Restless Hearts, chapter 2
There's a new kid in town.
"You came late, just in time for lunch, lucky," Mike mumbled. I laughed and followed him to the cafeteria. I had to kind of trot to keep up with him. Mike was too tall!
"I wonder how Tré and Billie Joe are gonna react to your little secret."
"What secret? I didn't hide it from you did I?"
"I guess not."
"Two Zuzanna, Mike zero."
They sat down at a table that Mike seemed to be familiar with as they waited for everybody else to come. I was so tired and I had a jet lag.
"I hate jet lag," I complained.
"At least you got on the plane, I've never been anywhere outside of California."
"Well jet lag is possibly the worst thing next to sea sickness."
"You've been on a cruise?"
"My father went on it for business, there was nothing to do and I got sea sick a couple of times."
"What does your father do?"
"He used to be a mechanic and he got the cruise for being employee of the year and he hung around the boss the whole time, buttering him up and all of that."
"Why did you have to move here?"
"Because the place he used to work closed down and so someone in America with a good paying job offered him a position, he couldn't refuse. So I had to pack up everything and leave Polska."
"Was it rough on you?"
"Not really, I mean I had really good memories there and all of that but nothing really exciting ever happened there."
"Same thing here, I mean there's the Gilman and all of that but that's being routine."
"Oh and we hate routines I'm guessing?"
"I just want something different to come along, you could be it."
"Why me?"
"Because there are about fifteen preps walking over here, probably asking you to join them, your face looks like a prep."
"Excuse me?"
"Well that blonde, almost white hair and your blue eyes, just makes you look like one."
"Well I'm sorry for looking like a regular Pole."
"A what?"
"A polish person."
"Um like what are you doing here like sitting with that punk-ish dork?" one of the preps asked me. I took a good look at her, she was in a cheerleading uniform sitting there chewing gum.
"Um like oh my gosh like, like I don't know like maybe like because like he's like a hell of a lot cooler then you'll ever be, like okay?" I said in my best prep-ish voice. Mike was on the brink of laughing.
"I've tried being nice to you, get ready to have the worst school year of your life."
"Yeah that's what they said in Juvie."
Everyone traded glances and ran away. Mike busted out laughing and so did I. We gave each other high fives and continued laughing. My stomach was starting to hurt and I doubled over in my chair. Mike was busting a gut, both of our faces were red and we could barely breath. I covered my whole face with my hands and we were still laughing. I don't even know why it was so funny; I just really need to laugh. My eyes were watering we were laughing so hard.
"What the heck is going on with you two?" I heard a voice say. I looked and saw Tré, Billie Joe and two girls with them. I wiped away the water from my eyes and looked at Mike and he bit his lip to keep from laughing.
"I'll be right back," I said. I went to the bathroom and redid my eyeliner and walked back out there were everyone was laughing.
"You told them?" I asked Mike. He nodded and everyone was red in the face with laughter, and people were staring at us.
"Ok, girls, this is Zuzanna," Mike told the two girls.
"Call me Zuz," I smiled at them.
"This is my girlfriend Anastasia, and that's Tré's girlfriend Amanda."
"What are you?" Amanda asked me.
"What do you mean?"
"You're obviously not American," she replied in a snottish tone.
"You're right, I'm not but that doesn't mean I have to be treated like that, especially from you."
I heard Mike whisper 'cat fight' in Billie Joe's ear.
"Especially from me?"
"Yeah, are you deaf?"
She stood up and so did I, I was average height but a couple of inches taller then her. I moved my bangs from my eyes and smirked at her.
"Amanda, sit down, you can't take her," someone said. I looked over to where the voice came from and it was Myla.
"What do you mean?" she asked Myla.
"Do you have an attention span of a rodent, didn't you hear Mike tell you that she came from Juvie Hall?"
She looked at me fearfully, I smirked back at her and she sat down. I got a pat on the back from Billie Joe and a grin from Tré. I think he agreed his girlfriend needed to shut up every once in a while.
"So Zuz, what country did you come from?" Anastasia asked me. She was nice. I liked her already.
"I come from Polska, Poland."
"Oh interesting."
"Not really, it was really boring there, the only thing that kept me entertained was my dancing."
"Dancing? What kind of dancing?"
"I won a belly dancing competition once."
"Wow, how many people were there?" Tré asked me.
"About three hundred."
"You got first place out of all of those people?" Billie Joe asked me.
"Yeah, it was nerve wrecking and I had to perform at least three times because there were so many ties."
"Look, you sound awesome, wanna come over to my house with the guys later?" Billie Joe asked me in a low voice. No one heard him so I smiled and nodded.
