Category: Writing Fiction

Will the Back to School Dance be a delight or a disaster for Ella? Let’s find out.

Mirror Mirror

Chapter Four

Ella walked through the main entrance. As she entered, she could hear music. The dance was being held in the cafeteria where she and Rosa had received the info packets on the first day of school. The night was themed on the millennium and the DJ was playing “Hanging by a Moment” by Lifehouse. Entering the room, she saw it was amazingly transformed from where she ate lunch. Most of the lights were off. Only colored lights on the floor pointing aloft illuminated the space. Most of the lunch tables were folded up and stored at the serving end of the cafeteria. The remaining tables were set around the perimeter of the room to allow places to sit. A beverage table was at the near end, while the DJ was at the far end of the room in front of the folded-up tables. In front of him were some color lights that moved and changed patterns in time with the music.

Looking around, Ella recognized a few people from her classes and a lot of older students from the grades above her. Being a freshman, she felt out of place, but that’s what the dance was for, to find new people and make some friends. She slowly walked around the outer part of the room watching a few couples dance in the center. Along the way she said hello to people she recognized.

The full loop was complete, and Ella was heading for the beverage table when a voice behind her said, “Excuse me. Can I get you something to drink?”

A bit startled, Ella turned around to see a beautiful specimen of manhood. She recognized him immediately as Jerry. Being just about her height, Ella easily examined his face. Dark brown hair with those cute curls, and a friendly smile. He wore a dark, but colorful T-shirt covered by a tan sport coat. The shirt had a beautiful pattern of the northern lights under a twisted cosmic ray pattern. The dress pants were a bit darker than the coat and complimented it nicely.

“Hello, Jerry. Yes, that would be great.”

“Soda or fruit punch?”

“I’m always a bit afraid of punch. Maybe just a white soda to start with.”

“Coming right up.” Jerry went straight to the beverage table, got two drinks, and came back. “Let’s go sit at the tables and get acquainted properly, OK?”

“Sounds great.” Ella was still in shock, but this meeting was going better than she could have hoped for.

When they sat down, Ella took the soda from Jerry. He began, “I’ve been looking for you since our unfortunate encounter in the hallway. We don’t have any classes together so it’s been difficult.”

“You ran me down by my locker. Maybe you will find me there in the future.”

“The truth is, Ella, I was afraid you wouldn’t want to talk to me after I accidentally ran you down.”

“You were so polite helping me up, Jerry. I was hoping to see you again for a proper introduction.”

 “Me too. I’m glad you chose to come to the dance. Where do you live?”

“I’m in the subdivision just west of Pilgrim and south of Mequon on Catskill Lane,” Ella offered with a smile and a twinkle in her eye.

“No way, I’m just to your west on Meadow Drive, east of Division. We’re almost neighbors.”

“That’s gnarly.” Rochelle giggled. “Imagine meeting someone just down the road. We probably aren’t that close cuz I’m on the south end of Catskill. But it’s biking distance until I get to drive on my own.”

“I know that feeling. Do you have your instruction permit now?”

“Yup. I’m just starting the behind-the-wheel practice with my parents. Tomorrow is my first day behind the wheel with them.”

“My dad has taken me out once, but it was just to get some soda at the quick mart.”

“Well, that’s more than me. But tomorrow my dad is taking me to our church’s parking lot to practice going up and down the aisles and parking.”

“That sounds great.”

Ella could tell that Jerry was feeling as comfortable as she did. Jerry was very polite and offered to get more soda when Ella’s got low. Ella didn’t notice any cigarette smell on Jerry. That would have been a showstopper.

This was like a dream come true. What could be better?

After they talked some more about their classes and finished their drinks, Jerry asked Ella if she wanted to dance. The DJ was playing “Where the Party At” by Jagged Edge, not one of Ella’s top 100, but danceable.

