Andromeda

Chapter Two

The town of Meadowvale, Nebraska was the image of a small, country village. It was situated on the edge of Arthur County in the middle of a vast farmland. It was a tight knit community in which everybody knew one another, perfect as the only home Anna could remember calling her own. Despite that, as she sat in the passenger seat of her family’s Ford 150, driven by Lynn, on her way to her first day of school, it was still like stepping into a whole new world.

Downtown Meadowvale was small, yet bustling. It only consisted of a handful of streets, but chief among them was Adams Street, which ran the full length of the populated town center and had a variety of markets, restaurants, and small town ma and pa businesses. Anna always liked coming down here. It was certainly a different environment than the countryside.

There were only two school buildings in Meadowvale, both of which stood just beyond the far side of the town center. The first building they came to was the elementary school, which was situated at the base of a small hill. Once they passed the elementary school, the road snaked up the small hillside for about a quarter mile to a much larger building that doubled as a junior high and highschool. A number of buses and cars were piling into the parking lots as the students arrived for the first day of the new school year.

Lynn pulled into and parked at the back of one of the lots. Normally, she would have swung through the circle in front of the building to drop them off, but today she had to accompany Anna to ensure that she was where she needed to be. As soon as she shut off the truck, Anna stepped out to take in the sight, with Abigail exiting just behind her. Anna slung her backpack over her shoulder and took in a deep breath as Lynn came to her side, joined by Daisy.

“Ready?” she said sweetly.

Anna nodded. “I am,” she replied with a smile.

Anna’s eyes were scanning the building as the four of them approached it. Unlike the elementary school, it was a two-story building. As a tenth-grade student, she would be on the lower level of the school, while the junior high was situated on the upper level, where Abigail would be attending. It was interesting to see the age disparity between the crowds of students all walking through the front doors at the same time; kids as young as 12, some of whom Anna almost dwarfed, to fresh seniors who looked as though they could have been in college by now.

Lynn held Daisy’s hand firm as they slipped through the entryway, taking an immediate left toward the administrative office. The office was so much quieter than the crowded atrium just on the other side of the walls. As soon as they entered, they were immediately greeted by a cheery, young aide.

“Hi! May I help you?”

Lynn stepped up to the desk where the aide was sitting. “I’m Lynn Tucker. My daughter Anna is starting here for the first time and we were told to come directly to the office.”

“Oh yes, I’ve been expecting you,” a stern, female voice spoke up before the aide could respond. All heads turned to see a tall, slender woman approaching from the back of the office. Her impressive height was compounded, perhaps intentionally, by the high heels she wore. She had short, wavy blonde hair and a sharp pair of glasses. She carried with her an air of importance that she wanted people to recognize, and Anna had a good idea of who she was.

Walking just behind her, in stark contrast to her demeanor, was a much younger girl who was obviously another student. She looked to be about a year older than Anna. She had flowing dark hair, a heavy application of makeup, and wore a tight-fitting white shirt that did not even reach her belly button. She was hardly paying attention to her surroundings with her eyes glued to the smartphone she was holding.

“Alright, Miss Summers,” the taller woman stopped and turned to address the other girl. “I hope I can trust that you’ll take this year a bit more seriously. I don’t want to have you in my office as much as I did last year. Hey! Are you listening to me?”

“Yes!” the girl groaned as she finally looked up from her phone.

“I expect a lot more from my juniors, as well as my seniors, and that includes you, regardless of who your parents are. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, I heard you the first time,” the girl answered with no attempt to conceal her arrogant tone.

“I hope so. Off you go then.”

The girl turned and slowly made her way to the office door, returning her attention to her phone. The tall woman finally turned to face them, shaking her head in annoyance.

“I apologize for that,” she said as sternly as ever. “I’m Mrs. Hoffman, the principal here at the lower level - the upper grades, that is.”

Lynn stepped forward to shake her hand. “Nice to meet you, ma’am. I’m Lynn, and this is my daughter, Anna.”