"Awesome, I'll meet you by the parking lot after school, I can't get a detention for leaving early today or my step dad would kill me."
"I understand that perfectly."
"Maybe you could demonstrate some of those belly dancing moves for us?" he asked. I looked at him teasingly but he was serious.
"I have to go by my house, could you walk me there?" He nodded and we went back to class.
***
The end of the day came and Billie Joe, Mike, and Tré were there. Billie Joe was smoking a cigarette. They never interested me much. The smell was terrible and I couldn't help but cough.
"Let's get you by your house, ok?" Billie Joe asked. I nodded and I told him my address.
"Hey you're not far from us," Billie Joe smiled.
"Us?" I asked.
"Yeah, Mike lives with me, he rents out a room."
"Cool," I simply said. I don't know if I was ready for my family to met my new 'friends.'
"My family's kind of overwhelmed so I'm sorry if they scare you."
"All parents scare me but hey, that's just me," Billie Joe laughed. He offered his arm for me to take; I took it and smiled at him.
We got to my house and I unlocked all of the doors and waved everyone inside.
"Mama! Papa! JA jestem dom od szkoły!" I yelled.
"My są udający się," my papa said to me. He kissed my head and my mama just waved good-bye to me.
"Why?" I asked.
"Interview dear," my mama told me.
"Ok whatever."
"Who are this handsome gentlemen?" my mama asked me.
"These are my friends, teraz udają się."
"Ok ok, pushy!"
"Wow, I'm going to feel so left out when you start talking like that again."
"Again?"
"You don't notice it but you sometimes trail off when you talk."
"Oh, sorry well I'm going to go get my outfit, I'll make something for you, maybe we have some more rogoliki left."
"Rogoliki?" they asked.
"It's very addicting!" I said while walking to my kitchen. Hurry for luck, we have a couple left.
"True one," I said while putting them out. They seem hesitant but Mike took one and bit into it. His eyes went kind of confused for a moment then he nodded his head at Billie Joe and Tré as they took one. Soon enough, they were all gone.
"I love exotic food."
"No, exotic would be borsh," I shuddered.
"What's borsh?" Billie Joe asked.
"Borsh is a cold beet soup, it's horrible!"
"Sounds gross."
"That's because it is."
"Ok, well we have to head out, come on Zuz!"
"You came late, just in time for lunch, lucky," Mike mumbled. I laughed and followed him to the cafeteria. I had to kind of trot to keep up with him. Mike was too tall!
"I wonder how Tré and Billie Joe are gonna react to your little secret."
"What secret? I didn't hide it from you did I?"
"I guess not."
"Two Zuzanna, Mike zero."
They sat down at a table that Mike seemed to be familiar with as they waited for everybody else to come. I was so tired and I had a jet lag.
"I hate jet lag," I complained.
"At least you got on the plane, I've never been anywhere outside of California."
"Well jet lag is possibly the worst thing next to sea sickness."
"You've been on a cruise?"
"My father went on it for business, there was nothing to do and I got sea sick a couple of times."
"What does your father do?"
"He used to be a mechanic and he got the cruise for being employee of the year and he hung around the boss the whole time, buttering him up and all of that."
"Why did you have to move here?"
"Because the place he used to work closed down and so someone in America with a good paying job offered him a position, he couldn't refuse. So I had to pack up everything and leave Polska."
"Was it rough on you?"
"Not really, I mean I had really good memories there and all of that but nothing really exciting ever happened there."
"Same thing here, I mean there's the Gilman and all of that but that's being routine."
"Oh and we hate routines I'm guessing?"
"I just want something different to come along, you could be it."
"Why me?"
"Because there are about fifteen preps walking over here, probably asking you to join them, your face looks like a prep."
"Excuse me?"
"Well that blonde, almost white hair and your blue eyes, just makes you look like one."
"Well I'm sorry for looking like a regular Pole."
"A what?"
"A polish person."
"Um like what are you doing here like sitting with that punk-ish dork?" one of the preps asked me. I took a good look at her, she was in a cheerleading uniform sitting there chewing gum.
"Um like oh my gosh like, like I don't know like maybe like because like he's like a hell of a lot cooler then you'll ever be, like okay?" I said in my best prep-ish voice. Mike was on the brink of laughing.
"I've tried being nice to you, get ready to have the worst school year of your life."
"Yeah that's what they said in Juvie."
Everyone traded glances and ran away. Mike busted out laughing and so did I. We gave each other high fives and continued laughing. My stomach was starting to hurt and I doubled over in my chair. Mike was busting a gut, both of our faces were red and we could barely breath. I covered my whole face with my hands and we were still laughing. I don't even know why it was so funny; I just really need to laugh. My eyes were watering we were laughing so hard.