They spent about a half hour dancing, then a slow song came on. Jerry held Ella’s hands and Ella moved in close to Jerry. They put their arms around each other and rocked back and forth. Another slow one followed, and Ella melted into Jerry’s shoulder. The next song was fast again. Jerry stole a kiss on Ella’s cheek as he pulled away and said, “Let’s sit down for a bit.”

The night continued like that. Dance a little, hug a little, sit a little. At about 10:00, Ella said, “Jerry, I want you to know my dad will be picking me up at 11:30. I didn’t want that to be a last-minute surprise.”

“No problem. Let me get you something more to drink.”

Jerry went off to the beverage table and got a couple more cups of soda, but then Ella lost track of him. It wasn’t long before he appeared beside her again.

“Here you go, beautiful.”

Ella was sure she was blushing. She brought the soda cup up to her lips and paused.

“Jerry, this soda doesn’t smell right. What is it?”

“It’s cola. Try it.”

Ella took a small sip and crinkled up her nose. “What is this? It tastes weird too.”

“I just put some rum in the cola.”

“Jerry, are you trying to get me drunk?”

“No, honest! I thought you would like it.”

“I’m sorry, Jerry, but I don’t drink alcohol at all. Well, that’s not completely true. A couple of times we had Champaign for a celebration or a little bit of wine with a meal. We are Italian, after all. I really don’t like the taste and never want to get buzzed.”

“I’m so sorry Ella. I didn’t mean to force you into anything, and I respect your decision.”

“How did you get this into the school?” Ella whispered, looking quite concerned.

Jerry slipped out a small hip flask from his back pocket. “It’s easy to hide. I assure you I don’t drink much.”

“Really? I have my doubts.”

“My dad has different kinds of liquor in the house, and I’ve tried a lot of them. But I have never been drunk. I agree with you that it’s better to keep your wits about you.”

I hope that’s really what he believes. “Well, my fear is that I won’t know what’s going on.”

“I agree. Again, I am so sorry I put you in this position. I was trying to please you and made a horrible decision.”

“I forgive you, Jerry. There is nothing uncommon about drinking alcohol in this society.” He seems sincere. “What are you going to do with those cups?”

“Well either I drink them, or I dump them in the toilet. I’m afraid a teacher may see me do that. Please trust me, I won’t get drunk on these two cups. I didn’t put much rum in.”

“I trust you. Just don’t gulp them down.”

They continued to talk, and Jerry drank the two drinks. Ella took a couple more sips to see if they were really as bad as she first thought. They were. She didn’t want anything more to drink right now.

“Jerry, what happens to people who get drunk? Do they feel good? Why would they do that to themselves?”

“All I can tell you is what I’ve seen. When my dad drinks, he usually gets very quiet. Sometimes he even cries. I think he tries to forget about Mom’s death. I suppose each individual reacts a little differently. I’ve seen some guys get über-giggly. I’m sure you’ve seen TV shows and movies where they get angry and out of control. I guess I’m fortunate that I haven’t met many drunks in person.”

“I’m really sorry about your mom. I’d like to hear about her someday. I hope we get to talk about a lot of things in the coming weeks.”

It was after 11:00 now. When Jerry finished the drinks he said, “Let’s get some air outside. That would help me a lot.”

As they walked out of the room, Jerry threw the two cups away. They continued out the main entrance hand in hand. There was a lighted overhang that covered the sidewalk where cars could come and go. The night air was fresh and cool. Jerry put his arm around Ella to keep her warm. The clear sky revealed hundreds of twinkling lights. It was like a fairy tale to Ella.

Along the building was a row of shrubs. Jerry and Ella walked alone up and down the sidewalk for a while. The third time they were down by the shrubs, Jerry pulled Ella towards the building and behind the shrubs. The shrubs were tall and nicely spaced so it was easy to get between and behind them. Jerry cradled Ella’s head in his hands and kissed her on the lips. Ella tasted the Rum but didn’t mind the odd-tasting kiss. She kissed back and put her arms around Jerry.

The kiss continued long enough that Ella lost track of time. When Jerry stopped, he said, “It’s about a quarter after eleven. We’d better get back to the sidewalk. I’ll wait with you until your father comes.”

