Tompkin's School (For The Extraordinarily Talented Book 1) (5 page)

“What’s up, Lee?” The taller of the two greeted, bringing his fist up and giving Lee a friendly punch in the shoulder.

“Oh hey, how’s it going, guys?” Lee replied.

“Not too bad,” the taller one replied, “looks like there’s a lot of new people.”

“Yeah,“ the shorter one agreed, glancing at me and winking.

“Oh yeah,” Lee said, turning to us, “this is Kain⎼”

“‘sup,” the shorter one waved.

“I’m Duran Black,” the taller one said, shaking Kain’s hand before turning to me, “and who might this fineness be?”

“Cool it pal,” Lee laughed.

“I’m just saying, bro,” he shrugged.

“I’m Izzy,” I smiled.

“This is Laurent,” Lee introduced, indicating to the taller of the two, “and his younger brother Duran. They’re two of our best players.”

“You guys play basketball?” Kain asked.

“Man, we
own
that court,” Duran answered.

“But Lee’s our best point guard,” Laurent added, “do you play?”

“Yeah,” he replied, “not really on a team, though.”

“Any particular position?” Duran asked.

“I can play most positions,” Kain shrugged, “mostly I play shooting guard”

Their conversation became less interesting so Kia and I left them to it.

“Do they have a map for this place?” Kia asked, “It looks like it could be easy to get lost around here.”

“I know,” I agreed, “and it takes forever to get here from the main road.”

“Seriously,” she laughed.

“Did you see that teacher?” I asked.

“You mean the one that looks like he’s half dead?” She grimaced, “Yep, I saw. Totally creepy!”

“I know!” I said, “I wonder why they’d even hire anyone that looked like that.”

Kia just shrugged, neither of us wanting to picture the guy’s horrifying eyes.

“Let’s go back to the dorms,” she suggested, “maybe they’ve got the sign-up sheet for the auditions posted.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” I agreed, heading towards the path leading towards the dorms.

We entered the dorm’s foyer to be greeted by a bunch of swarming girls around a white folding table.

“So, would that be the sign up sheet?” I asked.

Kia just shrugged as we walked forward.

“Hey,” Kia waived to a nearby girl, “is this where we sign up for the drama club auditions?”

“Yeah,” the girl smiled, brushing her wavy blonde hair off her shoulder, “you girls trying out?”

“Yes,” I replied, “I’m Izzy and this is Kia.”

“Great!” She exclaimed, “I’m Leslie Cabrera, president of the club.”

“So, how does this all work?” Kia asked, “I mean, this is my first boarding school experience and I really don’t know what to expect.”

“You‘ll get used to it,” Leslie smiled, “anyways, you better sign up before all the spots get filled!”

“Yeah, well nice to meet you,” I replied.

We quickly signed up and then headed back to our dorm room. Kia immediately went and connected her iPod to the stereo, turning on the usual K-pop. I went to my bed and pulled out my laptop. I checked my email, deleting all the junk mail, and replied to all the emails from my friends back home letting them know I had gotten to the Academy just fine. Soon I fell into a dreamless sleep and be awoke to a new day. What it would bring I had no idea.

It was Wednesday morning and the first day of class at the Academy. I woke up early, straightened my hair as usual, and quickly dressed in a cute, fitted blue top and some white jeans. It was going to be an exciting day because auditions began that afternoon! I would finally be able to show off my skills and I was definitely sure that I would make it. I then made sure my school bag was ready with everything I needed for the day.

“Class starts at seven, right?” Kia asked, interrupting my thoughts as she came into the room.

“Yeah,” I answered, “who do you have first?”

“English with Morgan O’Connor,” she replied, putting on an orange shirt and some dark jeans with matching converse, “which is great because she’s also the director of the drama club!”

“Awesome!” I replied, “that’s who I have, too.”

“Come on,” Kia said, grabbing her backpack, “let’s go.”

I picked up my book bag and followed her out the door. We rushed through the dorms and headed down the path towards the main buildings. We entered the large school, which was filled with other rushing students.

The first hall was filled with lockers, but since we didn’t have our books yet we just went straight to our class, which was on the second floor. We filed into the classroom with the rest of the students and I immediately spotted Lee. I smiled as I weaved my way towards him and took the desk beside him.

“Fancy meeting you here," I said, flashing my most dazzling smile.

“Hey!” He said, turning in his desk, “You in this class, too?”

“Yep,” I nodded.

Just then Kain entered, a headphone stuck in one ear. He looked like he was in one of his “brooding” moods, which probably meant that he was listening to the Rx Bandits again.

I really didn’t think that that band was very good for him to listen to. I couldn’t even understand them at all! Their lyrics made no sense and they banged around on drums with trumpets in the background trying to be “oh so cool” when really they just…weren’t! But I wouldn’t
dare
say that to Kain’s face, he’d go off on a tangent.

