Sworn Read Free Page B

girls coming towards her laughing and whispering, and hoped they would stop and help her, but they didn’t even notice her.
    The chatter of voices got softer as locker doors began to slam shut.
    RING. The sound of the first bell.
    Suddenly, a boy crashed into her, making her lose her balance and trip.
    “Sorry!” the boy shouted as he ran past her, not stopping to see if she was okay.
    Rachel stood there and held back her tears. She couldn’t believe her first day was starting off so poorly.
    She started walking briskly, in hopes of finding the main office. As she came towards the front of the building, she squinted and saw a small inconspicuous sign that read “Main Office.” She pushed open the heavy glass door and walked in.
    “Good Morning, Dear,” said a nice old lady behind the desk. “You couldn’t be in trouble already?” she asked with a laugh.
    “I--I um--lost my schedule. I’m new. Rachel Wood.”
    “Okay, let’s see here,” the receptionist said, as she poked at her iMac keyboard. “Ah ha—Rachel Wood: 10 th grade. You’re in Mr. Allen’s homeroom. Room 102.”
     She printed Rachel a copy of her schedule and handed it to her across her desk, “Good Luck.”
    “Thanks.”
    Rachel scurried down the bleach-smelling hallway, towards her locker. She was the only one left in the large, empty hallways and she knew that was a bad sign. She must be late. Very late.
    Rachel’s bag was heavy and she needed to empty it before heading to her classroom. As she flew through the halls a calm came over her. The blue tiles on the floor made her feel like she was walking through the ocean, and the lockers were painted a cool yellow color, which eased Rachel’s mind. She glanced at the ascending numbers until she came to locker 74. She reached for the knob, opened it and put all her books in, leaving out one pen and a notebook. She slammed the door shut and put her pad lock through the hole. 36-32-26. Rachel jotted the code onto her hand with her blue Bic pen, then booked it to the room marked 102.
    Rachel gulped and pushed the door open. Everyone sat quietly in their desks, facing Mr. Allen as he spoke and turned and stared at her. It was anything but what she wanted on her first day.  She noticed kids in the back begin to whisper as they stared at her in the doorway.
    “Ah, Rachel Wood I presume?” said Mr. Allen.
    Rachel nodded.
    “First day and already tardy,” he continued.
    “I’m sorry-- I’m um-- new and I got lost,” Rachel muttered.
    Laughter arose from the back of the classroom.
    “Don’t let it happen again. That’s your seat,” Mr. Allen said as he pointed to the only empty seat in the room. It was front and center.
    As Rachel walked over and sat down, the class was silent. It was an intimidating silent. Mr. Allen looked at Rachel again as if to say, I’m watching you , then continued his lesson.
    “Where was I?” Mr. Allen continued, “Oh yes. This year we will be learning all sorts of things in social studies, from the pilgrims, to Abraham Lincoln to the Cold War. You will have homework every night and I expect each and every one of you to complete it.”
    Rachel sat in her chair and began to tune him out. As Mr. Allen’s abrasive voice grew softer, she wondered, who was this teacher anyway? He couldn’t have been more rude or embarrassing.
    Rachel wanted desperately to turn around and look at her new classmates. She resisted, in fear of being accosted by Mr. Allen. She was also nervous to see the twenty-something new faces she would see each morning for the rest of the school year.
    Rachel wondered that maybe, if she sat quietly facing forward, this would all disappear. She wouldn’t have to break out of her shell and make new friends.
    Rachel felt a tap on her back. She turned around.
    “Can you pass this to her?” a pretty girl with blonde hair was pointing to the girl sitting on the other side of Rachel.
    “Sure,” Rachel said as she reached out and stealthily took