Still in a daze, Ella answered, “You’re awesome, Jerry. Thanks for caring so much about me.”

Jerry peeked out from around the bushes and pulled Ella out. Ella noticed that the stars twinkled a little brighter now. They got back on the sidewalk just as a few students came out of the building. Walking back to the waiting area Jerry said, “I am so glad I had the nerve to come up to you. I freaked out when you looked at me from the classroom the first day. I didn’t have the nerve to approach you then.”

“So, it was you. I must tell you, I had the weirdest feeling of tingles on my neck and arms that day. It made me look towards the door. My eyes were a bit teary from the stress of the morning, so I didn’t see your face clearly. But I knew you were looking at me. I hadn’t felt tingles like that before.”

“I don’t know anything about your tingles, Ella. But I do know you have been wonderful to me tonight. You have accepted me just as I am, and you forgave me when I tried to force booze on you.”

“Oh no,” Ella responded, “you are the wonderful one. So gentle and kind. How are we going to stay in touch if we don’t have any classes together?”

Jerry pulled out his cell phone. “Here’s my phone, put your number in it. I’ll do the same on your phone and we can start texting.”

“Here you go.” Ella handed over her phone and took Jerry’s. They typed in their personal information and exchanged the phones back. Jerry held both of Ella’s hands and looked into her eyes. Ella returned the deep gaze. Even in the dim light, Ella could see a sparkle in Jerry’s eyes. Was it from the overhead lights, the stars, or something much more personal? Another eternity passed and a car pulled into the lot and up to the sidewalk. It was Dad.

“That’s my dad, Jerry.”

“You can call me Jerr. Thanks again for the best dance I have been to.”

“I feel the same way, Jerr. I’ll text.”

“I’ll watch for it.”

Ella got into the car, buckled up, and just stared out the window.

“I see you met someone,” Tony said. He looks like a nice guy.

“I sure did, Dad. He is wonderful. I know you prayed for me. Jerry was very polite and gentle. He really treated me like a lady.”

“I am so glad to hear that,” Tony replied. “You can fill me in on the details later. Just relax and dream while I drive you home.”

Ella did just that. She dreamed of the next time she would be with Jerry. What could he add to that wonderful kiss?

When we last saw our heroes, they had endured the unexpected registration line. After some struggle, they found their lockers. Now they need to find their first-hour classrooms.

Chapter 2 (Mirror Mirror by JD Rockel)

Rosa had been fidgeting as they worked the locks. Looking at the school map from her packet she said, “Ella before we find the classrooms I need to find the lady’s room. There’s one around the corner. Wait here for me, I’ll be right back.”

Ella stood by the lockers staring past the hustle and bustle around her. While she wanted to focus on the boys, her anxiety made that hard. On the walls between some of the classrooms were announcements and posters. A brightly colored poster with glittering stars caught her eye across the hall. She saw the word dance on the poster. Hmm, a dance. I need to check this out. She stepped towards the poster without looking to her side.

“Ouch!” The brief but sharp pain in her foot brought Ella back to reality. A body pushed against her and she tumbled backward onto the floor.

Landing on top of her, a startled voice said, “I’m sorry. You stepped out in front of me. Are you OK?”

Ella’s focus sharpened onto the most beautiful brown eyes she had ever seen. As she scanned up past his forehead, she saw softly curled hair of exactly the same color. “I think so,” she said.

“Let me help you up. Again, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s OK. I wasn’t looking when I started walking.”

The boy got up and reached down to help Ella. Taking hold of both hands, he helped her to her feet. Once standing, Ella found herself looking into a concerned but handsome face. “Hi, I’m Jerry. I guess I was moving too fast. Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yes, Jerry. My foot hurts a bit, but I think it’s OK. I’m Ella. What a way to meet someone.”

“I agree, Ella. Maybe we can meet again under more controlled circumstances.” Jerry chuckled and Ella bashfully joined in. She bent over slightly to wipe imaginary dirt off her pants.

