Chapter 2: First lessons

As we all gathered together, the school bell rang. That's it. End of summer holiday. As an united front, we walked into the school to our classes. Me, Kenna and Logan, being in the same class, said goodbye to Rose and James and went to our lessons. Jane was supposed to be with us although I was not surprised she wasn't here, she loved to sleep in and didn't mind skipping school for a few extra hours in her bed. First up, social class. In this class we were being prepared for emotions of people, anger management, delivering bad news and how to calm people down. The class I hated. Emotions are not for me, especially when strangers start shouting at me. I rather just walk away than engage with them.

Luckily the teacher kept it short with an introduction class. Watching videos, explaining what to expect for rest of the year and getting to know each other. Logan was nodding off against my shoulder, using me as a pillow. Kenna sat on the other side of me and was texting James. ‘‘Why don't you just ask him out?’’ I said in a whisper while rolling my eyes at her. Kenna's cheeks reddened and she nudged me to be quiet. I nudged her back and we smiled at each other, having had the conversation about her and James multiple times. I always left it though, this was their thing and I wasn't going to butt in.

The second class was a class about the internships for the third year. They tried to keep it light and funny but all the jokes just missed the point. We all laughed half heartily to be polite but I saw every single person glancing outside where the sun was shining, wishing they were living the good life outside.

As I met up with everybody for the first break, we practically ran outside to steal as much quality sun time as we could. We made ourselves a picnic spot on the grass while Logan got us coffee and tea. Kenna put some music on and Champagne Affection by Ryan Riback started playing. Rose got her book out as always on her phone and started reading. James started playing a game with Kenna and when Logan got back we lied side by side and talked. Suddenly my sun beam got interrupted by a shadow. “Hey you lazy f******, who's up for a party at my house on Friday?” “Jane! Where have you been? You missed the morning lessons!” Kenna exclaimed. Jane was Wild with a capital W, never missing a party and having the confidence we were all jealous of. “Relax mom, I needed the sleep. I met up with Ryan yesterday.” Rose woke up at that and wiggled her eyebrows at Jane. “Give us the deeds.” she said while sitting up straight to hear the whole story. Jane did what she wanted and would always tell us every single detail about her adventures. I did have some experience with my ex boyfriend but was so hurt after he left me, I never did get back into the dating scene.

The song Johnny Run Away by Tones and I started playing and Jane sat down with us and started telling her story while we all gave her our undivided attention. “So guys, Ryan took me to La Passione yesterday,” Jane explained excitedly. La Passione was a highly exclusive restaurant where you only went for special occasions, or often if you had the money to spend. Ryan was our age but had suspiciously a lot of money, without really working but Jane never questioned it. Our faces changed into shocked expressions and Rose asked the question that was on all our minds. “Jane, La Passione? What was the special occasion?” “Well.... He asked me if I wanted to be his girlfriend!” She shrieked.

We all stared at her like goldfish and Kenna's lips parted and sealed shut again a few times, like she really wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. Ryan was the typical guy you didn't want your friend to date, but Jane always had a thing for the bad guys. They usually didn't get close to becoming her boyfriend though, they weren't serious or Jane was already done with them. “Jane, I'm understanding from your excitement you said yes?” I asked her. “Yes Tris, I said yes. I did however say he needs to meet my amazing friends before it's 100% sealed,” she joked. We actually never met Ryan, they only met two weeks ago. But from the stories she told us and the messages between them that she showed us we didn't get a good vibe.

“And then,’ Jane continued, ‘he didn't let me sleep and the neighbours came around twice, if you know what I mean.” While me and Kenna groaned, Rose perked up and asked all the details. “Well Rose, thank you for asking,” Jane smiled. “My thighs are still shaking uncontrollably and my nipples were still red this morning. He had me in about every position you can imagine, and we christened the kitchen, bathroom and the attic.” She gushed. “Ryan is somewhat the God of sex, and also the size of his ..” “For the love of everything that is good in the world Jane, will you save these conversations for later, when Logan and I are not here?” James exclaimed while having slight red ears. We all looked at him, at which he turned redder, and we all burst out laughing. “Poor James, can't handle the heat?” Jane teased and Kenna slapped her shoulder, gathering her books and signalling us that our break was over.

“Hey, ball girl!” I heard someone shout behind me as I walked into the school. I looked over my shoulder and saw the guy that ran into me earlier walking over to me. “Hey, come to hurt me again?” I joked. “Wouldn't dream of it,” he responded and started walking next to me. Jane looked him over, winked at me and asked “Hey, there's a party at my house on Friday, want to join?” “Are you coming?” he instead asked me, to which I nodded. “Okay, yeah. I'm in. Can I bring some friends?” He asked Jane. “Of course, I'll give you the details later,” She answered. “If I give you my number, maybe you can text me?” He directed that question to me. I raised my eyebrows and looked at him. Why not, I thought. I saved his number under 'Ball guy' to which he smirked and send him a quick text with my own name and a waving hand. I saw Rose in the meantime checking out his friend, who was busy on his phone. We said our goodbyes and left them to it. “I have a feeling what's going to happen on Friday.” Rose said to the rest of us. “Your feeling is absolutely wrong.” I said to her while I looked at the message I received back from him. He sent his name 'Javier' with a rugby ball and angel emoticon.

Kenna and Logan joined Jane and I for our next class, culture class. In this class we learned to communicate with other cultures and languages. It was important for our social and professional development that we learned how different cultures communicate with each other. How they greet each other, what their customs are, how to do business with them and important things in their language. It was actually pretty fun and it was all group projects, so if you had a good group you had fun classes and high grades.