The Day of the Femmes, Parts 5-8
V. Lockers
"Um, could you please move?" a voice asked right into Sassy’s ear. Sassy, who had been trying to tape the button back on the blouse, turned and glared at the speaker. But her glare was quickly replaced by a curious stare. Sassy flicked the button back into the throng of students and stepped aside for the stranger.
"No problem," she said. "Who are you, anyway? You and me appear to be the only two tall people in this joint."
"Ancelin Lawson," Ancelin said. "The name’s from old French... means ‘handmaid.’ Rotten meaning, huh?" Ancelin dropped her bag onto the linoleum tile floor. She twisted the dials expertly and flung open her locker. She bent down, popped open the backpack, and put away her books and supplies. Then she grabbed several books, one five-subject notebook, and a pen. She plunked them neatly in her backpack, shut the backpack, and hoisted it onto her back. All this was accomplished in two minutes.
Sassy stared in awe. "How did you do that?" she asked, putting down her own blue jean bag and opening her locker. She dumped the contents of the bag inside, pulling out only one book and an identical notebook to Ancelin’s, plus one pen. She slapped the locker shut. "Hey, my homeroom’s right over there. Where’s yours?"
"That’s mine too," she said. "And the locker thing took practice. Hey, I’m always late for something or another. Why not be prepared in case I oversleep?" Ancelin strode toward the door of Homeroom 11A. "Coming?" she asked Sassy.
"Right behind ya," Sassy called, jogging to catch up.
VI. Homeroom
Lali cursed under her breath when she saw the girls with the weird hair come in just behind her. The taller one, whose hair looked like it had been dyed that deep black-red color, sat down in the back row. Her friend, the goth queen of the school, just scared her. Blue lip gloss and indigo eyeshadow just didn’t mix, not next to such startling white skin. Lali herself didn’t have any friends yet, but she vowed to avoid those creeps as much as possible.
Next to her was Fiona, one of the "do-gooders" Sassy disliked so much. Fiona thought Lali looked kind of friendly. And it would definitely look better for her if she made some new friends during her stay. So Fiona tapped Lali on the shoulder, intending to get her name and maybe some other particulars. But the bell rang before Lali could turn around, and Fiona sat back in her seat. Any other girl in her situation would pass a note, but Fiona was a good girl, and her schoolwork mattered more than her friends.
The teacher, Mrs. Good, tapped the board with her pointer for attention. She cleared her throat twice before speaking. "Good morning, girls. My name is Mrs. Good." She wrote her name out on the board. "I will now call the roll." Somewhere between Kildren and Lazilla, Fiona learned the name of one of the two freaks.
"Annelise Lawson?" called Mrs. Good. The girl with the black-red hair spoke up.
"Um, it’s Ancelin. I’m here," she said.
"Yes, lovely, dear," Mrs. Good muttered, mentally adding Ancelin’s name to her list of odd appellations. She really stumbled at the other freak’s name, though. "Sarsaparilla Rubell? No, that’s not it. Serafine?"
"Sassafras, teach," called the girl with the goth look. "It’s Sassy. Got me?"
"Got you," said Mrs. Good. Finally reaching Ziff, she shut the book and dropped it on the desk with a sigh of relief. "Okay, now everybody say the Pledge of Allegiance." Nineteen students stood up, right hands over hearts. Only three abstained. Lali and Fiona weren’t American citizens. But Sassy simply sat there. It wasn’t her pledge, even though she was American. Her loyalty lay with the USK, and she didn’t care who knew.
VII. Detention
Mrs. Good blinked. She knew that two students were exempt from the pledge; however, Sassy was not one of those two. "Miss Rubell, go directly to the principal’s office!" she ordered, scribbling a summary of the deed on a pink discipline slip. She ripped the slip off the pad of paper and handed it to Sassy. "Don’t make it harder for yourself than it already has to be."
"Yes, sir," Sassy said, mocking the teacher and immediately showing just why her nickname was Sassy. Bowing, she zipped out of the room and into the hall. She whistled on her way down to the office. Homeroom and she was already getting punished. Sassy was on the seventh verse of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" when she found the office. She sauntered up to the secretary and plunked the slip neatly on the desk.
"Cut that whistling," barked the elderly secretary. Leaning in, she added, "Or at least whistle something from this century, young lady!"
Sassy giggled and went to await her turn in the principal’s clutches. She sat down and pulled out a little notepad. Checking her watch, she entered the time, date, and the new record- less than an hour in school and she was already waiting to be disciplined. She signed her name under the entry with a flourish. She slapped the book shut and replaced the book and pen in the inside pocket of her leather jacket just in time for the secretary to call out, "Sassafras Rubell? Your turn."
Sassy jumped up and skipped down the short hallway and into the office of Principal Cromwuss, the meanest headmistress ever encountered by anyone under 18. "So, Crommie, what’s doin’ with you?" Sassy greeted the eternally furious woman.
"Can’t you stay out of trouble for an hour?" raged Mrs. Cromwuss. "Not even eight a.m. and you’re in trouble!!! Oh..." Mrs. Loribelle "LC" Cromwuss popped three headache pills and took a long sip of coffee. "Look, because it’s the first day of school, I’m assigning you one detention for tonight. See that you don’t get into further trouble or that number will increase tenfold."
Sassy stood up. "Excellent, ma’am, and now, I think I had best be off to study hall." Sassy strode calmly out the door, cursing herself for a fool. This detention meant she’d be out after dark tonight. So would Rusty.
VIII. Trouble
Fiona still hadn’t asked Lali anything. This was totally unlike her! Fiona wondered what was wrong with her, passing up an opportunity to make friends. She was still debating the likelihood that she was in fact ill when a note, on gold and silver stationery, appeared on her desk. Fiona looked left and right to make sure the teacher wasn’t watching and then opened the note.
"Fiona-
Hi! You look like a friendly person. I’m Lali la Faerie. I noticed that you wanted to talk to me earlier? Any questions you have, I’ll answer.
Bon matin, Lali"
Fiona scribbled a quick reply and shot the note across the room, intending for the note to land on Lali’s desk. But it landed on the study hall teacher’s instead. He opened the note and noticed the names. Quicker than you can say "But I’m a good girl!" he sent them down to the office.
"Well, you wanted to talk," Lali said as they walked out of the door. "Hey, you’re pretty cool, risking punishment to get my note back to me. And don’t tell me you’ve had a detention before. You look absolutely terrified."
"I am! I’m supposed to be here as a shining example!" seethed Fiona as she clenched and unclenched her fists. She was as pale as a newly washed bedsheet. "I hope my mother doesn’t hear about this."
"Don’t worry. There’s a first time for everything," said Lali, as casually as if she were going for a walk in the park. "Here’s the office." The girls turned right and walked striaght to the secretary. "Um, we got sent here by our study hall teacher."
"Lali and Fiona? Okay, well, Mrs. Cromwuss is out at the moment. You, the redhead!" the secretary said. "Pick a punishment for you and your friend."
"Extra homework," Fiona replied.
"No, she means actually pick one. From the fishbowl, see?" Lali hissed.
Fiona shut her eyes and thrust her hand in the bowl. Her trembling hands drew one piece of paper. She opened it and showed it to Lali.
"Detention!"