Back to the Dream Page
Sharon found herself doodling in the margins of her test as she waited for time to be called. Her English teacher had asked Sharon before class if she had felt okay about taking the summer reading test along with the rest of the class even though she was new. Sharon had said she was fine with it. It had helped that one of the books off the list was one she herself had read during the spring at her former high school.
So now she sat, sketching out small scenes on the sides of her paper as she waited for the last five minutes to pass by until she could go out and eat her lunch, paying no mind to the almost frantic scribbling of her classmates. Her short essays had been done for quite some time, the work surprisingly fresh in her memory.
She cocked her head to one side as she looked down to what she was drawing. 'Castles… Maidens with their knights in shining armor… And dragons? Of all the stuff I could be drawing now… But it's not because of him,' she tried to argue with herself. 'I just haven't done this medieval motif in awhile.' She gave a small sigh. 'Oh, who are you trying to fool Sharon?' She blushed, knowing fully well why she was drawing the mythical creatures in the first place. 'Damon…'
Down the hall, Damon was jotting down notes in his physics class, listening as Mr. Plopper finished off his quick review of the atom. 'Man, if only the class would stay this easy,' he thought to himself while trying to ignore the urge to start packing his things up before the bell had rung. 'Your luck for being in the honors system Damon. Just be thankful that at least there was an easy lecture to be had with Plopper. From what everyone else has said, there will be no more freebies in this class. Great…'
The bell rang and he slammed his notebook shut, barely paying attention to his teacher as he reminded his students to do the reading for the following week. He stuffed his backpack with his things and easily swung it onto his shoulder as he walked out the door. He glanced up and down the hall quickly to see whom he could find and spotted Sharon heading his way. Smiling, he fell into step beside her. "How's it going kid? Are you all settled in yet?"
Sharon turned and smiled up to him. "For the most part, I guess. Finding my way around isn't as hard as I thought it would be."
"With a high school like this, it'd be hard to get lost," he grinned back. "So how you managed to not find your locker without help yesterday is beyond me."
"Please Damon," she said, rolling her eyes. "I was barely in the building for more than two minutes! Give a girl a break!"
"Only if you go to the welcome back dance tonight. Let that serve as a break for you."
"I don't know…"
"Oh come on Sharon!" he said as they reached her locker. "It'll be fun."
"Again, I'm not too sure about that Damon. Although I'd love to go, I'm afraid I won't have fun because I don't know anybody here yet."
"But you know me. And Ana will be there too!"
An indescribable look crossed her face for a moment but then she turned away to begin putting her things away and getting her stuff for her afternoon classes. "Oh boy, two people! That's really knowing everybody."
"You can't get to know people if you're going to be spending all of your time hiding Sharon. Give us a chance."
She looked sideways over to where he was casually leaning on the locker next to hers, as if this were something they'd been doing all their lives. "What makes you think I'm hiding?"
He shrugged. "The fact that you were sitting by yourself at lunch yesterday maybe? Or the fact that I haven't seen you talk to anyone besides your teachers or myself?"
"You're just catching me at weird times."
"Am I?"
"No," she answered honestly as she shut her locker door and moved with him towards his locker.
"So tell me Sharon, why the hiding?"
"I'm not necessarily hiding per se. I just don't look to gain attention. That's all."
"Come on! You're the new kid! That kind of warrants you attention right there."
"Not bad attention, I hope."
"Of course not. People are just curious about you, that's all. The fact that you aren't opening up to people makes them wonder about you."
"I don't freely give when I haven't been asked," she smiled. "And not many people have bothered to ask. Still, you have me wondering."
"About…" he asked as he opened his locker and began transferring his books to and from his backpack.
"You." He paused a moment to look at her before deciding it was best to just let her continue. "You aren't one to just sit back and judge me before getting to know me, are you?"
He smiled over at her. "You really do have a way with words, don't you?"
"I believe in being honest when there's no reason to not be, you know?"
He nodded. "Very true."
"So you haven't answered me."
"Repeat the question then," he smiled.
"What makes you any different from all the other people, that you're actually brave enough to talk to me."
"Look at me Sharon! Guys twice your size are scared of me! Why should I be scared of talking to someone like you?"
"Seriously!" she laughed as the two walked outdoors for lunch.
He chuckled. "Seriously then? How about I grew up with the firm belief that people miss out if one just assumes things about others?" He glanced over at her and found a small, surprised look on her face. He nodded. "My mother always says that there is more to people than just their looks or whatever and she hasn't been wrong thus far. People always have their unique history, their own minds behind their actions, and I try to remember that before making any sort of judgment."
"I'm impressed. I never knew that a football player could be so thoughtful."
"Come on Sharon. What did I just tell you about people being more than what they seem?"
"I know, I know. I'm just saying it to tease you," she laughed.
Damon found himself laughing with her. "Come on. I think there are some people I should introduce you to. And no hiding now."
She nodded. "All right. No hiding… For now at least," she grinned.
He just shook his head and took her hand to lead the way.
