Alexis found her seat easily, sliding into a table near the peanut-allergic and settling beside a wide eyed boy who didn’t answer when she asked, “do you mind if I sit here?” So she sat. If the cafeteria food was like how it is everywhere else in America, she had judged correctly in bringing a paper bag. The boy seated at her table also had brought a lunch, but had brought it in a small cool bag. She tried once more introducing herself. “I’m Alexis, I’m new here.” Nothing.
She sighed and glanced around the room without turning in her seat and began eating her smooshed peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When a perfectly coiffed brunette sat beside her she almost choked on her food.
“Hey there, you must be new.”
Alexis struggled to chew and remember if she knew this person’s name.
“Oh, sorry, I’ll let you swallow. I’m Abigail.”
Alexis scraped peanut butter from the roof of her mouth and didn’t look to closely, but imagined she knew the brand name emblazoned on Abigail’s chest.
“Alexis,” she finally managed to say.
“Oh that is cute. We already have a Lexi!”
How was that cute?
“Well, Alexis, you’re a freshie, too, right?” Alexis nodded. “That’s great, so am I! What classes are you in, can I have a look at your schedule?”
While Abigail was doing as she pleased, the wide eyed boy stared wide eyed at her, not even eating his food, now. Abigail’s back was to him, and she hadn’t even acknowledged his existence. Alexis wasn’t sure if it was purposeful rudeness or acquired habit. You ignore someone so long it becomes automatic, almost as though they’re invisible. There was an episode of Buffy about that.
“Well, it looks like we have Art together on B days.” She indicated a time slot. “As well as Math, English, History…” She smiled, a bit embarrassed, “funny I didn’t see you in English.”
Oh, that’s where Alexis remembered her. Abigail had been whispering about some Halloween party in the back while she had been exiled to the front.
“Don’t they do that thing where new students go with a more experienced student from class to class,” Abigail asked.
“The campus isn’t that big.” Alexis shrugged.
Abigail pouted.
“Look at those lips,” George swooped in and kissed her. “Lookit those froschy lips.”
“Ew, how gross!”
George sat down right behind Abigail and smiled at Alexis, “hey, new frosch?” he asked.
She nodded and he made a sad and sympathetic face, “You’re lucky you missed homecoming and freshman hazing.” He sighed. “It was epic.”
“It wasn’t even dangerous, pretty tame.” Abigail corrected. “I survived it, which means anyone can survive it.”
“You don’t give yourself enough credit.” George tipped her head up and kissed her again. Alexis made eye contact with the mute boy who had the sense to flee out of the lunch room.
“Sorry, you must feel so left out, being new here.” George patted Alexis on the head. “But we’re happy to have a new frosch, getting to know all your weaknesses.” He paused, “you play any sports?”
“Soccer actually.”
He offered a hand to high-five. “Right on, so does Abigail. So do most kids actually. And those who do, play everything. I do soccer and lacrosse. Basketball too, when we have a team.”
“When you have a team?”
“The girls run this school’s basketball. In soccer we’re not really well known, but we do our best for an A size school.”
Alexis nodded like this made sense, and found she liked George.
“I’ll put in a word with Cecily about Soccer, she’ll talk to Coach O’Brien.” Abigail stood, taking George with her. “That is, if you want to play. You’re good, right?”
“I’m alright.” Alexis admitted.
“Sounds fine. We’re always tight, and Modified can always use some more girls.”
She waved at Abigail as she left.
“See you in Algebra!”
Alexis finished lunch alone.
Abigail had tracked Alexis down from the Child Psych room and walked with her and a tan girl introduced as ‘Estee’ who was a freshman as well. Estee’s name was Esther, but preferred the cutesy diminutive name instead. On their way, the girls took turns quizzing Alexis and telling her about the nicknames and compromises they had tried to come up with for having two girls named Alexis.