Anna began taking off her jacket, but Mrs. Hoffman noticed and immediately turned her hawk-like gaze on her.

“Excuse me, young lady,” she said in a tone that almost startled Anna. “Were you planning to wear that to school?”

“What do you mean?” Lynn cut in.

“A tank top is not what I would consider appropriate school attire. Is there any particular reason you would need it?”

“Oh, well, I, uh,” Anna stuttered, trying to think of what to say.

“She has a medical condition!” Abigail chimed in from behind Lynn.

“Abigail!” Lynn scolded her. “Get to class! You don’t need to be here.”

Abigail strode past them toward the door where the junior girl was exiting. She spun around, grinning at Anna as she brought a hand to her mouth and feigned an “oops” gesture. Anna returned a look of disgust as Abigail ducked past the other girl and skipped down the hall. The girl cast a quick glance at Anna before stepping out of the office and allowing the door to shut.

“Sorry about that,” Lynn returned to the conversation. “I wouldn’t really call it a medical condition.”

“Be that as it may,” Mrs. Hoffman replied, “it will still be a violation of our dress code. All shirts worn within the building must have sleeves at least three inches in length.”

“Seriously?” Lynn fired back. “What about that girl who was just in here showing her midriff for all the world to see?”

Mrs. Hoffman made a quick glance toward the door, as if expecting to still see the girl standing there. It seemed as though she was thinking of something to say.

“Let’s remain on the topic at hand, please,” she said, returning her attention to Anna. “For starters, you’ll need to keep that jacket on, and I would recommend coming a bit more prepared tomorrow. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Anna mumbled, slipping on her jacket.

“Now as for your schedule, you’ll start the day off in your homeroom class for the first day, but tomorrow onward you’ll go right to your first class. Do we have Miss Tucker’s course schedule?”

“Uh, yes!” the aide sitting at the desk answered enthusiastically as she spun around in her chair to grab a paper that was sitting on the tray of a printer. She handed it to Mrs. Hoffman, who snatched it up to give to Anna.

“Well, it’s the responsibility of your homeroom teacher to sort you out for today. So if you have any questions, I suggest you ask them when you have the opportunity. Now get yourself to your homeroom before the bell rings, please. I wouldn’t want to see you in an unnecessary detention on your first day.”

An uncomfortable silence followed in the office. Anna’s eyes were glued to the schedule she was just handed, but before she had a chance to look it over, Lynn placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Thank you,” she said to the principal, less than sincerely. “We’ll find our way from here.”

Mrs. Hoffman gave a nod of her head as Lynn ushered Anna and Daisy out of the office. The atrium and hallways were already starting to clear as students made their way to their first classes.

“Wow,” Lynn muttered as soon as the door had shut behind them. “Talk about rude! I’m sure glad she wasn’t the principal when I was here. Let me see your schedule, honey.” Anna handed the paper to Lynn, who panned her eyes over it studiously. “Let’s see where your homeroom is. Room B115. Good Lord, they added letters now?” She looked up to find a placard on the wall of the atrium which read, “A Wing” and “B Wing,” pointing in the direction of the hallway that stretched on to the left.

“That must be it,” Lynn affirmed, handing the schedule back to Anna. “Alright, can you find your way from here? I have to run to the market yet before I drop Daisy off at school.”

“I’ll be fine, Mom,” Anna said with a confident smile.

“Okay,” Lynn replied sweetly, stepping forward to kiss her on the forehead. “Good luck, honey. I’ll be back at the end of the day to pick up you and Abigail.”

Anna watched as Lynn took Daisy by the hand and hurried out of the building, waving back at her as they went.

It took Anna a few minutes to gather her bearings as she walked briskly down the hall. The school seemed bigger on the inside than the outside. By the time she found the B Wing all the way at the far end of the building, the hallways were empty and quiet. She arrived at T and hung a left as she searched for Room 115, turning around after a few seconds when she realized she was going the wrong way. However, once she got on the right path, it was not long before she found a door with the placard that read, “B115.” Anna sighed to herself as she reached for the door handle. She could hear a couple faint voices inside that instantly became clear as soon as she opened the door.

