The school was a huge stone building. When she walked in a marble staircase wound up four floors. There were four places to get off at, one for each floor. It was crowded. A boy walked up to her. "Hi, you new here?" he asked her.
Kassy turned to him. "Yeah, but how did you know?" she was surprised.
"I know everyone in this school. Except you," he smiled. He held a piece of paper up so he could look at it. "Are you... Kassandra?" he raised his eyebrows.
"Uh-huh."
Oh, well, then, here's your schedule. You probably needhelp finding your classes, don't you?"
Kassy looked up at the staircase and around at all the hallways. "Once i leave this part of the building, i'll need help finding the door again!"
He laughed. Kassy liked his laugh. "Hi, i'm Luke Brower." he held his hand out to her.
"Just call me Kassy," she smiled. "And help me find my way around this place?"
"He laughed again. "Sure. C'Mon, we don't have much time. Now, one thing that is extremely helpful is to remember that the 100's are on this floor, the 200's on the second, the 300's on the third, and the 400's on the fourth."
"Well, that's pretty easy to remember," she replied.
"Ok, first question," He paused and stopped walking to turn to her. "What grade are you in?"
She blushed. "Umm..."
He grinned. "What, you don't know? C'Mon, we haven't got much time, This is not the time for joking around if you don't want to get a detention on your first day."
"I'm not joking, Luke. I've never been to school. You can't tell?" She indicated her clothing.
"Oh, gosh! I'm sorry!" he lightly touched her shoulder. "How old are you?"
"Fifteen," she whispered. She got the feeling he was a little stunned. She looked up at him with her wide brown eyes.
"Alright, let me see that schedule." he glanced at it. "You're in the same class as Ben. He can help you here if i can find him..." his voice trailed off as he looked around. His hand was still on her shoulder. "Hey, Benny!" he shouted. "come'ere, will ya'?"
Kassy noticed another boy running towards them. "What, Luke, i was talking to Kathy."
"Oh, will you shut up about Kathy? This is Kassy and i need you to show her around. I gotta go find someone that i promised i'd help out this morning. She's in the same grade as you." Luke looked at Kassy. "Hey, i'll see ya' at lunch, OK?" He ran off before she could answer.
Kassy lowered her eyes. She jumped when she heard a bell ring. "What was that," she exclaimed.
"It told us we're gonna be late if we don't hurry. We got five minutes to show you around. Let me see your schedule."
Kassy had been folding and unfloding her schedule. It looked like an envelope now. She handed it to him, blushing. "Here," she said quietly.
"Cool! We have most of our classes together! That's gonna be easy, just follow me!" He took off running, leaving her behind, and dissapearing into the crowd of kids rushing to their classrooms.
"Um," Kassy said, looking around. A few seconds later, Ben's face reappeared and he grabbed her hand. "C'mon!" he exclaimed and led her through the crowd.
"Where we goin'?" she asked when the hallway wasn't so loud and Ben was looking for the room number.
"Health," he replied.
Kassy stopped walking and her hand slipped from Bens. "Ya' know what? I think i'll skip this class and just wait for the next one to come around." She turned to leave, but Ben put his arms around her chest and pulled her back.
"I don't think so, Kass. If i have to live through this, so do you. Besides, if you skip first period, you're counted absent for the whole day. And then, if you go to any other class without checking into the office with an excuse note, you're suspended for skipping. Now let's go before we're late!"
Kassy moaned sadly. "I knew this was a dumb idea," she mumbled. She stopped him just before he went into the classroom. "Wait, what do we talk about in Health class?" she asked, a little worried.
"Usually a review from last year, namely drugs." He smiled at her. "You can't fail this course, it's way too easy. C'mon." They entered the classroom right before the bell rang. They had just filled out their names on the seating chart and settled into their seats when the teacher walked in. Kassy looked up at the board. She winced at the first thing she saw. Heroine. She could read that word, at least.
"Heh, that figures," she mumbled.
"Huh?" Ben said from the seat next to her.
"Oh, nothing," she whispered.
"Excuse me, Miss Miller and Mr. Seaver, would you like to share your conversation with the rest of the class?"
Kassy's eyes narrowed in confusion.
"OH! You're confused, eh? Well, let me spell it out for you. NO TALKING!!" she shouted. Kassy shrank in her seat.
"OK class. I'm sure you're aware thatwe're going to start off this year with a review of last year's course. Mr. Seaver, would you like to pass out the textbooks?"
"Sure," Ben agreed, standing up and walking down the isle. He grabbed a stack and passed them out. "And Miss Miller, since you seem so fond of Mr. Seaver, you can help him."
"Well, all right," she agreed with a smile. After they had finished, Mrs. Gres said, "All right, you have your textbooks, you couldn't possibly have lost them already, so don't give me that when you come in tomorrow, plus you have about fifty minutes to finish this. Everyone get with one other person or work by yourself and answer the questions on page fifty-two about heroine. Get your partners now, and good luck."
Kassy pushed her hair behind her ear and glanced at her arm. She pulled her sleeve down to cover the scars. She could read numbers, but not much else. She turned to page forty-nine, where the section started and stared at the book, pretending she was reading it.
