Dark Side of the Moon Read online

  “Ah, perfect timing,” Mr. Smed said. “We had an odd number here and there was a group of three. London, come meet your new lab partner.”

  The guy, London, approached us. His face was expressionless. “Yeah?”

  “Show Selina here to the last table. We’ve got a lab today.”

  London turned without a word, and headed toward the back of the room. I followed him, and took the empty seat beside him. He was slumped over, arms on the table, head on his arms, as if he were bored.

  “There are more important things than mixing chemicals together,” he muttered.

  I chose not to respond, mostly because I didn’t know what to say to him.

  After Mr. Smed called class together, he had us turn to a specific page in our workbooks. I had already done this exercise about a week before we left Charleston, so this was going to be easy.

  But then I noticed there weren’t any supplies on our table. “Where are our supplies?” I asked London.

  “Hell if I know,” he said, not moving.

  Was he serious? “Well, I would like to get a good grade.”

  “Why? There’s no point.”

  “For college purposes.”

  “You really think getting an A here will help you get into college? Grades don’t matter, and the job market is shit, so college is pointless.”

  Well wasn’t he a barrel of fun? Why had Mr. Smed paired me with him? Looking around the room, I saw the other students pulling their supplies out from under their tables. I opened the cabinet in front of me, and found almost everything we needed. There was another cabinet in front of London, but he still hadn’t moved. So I practically pushed him out of the way so I could gain access to his cabinet, and found the rest of the supplies.

  He seemed shocked at my behavior. “You’re spunkier than most.”

  If that was an attempt at flirting, he was going to be in for a big surprise. I wasn’t interested in dating anyone here. “Bite me,” I responded, getting what I needed from the cabinet.

  “I’m going to take that as sarcasm. But next time I’ll take it as an invitation.”

  I rolled my eyes as I took my seat again. Why did I get paired with the lazy weirdo?

  While London brooded in his corner, I attempted to do the lab by myself. It was difficult, but I managed. I was almost finished when Mr. Smed approached our table.

  “London, have you made Selina do all of the work?”

  “Nope. She insisted on doing everything despite the fact it won’t help her in the long run.”

  “You’re going to end up failing if you don’t do your work, London.”

  “And? I’m not planning on using chemistry in any aspect of my life in the next fifty plus years, so I don’t see the point.”

  Mr. Smed sighed. “Am I going to have to call your parents again?”

  “I don’t know. You and I both know it won’t do you much good.”

  Mr. Smed looked to me apologetically. “I’m sorry, Selina. I was hoping that you could actually get him to do his work before the school year is over so he wouldn’t have to repeat his senior year.”

  I glanced at London. “It may take longer than that, Mr. Smed. And I actually intend on graduating on time.”

  “Yeah, I figured. But don’t worry about your grade, Selina. As long as someone participates in the lab, they’ll receive a grade.”

  I nodded, and continued with the lab.

  By the end of class, London hadn’t budged, and I successfully completed the lab by myself. And to save time and effort for later, I just put all of the supplies back in my cabinet. When the bell rang, London was the first to spring up from his seat and leave the room. I don’t know how I was going to survive being his lab partner for the rest of the year. At least I didn’t have to talk to him.

  Chapter 3

  After Chemistry, it was time for my favorite class of the day, Art. I always enjoyed drawing in my spare time, but I didn’t think what I created was that great. Sure, it was good enough to get the easy A, but that was about it. However, I did convince my old art teacher to let me bring all of my completed and current projects when I moved away.

  After I introduced myself to the teacher, I took a seat, and anxiously waited for class to start. He also didn’t make me get up in front of the class to introduce myself. When he told the class to continue their projects, he came over to me to explain what they were doing. I didn’t have a problem with mixing colors, but really wanted to finish my current project, a stamp I was carving.

  I showed it to him, and told me to hold off on finishing it until after winter break, when the rest of the class would be doing the same thing. It frustrated me that I was essentially behind where I had been at my former school in two classes, but there was nothing I could do about it. Putting my stamp away, I ventured over to the paint cans, and retrieved some colors before finding some paper.

  For the hour, I just zoned out as I painted. My classmates chatted with each other, but no one approached me, which I liked. I didn’t like talking to anyone when I was crafting in my own little world where nothing else mattered.

  By the time I finished my little project, I was happy with what I had produced, and there was ten minutes left in class. So I turned in my project, and cleaned the supplies I had used. When the bell rang, I quickly made my way to my locker to get the books I’d need. I already had homework and packets to do for winter break.

  Locking myself in my room to do my homework was a perfect way to stay away from my family for a couple hours.

  With my books in tow, I headed outside to find Dan. Everyone had joined their cliques now that the school day was over, a few buses lined up beside the sidewalk. As I searched for my brother, I heard someone call me.

  It was Dan, and he was standing with a couple guys. “Hey, Selina, this is Derrick. Derrick, this is my older sister, Selina.”

  I nodded to him, but didn’t say anything. Dan probably had class with him, and I was assuming that Derrick was on the football team and Dan was going to use him to get onto the team. Or he could genuinely want to be friends with him; it was hard to tell right now.

