There are many ways that a person would expect to wake up in the morning.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9fU8HyTCI
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAqlPSgNr3P
On a stranger's porch, messily tucked in with a giant comforter, is not one of them. Well, maybe it is for someone out there, but that someone is not me. Also, I don't believe that someone would expect to wake up like this with a cold piece of toast and a note reading "please don't steal the wicker" on the table next to them.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4POgjEjYsS
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"Miss. Hyde."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6cjk0jnwV
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The note is understandable, as I ended up on the porch by jumping a fence while running from security guards. The guards being after me for stealing an object from the town science lab. Last time I lived here, the lab didn't have guards. Of course, last time I lived here, there wasn't a military base right next door either.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXctGgpeUn
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpks2MZ29JI
"Miss. Hyde."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRxplI4UyWL
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Perhaps I should have guessed that maybe guards would have been hired because of the base. A stupid mistake on my part there, but it’s not like I was truly doing something illegal. The object was originally my grandfather’s after all, but I guess once you’re dead, your belongings don’t remain yours. Thankfully, I managed to get away with the object.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3cLSTwWa5y
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"Miss. Hyde!"238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9k8sfIjFpV
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB1GECGBGVm
My attention snaps back to the man across the desk from me. Mr. Abrams, the principal of the town's high school, is glaring at me. I stop rocking back and forth and remove my hands from beneath my legs. "Yes?"238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmpwTe5Y9TE
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDDyYnJAmz
"Are you listening to me?" he asks me.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz2V3nfYLmQ
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I blink slow as I stare at him. "No."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHaJhVBITBG
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I guess I should probably be more thankful for that toast, cold or no. It was the first time that I had eaten something for breakfast in months. So, that was a nice change for once. And I should be so lucky that the owners of the house didn’t report me to the police. My grandfather may have had connections here, but I don’t.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzeMFkXWSD
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Unlike the toast, moving back here, to Zero, was not a nice change.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzK8nwaWabe
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWSb0hSCsP
A hand is placed on my shoulder as a woman's voice says something. I look to the source of the speaking, the school's guidance counselor. The woman gestures towards the office door. "This way."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8SKXoSu8g
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVF9K1ypAh5
"To what?"238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ0rLI7yS52
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWgfECK4K8
"My office, Miss. Hyde," she says. She looks stressed. They all look stressed. I think I’m causing it. I don’t think they like me.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMk6rDhH7C
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She doesn’t wait for me to gather my things and is already at her desk when I reach her office. She starts talking the second my foot passes through the door. "Most of your schedule is sorted, but you still need to pick a few electives."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMEyK8QBRyF
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKW51iumKXw
"Those are the ones that I'm not required to be in, correct?"238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk5vq68olob
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZwMcP4HtO
She nods and points to the seat opposite her. "Sit."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMzOQEP5NbI
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmdC5uwbz3n
I do as told as she slides a paper with the list of available classes in front of me.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUpPBqAGf7
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"The ones highlighted are those that you are already enrolled in," she says.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfRXU8k3Uyl
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I read the names of the ones highlighted: Algebra II, Biology I, Civics, and English II. I look back up to her. "These seem a bit… basic?"238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaSjxq6Uxbk
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"These classes are required for the curriculum. You'll be able to take more advanced classes next year. Now, you are also required to take a foreign language course. You can pick which one you'd like to take."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡimBhCAb3zS
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I scan the available choices. "These are the only available options?"238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZaQEqDPJy
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKIkPY2kytz
"Yes. Just pick one."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ73X5P6D8xD
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZS4xZDdUU
"Hmm... I guess I wouldn't mind brushing up on Latin. It's a tricky language, always good to know exactly what is being said in it." Wouldn’t want to accidentally summon a cousin again or something.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8CjFoSiiz
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"Okay, and you have up to two electives."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFGvwSwxxo3
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBqfibWsO6G
I scan the list again. They don’t have photography listed, but there’s one labeled as “Yearbook/Journalism” which is probably as close as I’ll get to it. I’m not sure why they’re paired together, but if it gets me behind a camera, I have no reason to complain. I point to it and the one listed as Astronomy. “These two.”238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0AAMOY5op
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqn5YBmXihA
“Alright, give me just a moment,” she says as she clicks away on her mouse a few times and then the printer next to her desk starts up, within seconds I have a new sheet of paper in front of me. She uses her pen to point at it as she talks. "There's your schedule. Your locker number is at the top. This isn’t a very big school, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find everything."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GM6RLM9Rk
“Okay, thank you.”238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIYZGU2q3Ut
I’m not even to the door yet when she stops me by talking again, “Before I forget, Miss Hyde. Did Mr. Abrams talk to you about the issue of your hair?”238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuoxlL1eB3
I turn to look at her and nod and then leave before she can say anything else. 238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJjCKeS6oX