"Hey, Ben, you wanna be my partner?" Judy Jones asked, running her hand through Ben's hair.
"Oh, please!" Kassy murmurred, glancing up at her.
"Nah, i'm gonna work with Kassy today." He looked at Kassy and smiled.
"Oh, ok. Can i just tell her something first?"
"I guess," Ben replied. "You'd have to ask her that. She isn't Deaf, you know."
Judy bent down real close to Kassy's ear and whispered, "Stay away from Ben. He's mine, got that?" She smiled sweetly and walked away.
"And you like her?" Kassy asked.
"Not really. Well, i mean, i do, but not, like... oh, nevermind."
Kassy smiled. "I get it. So you wanna work with me, eh? Well, you've got your work cut out for you, then. I won't be any help." She leaned back in her seat.
"Why not? You can't read?" Ben joked. He grinned.
"Well, if you don't count "See Bob run, runu Bob, run, no, i can't read."
"It's See Dick run," he said bashfully.
"That's what everyone else says, too. I don't really remember."
Ben looked at her disbeleivingly. "You're serious, aren't you?"
"I may have done some stupid things in my life, but i have never lied."
"What do you mean by 'stupid things'?" Ben was a little confused.
"Nothing, can we just start?" She looked away from Ben and blushed. Gosh, he must be one of the cutest boys i've ever seen, she thought.
"Um, gee, thanks~" Ben said happily, blushing a little himself.
"Uh, did i just say that out loud?" she asked.
Ben grinned. "Yup!" He started laughing and so did Kassy. Let's get started, Ben commented. He glanced down at his book. "Alright, before we read the questions, i should read the review." He scanned the book, picking out the inportant parts, and them moved on to the questions.
"Well," he said, "the answer to number one is a pain-killing effect." He paused, and looked up at her staring at him sadly. "You can't write, either, can you?"
She lowered her eyes in embarrasment. "I shouldn't be here," she said. She stood up and ran from the room.
"Kassy," Ben called after her. The whole class was watching. "Ah, c'mon Kass!" Ben looked at Mrs. Gres, silently asking for permission to leave and 'retrieve' Kassy.
Mrs. Gres nodded and Ben ran from the room and down the hallway after Kassy. "Hey!" he said with a fake, 'c'mon, cheer up' smile. Kassy was sitting against a wall in a dark corner. Ben bent down so he was at eye level with her. He lifted her chin with his hand. "Cheer up, it's not that bad," he smiled reassuringly.
"Yeah, sure. Easy for you to say," she replied, wiping tears from her face. "Ben, i'm fourteen and i can't read or write. How far am i going to get in school? I can't very well start school in the first grade when i'm this old ya' know." She looked up at him.
He moved to the side and leaned up against the wall next to her. "I can help you," he said. "I can teach you to read and write. We can explain it to your teachers and see that they don't take any points off for spelling or hand-writing. They'll understand." He raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer.
"Thanks for the offer, Ben, but...," she stopped. "School just isn't my thing, It'll never work for me, i'm not smart enough." She looked back down at her hands.
"Kassy, you are one of the funniest, sweetest girls i know. And you're not smart because you haven't been to school. You're not up to date. Once you study all this stuff you'll be a genious, i know you will! My older brother is a teacher, he can help!"
"It's not that easy, Ben. I'll never learn fast enough. I'll fail all my classes in the first quarter before i learn to read and write. It doesn't come very easy to me. Trust me. My 'family' tried to teach me when i was seven, and then they just gave up. They said it was hopeless."
"Huh? What do you mean by 'family'? Nevermind, that's your business."
She smiled at him.
"There we go! I got you to smile!" Ben said with a grin. He wiped the tears off her face. "Do you wanna go back now?"
"I guess. What else am i gonna do?"
Ben stood up and helped Kassy to her feet. He slipped his hand into hers, but they seperated before they went back into the busy classroom
"Well," siad Mrs. Gres. "Glad to see that you've come back, Ben and um," she paused, searching for a name. "Kassy."
They blushed and took their seats. Ben scooted his seat closer to hers and took her paper off her desk. "Shh," he whispered. "Until you learn to read, i'll be doing your homework." He smiled a little.
"Gee, uh, thanks Ben, but you really don't have to."
"No, but i wanna. Now, let's get started." He scanned the book, reading some parts aloud. "Hm. Heroine is a narcotic with a pain-killing effect. It produces sensations of warmth, drowsiness, calmness, and loss of concern for outside events." He was writing all this down as he said it. "Long term use causes psychological and physical dependance. Sudden withdrawal," he paused so he could catch up with his writing.
Kassy shifted uncomfortably in her seat and pulled her sleeve down as far as it would go. When she saw Ben look up at her, she smiled and quickly yanked her arm off the top of the desk and put it at her side, out of sight.
"Sudden withdrawal," he continued, "equals shivering, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, sleeplessness, and restlessness. Other effects are injection scars, skin abscesses, weight loss and impotence. OUCH!" he looked up and grinned.
Kassy was examining her arm when he did.