  I didn’t pay attention to their conversation as we waited for our buses. I wasn’t really interested in what they were talking about. Right as I put my headphones in, our bus arrived. I guess Dan bid farewell to his new friend; I couldn’t hear anything over the sound of my music.

  Because I got onto the bus first, Dan forced me to scoot over to the window in our seat, revenge for me doing the same to him this morning. And when the bus was moving a few minutes later, Dan tapped me on the shoulder. I removed a headphone, and looked at him.

  “Derrick likes you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “He just looked at me; he doesn’t know me.”

  “Well he wants to get to know you. I told him I’d at least give you his number.” He held a small strip of paper out to me.

  I took it, crumpled it, and tossed it on the floor.

  “That’s harsh, Selina.”

  “Tell him I’m not interested.”

  “You don’t want to at least give him a try?”

  “No. I’m not interested, and probably won’t ever be interested in him, Dan.” I put my headphone back into my ear.

  A few minutes later, we arrived home. Our parents’ cars weren’t in the driveway, so we were home alone. While Dan retrieved the mail, I unlocked the front door. And though we were alone, I headed to my room instead of camping out in the living room to do my homework, like I had done in Charleston.

  After I set my bag down, I collapsed onto my bed. Taking my phone out of my pocket, I texted Miranda and Jocelyn. “I’ve got the weirdest lab partner; he wouldn’t do anything to help me, saying it wasn’t worth it.”

  It took a couple minutes for them to respond. Jocelyn said, “Lazy bum,” while Miranda asked, “Did you kick his ass?”

  Though I could be quick to anger, I wasn’t the confrontation type, and she knew this. “No, that wouldn’t be worth anything.
”

  Then she asked, “Is he at least cute?”

  What the hell kind of question was that? “I didn’t really look at him.” But now that I think about it, London had dark brown hair that fell to his ears and pale blue eyes, was about a foot taller than me and lean in stature, but that was all I remembered about him.

  I was sad that Jocelyn never responded to me, and when Miranda said that she had to go to practice. I wanted to talk to them, but they still had to continue their lives.

  With nothing to do, I blasted my music as I did my homework. Even after I finished, I stayed cooped up in my room, drawing. It was the only thing that made me happy right now.

  After a while, my mom opened my door to let me know that dinner was ready; she couldn’t knock because I wouldn’t have been able to hear her over the music. So I ventured to the dining room to appear to be civil.

  When we were all seated at the table with our plates, our parents asked how our first day went. Dan apparently had a lot to say about his first day of school.

  “So, my first few classes were pretty uneventful this morning. I mean, they were just social studies, math, and gym. Well, there was this really hot girl in my math class, but that’s not the point right now. After gym was lunch, and after I got my food, I saw that Selina was alone, drawing in her book. She was brooding, like she is now.”

  That little comment earned him a glare from me.

  “We had a small chat about Charleston, then she left way too early in my opinion to go to class. Then, there was this big group of kids a little ways away from where Selina and I had been sitting, and two of the guys out of nowhere just punch each other in the face. Everyone in the room freaked out over it because it was a full out brawl in the cafeteria. Then, the guy that had been sitting in the middle of the group jumped in before any teachers could arrive, and stopped them from pummeling each other. Funny thing is, he didn’t throw any punches, he just barked orders at them, and they stopped fighting. Of course, a few teachers saw what happened and they got in trouble, but it was the weirdest thing I have ever seen.”

  Mom gave him a confused look. “There was a fight in the cafeteria for no reason?” She looked to Dad. “What kind of school have we sent our children to?”

  Before he could respond, Dan continued his tale. But it didn’t really help their case. “Well, we found out later that one of the guys was dating this girl, and that the guy that he punched slept with his girl not once, but several times.”

  “I’ll say it again, what kind of school have we sent our children to?”

  Dan rolled his eyes. “It’s not that bad, Mom. I mean, it’s almost the exact same thing that would have happened at our old school. We just didn’t tell you about it because it happened all the time.”

  “Well, what happened in your classes, Dan?”

  “Oh, nothing really. They were actually a little boring.”

  Mom and Dad tried not to shake their heads in disbelief, and failed.

  Had that been London that jumped up to stop the fight? Dan had said it was the guy that had been sitting in the middle of the group, and the only large group in the cafeteria had surrounded London. Was that why he had an attitude during Chemistry and not because it seemed like a pointless subject? Was he angry that his friends were fighting? In a way, I wanted to find out, but then again, I didn’t really want to ask because it was none of my business.

  “What about you, Selina?” Dad asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

  “My classes were boring, and I got paired with a lazy weirdo for chemistry.” I didn’t mention that he could have been the guy that broke up the fight. I didn’t think it was necessary.

  “Even Art was boring?”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Did you ask for a different lab partner?”

  “Everyone’s already established with their groups, so no. He only became my lab partner because there had been an odd numbered group before I arrived.”

  “Well, did you at least have a good day? Make new friends?”

