Expression

One thing about school that I personally hate is the fact that it can be so obnoxiously loud. If you didn't know what was inside the building, or that it was a school at all, I swear that you would think it was a secure zoo.

That fits pretty well though. Most of the boys act like monkeys or some type of testosterone filled mammal. You could simply be walking down the hall, and you would be guaranteed to see at least one guy "tackling" another. I honestly feel bad for the poor lockers. They deal with daily abuse because of the stupidity of the male race.

I'm not saying the girls are excluded though. They either act like frilly birds plumping up their feathers, or each other's. Most of the time they would be in huge groups. Actually you could probably compare it to a school of fish. I wish that I could say that I wasn't part of one, but I can't.

"Joeanna!" My head turns from looking, with obvious judgement, at the group of jocks pushing each other into the lockers after every laugh. Through the many bodies passing by I spot who called my name along with a few other faces.

Audrey smiles widely at me as she beckons me over with a wave. I couldn't help but smile back when I looked at her. She's so contagious.

However, beside her stood someone of total difference, and my smile glitches. I made sure to plaster it back on before anyone could notice though. As I took a few steps towards the group of girls, who were indeed nitpicking at each other, I felt someone grasp my elbow. Tilting my head a bit I feel someone's breath on my ear before they whisper to me.

"I gotta go do something, and there's no way in hell I'm going in 'that's' vicinity." Theo says, loud enough for only me to hear. We both knew who 'that' was. Theo refuses to even say her name. He has the theory that she's a lizard in disguise. I choose not to agree or disagree.

I turn my body fully to look at him with an inquisitive brow. "What do you possibly have to do on the first day?"

Theo drops his jaw in playful shock. "I'll have you know that I have plenty things to do. I happen to be a senior. This will be my last first day here." He grins mischievously at me and that's when I raise my hand to stop him.

"Yep don't need to know. With that face it could literally be anything with a terrible outcome. Have fun," I say with a light tone, kissing my hand to slap it on his cheek before leaving.

"Bye Joey! And good luck!" Theo's childish voice rings through the halls, and I'm sure anyone in the hall radius heard him.

God, what am I going to do with him?

I shake my head as I wander to the group of giggling girls. When I get closer I hear them start to make kissing noises, and I roll my eyes in response. Taking my spot next to Audrey I ask, "What are we five?"

A higher pitch voice speaks up and "that" stood in front of me. "Oh come on Joey, we're just messing with you." Her smile is overly sweet and her polite tone is fake. This is exactly why Theo ran off.

You could definitely hear the changes in tone from how Theo says it and she does. Instead of a playful show of affection hers sounded like mocking. Degrading almost. Of course no one else wouldn't have known that. They saw exactly what she wanted.

She's like a witch.

"Haha," I smile back at her, voice laced with sarcasm. "So do we know if coach wants us to meet up today?"

"Yeah, I saw her this morning. She wants to talk to us about try outs and what not." Audrey says, leaning into me giddily.

"Oh!" Another girl named Jennifer catches all of our attention. "Speaking of new did you all see the new girl in town?" At the mention of someone new my mind automatically goes back to the girl I saw with the moving trailer.

"Yeah! She's so pretty-" One of the girls were about to compliment the "new girl", but Brooke or "that" interrupts her with no remorse.

"She's weird that's what she is." Brooke's face molds into an expression of disgust. "I mean did you see all of her piercings? How many do you need?" She laughs, making those around her follow.

It's like a wolf pack almost. If you're not an Alfa you have to follow one. If you don't then you don't have a pack, and if you don't have a pack you're an outsider. So just follow along and you won't have any problems. And usually I would be the absolute best at this, but not this time. I just could not bring myself to laugh.

When the laughs had dulled I was lucky enough to not be noticed.

That honestly sounds so sad now that I say it.

Oh how wonderful it is to be apart of toxic, high school society. Luckily this is also when the bell desires to ring, and I'm going to be frank I've never loved that sound more. For once it had perfect timing, and I only hope it'll stay that way.

Most of the girls branch out into groups of two as they head to class. Mine happened to be with Audrey. We had compared our schedules a few weeks ago, and both of us were extremely happy to see that was had a few classes together. We would be joined at the hip from first to third period then we would have to split up until lunch and practice.

Theo and I had a few classes as well, but not on the academic side of things. Audrey and I were in advanced classes. Which wasn't a big surprise because we've been on honor role for almost all our lives.

Theo however… he's not necessarily bad, he's just not the best at academics.

Elective courses were a whole different story though. Theo is a prodigy in music and art. He always had been. Apparently his dad got him into music at a young age. Theo claims he started playing guitar at six, but I think he's over exaggerating.