"What the heck is going on with you two?" I heard a voice say. I looked and saw Tré, Billie Joe and two girls with them. I wiped away the water from my eyes and looked at Mike and he bit his lip to keep from laughing.
"I'll be right back," I said. I went to the bathroom and redid my eyeliner and walked back out there were everyone was laughing.
"You told them?" I asked Mike. He nodded and everyone was red in the face with laughter, and people were staring at us.
"Ok, girls, this is Zuzanna," Mike told the two girls.
"Call me Zuz," I smiled at them.
"This is my girlfriend Anastasia, and that's Tré's girlfriend Amanda."
"What are you?" Amanda asked me.
"What do you mean?"
"You're obviously not American," she replied in a snottish tone.
"You're right, I'm not but that doesn't mean I have to be treated like that, especially from you."
I heard Mike whisper 'cat fight' in Billie Joe's ear.
"Especially from me?"
"Yeah, are you deaf?"
She stood up and so did I, I was average height but a couple of inches taller then her. I moved my bangs from my eyes and smirked at her.
"Amanda, sit down, you can't take her," someone said. I looked over to where the voice came from and it was Myla.
"What do you mean?" she asked Myla.
"Do you have an attention span of a rodent, didn't you hear Mike tell you that she came from Juvie Hall?"
She looked at me fearfully, I smirked back at her and she sat down. I got a pat on the back from Billie Joe and a grin from Tré. I think he agreed his girlfriend needed to shut up every once in a while.
"So Zuz, what country did you come from?" Anastasia asked me. She was nice. I liked her already.
"I come from Polska, Poland."
"Oh interesting."
"Not really, it was really boring there, the only thing that kept me entertained was my dancing."
"Dancing? What kind of dancing?"
"I won a belly dancing competition once."
"Wow, how many people were there?" Tré asked me.
"About three hundred."
"You got first place out of all of those people?" Billie Joe asked me.
"Yeah, it was nerve wrecking and I had to perform at least three times because there were so many ties."
"Look, you sound awesome, wanna come over to my house with the guys later?" Billie Joe asked me in a low voice. No one heard him so I smiled and nodded.
"Awesome, I'll meet you by the parking lot after school, I can't get a detention for leaving early today or my step dad would kill me."
"I understand that perfectly."
"Maybe you could demonstrate some of those belly dancing moves for us?" he asked. I looked at him teasingly but he was serious.
"I have to go by my house, could you walk me there?" He nodded and we went back to class.
***
The end of the day came and Billie Joe, Mike, and Tré were there. Billie Joe was smoking a cigarette. They never interested me much. The smell was terrible and I couldn't help but cough.
"Let's get you by your house, ok?" Billie Joe asked. I nodded and I told him my address.
"Hey you're not far from us," Billie Joe smiled.
"Us?" I asked.
"Yeah, Mike lives with me, he rents out a room."
"Cool," I simply said. I don't know if I was ready for my family to met my new 'friends.'
"My family's kind of overwhelmed so I'm sorry if they scare you."
"All parents scare me but hey, that's just me," Billie Joe laughed. He offered his arm for me to take; I took it and smiled at him.
We got to my house and I unlocked all of the doors and waved everyone inside.
"Mama! Papa! JA jestem dom od szkoły!" I yelled.
"My są udający się," my papa said to me. He kissed my head and my mama just waved good-bye to me.
"Why?" I asked.
"Interview dear," my mama told me.
"Ok whatever."
"Who are this handsome gentlemen?" my mama asked me.
"These are my friends, teraz udają się."
"Ok ok, pushy!"
"Wow, I'm going to feel so left out when you start talking like that again."
"Again?"
"You don't notice it but you sometimes trail off when you talk."
"Oh, sorry well I'm going to go get my outfit, I'll make something for you, maybe we have some more rogoliki left."
"Rogoliki?" they asked.
"It's very addicting!" I said while walking to my kitchen. Hurry for luck, we have a couple left.
"True one," I said while putting them out. They seem hesitant but Mike took one and bit into it. His eyes went kind of confused for a moment then he nodded his head at Billie Joe and Tré as they took one. Soon enough, they were all gone.
"I love exotic food."
"No, exotic would be borsh," I shuddered.
"What's borsh?" Billie Joe asked.
"Borsh is a cold beet soup, it's horrible!"
"Sounds gross."
"That's because it is."
"Ok, well we have to head out, come on Zuz!"
