The start of a new semester smells better than the end of it. Aris likes this smell. Not because it smells fresh, but because it smells cleaner. Doesn't smell like a monkey house yet. Though it probably will smell like that at the end of the day. These people have no dignity.
She walks into her first period calmly. Because everyone knows she will come late and won't give a damn about it. They'll just be happy she even came, because in some particular classes with certain teachers, she is the class clown, of a sort. Outside of that, she is the most respected senior because of her kindness. In other words, she is popular due to her kindness and sense of humor. She likes this reputation of hers. It's easy to maintain and doesn't have any downsides. Only the fact that sometimes she takes jokes too far, and she gets in trouble for that. But now she knows where to draw the line.
She salutes her teacher the moment he notices her. "Hello, sir. How are you, sir?" she says in a respectful-mocking tone. "Nice timing, Aris. I think you may be a bit too early." Her teacher plays along, a smile on his face. See, he's a cool teacher. Doesn't get mad for this kind of thing.
Aris looks at her watch and says," Huh? Oh yeah. Sorry, my bad. I'll come back two hours later then." She turns to leave the classroom again, still in character. As she walks to the door now, her teacher breaks character and laughs with the rest of the class, who have been watching this held-back laughter.
See, it's this easy to make people laugh.
She also laughs as she takes her seat recklessly. Of course, she sits at the back with her best friend, Scarlett Sanders.
Scarlett's face is buried in her chemistry book, reading god knows what. As Aris settles in her seat, she notices that Scarlett is wearing earbuds, so she didn't hear any of the commotion that just happened.
Aris gently taps Scarlett on her shoulder. She jumps up as if she had just woken up from a deep sleep. Aris laughs. Only she can truly make her laugh.
" What the hell?" she says as she takes out the earbuds from her ears, " When did you come?"
"Chill, I just came," Aris answers, grinning." No way you're studying that much that you didn't sense my presence. Everyone did."
"Because you made an entrance again?" she asks, eyerolling at her. Aris nods guiltily. Scarlett doesn't really like it when Aris makes a scene. Aris gets her. Nobody would like to be best friends with a girl who causes a scene and wastes people's time. But that's the thing, that's the only thing she has never told Scarlett, why she does it. Why does she make people laugh and smile, and why does she create a distraction for people. The only reason she doesn't tell these to anyone is that no one has ever asked her, and she doesn't want to be asked.
Not everything is meant to be known.
~
The moment the last bell rang, Aris was the first to jump up from her seat, but she always had a habit of waiting for others to leave the classroom before she did. She doesn't know why she does it, but others take it as an act of kindness. So, she learned also to call it an act of kindness, but a part of her thought there was a greater meaning to this. Who knows? Maybe there is. But for now, she really couldn't care less about it. So she just accepts the fact that the reason she waits for people is an act of kindness.
As the last person leaves the room, she hangs a strap of her bag over one shoulder and also turns to leave when a junior comes up to her, grinning. Aris also grins back at her. "No, Amy. Don't actually tell me-" Aris starts. "Yes, I will tell you! You are the one who even told me I should do it!" Amy exclaims. "Yeah, but I didn't actually think you would listen to my advice! Now, tell me then, did or did he not say yes?" " He...DID!" Amy bursts out. "Oh my god, good for you!" "I know, right?! I also thought I heard him wrong. Anyway, I'll talk to you tomorrow. I gotta get going now. Bye." Amy says as she goes off happily. "Okay, bye! Stay safe!" Aris calls after her.
Aris lets off a sigh of relief. Dealing with kids like Amy is kinda tough. Although Amy is an impatient person, she's still Aris's favorite junior, and Aris is apparently her favorite senior. That's normal. Aris is practically every kid's favorite senior. And there are good reasons for that, too. Sometimes she wonders if she were junior, would she like herself? Honest answer: Yeah, obviously. Deep answer: Never. And there are reasons why she answers these questions with these answers, but she doesn't question the reasons. She hates the reasons. So she avoids any contact with her brain to go to these reasons. She hates even thinking about the reasons. She really hates the reasons so much-
"Oh, hey, Airs."
Aris turns to the source of the sound and finds her friends huddled in a group, walking towards her.
"Oh, hey, guys." Aris says," What are you up to?"
"Well, we were just searching for you, really. We are going to the beach." Flora Jones answers from the middle of the group.
Aris hates it when Flora talks like this: when she makes a question into a fact. And you have to take the fact as the truth because if you don't, it wouldn't be a fact, would it?
"Really, beach on the first day of our last semester here?" Aris scoffs as if it's the lamest thing she's ever heard.
"Ugh, trust us, Aris, god, you are so hard to convince. It's gonna be fun, okay?" Ashley Miller says, rolling her eyes at Aris, and turning her gently towards the entrance of Ironwood High.
"Somehow I can never trust the word fun when it comes to you guys." Aris replies," Also, where are Rose and Scarlett? Aren't they coming too?"
"Oh yeah, they said they would go there individually."
"Ahh. You know what, I'll also go there individually. I have some things to do."
"Nu uh. Girl, just because we let them skip the fun, we are not letting you skip too because, well, you are the fun." Margaret Abbott says and shuts down any idea Aris had in mind to just relax. No matter how nicely she tries to tell her friends that she doesn't want to go, they don't get the hint. And since Aris is the kind of person who puts people in front of her in every line, but puts herself in front when it comes to danger, people think of her as a loyal and kind person. A person who would never say no to their happiness.
Do people ever stop to think why she is like this? Do people think of this as an act of kindness? Is it even an act of kindness? Does she do these so that people talk well of her, praise her? Somehow, even she doesn't know why she does these.
Why is she so kind to other human beings but not to them?
Actually, who are they? Who are the people she's thinking about again?
By the time Aris realized where she was, it was too late. Her friends had already dragged her into Margaret's car and placed her in the middle of the backseat. When did that happen? If she moved and got inside a car, then isn't she supposed to notice?
"What the hell?" Aris asks, more surprised than angry, "When did y'all teleport me here, without me noticing?"
"Huh, what are you talking about? You came here by yourself." Margaret says from the front, grinning and starting the engine.
"What, no. When?" Aris asks, actually confused now but still smiling. She never stops smiling, does she?
"Oh, my God, Mar, she actually does not remember. Can you believe it?" Ashley asks from the front, beside Margaret. She is now putting on sunscreen on her pale brown skin. Aris always liked Ashley's skin color, unique compared to her other friends' skin colors, which weren't brown. Doesn't her having a brown friend mean that she isn't racist?
The car bursts with laughter.