Los Angeles, California, 2012
Jack sighed; he had to admit he felt intimidated standing at the door of the Pindelbrook Academy. The large stone structure loomed over him; Pindelbrook was one of the best private schools in Beverly Hills. Of course, he had been here before last week when his mother looked at the school, but this time, it was different; there would be students in the school this time. The 14-year-old boy had been to public schools back east, and they were hell holes, but perhaps a California private school was just the change of pace he needed. Jack pushed his thick black frame glasses back on his nose, ran his fingers through his dark hair, and tightened his school uniform tie. It was now or never. He pushed the double doors of the school with his book bag under his shoulder. The school lobby was nice and modern, but also classical, with a nice white marble floor that was polished to a mirror shine. He started walking. The place was buzzing with kids from the 9th grade to the 12th grade. Jack was a freshman and read to face this brand-new world of upper-class private schools. He made his way to the hallway labeled “Freshman Hall.” It was the hall where all the freshman lockers were located.
He made his way down the hallways of black tiles to his locker on the right side of Hall #185. He went to his locker and reached into his uniform black coat pocket. It was a small sheet of paper that read “21- 87-8," the combination of his locker. He quickly dialed in the combination at first, getting it wrong and doing it the second time. He opened his locker, put some of his books out of his bag, and shut the door. He began to walk down the hall to his first class, Physical Science 101. It was then that the young man slipped on the recently cleaned floor and fell, his chest hitting the ground and his glasses hitting the floor, his vision going blurry. It was then that he heard a voice in a distinct New Orleans accent ask, “Oh my, hey man, are you okay?” Jack stumbled his hands on the ground, reaching for his glasses, and replied in his own distinct Appalachian accent, “Yes, I am. I just need my glasses,” He found his glasses on the ground, put them on, got to his feet, and looked up at the person talking to him.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
She was much taller than he, about 5’3’’ to his small 4’5’’ frame. She had dark brown skin with equally as dark brown eyes and thick black hair tied into a school regulation ponytail. She wore the standard school uniform consisting of a black coat, silver tie, and black skirt. She had on a purple dress shirt underneath, as only the tie, coat, and pants/ skirt were regulation; the rest was up to the student's discretion. She bent down and handed him his bag from the floor. “Ah, there you go, you seem fine.” “I am fine. Thanks for asking. She quickly broke the silence, “So anyway, what’s your name?” Jack replied nervously, “Ulysses Jackson McCoy.” She thought for a second, “Oh, as in McCoy Oil? As in Mary McCoy?” Jack sighed “Yeah that’s her... founder and CEO... and my mom” she chuckled “Yeah that make’s sense, the son of an oil baroness, being in this drag of a school” she paused and started again “Of course as an environmentalist, I cannot condone, the use of unsustainable fossil fuels but as a woman I admire her attitude” Jack nodded “Thank you.... I guess, who are you?” She smiled and slightly bowed, “I am Cassidy Augustine De Buois, at your service.” It took a minute, but the name finally got into his head. “Oh, as in De Buois... the Creole restaurant?” She smiled, “Yes! 250 locations in the United States, my dad is the founder.” Jack nodded, “Impressive.” She smiled and slicked back a loose hair. “I can tell you are new in town, I have been in LA for... 3 years... I’m happy to show you around anytime.” Jack was nervous ... was she hitting on him? He sure hoped not. “Sure sometime, but right now... Can you show me to Physical Science 101?” She smiled, “Yeah, sure, it’s my first class as well, it’s this way.” Jack smiled as he followed her, on the first day, and he was already making friends... not bad