I was lucky enough to get a better teachers this year, so math and science went by like a breeze. Last year it was absolutely terrible because of Mr. Lewis and Ms. Twolzer monotone voices. You could barely keep your eyes open let alone understand what the lesson was about. But you haven't lived unless if you've had a teacher like that. It makes you appreciate the good ones more. Example, Mrs. Penelope, she is probably the best teacher I've had yet.

That's probably because I'm biased though. She teaches writing, and I love writing. Though I do honestly believe she's amazing. The fact that she tells us to call her by her first name is amazing to me. Rather than her last name she tells us to call her Mrs. Penelope. She's incredible. Not to mention her first assignment was a free write. I couldn't help but think about it as I walked to my next class. Even as I walked into the class and sat down I was in my own world. Until I heard a loud thud in front of me.

"Jesus-!" My eyes snap to Theo, and he smiles widely like a Cheshire Cat.

"No, it's Theo, but I'm flattered. Good guy that is." He remarks back with a smart ass tone. I roll my eyes before laughing.

Shaking my head I say, "So did you do what you needed to so bad that you left me with Brooke?" I ask in a teasing whisper. Theo pouts his lips out and grabs my hand.

"I'm so sorry about that by the way. Please don't be cross with me." He mutters in a childish voice. I roll my eyes again, but this time when I do Theo remarks, "Did you find your brain back there?"

I simply smile back at him, tilting my head a bit and say, "Yep, just checking if I've lost too many brain cells being around you." Theo's opens his mouth in a wide smile shape, not being able to stop himself from laughing.

Taking his hand away from mine he brushes his fingers along to bottom of his eyes, sniffling a bit as well. "That was an amazing come back. I'm so proud of you."

I scoff at his dramatics. "What were you doing anyway?"

Something must have happened because otherwise he would have never left me with 'that'.

Theo leans back in his seat, slumping a bit, and he sighs. "My dad is in town, and he wanted me to meet a family friend." He plays with the rings on his fingers that his dad got him at fifteen. He always does that when he talks about him.

"Actually I was going to ask you for a favor…" Theo's voice starts to trail off to the end as his eyes reach mine.

Oh no. He's got the face.

Every time Theo has to ask me for a big favor he always looks at me with a specific face. You can probably already guess what it looks like, but I've always described it as a begging puppy. Not a sad one because there's absolutely nothing sad about him. Theo knows exactly what he's doing when he gives me that face, and he also knows that I'm too fucking soft to say no.

I glare at him as I exhale sharply out my nose. "Damn you," I groan as I internally scold at myself for giving in.

Theo smiles widely at me and grabs my hand to kiss it repeatedly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He whisper yells as we see the teacher enter the room. "You're literally the best person ever. I love you." He giggles as he lets go of my hand to listen to the teacher.

Mrs. Phoenix is a teacher both of us have known for years. She has black curly hair, beautiful brown skin, and always wears the most outrageous clothes on. Right now she had on a green dress filled with purple and blue swirls.

You can tell by the way Theo gawks at her that he idolizes her, and personally I don't blame him. She's brilliant. This is the first year I have her class though. Theo has been lucky enough to have her for two years before. When he didn't have her junior year he threw a fit.

After the final, warning bell rang the mounds of student voices dulled. Within minutes it was quiet, and Mrs. Phoenix didn't even have to say a single word. She simply walked from her desk, remote in hand, and at the press of a button a light blinked onto her screen. Turning her head she looks to the back, and after a few seconds I realize she was looking at us. My gaze shifts after hearing Theo's chair slide against the floor, and I watch as he walks to the door. Quickly he flips the lights off, and when I look back at the screen I see a familiar painting, The Starry Night.

"As most of you will probably know this is the Starry Night, painted by Vincent Van Gogh." She stands right beside it and stares at it just like we do. "It's is no doubt one of Vincent Van Gogh's most famous works, but as we discussed before Gogh preferred en plein air paintings. The Starry night was never stated as his favorite, but we could infer."

She clicks the button again and the picture changes. This time there are two picture instead of one, and by the style I know that it's Picasso. I don't know the paintings though.

"'The Weeping Woman' and 'The Old Guitarist' are some of the many works of Picasso. Both are incredibly different," her hand grazes the screen, making the picture fade into a shadow. "Though there are some similarities." Pulling her hand away she presses the button one more time, and my eyes widened from all of the colors. A huge variety of paintings and artworks fill the screen. When she places the remote down she turns to us, scanning the room as she speaks. "For your first assignment I want you to just look at the differences in a single artist's work. When you pick your artist you will create a painting of your own based on one of there's that inspired you." When her eyes make it to the back, and she makes eye contact with me I can't help but feel she's speaking to me directly.

"Create something that pours out your most inner thoughts and emotions. Open your mind to let your imagination fly. Set yourself free."