CHAPTER FIVE

 

    The next morning is filled with yawns and groans as I groggily go along. At lunch, I was woken up by a teacher and received a stern lecture about how today’s generation spends too much time staying up late partying and playing on our “doohickeys”. I just nodded my head in agreement, apologized, and kept going about my business.

 

    I walk into my music class and sit down my bag. Since all we do is listen to music and write reports on what we listen to, I park myself in the far right corner of the classroom, and start browsing for an album to write about.

 

    Now Playing: “i apologise if you feel something” – Bring Me the Horizon

 

    Just as my music starts, the door opens. An unfamiliar girl walks in, followed by my teacher, Mr. Conners. The girl keeps her eyes glued to the floor, as if she’s nervous.

 

    “Hey guys, look up here for a second,” says Mr. Conners.

 

    We all fix our gaze to the front of the class.

 

    “This is Saige, she’ll be joining us in class for the rest of the year. She just moved here, so try to make her feel welcome, okay?”

 

    He gives her a class syllabus and sits at his desk. Saige darts her eyes across the landscape of us, assumably to find a seat away from others. Unfortunately we only have twelve students in our music class, so the school band decided to confiscate most of our excess chairs. I begin to look around and come to my own realization is that the only two empty chairs are both close to me.

 

    She slowly walks over, avoiding eye contact with me, as well as everybody else. To avoid any awkward confrontation, I put my earbuds back in and pretend to be focused on the music that isn’t actually coming through them. My curiosity gets me to take a quick glance over to her. Her hair is a bright, platinum blonde. She wears a hoodie that looks like it’s two sizes too big with the words “Pierce the Veil” in big letters printed across the front.

 

    Instead of continuing to listen to the Bring Me the Horizon album, I decide to switch to Pierce the Veil’s.

 

    Now Playing: “Dive In” – Pierce the Veil

 

    As the song goes on, I can’t help but look at our new student. She wears maroon Vans similar to mine. Her bright blue eyes stare down at her phone screen, assumably avoiding eye contact with other students.

 

    “Hey Kyle, come up here for just a second,” says Mr. Conners.

 

    I make my way up to his desk, slightly panicking that I was in trouble.

 

    “Can you explain the assignment to Saige and answer any questions she has? I have to work on this paper for the board meeting tomorrow,” he says in a low voice.

 

    “Sure thing, Mr. Conners,” I reply.

 

    I walk back to my seat, mentally preparing my words so that I don’t sound like an idiot. I slowly approach her desk as she looks up from her phone.

 

    “Hey uh, Mr. Conners wanted me to explain the assignment to you,” I say.

 

    “Okay,” she responds quietly.

 

    “So basically we just choose any album we want, listen to it for a week, and write an essay about it by Friday,” I explain.

    “What did you choose?” she asks me.

   

    “Misadventures by Pierce the Veil,” I answer.

 

    She looks down at her hoodie. I ready myself for the questioning of why I just-so-happened to choose the exact band that’s on her hoodie.

 

    “Woah, you like them to? That’s cool! I didn’t think anybody around here would know who they even are!” she exclaims. “I think I’ll do Collide With the Sky by them. Do you like that one?”

 

    I wasn’t expecting that kind of response. I had never even listened to the band before, but despite that I still nod my head in agreement. Soon after, the class began to ring, and my moment of nirvana was over.