C6: Kick Me!
Back to it for Monday Morning, this time, with an alien, though Azathoth didn’t seem to be a morning person. He took the shower while I singlehandedly drank the first pot of coffee before brewing another pot and throwing him out of the shower with the vague hopes that he didn’t run out all the hot water.
Mom had made my favorite breakfast for us, something that Azathoth seemed to enjoy since coming to Earth, though I had to admit that I was still curious about what might be waiting for me, should he take me to his planet at some point in the future.
By the time we were finished with breakfast, we were both at close-enough to full power, each with a to-go cup of coffee as I drove us to the school, a building that was bland and stereotypical enough that it couldn’t have stood out in an empty parking lot. I wasn’t sure what to expect, so I had Azathoth wait in my Volkswagen with the ragtop up until I came out for him.
I was glad that I did.
“Mister Davis,” a voice said, expectantly, “I didn’t see you around, Friday.”
The owner of the voice was a bald man, dressed in a tweed suit and, likely, was twice my mother’s age.
“I’m sorry about Friday, Mister Strickland, but I had a bit of an emergency come up and I couldn’t really-”
“Let me give you a nickel’s worth of free advice, Son,” he said, walking to his office with me, “All of this hubbub you’re after, it’s not real. There are no ‘Little Green Men’ out there, looking at us from Mars, there’s no vampire societies, and there’s no way that someone, anyone, could eat a raw, uncooked steak and not get sick!” he went on, “Son, Seth, you’ve got real potential, all you’d need to do is apply yourself and stop slacking so-damn-much! You’re throwing your life away.”
“Oh, yessir,” I said before he turned around and stuck his finger in my face.
“I’m serious, Mister Davis!” he said, “Don’t you want to be successful like your parents? You’re sure-as-hell not acting like it if you do!”
“Just you wait, Mister Strickland, I’m going to prove you wrong.”
“Ha!” he laughed, “I’d like to see you try, you slacker!” he pointed out the door, “Now, get to class and pretend to not be wasting time.”
“Alright,” I said, turning and leaving his office. As soon as the door closed, however, I went out to the car to get Azathoth and bring him inside to homeroom. This semester, I had English and Math, as well as two blocks where I was a library aide.
My homeroom, due to being one of the classrooms in the library building, didn’t have the usual desks in there. Rather, it was a setup of tables, each with two chairs, much like the tables and chairs in the library. There were only three classrooms in the building, plus another one or two, but the English classroom in the building was the only one that was large enough to hold a class of thirty. The others were similar in size to large closets or, in the case of the auxiliary teacher’s room, about the size of a small meeting room.
Thankfully, seats weren’t assigned in high school like they were in elementary and middle school, though that usually meant that in science classes, I would generally be standing at the lab table, the only exception was in ninth grade, though none of that bothered me because I’d usually study the topic in the library and take my own notes on my own terms.
Still, I was glad to have the table in the back corner all to myself because, today, it meant that I could be by Azathoth’s side.
“Okay, Seth, we’re going to be finishing up The Great Gatsby,” Miss Park said, noticing that I wasn’t packing my things to head to the library when the bell rang, “I’m sure you’re finished with the book, so you can just go sit in the library like-” she said, looking up and seeing Azathoth next to me and falling into stunned silence.
“I was out for a good reason,” I said after she blinked and let her mouth fall open.
“I, uh…”
By this point, everyone in the class had their attention focused on Azathoth and me.
“Is this normal?” he asked.
“Not in the slightest,” I answered, “Miss Park, aliens are real, and apparently, vampires are too.”
She let her head drop.
“I figured something like this would happen,” I muttered.
“Seth… please, just go to the principal’s office… anywhere but in here today.”
After a few moments, Miss Park regained her composure and immediately went into denial about the whole situation as the first block class filed into the room and, immediately, all eyes turned to Azathoth before Miss Park brough herself to get the attention of the class once-again focused on herself.
“Alright, class, take your seats,” she said, “Today, we’ll be continuing with our discussion of The Great Gatsby.”
I felt thankful to be sitting in the back of the classroom with Azathoth as I wrote a note to him in an empty notebook to give him context while making it look as though I was taking notes from the discussion. I can say, with certainty, that he didn’t see the reasoning of that literature being a required part of the curriculum, especially after I’d written down my own thoughts on the piece for him in no uncertain terms.
“Who, here, can tell me the significance of the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock?” Miss Park asked as I was reminded why I preferred modern science fiction while hearing a girl give her analysis about the American Dream.
Miss Park nodded, “Very good, Avery. Now, I’d like to hear from someone new,” her eyes landed on Azathoth and me, “Go ahead, either of you two.”
