Chapter 1
The first day of school was never the jamboree of excitement for Shaw. As far as she was concerned this was her twelfth first day, the last required one. All the others she will have to pay for due to the tragic economic system of America. The parking lot of the small town high school reared its ugly head, and Shaw groaned in anticipation. Academics themselves were not to blame, the people were. Every face held the same caring assonance you would expect of a little christian town in Texas. Why her Mom moved here will always remain a mystery to her, because the only diversity to be seen here are the few Mexican immigrants that dared rear their heads in the gardens of the suburban soccer moms. If she has to hear one more “Where are you from?” or “Do you know our lord savior Jesus?” Shaw is prepared to snap.
The main entrance of double doors reared their ugly head and a few students loitered outside waiting for the bell to ring, which would not be for another 10 minutes. In order to avoid the irritating pander of small talk, Shaw prompted to find another entrance. The school was situated on a hill, the stairs lead up from the parking lot to the front, but there was a path just to the left of the entrance and Shaw followed it on a whim. The path lead down a sharp decline and to two doors leading into what can be presumed to be a hallway for the freshman. There were cheesy banners above all of the doors, stating “English 1: Mrs. Haverford”, “Algebra 1: Mr. Greg”, etcetera in the hallway. Checking to see if the door was locked, Shaw pushed the handle and it opened. Stealthily she closed the door remaining outside. There was no one around and it was a perfect place to gain some peace and quiet before tackling the mediocrity of the day. She sat down against the wall that jetted out from the building to form a covering for the entrance from the rain. If there ever was any. Just then everything was okay, perfect, and peaceful. Granted that did not last long as the bell rang and a lanky tall idiot came blundering down the hill toward the back entrance yelling “I’m not late!” “Hold the door!”
Not wanting to deal with this, the ever so introverted Shaw leaped up and walked albeit semi-sprinted inside. She fast walked down the hall, found her AP Literature class and plopped down in a seat in the back, not all the way back though, just far enough and to the side where the teacher would not notice her and the slackers would not talk to her. There are not that many slackers in AP classes, but there are always those who don’t care, or already know the material, because they are the next Einstein or something. Shaw was smart and worked for her perfect grades, but she was not a genius. The tardy bell rang and the tall brunette Shaw saw earlier blundered into class just before the last ring. There were many seats available, but this girl apparently had a death glare set on the inconspicuous girl pretending to not notice her presence.
“Hey you!” the boisterous female attested. She bounded over to the seat next to Shaw placed her backpack down, and then exclaimed “You could have like, I don’t know, TOLD ME I was not late! Or that the bell just rang! If I miss one more day of school the principal Bosco is going to expel me!”
“You do know that it is the first day of school right? How can the principal expel you? Also, what. The. Hell. I did not need to tell you-”
“AH-hum” The teacher cleared their throat rather loudly to interject the two clearly charged girls. “If you two are done with your little lovers coral we have actual business to attend to.”
“We are not together.” said both the overcharged students. Shaw actually just said “f no” under her breath. They both sat down in their respective chairs and proceeded to listen, because they were in some aspect civilized.
“Now then.” said the teacher. “My name is Mrs. Zoe Fixer, and if you guys would, please go around and state your name and favorite literary novel. Emphasis on literary. Please support your opinion by explaining why. Let's start with you two back there, since you have already began as classroom entertainment. There will be no du ex machina you will be sure.”
Du ex machina is when a god-like being comes in to save a character at the last moment. Shaw definitely did not need saving, but the infuriating girl next to her began to speak anyway, which only poured gasoline on the flames of Shaw's already ruined day.
“My name is Root.”
What kind of name is Root? Shaw thought. Interesting, but strange nonetheless. The others in the class all kind of laughed at the name, which made Shaw want to beat them all up. She didn’t really know why though.
“I would have to say I have an affinity for the novel Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen, because the emotional antithesis of the two sister intrigues my depiction of human relationships. Introverted versus extroverted, emotional versus rational, etcetera.” Root locked eyes with Shaw at that moment with a smirk on her face, like she knew something the other did not.
Shaw rather determinedly said “Sameen Shaw. I prefer to just be called Shaw.” There was a pause and the small persian looked down like she was thinking and then looked up to say that “Wuthering Heights by Jane Austen is my favorite work of literature due to Heathcliff's brusque style of living that created a calculating enigma of an expected condition of feeling, whereas Wuthering Heights is an asylum for the emotionless in a world garnering admiration for mundane acts of affection.” Shaw stood in silence after her quick justification, clearly topping Root much to the small persians satisfaction.
“Looks like we have two fans of Jane Austen.” said Mrs. Fixer. “You two should make peace not war, together you could create something wonderful. You there, what's yours now?”
The class went by as Cole spewed out a coherent sentence about Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Verne, and as Fusco took a solid fifteen minutes piecing together what literature even was, let alone what he had read. Honestly, how do these people even get in AP classes? The bell rang and Shaw thankfully had the next two classes without the walking disaster that is Root.
Lunch eventually started and Shaw was siked, because food was good. Better than good, it was great, excellent, euphoric, and the absolute highlight of Shaw’s day. She rounded the corner and burst out of the doors, eventually finding a nice tree to sit under in solitude. She packed her Mom’s leftovers, which was rice full of spices and meat. So good. Shaw was about to plunge in when everything got just a tent darker. She looked up to see that irritating brown haired woman and Shaw did not care. She ate her food not even acknowledging the presence of the other person. A few moments passed in silence.
“You know I thought it would be gross, but it’s actually cute how much you enjoy eating.” There was a brief moment where Shaw glared up at Root who then proceeded to smile like a giddy child.
“You’re like an angry Winnie the Pooh. That so adorable.” Root continued to stare and Shaw was getting increasingly uncomfortable.
“I think I like you better when you are angry.” said Shaw with a mouthful of food.
“So you like me, huh?” Root basically glimmered as she tilted her head to the side and Shaw has had enough. The small girl stood up with her food and started walking back toward the school, trying to block out the past day. Being ever the persistent one, the tall brunette followed Shaw like a puppy until she body slammed into her when Shaw abruptly stopped.
“Stop. Following. Me.” said Shaw, She was now done with her food and was getting increasingly more sinister in her intentions. The taller one filed this information away for later. Food makes small human happy, or at least content.
“Okay.” said Root. She walked away. Little did Shaw know her wallet was missing and Root was not exactly honest.
The day passes on relatively uneventful after that until Shaw got home and realized that her wallet was missing and she had a pretty good idea of where it was, and how she was going to get it back.