“Izzy,” he nodded his greeting.

“Hey, Kain,” Lee said, motioning for him to sit next to us, “thought anymore about joining the basketball team? Training starts in a couple of weeks.”

“Yeah, I don’t know man,” Kain replied.

“Just think about it,” Lee suggested, “we’re gonna shoot some hoops during last period, if you sign your name up you don’t have to register for another extracurricular.”

“
Really
,” Kain said, sounding more interested, “I just might have to do that. Having Ms. Chomsky sign me up for choir just doesn’t sound like fun.”

Just then Kia finally found a seat behind me. I wasn’t surprised at all that it was right next to Kain.

“Hey, Kain," she smiled.

“Hey," he replied.

“Class!” Ms. O’Connor said, calling the class to order, “Let’s begin. I’m Morgan O’Connor, call me Ms. Morgan. Please don’t use any smart-alecky nicknames you might come up with. I like my class to be casual, but come on this is a classroom and I’m still your teacher.”

Ms. Morgan narrowed her eyes at some of the students and then smiled.

“Okay,” she began, “now enough of that and welcome to English class, sophomores.”

The class was soon over and so I was off to art class, which consisted of Ms. Cotillard bragging about her accomplishments at some school in France and all of the exhibits she had been involved in over there. Hopefully it would get more interesting once we actually started painting.

Hopefully.

After Art I headed to the dreaded biology class taught by Professor Valkyrien, who was totally creepy. I made my way towards the last door on the third floor and braced myself for the unexpected.

I entered the classroom and spotted Kain seated way in the back. I headed towards the back row and took the seat next to him, putting my stuff on the ground.

“Good call on the back,” I said.

“Yep,” he muttered, earphone still glued to his ear.

“Oh come
on
!” I said, punching his arm, “tell me you’re not in your brooding,
I don’t want to be around people
‘cause life sucks’ mood?”

He just looked at me, raising his eyebrow. Obviously he didn’t think my sarcastic comment was very funny. I shrugged and took the textbook that was being passed back to me.

“Thanks,” I nodded to the blonde girl in front of me, “Oh, hey! You’re Leslie, right?”

“Yeah, hey!” She smiled, “and you’re...Lizzy?”

Kain smirked and I glared at him.

“Izzy,” I corrected.

“Oh,” she replied, looking a bit awkward before changing the subject, “so you’re gonna be at the auditions, right?”

“Yes, I’ll be there!” I said, “Can’t wait.”

“Exciting,” she smiled, turning back towards the front as class started.

Professor Valkyrien glided his way to the front of the classroom, his white skin and thinning hair providing a sickening contrast to the black chalkboard behind him. I swore I saw his head bobble on his overly stretched neck.

“Veelcome to…” his high pitched voice made me jump in my seat, “b-b-beeologee.”

Oh⎼my⎼god, I thought.

The teacher outstretched his hands as if to pull as all into an abnormally awkward and crowded hug. I shivered.

He continued to stare at us and a rather uncomfortable silence spread across the classroom. A foot tapped on the wood flooring and fingers drummed impatiently on a desk.

Was that? Did I just hear the f bomb blaring from Kain’s music?

I turned in my seat to glare at Kain, shaking my head incredulously.

“
Turn that OFF
!” I hissed, “The entire class can hear it.”

“The teacher’s not even
doing
anything,” he rolled his eyes, “accept showing us how apparently insane he is.”

“I don’t care,” I replied, “turn it off.”

He shrugged and turned the music down.

“You’re really irritating when you’re moody,” I whispered.

“And you’re really bossy when you’r
e⎼
” he began, “oh wait, no, that’s all the time!”

“You’re
so
PMSy,” I laughed, “come on please smile for once! It’s not
that
bad, I mean we’re at a new school and we’ve already made new friends!”

“Turn your b-b-books to page vone-fourty-thwee,” the high pitched squeal announced, causing me to jump again.

“Whatever," Kain said, rolling his eyes again.

I made a face and one side of his face ever so slightly turned upward into a crooked smile.

“You heard what he said, sis,” Kain shrugged, “turn to page vone-fourty-thwee.”

I laughed as I opened my book. Kain did have some issues. But then again, we both did. We both got angry, although it was harder for people to get on my bad side than it was for him. I would get terrible headaches and my whole body would get seriously hot and my hands would get uncomfortably red. Like they were on fire. But for Kain it was moodiness, which happened quite frequently, and he needed to focus his anger on a sport or by going to the gym. I was glad that he was considering going to shoot some hoops with the guys, hoping that Lee would have a positive influence on him.

