A Change for the Best - Chapter 4

            The pain on the right side of her face was almost unbearable.  She could already feel swelling around her eye.  It was almost guaranteed that bruising was also already showing. Autumn had to go to class, leaving Jade to wait alone for the nurse to call her in.  Jade settled on people watching to pass the time. After a few moments, the crowd thinned out a bit, revealing that the principal’s office was just across the hallway.  Three chairs sat outside of the door, with one of them being occupied.  Sitting in the chair was a boy wearing a blue jacket, black pants, and a blue chullo with a yellow puffball on top.  He did not seem fazed by the fact he was sent to the principal’s office on the very first day of school. There was something mysterious about him that seized Jade’s interest.  The boy in blue shifted slightly in the chair as the tardy bell rang.  Aside from a student or two rushing to get to class, they were the only ones in the hallway.  The silence felt heavy and suffocating.  Jade began to wonder what could possibly be taking the nurse so long to call her in.  She found her eyes drifting back to the indifferent boy.  Almost like he could feel her gaze, the boy turned to stare back at her with absolutely no emotion on his face.  A chill rushed down Jade’s spine, causing her to shiver and redirect her focus to her feet. She heard the sound of a door opening and looked up.  To her dismay, it was the door across the hallway.

            “Hello there! You must be Mister Tucker. Please step into my office, if you will.”  The boy stood up silently, his hands shoved in his jacket pockets.  As if his cold demeanor was not intimidating enough, his height certainly was.  Jade still had her head bowed, but her eyes found their way back to the boy in blue.  He gave her another icy glimpse before turning to the skinny balding man that was the principal.  The principal was taken aback when the tall boy flipped him off as he walked into the office.  Shocked at the disrespect, the man stood idly around before frowning and marching back into his office.  With a slam of the door, Jade was left all alone.

            Not even a minute later, Jade was called in to see the nurse.  She told the nurse what happened and was directed to take a seat.  The nurse held an icepack to Jade’s eye while Jade kept her head tilted back. Even though the tardy bell had rung nearly five minutes previously, she was not in much of a hurry.  Her next class was an introductory class to the Spanish language – she was not looking forward to it.  The nurse instructed Jade to keep the icepack on her eye until all the ice melted and to get more ice during lunch.  As for her nose, it had stopped bleeding, but could resume with any force stronger than a gentle touch.  Jade thanked the nurse and headed out into the hallway to find her next class.  She was disappointed that not much time was wasted in the nurse’s office, but figured it was probably for the best.

            The rest of the day dragged by at the pace of a snail.  Jade and Autumn had another class together, but were not assigned seats next to each other.  The two girls counted the minutes until lunch time.  Jade was especially hungry, having skipped out on breakfast that morning.  Finally, the lunch bell rang.  The sisters reunited at the classroom door and walked together to the cafeteria.  The swelling around Jade’s eye had subsided, but the bruising was a lot more apparent.  Jade was getting pretty tired of everyone staring at her, but she knew it could not be avoided.  As they got closer to the cafeteria, the scent of freshly-cooked food flooded into their nostrils, teasing their stomachs and making them growl.  Upon entering the bright cafeteria, the girls stepped aside and looked around.  Most of their fellow students were in line already; a few had claimed their tables and waited for the line to subside.  Among those waiting at a table was Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman.  Autumn grabbed her sister’s arm and lead her over to the boys.

            “Autumn, what if they don’t want us sitting with them,” the older sister protested.  The younger girl ignored her sister and continued to head for the table.  The group of boys looked up at the girls as they approached the table.  Stan and Kyle were sitting together on one side of the table and Kenny and Cartman were on the other.  Stan and Kenny both scooted over to allow the two sisters to sit with them.  Autumn took the spot next to Stan; Jade next to Kenny.  Jade saw Cartman lean forward and look over at her.

            “What happened to your face? Did you hug a tree too hard?” Cartman cackled alone, the other boys scowling at him.  Autumn looked at him quizzically, unsure of why he was laughing.  Jade self-consciously pushed her blonde bangs over her eye to cover the bruising.

            “Shut up, fat boy.” Kyle snapped.

            “Yeah, it’s not funny, dude,” Stan concluded.  The heavier set kid shrugged and stood up.

            “Whatever. I’m fucking starving. Let’s go get in line now.”  Stan and Kyle both sighed.  They also stood and followed behind Cartman.  Autumn stood up next, waiting on her sister.  Jade really did not want to stand in line with the Cartman kid, but her sister would not leave her alone.  Caving in, she got up, as well.  Her and her sister were about to head into the lunch line, but realized that the Kenny kid was still sitting at the table.  Autumn took a few steps towards him and called his name.

            “Hey, aren’t ya comin’?” Autumn smiled welcomingly at the boy.  He looked up at her. “We are neighbors, after all! We need to get to know you and that’s not going to happen with you just sitting around!”  Jade closed her eyes for a few seconds, wishing her sister was not so pushy.  The boy in orange responded to Autumn, but neither of them could hear him over the loud chattering in the cafeteria.  Of course, it did not help that his mouth was covered up from his parka.  The sisters stared helplessly at him.  Kenny could tell that they did not understand him, so he shook his head and mumbled a loud, “nuh-uh” for them to hear.  Autumn was about to say something more, but Jade cut her off.  This time, she was the one dragging the other sister around.

            The two girls joined Stan, Kyle, and Cartman in line.  A few people ahead of them was Tweek and Token from their P.E. class.  The boy that was the other dodge ball team leader, Clyde, if Jade remembered correctly, was also standing next to them.  She tensed up a bit at the sight of the person standing next to Clyde and Tweek.  Autumn was about to start talking to Jade, but stopped after seeing the look on her sister’s face.