“Anna Tucker?”

Anna froze the second she heard her name. There were about twenty other students in the classroom, sitting at four rows of tables that lined the width of the room. A single man was standing at the front of the class, with a head of curly black hair and a thick pair of glasses, holding a clipboard in front of him.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

Anna’s mind went blank for a second. “Um,” she stammered. “Anna Tucker?”

“Is that you?” Anna nodded, and as if on cue, the man switched to a cheery tone. “Oh, great! You’re the new student, right? Please, come on in! I’m Mr. Todd, I’ll be your biology teacher this year. There’s a spot right there in the third row, go ahead and take a seat.”

Anna stepped inside the room, allowing the door to swing shut behind her. All attention was still on her as she walked past the first row of tables. At that moment, her eyes fell on the same junior girl she had seen in the administrative office. The open seat was at the near end of the third row. Anna quickly sat down as Mr. Todd continued taking roll call.

“And lastly, Jason Zimmerman?”

“Here.”

Anna looked up as the boy sitting next to her responded. His hair was slightly darker than hers and was combed up at the front. He had the build of an athlete and was wearing a light, gray jacket unzipped over a black t-shirt that read, “Meadowvale High Lacrosse.” She had been unconscious as to how long she was staring at him until he cast a sideways glance at her. Anna quickly shifted her attention away, feeling somewhat embarrased.

“Very good, then,” Mr. Todd spoke up after finishing his roll call. “We only have an hour before we move on to our first classes of the day. I have forms for you all that I need your parents to sign. Tamara, can I get you to hand them out?”

“Fine,” Anna heard a familiar voice groan. The same junior girl stood up at the front row. She took a stack of papers from Mr. Todd and began walking around to hand them out.

“While we’re doing that,” Mr. Todd continued, “let’s go around the class and share something about ourselves, what we did over the summer, anything you like. Why don’t we start with our newest classmate?”

Anna looked up to see him gesturing toward her. “Me?”

“Yes. Just tell us a little something about yourself. How about where you’re from?”

The words almost triggered Anna. Quivering, she stood to her feet and desperately searched her mind for something to say. “Um,” she mumbled under breath. “Well, my name’s Anna, and I honestly don’t know where I’m from.”

“What do you mean?” Mr. Todd asked.

Anna was finding it more and more difficult to speak the words the longer this conversation went on. “Well, for the last year, I’ve been suffering from a severe case of amnesia. I can’t remember anything before then.”

Mr. Todd’s eyes grew wide with concern and disbelief. “You can’t remember anything at all?”

“That’s right,” Anna nodded. The anxiety surrounding her amnesia was quickly becoming too much to bear. “I’m sorry, I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“Oh, of course,” Mr. Todd said. “Please, don’t feel obligated to share more than you want to. Why don’t we move on?”

Anna all but spaced out as the rest of the class continued to talk about all the fun and exciting things they did over the summer. It pained her to have no memories to look back upon with such fondness. It made her feel trapped, as though in an artificial life that was not her own.

As the girl called Tamara made her way around the third row, she stepped in between Anna and the boy sitting next to her.

“Here you go, Jason,” she said in a soft, flirtatious voice as she placed a form on the table in front of him, making a point to run her hand across his as she withdrew. Anna raised her hand to take a form next, but Tamara just planted it down on the edge of the table so that it slipped off and fell onto the floor. “Oops,” Tamara muttered in a much colder tone as she passed on to the fourth row.

Anna glared at her, taking the hint that this girl was not prepared to act friendly toward her. She leaned down to grab the paper off the floor as Jason suddenly made the exact same move.

“Let me get that for you,” he said.

Both of their hands reached the form at the same time. Anna recoiled as they made contact. Jason grinned as he picked up the paper and handed it back to her.

“Thank you,” Anna uttered with an awkward smile. She tried to take a deep breath as she returned her attention to the front of the class. She had only been there for ten minutes but hoped that the rest of the day would not be quite so intense.