The rest of class consisted of the professor talking about some sort of cell and then marveling at some squirrel that leapt past the window. I realized then that he reminded me of a turtle, with his very long neck, who got distracted by every little insignificant thing. Finally, the class ended and it was lunch time. I found Kia and we walked together to the cafeteria.

“So, history wasn’t
so
bad,” Kia was saying, “but it
is
history. Trust me, if it wasn’t for the fact that the teacher is completely hysterical than it would be so boring.”

“Who teaches it?” I asked.

“Mr. Sheldon Webber,” she replied, “the head coach for the basketball team.”

“I got stuck with professor Valkyrien in biology today,” I sighed.

“Hah!” Kia laughed, “
How’s he
?”

“Crazy,” I smirked, “but anyways, real classes are over. Now we just have tryouts.”

“I know, I’ve been thinking about it all day,” Kia smiled.

“Me too,” I agreed, “and I know exactly what part I’m going to recite.”

We then entered the café and my eyes widened. One side of the cafeteria was a completely glass wall which looked out to the forest. The walls were made out of maroon bricks, accented by the gray tiled floor and black tables. The café had a tall ceiling with chandeliers hanging from chains, providing just the right amount of light. But all of this paled in comparison to the aroma of the food.

“Wow,” Kia gasped.

“Wow is
right
!” I laughed, "What is this place? Because this can
not
be a real cafeteria.”

“Tell me about it," Kia replied, still awestruck.

We made our way through the food line, filling our plates with all the amazing food we could eat.

“I’m totally going to gain a million pounds!” Kia complained.

“Whatever,” I said, “look at the sign! Besides the meat, everything is vegan.”

“And the best part about it is,“ a familiar voice said, “it all
tastes
good.”

We both turned to find Duran coming up with his tray to join us in our search to find a table.

“Come on, sit over here with the crew,” he invited.

“Hey, guys,” I said, as we approached the table.

Lee was in the middle of eating a huge piece of chicken and Laurent had a similar pile on his plate, preparing to devour it all no doubt. Kain was seated next to Laurent, ignoring his food and intently reading his old copy of The Great Gatsby. Kia and I followed Duran’s lead and took a seat at the table and as I did I noticed another boy at the table. He had dark brown curls with complementing olive toned skin. He looked up when we joined them and caught my glance. I quickly looked away as my eyes started to tear up. I didn’t know what it was, but the moment that I looked into his piercing green eyes I felt a burning sensation. It was like a wave of fire was causing the blood inside my body to overheat. Was I getting sick? It probably was just culture shock.

“Oh, have you met brain here?” Duran laughed, indicating to the curly headed boy, “He’s the school’s genius.”

“Next to me, of course,” Lee winked.

“Amadeus doesn’t even have to study!” Duran continued, “Plus he does all of this programming stuff.”

The boy nodded in my direction and I waved, cautiously looking in his direction only to swiftly look away again as a spasm of pain rippled through my body. What was going
on
?

“Why aren’t you eating, man?” Laurent asked Kain, in-between chewing his own food.

“Aren’t you joining them on the court?” I asked.

Kain resentfully glared at me from the pages of his book.

“Yeah,” he said, looking away from me and pointedly setting aside his book as he took a single bite of food.

He was getting on my last nerve. I felt a headache coming on and I rolled my eyes. Thankfully I had brought some pain-killers with me because I didn’t want some migraine ruining my audition. No one else seemed to notice Kain’s reaction, or my own for that matter, and so the conversation continued.

What was going on with Kain? It was weird to see him around actual jocks, although he was reading a book. But for some reason he seemed to fit in with Lee and the rest of them, despite his odd quirks.

Just then Leslie and a few other girls walked up to our table.

“Hey, you girls better get ready,” Leslie said, “auditions will be starting soon. We’ll be meeting in the auditorium.”

“See you there!” Kia replied, excitedly turning to me, “Come on, let’s go to the dorm and practice a bit beforehand. See you guys later! Oh, let me know about that party.”

“What party?” I asked.

“Our parents have a cabin at the Arbuckle Lake,” Laurent explained, “we always throw a party, usually a few weeks into the school year.”

“You should come with us,” Lee suggested.

“Sure,” I smiled.

“We’ll be there,” Kia said, taking my arm, “but we’re going to be late if we don’t go now.”

We said our goodbyes and ran back to the dorms just in time to practice our monologues a bit and then head to auditions.

We entered the auditorium about ten minutes early only to find the room crowded with other students. I had no idea that the drama club here was so popular, but then again it was a pretty big school. Ms. Morgan took the stage and, after welcoming us, introduced the judging panel which included herself, the president Leslie Cabrera, a guy named Addison who was the treasurer, as well as a few others. Then the endless auditions began as we watched act after act. Some were pretty good, but others were just awful. Soon I was up and I felt the butterflies kick in. Why was I nervous? I had done this act so many times before. It was my best one!