“That would be nice, Jerry.”

“I’ll look for you later, Ella.” Jerry took off down the hall and Ella watched him until he disappeared.

Rosa came up behind her sister. “Thanks, Ella. I really needed to go.”

“Huh?” Still dazed, Ella turned around. “Right. What were we doing?”

“We were finding our first classroom.” Holding the packet up in front of Ella’s face, Rosa said, “My classroom is A132.”

Ella shook her head and blinked her eyes. Glancing down at her packet she said, “Mine is A212. It’s not fair being split up for our classes. We’re learning the same stuff.”

“I don’t know. Maybe they got word that we were troublemakers in the past.”

Ella scrunched her eyebrows and lips, putting on her I’m not amused face. Glaring at Rosa she said, “That was a long time ago. I doubt they do such thorough background checks.”

Ella was the primary troublemaker of the past. Rosa, wanting to be the good sister, obliged Ella’s devious plans. While Ella never planned anything dangerous, switching places caused its share of unrest in the classroom.

Rosa looked at the map of the school again. “According to this, my classroom is on the other side of this group of rooms. Yours is upstairs on the second floor above our lockers. There are stairs at the end of this hall.” Rosa pointed towards the stairs.

“Come with me please, Rosa.” The encounter with Jerry had her head spinning and her stomach feeling queasy.

“Sure, sis. Joined at the hip, right?”

They pushed through the crowd of students and made their way to the stairs. Climbing the stairs, the room was easily found.

“I’m leaving you here, Ella, so I can find my room.”

“I understand. I’ll try to be OK.”

“You will be fine. I’ll pray for you on my way back downstairs. Maybe you’ll meet someone nice here. Look through your packet. There’s plenty to do while you wait.”

“Thanks, sis.” Ella tried to relax. She entered the nearly empty classroom and selected a seat straight in from the door. Slumping into the seat, Ella closed her eyes. Between the anxiety and some pain from the collision, tears welled up in her eyes.

Ella felt a chill, as though her neck got tickled by something and it traveled down to her stomach. Ella felt as though she was being watched. She looked towards the door and saw a boy gazing in. Even with tears in her eyes, she was sure he was looking at her. Was that Jerry? Ella blinked hard to clear her eyes and peered at the door. The boy was gone.

 

Ella’s wondering over what she saw at the door was interrupted by a girl to her left.

“Excuse me, my name is Emily. Can we be classroom buddies?”

Classroom buddies? Really? Emily was nearly as joyful as Joss, but without the deep dimples. Her wavy, light brown hair fell over her shoulders and down her back. The blue top she wore had shoulder straps that crisscrossed under her neck, framing her oval face. The slightest hint of a dimple highlighted her chin.

Ella turned to her left and said, “Hello. What do classroom buddies do exactly?”

“Oh, I’m just teasing. I’m hoping to make some friends right away. My parents moved here to Wisconsin from Pennsylvania over the summer. So, I don’t know anyone yet.”

“OK Emily, that’s fair. My name is Ella, short for Rochelle. I’ve lived around here all my life. I could help you find stuff outside of school.”

“Oh, that would be so helpful. Thanks, Ella. Finding good pizza and subs in a new town can be a formidable task.”

“I agree with that. Pizza is the holy grail of food. An adventure to track down, and once found, shared only with close friends.”

Emily and Ella both laughed. Maybe finding new friends wouldn’t be that hard, at least for girlfriends.

“Have you looked in your packet yet,” Ella asked?

“No. I was just about to when you walked in. I didn’t want to lose an opportunity.”

Ella looked around. She counted seven other people besides Emily. Perhaps she was shyer than she let on and hadn’t introduced herself to them. Or perhaps they all turned her down. Ella’s anxiety began to rise. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to look through my packet,” Ella said.

“That’s fine. I need to look at mine too. I’m sure we will have plenty of opportunities to talk.”

