Chapter 3

The Drama production didn’t start until twenty minutes after my final class of the day. I was supposed to meet with the Principal but when I got to her office I found that she was in a meeting. So here I was outside the office waiting for her daughter to walk me there.

After a while, a tall thin girl came up to me and said, “Hey Erica! Good to see you again.”

I blinked a couple times and asked, “Who are you? When did we meet?”

There was something familiar about her but I couldn’t really name it.

She laughed, “We met yesterday in Mr. Wells’s class. I walked you to your next class. Still not recognizing me? Okay, picture me like this but with darker hair and with glasses and a slightly bigger nose.” She held her hair in ponytails.

“That was you? Why do you look so different?” I asked, still slightly doubtful.

She flashed a cute smile, “That was part of my Drama Production course. I borrowed a few items from the supply closet. I like trying on disguises.”

That did sound fun and I was slightly jealous that I hadn’t signed on for the entire program.

“Cool. I’d like to try a disguise on but I didn’t sign up for the full course. And sorry what was your name again?” I asked.

I shook the hand she offered as she said, “I’m Sammy Carpenter. Sam for short. I’m Principal Summers ‘s daughter. I’m here to take you to the Drama room. Or as us, students like to call it the fun room.”

“From what I’ve heard about the program it seems more like heaven,” I stated.

“No. I wouldn’t say that. It may be close but the heaven room is something completely different. I should know. I’ve had to take some supplies there a few times and I got to help out,” Sam told me.

Sam stopped to get a drink and I took this time to ask, “I thought that these programs were for students who don’t have much income at home. So does the Principal not make much money? How do you like the Drama program? How many programs do you do? And why is your last name different than your Mom’s?”

She wiped some excess water from her lips and said, “Wow. Once you open up you like to ask a lot of questions. I like it. Okay, from the top these programs can be for any students. Some of them are meant to be more of learning life skills and keeping us from making crazy choices like turning to violence or drugs or something like that. That helps when we only have school three days a week. Although I do suspect that there is some kind of nefarious hidden agenda behind some of them. Off-topic sorry. My mom actually has a nice paycheck. Nowhere near as good as my Dad though. And I love the Drama program. Depending on the job I have it can set me free. I do two of the programs. Well, I should say I used to do two. The Drama and I used to help Counselor Clark Smith with research. And Carpenter is my Mom’s maiden name. She wanted me to keep the name she had when she had a fling with a guy and got pregnant with me. But don’t tell her I said that.”

I’m pretty sure when she said the Counselor’s name she looked really happy. Not just having a good day happy but a special tingle between the legs happy. And when we walked by his office and she smiled and waved at him my suspicions were pretty much confirmed. Since I was assigned to the program on such short notice I just got a quick overview of what I’d be doing. And it seemed like a lot of work but do much fun. I also got to watch some of the other students do their thing. I noticed something weird though.

Eventually, the teacher that was working with me asked, “You’ve been doing great. Do you have any questions before you go home?”

“Just one. Why do all the students wear headphones on during the program?” I wondered aloud.

“Good question. Those headphones are study devices. The students wear them while doing the simpler jobs. Especially if they’re running a little behind on any school assignments. It helps to stimulate learning and memory retention. But the students who don’t need to do more studying can listen to whatever kind of music they find calming or even exciting.” Mr. Lopez explained.

I was about to say something else when my phone let me know I had a text message. After I read the message I asked, “Why is everyone I’ve met in this town so far seemed to be genuinely happy?” Except Nurse Gillan for a moment.

Mr. Lopez looked stumped, “Huh. I’ve never really thought about it. I may have to get back to you on that. But until then just try to be happy and live life to the fullest.”

As we stood up I tripped over something and bumped into my teacher, causing us both to fall to the floor.

“Ooh, are you putting the moves on Mr. Lopez? He must have made a really good impression on you. I approve,” Sam teased.

I stood up on two legs and said, “I think it was me that made an impression on him. Oh, God that sounded wrong. I’m so sorry.”

Mr. Lopez grinned, “That’s fine. My girlfriend would have gotten a kick out of that. Have a good day ladies.”

A few minutes later Sammy put her arm around my shoulder and said, “That’s not the look of someone who is embarrassed that she fell on top of her teacher the day they met. So tell me what’s wrong. Please.”

I shuffled my feet for a moment and finally said, “I got a text from my Dad. There was an emergency and he won’t be able to pick me up today and he probably won’t be home until really late. I haven’t been alone since...” my Mom left me at the carnival. I couldn’t say that to someone who was practically a stranger. “I haven’t been alone for a while.”

Sam looked sad for a second then she was excited when she said, “How about I have my boyfriend drive us to your place and I’ll spend the night at your place? Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“I wouldn’t want to bother you. You don’t have to if you really don’t want to.” I told her.

She squeezed me with the arm she still had around me, “Nonsense. I’d love to do this. I’ve never stayed over at a friend’s place before. Well except my ... anyway, it’ll be like I have a sister. Almost.”

She didn’t let me say anything before she sent a couple texts. While she did that I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by the thought that she had said it would be like I was her sister. The emotions were strong here.