My highschool was odd for a couple reasons. Firstly, it was an outdoor campus. If you've never gone to a school like that, here's a description.
There are several buildings that make up the highschool, different buildings for different subjects usually. Between those buildings are cement walkways, bathrooms, lunch benches with umbrellas, open grassy areas, an outdoor auditorium, some trees, a track for gym, and some basketball hoops.
It was pretty, and probably helpful for a lot of teens to not have to shamble around in tight hallways, instead getting some vitamin D by walking around outside. If you're curious, they did have an inside area for when the weather was bad.
During lunch and the morning break time, you could go anywhere you wanted to sit and relax with friends! It was nice to have a bit of freedom, walking out and about, eating where you pleased and choosing who you ate with.
That brings me to the other odd thing about my highschool.
Everyone. Fucking. Sucked.
It seemed like everyone was this hive mind, shifting from one trend to the next, one act of douchebaggery to the next, and I was the only one not in this hive mind. I didn't understand them. No one dared understand me.
I guess I was one of the weird kids, goth, emo, punk, whatever. I wore dark clothes so I wouldn't stand out. I liked edgy shit, I wasn't a heels-wearing spray tanned priss. Not adapting to basic 'pretty' stuff didn't make you
unpopular
, though. There were other black-clad socially awkward kids like me. But, ironically, I didn't even fit in with the other goth cliques. I was a loner.
I made a few friends over the years, most, ironically, were not originally from this school, but transferred in. It was funny, I, an outsider, could only make friends with other outsiders. Unfortunately, they always seemed to leave. I could never attain friends who stayed in one school. They always left.
I had a couple acquaintances, but by the end of senior year, I really didn't have anyone. Even during partner projects in class, I'd do it by myself. My teachers didn't even care that I was doing the work of two people by myself. They silently caught on. I was weird. I was not to be bothered. I worked by myself, but not by my own choice. I talked with no one, I was friends with no one, and no one attempted to know me. Even the few boyfriends I'd date always went to another school. Having gotten out of my longest relationship just a few months prior, I was back to little to no social interaction.
I was alone.
With our freedom of campus, can you guess where I'd sit?
A, crowded lunch tables. B, on the grass in little groups. C, Off to the side, then played some basketball. D, In the library reading/playing computer games.
If you guessed none of the above, you're correct! I sat against the wall to a quiet building, eating my lunch and doing my homework.
The first day, when I realized the tables filled up in two seconds flat, I decided to explore. I went to the building where my next class was after lunch, math, and I sat a good 30 feet away from it waiting for class to begin.
The math building wasn't very populated, being a good three minute walk away from the main tables, no one ever came over here. It was quiet. An occasional teacher would pass by, but that's it.
I liked it here. I guess.
I was just a few months away from graduation. I was so, so close. Obviously I was excited to get out of a school I hated.
Today was a particularly windy day, I had a bit difficulty keeping my papers in line as I worked/ate. Same with eating, it was getting a bit difficult to keep my wrappers from flying away.
"Oh
fuck!
" I gasped as one of my worksheets took to the sky. I slapped my supplies down, running after it. It only took me a few steps to grab it, thank God. It wasn't the first time I had to spring up to catch something, though.
I checked the time on my phone.
30 minutes left of lunch...fuck this.
The wind whipped at my knees as I went to sit down again. It was
supposed
to be early summer late spring so I had worn some black shorts, but this wind was particularly frigid.
I resumed my work, eating occasionally. Then, I saw a figure moving a few yards away.
It was my math teacher returning to his classroom, Mr. Alderman.
I smiled unconsciously. He was one of the few teachers I genuinely liked. He made math interesting somehow, and had never made me feel unequal to my loudmouth peers.
He began unlocking his door, then noticed my dark presence off against a wall. He looked up and smiled at me.
"Hi there Alice! Kinda cold today huh?"
"Hi! Yeah, it really is."
He looked down again, unlocking his door and swinging it open. He paused.
"Did you...want to come inside? I'd hate to see any of your stuff blow away, what with the fierce winds out here and all. You can wait in here for class to start."
Mr. Alderman was always nice to me, and the bitter air was pretty annoying. Why not?
"Sure, I'd love to! Let me gather up my stuff!" I scrambled to get my stuff together.
Finally, warmth!
I followed him inside, him locking the door behind us. He sat down at his desk, opening a container, probably his lunch.
I sat in my usual seat in the middle of class. I set up all my papers and my lunch, eating and working. After a few minutes, he broke the silence.
"Your birthday was recently, wasn't it? I always forget to do the class birthday thingies."
"Oh yeah, last month!"
"18 now, right? Are you excited to be an adult and have your freedom? Graduation's coming up pretty fast for you guys huh?"
"Haha, I guess so, everyone still treats me like a stupid kid though. My parents can't decide if I should be acting like a mature adult, or if I'm still too young to be on my own. Yeah, I'm very excited to graduate."
"Aha, yeah. I remember feeling that way at your age."
How old was Mr. Alderman anyways? His looks said mid forties, he was witty and quick on his feet, obviously very intelligent to be a math teacher. I had a bit of trouble discerning his age. Roughly a minute passed before he spoke again.
"I'll miss you when you graduate, Alice. It was nice having you in my class."
Well, that was unexpected. I was a bit lost for words. I wasn't the type of student to leave an impression on anyone.
"...r-really? I don't really talk much or...anything."
"That's not bad at all. You're smart judging by your grades, everything is on time, and you actually act like you care about your schooling. You don't talk too much, sure, but then at least you aren't like some of your more annoying, outspoken classmates. It's nice to have students who are polite and try hard."
I wasn't expecting any compliments today. Especially not from, well, he was definitely my favorite teacher now!
