her inner jabber box and try to
make an,
at least
, acquaintance the next day.

They pulled into the round driveway and the car was parked, and Melanie
was quick to scoop Lucky into her arms and set off to the tree house. Not even
bothering to slip off her high heels, she held a protesting dog in her arms as
she climbed the rope. She reached the top and released her puppy, trudging to
the spot where the late afternoon sunlight poured in and lying down. Lucky
barked and whined, not liking being in such an unfamiliar place and so high up,
but Melanie called him over to her and soothed him, letting him lay down on top
of her outstretched arm. She sighed deeply and ran a hand through her
brownish-blonde hair. She thought about everything that had happened that day
and her odd desire to please her new peers. She was usually so independent and
not particularly concerned with what other people thought. Melanie didn't know
why she suddenly cared. Perhaps it just came along with the insecurity of living
in a new place. She wasn't sure.