“We had a problem with Abigail’s older sister, who was Emily, and there was already another Emily in their kindergarten glass, so one of them went by her middle name, Anne.” Estee paused, “at that age do you think Anne or her mom made that decision?” She asked Abigail.
“I’ve never thought about it.” She turned to Alexis, “do you have a middle name?”
“No,” Alexis said.
“Well, I think there’s two Alyssas in the school.” Estee said.
“Yeah, but there’s a grade difference between them.”
“I thought you call the other Alexis ‘Lexi’?” Alexis asked.
“We do, but in case…” She trailed off as they exited the middle school building. “Is that October?”
She was climbing into a bright red cabrio and slumped immediately down in the seat.
“What’s up with her,” Alexis asked.
“She’s weird. A different brand every year.”
“She’s just weird.” Abigail corrected. “Some kids are. She doesn’t really have friends anymore.”
“Alienated by the other weird girls. She doesn’t even do drama club.”
“She must have gotten sick.” Abigail said, a little sadly.
“Sleeping in the cemetery on Halloween, why are you surprised?”
“You’re kidding right?” Alexis asked.
“George saw her.” Abigail said.
“Weird, all right.” Alexis said.
Algebra was taught by Ms. Warszawski who was frequently called Ms. W by the class. Alexis was given a seat in back by the heater, and given a textbook by a neat looking kid with braces.
“I’m Jay.” He only waited for her reply before sitting back down.
“Alexis.” Ms. W called her, “do you have a nickname?”
“Not yet. It sounds like the original Alexis and I will have to have a meeting.”
Ms. W smiled. “Sounds like. Well for now, follow along as best you can, I’d love to see you in after school if you have the time. Now, we will pick up where we left off before you all had sugar highs, solving for the hypotenuse.”
Alexis didn’t meet the original Alexis that day, but she did stay after school to get all the work from her teachers, so as to catch up. Her father picked her up from school and drove them out to the new home in the hills far from the river. The house was new, empty and still smelled of plaster more than anything else. She’d barely had a pause from the move, graduating from middle school a few months ago, and traveling all over the city’s suburbs with her parents looking for a city or town which was acceptable for the parents as well as the kids. Bear’s Claw wasn’t her first choice, Sleepy Hollow had the cool fact that it was second to Salem in spookiness in the North East, but her parents had not been as fond of the commute as she had been of the town. Bear’s Claw was not as close, had a train station and was ‘quaint’ without the national attention that Sleepy Hollow had. Her parents didn’t like antiquing, but maybe they would take it up now that they lived here. She knew they were joking.
Her little brother Fionn, named after an uncle on her mother’s side, who both hated fish, had just had his first day in middle school. He had been mute, playing on his handheld instead of talking about his impression. He was less likely to have a problem than Alexis fitting in though, having absorbed their dad’s sense of style without a flaw. It also wasn’t as though he were shy or a loner, he was just cool, speaking only when he had something smooth to say, and this attracted other kids to him. At an age where boys became gangly and girls became haughty, he was a star. She was little jealous of this ease at which he assimilated.
Alexis dumped her bag on her bed and sighed. Her brother was already unpacking in the room next door, and her mom had taken off work to get the rest of the house in order. Her dad was discussing dinner with her, having to go shopping. Alexis had not yet unpacked, and as she stood to close the door of her bedroom, she heard ‘Farmer’s Market’ and sighed again.
Given the chance to reinvent herself she had fallen in with the popular girls, a place she was sure she didn’t belong, but there weren’t hard defined cliques here. There were groups of friends, and apparently a feud or two in the upper grades, but she was surprised at how laid back her classmates were.
Her cellphone buzzed.
Estee: Mass text! Small get together for Alexis? Movie and pizza tomorrow at the cineplex?
She texted back: Ok.
Estee: Alexis says YES!
Then a second later, another came to her alone: I’ve got some more girls you may have met most of them already. George will pick you up, ok? He’ll text when to expect him.
She texted back: Ok.
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