Believe Me, I'm Lying [New & Improved]

Chapter Five

"Sorry I'm late," I said, walking into the principal's office— I'd been instructed to do so on my first day. "I don't have anything to open the door." Not to mention I wasn't used to getting checked every time I entered the building.

Collin looked up from his desk and gave me an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about that. I have it here for you. And don't worry about being late; you don't have a first period class."

I nodded, relieved, and took a seat on the chair across from him. Bringing my hands onto my lap, I stared at him expectantly. He pulled open one of the desk drawers and fished around in it for a moment before pulling out a big black binder. He placed it on the desk and turned back to me.

"Here's your planner," he said, sliding it across the desk so I could take it. "Ms. Dawson, our home ec teacher, already planned out the year's course work with everything required, but you can feel free to change it up if you want. The requirements are in there as well. Since you're subbing for so long, I felt like you might like to use this as a reference."

I opened the black binder, and scanned the first week of the planner. A bunch of foods were listed; some of which I had never heard of. I looked back up at Collin with a sheepish look. "Uh... what do I do if I don't know how to make something?"

"I don't expect you to know everything, so that's okay," he responded simply. "You have more experience than any subs we've had before since we normally just require a high school diploma. But if you do want to teach the students something new, just research how to make it before the class."

I sighed lightly. There would be a lot of cooking ahead of me. But I liked cooking, so it wouldn't be that bad. I looked down at today's class schedule. A frown appeared on my face when I noticed I only had one class. "Do I only have one class?"

"Hmm?" he responded, glancing over the desk at the planner. "Oh, the juniors are on a field trip, and the sophomores have a class meeting the period you have them. Lucky you."

"So what? My seventh period class is freshmen?"

Collin laughed. "No, freshmen can't take home economics. Your last class is seniors."

"Seniors?" I repeated, my eyes widening. Oh crap. I wasn't even a senior! I was a junior!

"I know it sounds intimidating, but most of them are trying to graduate so they shouldn't be too much of a hassle," he explained, smiling at me. "Don't look so scared. While we do get a bad rep, our students wouldn't harm you."

"Do fights happen often? I came across one this morning."

To my surprise, Collin didn't seem surprised by my words. He just sighed heavily, shaking his head. "No matter how many times I tell the students not to have fights, there's always at least three a day."

"Wait, so this happens a lot?" I asked.

"It's a school full of delinquents, what do you think?"

I chewed on my bottom lip. Was I really going to be safe here?

"Did one of the students you came across this morning have an English accent?" Collin asked.

"Yeah!" I said, nodding. "That was one of them!"

He scowled slightly. "Oliver..."

"Oliver?" I repeated.

"He's a senior this year and has been causing trouble ever since he arrived," Collin explained, shaking his head. "He and his friend Zak who I'm assuming was with him."

"The one with the sleeve?"

He nodded. "Those two are always together."

"Do they always get into fights? Aren't there rules against that?"