The Place Where Promises Aren’t Kept [Chapter 2]
Just as I was afraid of, those final two weeks of summer went by faster than my Rune Quest money while buying up a new set of fancy armor. My mom was happy to find the new computer actually serving a purpose other than just gaming. The fresh, untouched printer that had come with the whole setup spat out my school schedule. In those next few nights, I was made to look over it so I could memorize where and when all of my classes were. Fast forward a few days, and the term ‘school night’ was dug up from the depths of my parent’s vocabulary. I found myself under the covers of my bed before it even felt like it was properly dark.
I guess the saving grace of that first week was that it started on a Tuesday. That meant only four consecutive days of trying to hold it together as a member of the real world. Back then, I imagined the Monday before the first day, all the teachers got together to drink coffee and talk about all the fun they had during their summers, and what sort of goofy things they would do that next day to break the ice with their new students. Knowing what I know now, they were absolutely all running around making endless copies of informational packets and putting up fancy, pristine-looking decorations to make it seem like the new year was all going to go to plan.
Regardless of what actually was going on, I couldn’t have been less prepared. I remember looking at my class printout in the car as my mom drove me to school that first day. I did not have it memorized. In fact, every time I looked at it, it seemed like all the names and room numbers had changed. At least I wasn’t on the bus that first morning. My mom decided to spare me that just for that day.
I didn’t know what was in my backpack to make it as heavy as it was. It was a physical task on its own to get it out of the back seat and hang it across my shoulders. The ordeal itself there in the drop-off area nearly made me forget to wave back and shout ‘goodbye’ to my mom as she left me in the dust to go do something probably a lot less stressful. She might have taken that as me being eager to begin the school year, but that was quite the opposite.
I had visited the campus of Northview Middle School plenty before— my sister had done her three years here, taking every opportunity to have my parents and me attend her basketball games or her talent show performances, even something called a ‘school dance.’ Of course, I had also heard a fair share of stories and other points of interest from Jakey who had a good two years under his belt. He wasn’t there of course that morning, being stuck taking the bus with all the other kids.
Speaking of other kids, I was soon in the stampede of them moving about the quad. If there was one skill that I had taken with me to the real world from Rune Quest, it was how to read a map. The one I had printed out along with my class schedule was tiny and didn’t fare well on the cheap printer, but I had studied the dark, crinkled writing enough to decipher it. Clearly, the wide concrete area where I had found myself was this quad. Even filled to the brim with other people, like the day of an online event in-game, it was unmistakable. In every direction outward from this central area were the buildings and rooms where my classes were to be held.
The one thing that I could trust and count on was the bell— and it rang, telling me exactly what to do, but unfortunately, not how to do it. My first class was in room E14— Carpenter was the teacher’s name. Was it a Mr. Carpenter or a Mrs. Carpenter? Ms. maybe? The paper was no help in that regard. Whoever they were, they were going to teach me Literature and Language Arts that year. I hoped, whoever they were, they were going to be kind enough to excuse the frazzled sixth-grader who had suddenly forgotten the order of the alphabet on their way to seek out the correct building.
With enough staring at my paper map and speed-walking against the tide of other students, I was just barely able to make it to each of my classes that day. In most of them, we played some sort of name game or danced around the tables greeting each other in silly ways to learn each other’s names. Apart from a few people I had gone to elementary school with, none of the names stuck with me. I did learn that Mrs. Carpenter was Mrs. Carpenter, that there are a lot more men teachers in Middle School, and that PE is its own class that is held in the gym itself with a group of kids about three times the size of any other. Even my heavy backpack didn’t seem so bad after the fifth time hefting it to another classroom halfway across the campus. Actually, my sore shoulders after lunchtime told me that last part was a lie.
Have you ever been to a friend’s house and not know any of the rules with their parents, so you just don’t touch anything, or try anything that might seem out of line? I had that feeling once during a birthday party of a classmate who I didn’t know too well. I was so cautious that I had no fun and avoided most birthday parties after that. Well, I bring that up because a brand-new school coincidentally makes you feel the same way. Well, I didn’t dare try anything that would put me on anyone’s bad side. I walked in the halls and the quad, I followed everyone to the cafeteria to eat, and I slowly and carefully ate right up until the moment that the bell rang for recess. I didn’t even see Jakey that day, but if I did, I might have avoided him entirely in the case that sixth and eighth graders were unable to mingle.
You know what, though? The rush of moving from class to class every hour on the hour, trying to pack in every last detail of the teachers’ tips and tricks, all while trying to not leave any belongings behind, it makes the day go by really quick.
When the last bell of the day finally rang, (and believe me I was watching the clock in my math teacher’s room pretty hard), you know I had one thing on my mind. My mom was waiting in the pickup zone as she had promised that morning, flashing a smile at me as I jumped in the passenger seat. “Good day?”
“Yeah,” I said, deflating, letting out a breath I felt like I had been holding all day.
While we were on the way to the high school to pick up my sister, I tried to remember where I had left my character when I had logged out from Rune Quest the day before. I had been ready to jump on another skill grind. That means working at the same thing over and over to build up one particular skill and hopefully get myself to the next level.
My mom had the same set of questions for my sister about her school day, taking the pressure off me and allowing me to daydream more about chopping down trees and making campfires out of them. When we returned home, I didn’t even bother to sling my backpack fully over my shoulders. It, and all its heavy contents, were left right beside the door as I went back to boot up the computer and connect to the internet while I used the bathroom and got a snack.
I was met with my mom’s pleading call from across the ground floor before I even had the chance to take the first step. “Mike, don’t just get on that computer.”
“Huh? Why not?” I had heard that sort of direction plenty before. It usually meant more talking while I listened without a word. I always talked back regardless, hoping for once to get a proper answer in return.
My mom poked her head out of the living room entrance. “Your dad will be home a bit early. I decided I didn’t want to cook tonight— I woke up wayyyy too early to make sure both you and your sister got to school on time. Tomorrow’s the bus, yeah? So anyway, I talked your dad into having us go out for dinner. And why not, to celebrate the first day of school?”
I planted my feet on the carpet and groaned at the thought of losing more of my time. “Can’t we just get pizza or something?”
Jess interrupted my stewing there in the hall on her way to her room upstairs. “C’mon Mikey. Leave the darn computer alone for one day. Mom, can we go to The Italian Garden?”
“You’ll have to talk to Mike and your dad and see if that’s okay with them. I’m fine with anything.”
Jess glanced down at me from the top of the stairs. “Let me guess, Round Robin? You know, instead, if you really want pizza, Italian Garden has their own.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know Dad never lets us order a pizza there unless it’s to share with someone else. And nobody ever wants to share.”
My sister laughed. “Dad would love to share, he just wants anchovies on his, blech.” With her fake vomiting sounds, she disappeared up the stairs. I gave up on my hopes of catching up on my adventures. Instead, I ended up dragging myself and my backpack up the stairs to see about unloading my real-life inventory, if just a bit.
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