In the hallway, kids who looked like grown men and women towered over her, whizzing past en route to class or the lunchroom or their lockers. For Shawna, it was the latter that was the first feat of the day. Locker number B-704 was likely in the basement, leaving her to wander through the maze that included the weight room, the custodial break room, the whole cafeteria, and a variety of random nooks off to the side of the guidance office where some rusty old lockers were left empty. The school was too big, and Shawna was afraid to ask for a map or some directional assistance, so she decided she would be better off holding on to all of her belongings for the day instead of stowing them somewhere. Plus, she was concerned about being late for first period biology, which was in room 4–337. Far from athletic, the thought of climbing up five flights of stairs to the fourth floor of the school seemed akin to scaling Everest.
By the time she finally made it to the classroom, she was able to find a seat way in the back, where no one would pay much attention to her panting, sweating little body or the way her naturally curly hair had already decided to violate the sleek look she’d attempted with the straightening iron earlier that morning. She hoped her deodorant was up to the task of masking any potential body odor. Just before the late bell rang, a boy slid into the desk next to hers. He had floppy brown hair and wore name-brand clothes and Adidas sneakers, which made him look like an athlete.
“Hey, is this freshman bio?” the boy asked Shawna.
Speak when spoken to, she remembered. “Uh huh,” she said.
“Oh, thank God,” he replied.
He took his binder out of his Jansport bookbag and set it on the desk.
“Good morning, class,” the lady at the front of the room said with a smile. “My name is Ms. Kramer, and I will be your ninth grade biology teacher this year.” She had dark black hair coiffed perfectly, as if she had come to school straight from the salon. She looked young, but that hair looked like it came straight out of the 1980s; the style was not exactly fashionable for 2005.
The class sat at attention, listening, while Ms. Kramer wrote her name and an assignment on the chalkboard.
“As you can see, I would like you to take the first five minutes of class to partner up with the person sitting next to you.” Shawna eyeballed the cute boy to her right and noticed him looking her way as well. “Take a few minutes to share your name, your favorite food, and three fun facts about you. Then, we’ll go around the room and share them with each other. Be sure to listen carefully, because the person you’re paired up with will be your lab partner this year.” Ms. Kramer was exuberant, as if the first day of school was actuallyfunfor her.
Shawna turned to the boy, and he said, “You wanna go first?”
“It’s fine,” she said. “You go ahead.”
“Okay.” He swallowed. “Well, my name is Cameron Young, but my friends call me Cam for short. Um, my favorite food is probably the bacon cheeseburger from the Bluebird Diner on Grand Concourse. And three fun facts. Hmm.” He thought. “Well, I’m on the varsity soccer team, which is a big deal because I’m a freshman.”
Shawna smiled in acknowledgement.
“I’m pretty good at drawing, although my dad doesn’t want me to focus on that,” he said.
“That’s cool,” Shawna said.
Cameron sat, considering what else to share. “I don’t know. My middle name is Howard, which is not exactly cool, but it’s the middle name of every male in my family, so it’s something.” He smiled. “Your turn.”
Shawna took a deep breath. “Okay. My name is Shawna Carter.”
She thought Cameron might have smirked, but she wasn’t sure.Just don’t sound like a tool, she told herself.
“I like to read and write, which I know sounds pretty boring,” she went on.You’re blowing it, she thought.
“I want to be a doctor, so I spent the summer volunteering as a candy striper at Bronx Memorial Hospital.”
“That’s cool,” he said, nodding.
Thank God, she thought. “And, um…” Her voice trailed off. “I don’t know what else.”
“What’s your middle name?”
“Cora. After my grandma.”
“So, hold on. Your name is Shawna Cora Carter?”
“Yeah,” Shawna said.
“That’s unbelievable,” Cameron replied, his face lighting up.
“Why?” she asked.
“Okay, class!” Ms. Kramer called out. “That should be enough time. Let’s start in the back. This will test you to see how good of a listener you are,” she said. “I want you to introduce your lab partner and say one neat thing youlearned about him or her.” Ms. Kramer pointed at Shawna and Cameron. “You two can start.”
“You wanna go first?” he asked Shawna.
