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The College Years (Chapter 7)
By Vader
THE COLLEGE YEARS
Entry I: The Beginning
Continued from Chapter 6 . . .
CHAPTER 7
If I could take on a tone of extreme sarcasm, I would say the first day of my college life had been an extremely pleasant one. An enemy made in Algebra class, getting on a teacher’s bad side in English class, having to drop a Personal Growth class, and rushing to crash a Health Class - yup, it went extremely smooth.
And as quickly as that first day had ended, a new one began, which meant getting up early another time, providing me with six hours of sleep, due to my staying up late the last night to finish all the assigned homework (mind-blowing-ly fun). The routine on my second morning carried an incredible feeling of déjà vu, as I was reliving the previous dawn. Once I took a shower, had a bowl of cereal, and packed my books, I was off to Mesa once more. On the way, my father talked to me about various experiences at his work, but in my ears, they all sounded like the slurs of a drunk man, for I was unable to pay attention, under a symptom of high anticipation about whether or not the upcoming classes would go better than yesterday’s.
Just like before, I was dropped off in the parking lot to climb up the stairway to the top of the campus. As much as I wanted to dwell on the comforting words of Rachel, and remember all the friends I’d left behind in high school, it was utterly impossible. It was as if my brain entered a different mode once I passed the threshold of the campus, refusing to allow me to think of uplifting thoughts, and encouraging disturbing anxieties. My shadow reappeared on the concrete after I traveled through thick fog, which hugged the trunks of the trees, and reached my Algebra classroom.
Upon entering, I found that Emanuel and Louis were there early, as was Jocelyn, who was now probably the most noticeable person in class, second only to Scott, due to the attention everyone had paid the two flirters the day before when the dispute had erupted. I was considering relocating to a new seat on the other side of the room when Emanuel noticed me, calling out, “Hey, boy! Get over here!” As menacing as he always sounded, it was humorous when I uncovered he was in a great mood.
“What’s up?” I forced a smile, not sure what he would choose for conversation.
“Hey dude, remember how I told you I would take care of that Scott kid?” he whispered, so the Natalie Portman look-alike sitting next to him wouldn’t hear. I gulped, still hesitant to take my seat. “Sit down, you dope!” he laughed, shoving me by my shoulder into the chair in front of him. “You remember, right?”
“Yeah, but . . .” before I could continue, he politely cut me off.
“Well here’s my idea for you – stick your backpack in his seat! He’ll have to sit somewhere else and he won’t bug us anymore!” I rubbed my forehead, smirking and shaking my head.
“Nah, I don’t think so, dude. I don’t want anymore trouble from him.”
“Well you’ll get it, whether you want it or not. Why not put a stop to it now?” He reached out and grabbed my backpack, plopping it into Scott’s seat behind Jocelyn. “There you go – is that so hard, you dumbass?” he laughed so hard, it practically shattered the windows.
“Emanuel . . . dude . . . I said-” carefully choosing my words so as not to anger the man, I was cut off yet again, but not by Emanuel. Scott (otherwise known as ‘the nearly bald guy with raging hormones’) barged into the classroom, his baggy pants looking like they were about to completely fall off. He stormed over to his seat, and upon realizing there was a backpack in the place, was taken aback. Noticing that I was glaring at him to see his reaction, his face contorted into a scowl. He snatched the pack and slammed it on to the floor, giving it a powerful kick, and smashing it into the wall. I groaned at hearing the crunch of what must have been my CD player.
“What the hell are you thinking?!” he screamed, his temper taking control. “That is my seat! Don’t you dare put your f**king backpack there!” Blown away by his sudden outburst, I didn’t anticipate his bending down and picking up pack to throw it at my face. I felt the weight of three, huge, hardcover books slam against my nose as my chair was shoved backward. While I was dazed, Emanuel leapt out of his seat, his over-six-foot stature rising high above Scott.
“Don’t you be messing with my boy like that!” his voice boomed like thunder, as I picked myself off the ground, shaking off the surprise and standing at the side of my giant, newfound ‘bodyguard’.
“Listen, both of you! Take a seat! I don’t want any trouble!” I demanded, giving my best effort. Boy, should I have known better.
“Bulls**t, mother f**ker! You wanted trouble when you put your backpack here!” Scott ignored Emanuel’s attempted intimidation and started to lunge for me, his path only blocked by the massively thick forearm of my fellow classmate. My immediate reaction was to put my fists up in defense, but saw it was unnecessary, for Emanuel was holding the nemesis back. In that moment, I felt like a wimp for trying to a stop a fight from occurring. But deep down, it seemed more important to halt this thing from escalating before one of us was sent to the dean’s office.
Too late.
The teacher entered the room, frowning, and calling out for us to be quiet. “Shh! Stop it, all of you!” came the proclamation, soon followed by her taking out a slip and a pen, writing down a note on her desk top. My eyes strayed to Scott, who looked as if he hadn’t even noticed the teacher and only wanted to knock me square in the jaw, and then to Jocelyn, who was the only one that appeared afraid. I cringed, expecting to be in a deep crap-load of trouble, just as the teacher lifted her head back up and handed Scott a piece of paper. “Get to the dean’s office now, sir!” she demanded, straightening her glasses.
Relieved I was not incriminated, I gave a long sigh of relief, dropping into my seat and wiping the sweat off my brow. Scott fiercely shot of the room, giving me one last threatening look. When sitting there, bowing my head, Emanuel spoke. “He’s going to be thought a lesson. I’ll make sure of that,” he foretold, emoting a snicker from Louis. “I’m going to go make a phone call.” Before I could find out what he had in mind, he was gone.
Horrified by everything that had happened, I couldn’t help feeling I got off to the worse possible start in this class. As much as I wanted to turn back the clock and start all over again, to avoid all the mistakes I’d made, I knew it was impossible and surrendered to sulking. While I rummaged through the damaged contents of my bag, the incident still taking my breath away, little did I know what both Scott and Emanuel had planned for after the class period.
(More to come)
12/31/2002 12:23:31 AM
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