The Syndrome Playlist

I’m not gonna lie, I’m tempted to just skip this class. It’s already halfway over and I don’t want to be that guy. Especially not on my first day. What is it? History? Oh, I can definitely skip that. Super easy to catch up on and super boring in the first place. So, what’s the new game I’m gonna play?

I make my way towards the lobby, looking over my schedule. Homeroom is history with Mr. Doodle, second period physics with Mr. Whooves, I have study hall third period, lunch, and then last period of the day is math with a Miss Cheerilee. Four periods? How does that add up? Oh, lovely, each class is an hour and a half instead of forty-five minutes. Well, this is going to be interesting.

Upon reaching the lobby, I still have no idea where to go. Downside to skipping class on your first day is you don’t know all the spots where people hang out when playing hooky.

I head outside, deciding to get more familiar with the grounds. Walking out the front doors, I don’t see anyone. Not even the tough kids smoking. What the h? There’s no way in hell that everyone is in class. Walking along the concrete, I realize how quiet it is here. Having lived in cities before, I may be used to noise. But at every school, even during class, there’s some kinda clamor. There’s even a distinct lack of any kind of graffiti on the horse statue. Not even somebody drawing a smiley face on it with a permanent marker. The grass is fresh and neat, no trails made of dirt where students frequently walk on it. No signs of a normal high school nightmare.

What kind of place is this?

I decide to head to the soccer field. Grandma told me it’s quite a nice place to have lunch if you didn’t want the hustle and bustle of the cafeteria. Her words, not mine. Plus, as awkward as it will be, there’s gotta be that one couple sucking face under the bleachers. Seriously, this is a high school. Teenage hormone central. No smokers, fine, I’ll give ya that. Maybe there’s some city-wide no smoke initiative. But teenagers will always be getting frisky, no matter where you are.

Following the sidewalk around the main campus, I notice a small garden. Lots of flowers, an apple tree, and a stone bench. It seems kinda relaxing, which would be better than intruding on a duo doing… something. I’m far from innocent, but I’m also far too awkward to think about what goes on.

I walk through a wooden overhang and plop myself down on the bench. The breeze feels good, I didn’t inherit any allergies, and there’s no uncomfortable heat, humid or dry. I lean back and close my eyes. I could definitely get used to this. Taking a nap here and skipping all my classes is starting to sound pretty nice.

Is someone singing?

I crack an eyelid and look around. There’s a little path leading off somewhere. It sounds like it’s coming from over there.

I sit up straight and turn my ear towards it. Yup, that’s definitely someone singing. A girl at the sounds of it. She actually sounds really good. Maybe this one won’t run away. I mean if they did, no hard feelings. I won’t be the creep that won’t leave her alone. I respect the boundaries set in place by running away, screaming or no.

Getting up, I follow her voice. It’s soft, but distinct enough for me to head towards.

“There’s music in the treetops, and there’s music in the vale. And all around the music fills the sky…”

I turn a corner. Holy shiznit! That’s a lot of f’ing animals!

Sitting by a pond is a girl with, again, pink hair. Instead of cotton candy curls, it’s gentle waves and a lighter color. Pale yellow tank top and green everything else, she’s surrounded by different creatures. Bunnies, squirrels, birds, a raccoon, and even a beaver. God, it’s like she’s a Disney princess!

“Oh, it’s not so bad. Miss Cheerilee is really nice about it, but I don’t know what I can do. Twilight offered to help, but I don’t want to be a burden…”

A twig snaps under my foot. She turns around, probably expecting another animal friend but gets me instead.

I now realize I may have been standing here watching for quite some time.

Her teal eyes lock with mine and I watch as they grow exponentially while her pupils shrink. I feel my face getting hot. There’s dead silence as we stare at each other.

Suddenly, my leg is in a whole amount of pain. I yelp and fall to the ground, only to get kicked in the head by a white rabbit. It almost seems angry with me.

Now knocked out of the trance, me literally, her not so much, she gasps. “Angel, no!”

She rushes over and pulls the rabbit into her arms while I clutch my shin in one hand and my head in the other, looking like I’m performing some overused dance move. The rabbit’s fine, girl, what about my shattered bones?

“Oh, I am so sorry, Angel is usually so well behaved, he just gets protective sometimes…”

“Don’t worry about it,” I say through gritted teeth. “Isn’t the first time I’ve been kicked in the leg. Or face.”

“Oh, do you have a rabbit of your own?”

I chuckle at that. “Not quite, no.” Sitting up straight and pretty positive I’m not suffering internal trauma, I give her a smile. “Sorry for not announcing myself. I was just kind of, uh, in shock over all the animals.”

She blushes and looks at the ground, the bunny presumably named Angel still trying to kick me. Crap, I think I’m losing her. I don’t want another failed attempt at communicating with someone at this school.

“I’m Alex. Pretty new here. What’s your name?”

The girl hides behind her hair and mumbles something.

“Uh, sorry, what was that?”

She shrinks further back and almost whimpers.

Well that went swimmingly.

The bell begins to ring. We both look up and look towards the school. I stand up, dusting the dirt off my jeans.

“Well, I missed one class, probably shouldn’t miss another.”

I hold out my hand to her. She glances at it before tentatively placing hers in mine. I pull her up probably a little too hard as she gives a little shout and immediately starts pinwheeling her arms, falling into me. Angel is sent flying as we go backwards and onto the ground.

My vision is black. There’s something sharp poking into my back. There’s something soft covering my face. There’s something in my nose.

I sneeze. Gets the something out of my nose. I hear a gasp from the girl on top of me and she quickly rolls off of me, allowing my lungs to do their job properly. As I gasp for air, I look over at the girl. I look to the side and up to get a good look at her now reddening face. I guess she must have landed…

Oh. Oh no. This kind of crap is only supposed to happen in anime.

I sit up quickly and start stammering.

“Oh my God, I am so sorry, I sneezed on your, that’s not important, my face, uh, that sneeze, that’s gross, not your, uh, they’re, no, yeah, anyways, sorry about that.”

Smooth as butter. If butter were made out of rocks like the pointy one that seems to still be lodged in my back. I remove it while looking everywhere else but at the girl, who appears to now be covering her top half.

Angel kicks me in the side of the head. I am back on the ground as Dr. Missus Doolittle gets over her embarrassment that I sneezed on her breasts and starts chastising the rabbit. Don’t understand how giving an animal a stern talking to will change anything.

I close my eyes and rest my head on the ground. Great first day. Can’t wait to tell Grandma that the closest thing to a friend is the lady at the front desk. Probably won’t mention the unintentional second base.

Great. First. Day.