  “What do you think?” I asked, standing from the table. I took my empty plate to the kitchen sink, and then returned to my room.

  For most of the night, I listened to my music as I drew. They were mostly abstracts, but a few eyes snuck in. I wasn’t sure if I should try to expand the eyes into a face, mostly because I didn’t know whose face would be staring back at me.

  When it became late, I went across the hall to shower. After I was dressed and dried, I returned to my room. Instead of continuing my drawings, I went through my art supplies. I only had a few charcoal pencils left, and plenty of oils. There were only five canvases left, and five empty sketchbooks. It was more than enough to last through winter break.

  After I organized my supplies, I climbed back into bed. Though art made me happy, I still wanted to return home to Charleston, be with my friends again. But I knew that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

  Chapter 4

  The rest of the week was as bad as the first day. I tried to take notes instead of drawing in my classes. Tried to finish my homework in study hall. Sat with Dan and his new friend at lunch and kept rejecting Derrick every time he’d try to hit on me. Struggled through math, and ignored London in Chemistry.

  I was so glad Art was my last class of the day. It gave me a chance to calm down before I returned home. All of my stress from the move and trying to keep people away from me fell away as I focused on my project. A few of the kids in the class were really good, and when the teacher praised my work like theirs, I didn’t believe him. There was absolutely no way my stuff was that good.

  After school, I met up with Dan. We were mostly silent on the bus as we returned home. We had already developed a routine. When we arrived home, I’d go to my room, and try to draw while listening to music while I assumed Dan went to his room to play video games or something.

  Then, when it was time for dinner, I’d emerge from my room to be somewhat civil. Afterwards, I’d return to my room for the night. I’d try to talk to Miranda and Jocelyn after I returned home from school, but it usually wasn’t more than a couple texts back and forth. I was pretty much alone in Moonlight Falls.

  Dan and I were only in school for four days before the start of winter break. I thought it was completely pointless for us to go to school for those four days, and had told my parents that we should have waited until after Christmas to move. In fact, they should have waited until May to move, but they never listened to me.

  That Saturday, my parents insisted that we go around the town, get used to everything and find out where everything was. I didn’t want to go, but they threatened to take away my art supplies for the duration of winter break. Blackmail of any kind should be illegal.

  I was bored and a little cold as we walked through the town. Though Charleston could be cold this time of year because of winds blowing from the Atlantic, we were a lot closer to the mountains here, and were higher up. It didn’t seem to bother my family, though.

  For a while, we ventured into the little family owned stores instead of the ones that we had back home. They were nice little stores, packed with product and customers. And the people that worked there seemed friendly, but it wasn’t home.

  Then, we stumbled upon a crafts and hobbies store. It was just like the chain stores, only as well as the name brand products, they had some products I’d never even heard of before. And they had some oil colors that I hadn’t been able to get my hands on.

  Okay, maybe this wasn’t so bad after all.

  For a little while, I browsed the products. They had everything I could think of: different paint brushes, charcoal pencils, oils, paints, papers, and more. They also had more canvas sizes than I’ve seen. I was like a kid in a candy store going through everything.

  I was about to pick up a pack of oils that had pastels in it when I asked my mom, “Can I get this? Please?” I had tried to catch when the hobby store in Charleston had this specific pack of oils because it had several differen
t shades of the same colors, but they just couldn’t keep it in stock. I did not want to pass this up, even though they had several packs.

  “Christmas is next week, Selina. For all you know, we could have already gotten this for you.”

  I groaned and put the oils back. It probably would be pointless to ask for anything now.

  “Let’s go to some other stores. This one will be here after Christmas,” my mom said.

  I nodded, and followed her and Dan and Dad to the front of the store. But before heading to the door, I stopped by the register. An older man was behind the counter, a smile on his face. “Hi, I’m Selina,” I said, holding my hand out to him.

  “I’m Richard. I’m guessing you’re the family that just moved in on Black Bear Drive.”

  I nodded. “Now that I know you’re here, you’re going to see a lot of me, Richard.”

  “What’s your hobby, Selina?”

  “Painting and drawing mostly. I’m running low on supplies, so I’ll definitely be back sometime after Christmas.”

  “Alright. See you then, Selina.”

  I gave him a smile before exiting the store. My family was standing on the sidewalk in front of the store. “Did you buy something, Selina?” Dad asked.

  “No, just making connections so that they’ll hopefully let me know when they receive a shipment.”

  They nodded, and turned to go to the next store.

  Though I was happy that we discovered the crafts store, I was bored in the other stores we visited. They did not have anything that interested me. Dan discovered a gaming store, so it was his turn to freak out over the games they had.

  We went to one of the smaller restaurants for lunch afterwards. The food was actually really good, so I knew we’d return in the future. After lunch, we decided to go back to the house. Mom then said something about finishing the decorations. I figured she was going to make me participate since I didn’t earlier in the week.

  But when I walked through the front door a few minutes later, my phone rang. It was Miranda. I rushed to my room so I could talk to her.