The hair issue is the exact reason why I zoned out while talking to him in the first place. He made it a big point to tell me that they only allow natural hair colours at this school and I tried to tell him, but he just couldn’t process that this is my natural hair colour. I wasn’t going to argue with him about it forever, and I definitely wasn’t going to argue about it with another school staff member.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuIi7C2MNB9
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXj2J77hsjN
It takes what seems like forever to find my locker and get my bag into it. Then a slightly shorter forever to find my first class. Civics.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfAKvxGlOVW
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzaJbuCKHCk
The teacher takes a second to notice me but eventually, she comes to usher me into the classroom. She hands me a textbook as she says, "You must be Pluto. Why don’t you go take a seat back there next to Miss Brooks?”238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutU54NSxGU
She doesn’t point out the desk, but it’s not needed as there’s only one that’s empty.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5C0iPGtVk1
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I look over the body of people scattered around the room as I make my way to the seat. God, I don’t recognize a single person here.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc92ahZYTRN
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQhx42Qq3m
The girl in the seat next to mine turns to me and whispers, "We're on page sixty-three."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0QErB98p45
This must be the Miss. Brooks that the teacher mentioned.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplKzE9pZLJ
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡESN9l9TrSc
"Thank you," I whisper back as I flip through the textbook. I find the page, which appears to be about the revolutionary war and turn to the girl. She's still facing me and is the only person that I’ve met today that doesn’t look like a clone of everyone else in the school. As weird as this town is, that may be more literal than not. Would explain why there’s a military base next to the science lab now.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY01uSMVDPs
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVdsEru65WR
"The names Teagan." She nods her head up.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkqfvXAh01
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYM60J446YD
I gesture my hand towards myself. "Pluto, but don’t let the name fool you. My small stature doesn’t come from the dwarves.”238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXEQvypV1m
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She points her pen at me. "You're funny."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3A342El899
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"Thanks?"238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcpovS3M0y
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She smiles and then turns back to her textbook.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSXMLwNeITh
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Well, at least I’ve made a decent impression on someone today.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadNDIVvJpm
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No one else gives me the chance to even try to make any type of impression again until I get to Biology. I'm the fourth person to get to the class, one of the other three being the Teagan girl from earlier in the day. The teacher is dressed as if she never left Woodstock, and the music coming from her computer isn't helping her case.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskMlBfpShG
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZ9mQVEbe3
"Pluto?" she asks as I walk over to her desk. She seems surprised to see me. She knows me? How does she know me? It fades. "You don't happen to be interested in space, do you?"238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4frVKQY8p
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It’s not the first time I’ve heard the question, but the answer never changes. It’s always yes. "Actually, I do. Astronomy is one of my electives."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBY9hlA0C2i
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7q8ksIXFIO
“Ah, a new student in two of my classes. What a nice surprise.” She’s saying this as if she doesn’t have my student page open on her computer behind her. She continues. “I’m not sure what you learned in Science at your last school, but I do things a bit differently here. I don’t teach from the textbook that often, so you’ll want to borrow some notes to get caught up to speed with the rest of the class. Now, go ahead and find a seat.”238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH74nO6BgWa
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfU00RB89e0
I take one of the back seats at Teagan’s lab and am greeted with notes already being passed towards me. 238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXIj8uNprqR
“There’s a few days missing in there from when I had a cold a few weeks ago,” Teagan explains, “but Louise should be here any minute and you can get hers for those days.”238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNTFMrSmOt
I don’t know who Louise is or why Teagan is talking about her as if I do, but before I can verbally question it, she appears. She’s tall. Five-ten at the least. She looks to Teagan. “Who is this?” 238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoORrLTJbdp
“That’s Pluto. She needs your notes.”238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq2PG39TIvI
Her voice lowers. “¿Ella siempre ha estado allí?”238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqxut4M7U3v
“No, I just started here today,” I answer while copying down the notes. When I look up again, they’re both staring me down. “What?”238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfTkS8sVePZ
They continue to stare until the fourth stool at our lab is slid into. “Hello, ladies.”238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CsOFJkHu3
“What do you want, Aaron?” Teagan is the one that asks it, but both of them rolled their eyes when he spoke. 238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0c2MNvylG7
“Oh, you know, just thought I’d come to greet the newest arrival to this fine establishment.” He’s looking at me. I can’t see him, but I know he’s looking at me. “In case you didn’t hear your friend over there, the name’s Aaron. Aaron White. And who might you be, if you don’t mind my asking?”238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJkklAVQc7
“Not in your best interest,” I tell him as I go back to copying notes. And I do mind.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpOn7rrCDHl
“Oh, I highly disagree.” His hand slides into my view as it touches the tip of my pen, causing my copying to halt. “You look like you’re exactly what would be in my best interest.” 238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNTP4NSAYJ
There’s about two seconds left in my pen’s journey from being beneath his fingers and being in his leg when there’s a groan at the other side of the table that stops it and then a “Mrs. V, Aaron’s bothering us again!”238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMWipnCfdYT
“Aaron! Go back to your seat, we’ve talked about this!” the teacher says. 238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksydVurhid
Again, I return to my copying as the boy slinks away from our lab. 238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6A351f54vb
