August 3, 2023

I waited through class all day, while Mr. Furish taught me every single subject. Most kids left the classroom after 2 classes.

But me, and three other students, stayed in his class all day. We even had lunch and Study Hall in there. Isla had left after homeroom, and I was left alone with people I didn't know. Well, sort of.

Parker stayed in the classroom all day too, along with Luke, who I still hadn't talked to.

There was also that Isabel girl. She seemed nice, but I couldn't muster up the courage to talk to her directly.

But I didn't have to, because she talked to me first.

We were waiting for the bell to ring for the end of the day, and Mr. Furish told us that we could just hang out while he went to go grab something.

Isabel sat directly to my right, so she could easily talk to me.

"Hi, you're Lauren, right?" Isabel said.

Use your brain power, Lauren.

"Um, yeah. Isabel, right?" I said awkwardly.

There we go, not as awkward as before.

"Yeah, I can't believe you haven't been to school in 2 years. What have you been doing all this time?" Isabel said quickly.

"Oh, uh." I struggled to find any hobbies that I had pursued, but I said, "Well, I've been swimming a lot, and I've gone hiking. And I've been obviously doing schoolwork."

"Cool!" she said, "Are you on a swim team?"

Good Lauren.

"Yeah" I said, gaining confidence, "I was on a swim team back in Kentucky, and I joined one here too."

I actually hadn't talked to anyone at my swim practice, and been pretty much known as the quiet one.

"Cool, I've actually never been on a sports team." Isabel said, "They didn't have extracurricular activities at my school."

I had just then noticed that Isabel was wearing a white Mexican style dress, with red lining at the top, and with sleeves. She also wore tan boots, and a crescent shaped necklace.

"You're very good with English." I said.

Well that's not very awkward.

"Oh, I've actually learned it all my life." Isabel said.

"Wow, that's cool. So you can speak fluent Spanish too?" I said.

"Yep." she said with a humble smile.

"I actually know some Spanish." I said to her.

Wow, Lauren, super humble about it...

"Wow, so puedes entenderme ahora?" she said with an accent.

"Si, lo siento, se que tengo acento americano cuando hablo." I said slowly, still making sure I was saying the right words.

Show off.

"Good!" she said, "That's pretty cool."

"You girls seem to be hitting it off, how about you guys hang out tonight?" Mr. Furish said as he walked into the room.

"Oh, I guess that sounds good." I said quietly again.

Crap, I'm being watched.

I lost my confidence again as quickly as Mr. Furish walked over to us.

"Oh, and you guys are obviously coming to practice tonight, so you guys can hang out after then." Mr. Furish said.

"Practice for what?" Isabel said.

"Oh, you know." Mr. Furish said, "Some of the other kids, including you guys, will be meeting up after school to practice."

TOTALLY NOT SUSPICIOUS...

"Practice what?" I said confused.

"You know." Mr. Furish said as he walked away.

"Well, anyway, want to hang out?" Isabel said, "After 'practice'?"

"Sure, we can hang out at the In N' Out." I said, suddenly regaining my confidence.

Smooooooooth.

"YAY!" Isabel said, jumping up and down.

I gave her a confused look, and she coughed and then said, "Sorry, I'll try to stay cool."

Dang it Lauren, you and your expressive face...

I laughed a little and said, "No, it's fine. And in that case..."

I stood up from my chair beside her, and said, "We can both celebrate."

She and I jumped up and down, and squealed.

Lauren, you're doing great here even in the situation of a code 1637747, Girl Party.

"Okay, okay, now, calm down." I said, as she hugged me.

"You guys having a girl party?" Parker said from the back row.

I can't believe he knows what code 1637747 is.

I pried Isabel off me and said, "Yes, have a problem with that?"

"No no. I was just asking. It looks fun." Parker said, smiling.

"Why don't you join us then?" I asked.

"Sure, after whatever 'practice' Mr. Furish was talking about. I love In N' Out." Parker said.

Well, there's no way you can take that back, so good luck hanging out with a boy, code YOU'RE NOT READY, AKA code 738478.

I meant that he could join us in our squealing, not at In N' Out, but a part of me said that it'd be rude to say I was talking about something else, but I thought it'd be okay if he came anyway.

"YAY!" Isabel said, jumping up and down again.

I smiled at her, and Parker laughed a little, then the bell rang.

"I'll see some of you at practice in a few minutes!" Mr. Furish said.

I grabbed my bag and walked out the door with Isabel and Parker.

As far as first days go, that was a pretty good one.

If only that I knew that the day wasn't over, and I was a few minutes away from hearing the most terrifying news of my entire life.