Ella sat straight forward at her desk and pulled all the papers out of her packet. The first page said, “Welcome to High School” with a photo of very happy-looking students and teachers. That’s reassuring. The next page was a statement of the school’s mission and Respect Pledge. Ella read through the Mission Statement. It called the school a “learning community where all people are accepted and supported”. I hope that’s true. It also spoke of responsible, productive, life-long learners with the community sharing a commitment to education. This sounded very positive to Ella. She now had a mission to make sure Mom and Dad were involved in her schooling. Of course, they had been, but this made it official for high school.

Is there anything fun to do here? She kept looking through the packet and pulled out the Germantown High School Student Handbook next. She got to page 18, Code of Classroom Conduct, and quickly flipped through the rest. Does anyone actually read this stuff?

Eventually, she found Athletics and Activities. Scanning the Clubs, a couple stood out: Best Buddies; Cups of Controversy; Emerging Women’s Salon; G-town Power; Men’s Choir – Now that’s a club I could spend time in. Ella imagined being the center of attention from a choir of men. Many of the others made no sense from their names. I guess I will have to do some research.

Halfway through the booklet Ella felt overwhelmed again and put it away. The next piece of paper described some other clubs and activities. Later. She glanced at the school activity calendar. Hmm, Back to School Dance. That’s what the poster was about. I will certainly check into that. Finally, she found her class schedule. She decided she was too tired to think about it. Putting everything back in the envelope, she slouched in her chair.

Another dozen students entered her classroom before the adult there spoke up. “Good morning, I’m Mr. Edwards. I teach math here. Welcome to first period.” Mr. Edwards was young. Ella figured he couldn’t be over thirty. With short brown hair and sideburns, Mr. Edwards looked quite amenable.

He continued, “If you have talked to anyone who attended Germantown High School over the past years, you know that they got their info packets in the mail. The printing company didn’t get the packets done in time. Therefore, you had the great pleasure of standing in long lines being bored to death this morning. As you are all freshmen, or should I say fresh-people to be politically correct, just go with the flow as you find your classes today.”

The class laughed. Mr. Edwards continued, “The bell to first period has been delayed today until everyone gets their packets. If you have looked inside your envelope, you may have been overwhelmed by the amount of information.”

That’s for sure. Ella was glad that her math teacher had some sensitivity to what she was feeling.

“All I will say is, don’t throw anything away. You will find the information useful eventually. Scan through it all and get an idea of where to find information. One thing you will definitely want to read in its entirety is the Student Handbook… NOT!”

Again, all the students broke out into laughter. Ella was feeling a lot better. Mr. Edwards continued his banter for some time. He was also responsible for issuing laptops to the students. Working off a list, he called off names. Each student walked up, signed the list, and took a laptop.

“OK, here we go. You can access the book material on the laptops, or… you can use these dinosaurs of paper books? Who wants a dinosaur?” A few students raised their hands. Mr. Edwards made short work of introducing the material they would be learning, and passed out class expectations and assignments. Throughout the necessary first day’s work, he kept up a good amount of comical banter.

It didn’t take long for the next bell to ring. “Remember what I said about running in the halls. Oh, never mind. Get out of here.”

The rest of the day involved going from class to class. Ella looked at her class schedule and the map during each class to find out where she had to go next. As time passed, her backpack filled with a few books and assignments. Fortunately, she had brought a notebook to keep track of all the information. She caught up with Rosa between lunches. Ella was upset that they didn’t get the same lunch period either. At the end of the day, she found Rosa at their lockers.

Rosa saw her coming. “Ready to go home, Ella?”

“I sure am. I’m exhausted.”

Walking to the bus Ella caught a glimpse of both Joss and Emily. They smiled and waved. There was no more feeling of being watched and she didn’t see Jerry’s face again. It was so strange. What would tomorrow bring? She was too tired to think about it.

Thank you for your attention. Stay tuned and invite a friend to read along with you. Any comments you have regarding my writing or the way the story is progressing are welcomed.

BTW, I am tweaking the look and feel of the site. You can use the menu at the right to find recent posts. The menu at the top takes you to each category. Enjoy.