The Louise girl speaks up, “don’t worry. Once you’re in uniform and have hair that isn’t the colour of zucchini, he’ll leave you alone, since you’ll blend in.”238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5ys1RCoSj
Well, that’s comforting.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY5VR7SUKtJ
Fifty minutes later, the class is over and lunch is starting.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Y913AS5dz
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"I assume you’re sitting with us, right?" Teagan asks as we leave the classroom.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMEKjjvDZXe
That wasn’t my plan, but I didn’t really have much of one, so I guess I am now. “Yeah. If that’s okay.”238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBr9SISIii5
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They both agree that it’s fine and the rest of the walk, all the way up to us sitting at a table, is in silence. However, the silence doesn't last long due to Teagan speaking up. "Dude, where’s your lunch?"238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwvM7yCXZB
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2qXSzmxofl
I hold up the milk carton that I grabbed. "What are you talking about? I got a milk."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QCgx704Hv
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"Yeah, but you didn't get any food."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4yhz3uplC8
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“I didn’t like what was on the menu,” I tell her even though it’s not true. It’s not even an excuse that's possible, as there were several different options to choose from, and I like most of them. But I just, I can’t afford anything besides the milk, and even that required me digging through my backpack for change. But I can’t tell them that.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzugtvVXN7J
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She doesn’t press the matter any further, and neither do I.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj8zj29AU2q
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Neither of them end up being in my other remaining classes, but when I make it outside at the end of the day, they seem to be waiting for me.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr7kIIpsBph
“Zucchini!” Louise yells and waves me over.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡABVpXjp48p
I guess that’s my name now.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCfgcWLCwuk
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She continues talking once I’m within hearing range of them, “Teagan is coming over to watch TV at my house. You can come over too.”238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkBdfofZmQ6
“Okay,” I mumble.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGhqvwVT1S
It turns out that she lives right down the road from the house that I stayed at last night. I could have easily slept on her porch instead. She doesn't have a porch, but that's not the point. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by this. Zero isn’t necessarily a small town, but it only has about a dozen streets. They’re very long streets, but still only a dozen, so technically every house is only just down the road from each other. My own house is right behind the building on the other end of this street.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4xSq4NKul
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Louise runs off as soon as we walk into her’s.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ByheAAMi2
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"Does it usually smell like tomatoes in here?" I ask Teagan.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwF3u1pK0Dd
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"Her mom sells salsa, so yeah, pretty much." She walks in the opposite direction of where Louise went. "Come on, the living room's this way. Louise will be back in a second."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfCZRKibkX
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When we get in there she turns on the tv and plops down onto the couch. I take place in a recliner. Louise returns to us, out of uniform, and goes right for the spot next to Teagan.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3wvCXK3iR
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"What do you want to watch?" Teagan asks.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWWFlqicVVq
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Louise shrugs. "I think there's some House episodes recorded."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOAeABTt53
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Teagan looks at me. "Do you like House?"238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz5R38qB5To
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG1SNpcT1lz
"I don’t know, I've never watched it."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILk0d06hK5
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfdI7NSZ3l
"How have you never seen House?"238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtNcebKhMlH
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrYPyix12B
"Grandparents didn't have it for VCR. Dad never had a working television."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9o2bRqukp
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPylo3LV4V
"Well, you're going to see it now," she says.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYBwMDubI8l
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXprigqqiI
Over the next few hours, we watch the show, with a few interruptions of Louise's mom coming to see if I want to buy any salsa. Despite my telling her that I don't have any money, I somehow end up with three jars of it. She never offers me any chips, though.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRfQTmwbbEV
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It's nearing eleven when Teagan announces that it's time for us to leave. She kisses Louise on the cheek and says goodbye before standing up and motioning for me to do so as well. So I do. I wave bye to Louise as we head for the exit.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBMo0Cv8yS
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Louise waves back. "Bye, Zucchini."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclshgaJ2hs
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ13rrQJEkde
"She's going to call you that forever," Teagan says when we get outside.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqB4Xy1lkXm
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zGeYQj0KF
I stare down the road, at the house from last night. "As long as she's calling me it in a friendly manner."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPAKKMY9gMd
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzaGs6w0eyf
"She is. Hey, my mom should be here any second, do you need a ride home?" she asks.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOia0TvU5Vx
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An upstairs light in the house goes off, leaving it all dark. I change my focus to Teagan. "No, it's okay. I can walk, but thank you."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOULrJmt4st
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6mrp7UzGYX
"Alright, if you say so. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?"238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKM3FyNGaX
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I nod. "Yeah, see you tomorrow."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkc7kq56NZg
238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizA0RRouPS
I look back down at the house, lights still out, and I start walking.
and then Add to home screen.