Shock coursed through her body at the gesture. 'Is it just me or is there really electricity here coming from this touch?' She noted how naturally their hands seemed to fit together and was thoroughly shaken. 'Never have I felt such-'
Damon was glad that he'd been slightly ahead of her so she couldn't see the surprise on his face when he had grabbed her hand. He had meant the gesture out of friendship. Why then did he feel like this? 'What's with this chic? Electricity in just holding hands?' He opened the door to the cafeteria and let go of her hand to allow her to enter first. He shook himself. 'Okay Damon. Obviously, skin is bad right now. Why? You don't know, but this isn't the place to think about it. Let's try something else.' He smiled at her, hiding his thoughts as he drew her along, this time pulling her lightly by placing his hand on her opposite shoulder and leading her to the group.
'As if this were any better,' she thought to herself, feeling the warmth of his hand through the thin material of her top. 'What the hell?' She gave a slight sigh of relief when they reached his table and he let her go.
"Hey you two," Ana smiled, glancing up from her notebook and scooting her chair a little bit to give the two room at the table. "Classes going okay so far?"
"Please Ana!" Riley exclaimed from where he sat next to her. "Can we talk about something besides classes for once?"
"And what else are we going to talk about? How you guys are going to lose your first game?"
"Low blow Ana," he replied, smiling. "You have no right to talk to us like that. Especially in front of our star quarterback here," he said, indicating to Damon. "Then again, if we do lose, it'll be all your fault now that you said it."
"No way," she laughed. "It's not going to happen because you guys are too good. Still, here you go anyway," she said, knocking on the table before them. "Better? It's wood."
"Only slightly," he grinned back.
Sharon poked Damon in the side. "Quarterback?"
He grinned. "You didn't ask."
"And you didn't tell," she grinned back.
"So are you just going to keep her to yourself or are you going to introduce us D?"
Damon glanced up and smiled. "My apologies. Everyone, this is Sharon. Sharon, this is my group of friends. You've met Ana. Next to her is Riley, Vin, …"
It was the last class for the day and halfway through it, the speakers went on throughout the school.
"May I have your attention please? May I have your attention please."
Sharon and the rest of her class stopped with their activity to listen to the announcement.
"This is your public relations officer Hilary Benton speaking. As part of your ASB council, I'd personally like to welcome all of you to a new school year. To help kick things off right, we are gathering you all together for our first general assembly of the year. Teachers, please accompany your class to the main gym after I have called your room number. Students, please leave your belongings…"
Sharon ignored the rest of the message as she started packing her things up. 'Might as well get everything together so I can leave right after school, I guess.'
After her class had been called, she found herself going along with the steady stream of people heading toward the gym. A small bit of worry entered her stomach when she realized she had no one to sit with. Damon had been right; she hadn't really made the effort to get to know anybody yet. She blamed it on the sudden move and the fact that she was still getting herself situated. She needed to find herself first before she could feel completely comfortable in her new surroundings.
'It helps that Damon's being so nice. And his group of friends seems to be all right so far too. Speaking of…'
Sharon craned her neck around, trying to find a familiar face in the crowd and finding none. Then again, the walls were all just a sea of unfamiliar faces to her and she ended up just drifting towards one wall and taking a seat in the bleachers next to a girl who smiled kindly at her before turning back to talk to her friends.
After the last couple of classes had settled in, a girl took the podium toward the front of the gym and got everyone's attention. 'Hey, isn't that…'
"Welcome everyone to our first assembly of the year! How's everyone doing today?" An answer of cheers and whistles came in reply. She laughed. "That's great. I'm glad to see all your smiling faces here today as well. Anyway, as many of you know, my name is Ana and I'm going to be your ASB president for the next school year. One of the purposes of today's assembly is to introduce you to your board members for the coming year. Frosh, your board elections take place in two weeks, including those positions for ASB senators. If you're interested in running, please come see myself or anyone else on student council ASAP for your applications. Sophs, your class council is made of representatives…"
Ana introduced the members of the sophomore, junior, and senior class councils starting from class representatives up to president of each class. Sharon sat back and watched as the student council members each left the main lobby of the gym and made their entrance, not really paying attention even as the rest of Ana's own council started making their ways into the gym. There were the public relations officer, the senate leader, spirit commissioners… Sharon didn't care until she heard Ana finishing up the list with: "Vice-president Damon, and me, your associated student body president." Ana smiled as the rest of the school clapped and cheered as Damon took Ana's arm in his and the two joined the student council on the floor and broke into a skit to liven up the crowd and introduce the rest of the school to each of their different personalities.
By the time they were done, the school was cheering quite loudly, Sharon right along with them. The group took their bows as Ana went to the podium again, still laughing. "Thank you. On behalf of the student council, I would like to wish you all a happy new school year and promise you that this year will be full of fun and stuff. To kick it off, tonight starting at seven right here, we're having the welcome back dance. It's only five bucks and believe me, it'll be worth it. The theme tonight is tropical paradise so come on by, have some fun, and show your school spirit. Thanks everybody!"
There was some more cheering as the student council finally left, leaving the podium so the principal could say a few words before she dismissed the school.