            “Jade, what’s wrong?” she asked, then followed her gaze. Stan, Kyle, and Cartman all turned to see what was happening.  Autumn, not pleased by a lack of response from her sister, pressed on, “Who is that, Jade?”  The older sister bit her lower lip and shrugged.  Cartman was more than happy to answer Autumn’s questions.

            “That is Craig. He is the biggest trouble-maker hyah. I’d watch your back if I were you, hippie.”  Jade shivered again, wrapping her arms around herself.  Autumn, on the other hand, frowned slightly at the implication of violence.  Jade could not control her eyes as they constantly found themselves drifting to the back of the trouble-maker’s head.  The line moved quickly and before they knew it, the food was right before them.  Autumn picked out her food according to her vegan diet, which caused the line to slow down.  Jade soon became impatient and skipped over her sister in line, paying out and heading back to the table.  The blonde girl slid back into her seat next to Kenny.  The others were still in line with Autumn; she had somehow managed to get them all to help her decided what to eat.  Jade unwrapped her fork from the plastic wrap and set it in the utensil slot on her Styrofoam tray.  Her eyes devoured the chicken strips and macaroni, not waiting for her mouth to jump in.  Out of the corner of her hungry eyes, she saw Kenny clutch his stomach and lean forward into the table.

            “Hey,” Jade began, getting his attention. “Are you not going to eat?” she asked with the upmost sincerity. Before the orange-clad kid was about to respond, Cartman threw his tray filled with double servings of food onto the table and answered for him.

            “Keeny is the poorest kid in all of South Park. He can’t even afford to buy a carton of milk!” A muffled but comprehensible “fuck you” followed suit from inside the orange hood. Autumn sat down slowly, big compassionate eyes set on Kenny.

            “Oooh nooo! That is horrible! No one should have to go without eating! Here, take my lunch. You need it more than I do.”  The brunette girl smiled gingerly and pushed her food tray in front of Kenny.  Without looking at her, he pushed the tray back.

            “I’m not a fucking charity case.”

            “No? Um… Okay.” Autumn, not understanding the boy’s muffled words, was disappointed and confused at his refusal.  She could feel a tense air coming from him, so she just dropped it and began picking at her rabbit food.  Jade, on the other hand, heard him loud and clear.  She was afraid that her sister’s enthusiasm would come off too strong.  At least she was unable to understand what he said to her.  Autumn always meant well, she really did.  She just needed to find a better approach. The table fell silent, but once again, Cartman felt that it was necessary to say something.

            “Hmm. Well would you look at that. It appears that even a dirty hippie vegan can afford more than you, Kenneh. Isn’t that interesting, Keeenny?” Cartman laughed loudly, shoving mounds of mashed potatoes into his gaping face hole.  Stan and Kyle both glared at Cartman.  Not much emotion could be seen from Kenny, with his hood covering the majority of his face.  However, his silence was enough. He turned to look at Cartman, pieces of food flying from his mouth as he laughed away.  In one swift movement, Kenny punched Cartman in the arm.  Cartman cried out in surprise and minor pain, instantly shutting up.  He was never known to be physically tough and often could be subdued with the lightest of hits.

            “You deserved that, fatass.”

            “Shut up, Jew.”

            Both Cartman and Autumn remained silent for the rest of lunch. Stan and Kyle were off in their own little world, rambling about something only they understood.  Kenny spent the rest of lunch staring out the windows vacantly.  As for Jade, she finished up her lunch rather quickly and spent the rest of the time simply watching people walk by.  The cold boy in blue, Craig, was not in sight.  He must be sitting behind us, then, she concluded.  She did not know what it was about him that made her so obsessive.  Jade had never had so much trouble getting someone off her mind.  Maybe it was the fear he instilled in her, or maybe it was the fact he was considered a “bad boy.”  Whatever it was, she did not like it. 

            The bell rang, releasing all of the students to their fifth period class.  The first day of school was halfway over with.  Jade sighed as she threw her Styrofoam tray into the trash bin.  Autumn’s next class was on the opposite side of the school, so the two said goodbye at the cafeteria doors.  As Jade began her journey to History class, she noticed Kenny walking just ahead of her.  She called out for him to wait and picked up her pace when she saw he was only going to slow down.  Jade caught up with the boy in orange and looked up at him.  He was a good five or six inches taller than her, almost the same height as Craig.  She did not feel as intimidated by Kenny, though. 

            Kenny looked down at the blonde girl, specifically at her bruised right eye.  In her rushing, her temporary coverage of hair had been blown back.  Without even noticing it, he tugged at the drawstrings of his hood, slightly hiding more of his face.  Jade looked down at the floor before directing her attention back up at the boy to speak to him.

            “I just wanted to apologize for my sister.  She’s a sweetheart, she really is, but she can get carried away sometimes. All she wants is for everyone to be happy.”  Jade moved to the side of the hallway and paused in front of her classroom.  She half expected for Kenny to keep walking, but instead he stopped with her. “Don’t take it personally, okay?”  He nodded in response to what she said and was given a small smile in return.  Jade felt a little better knowing her sister was not going to be penalized for being too pushy.  She thanked the boy in orange and entered her classroom.  She sat down in her assigned seat and stared up at the clock.  Just a few more hours.  The right side of her face began to ache again.  Resting her chin on her hand, Jade waited patiently for class to begin.  Just a few more hours to go.