“So Alvin-Alvin Holloway,” man, I couldn’t believe she used that old lame joke, “go look at the lists. Find your name and beside your name, there is a class room number and a locker number.” She stopped and scratched her left ear, “Well, seeing how you’re already here, you can’t very well find out the combination the normal way.” she said and I got the idea that she was talking to herself more than to me just then.
“Normally, you call a special number.” She said, while scratching her head with the eraser, “and get the combination before school starts. I guess you’ll have to go to the office to get it now.”
I looked at the red card; it was just a normal piece of construction paper. It didn’t say anything; it was completely blank.
Now, what I wanted to say, was, “Hey thanks for the new book mark!”, but what I actually said was, “Uh, what am I supposed to do with this?”
She wrinkled her nose, as if I smelled of dog droppings. “Why do you look and talk so weird?”
I looked down at myself to make sure, my fly wasn’t open and then said defensively, “I don’t!”
“Yes you do! Where are you from?” She looked like she was getting tired of talking to me.
“California,” I answered proudly.
I must have surprised her with that answer, because her eyebrows jumped to the top of her forehead and her eyes got really big.
“No kidding?” she said in a higher pitch, “I never met anyone from California. Is everyone as lazy out there, as they say?”
Now I was tired of talking to this girl and I probably should have kept my mouth shut, but I didn’t. “No more than the people here in Maine are rude jerks.” With that, she spun around and walked away, without saying another word to me.
I was left to fend for myself yet again. I walked back to the doors, walked outside to read the papers, found my name and my locker number and then spent the next ten minutes wandering the halls, trying to find the office. I finally did locate it, but when I opened the door, I saw, that there were twenty or more kids in there. It was nearly a half-hour before it was my turn to ask for help, but when I stepped up to the lady that was sitting behind a big wooden desk, she saw the red card in my hand and pointed down the hallway behind me.
“You’re in the wrong line! Down that hall and sit on one of the yellow chairs. Mr. Casting will be with you shortly.”
“But I just need my combination.” I said.
The lady repeated herself word for word, “Down that hall and sit on one of the yellow chairs. Mr. Casting will be with you shortly.”
“But I…” I tried again.
Once again, she repeated, “Down that hall and sit on one of the yellow chairs. Mr. Casting will be with you shortly.”