Matchmaker

Detention

Detention. It's a mean, crude, boring, strict, and probably at least 30 other words I can't think of right now. I was alone, except for some other girl at the back of the room, sobbing and muttering something under her breath. The clock read 12:30, so my torture would end in half an hour. i had finished all my homework last night, an I hadn't been assigned anything for second period. Coraline wasn't there, so I was assuming she was still at Mr. P.'s office, and Kain was flirting with me again, so basically everything was as normal as it gets. I did everything possible think of at the moment: braid my hair, twirl my pencil, drum my fingers on the desk, make a "Cat's Cradle" out of my hairband, even read my textbook (which i immediately gave up after 2 gruesome pages), and looked at the clock again. 12:31. I tilted my head back and groaned. This was going to be a long lunch break.

After the bell FINALLY rang, I trudged to fourth period. When I walked in, Tracy was looking around and frowning. She noticed me and her expression lightened, and she beckoned me over.
"Where were you?!" she whisper-yelled at me once i sat down.
"Um... its a long story..." Tracy frowned at looked at her watch.
"We've got time. Spill," she prompted. I explained what had happened to her in the exact same way I had told Mr. P., but, you know, less formally. Tracy listened and thoughtfully gazed somewhere over my head.
"Oh... wow," Tracy mumbled when I finished, at a loss for words. As if on cue, the bell rang and everyone immediately sat down with their hands folded across their desks. I clumsily followed their example, but didnt have enough time to get it right when Ms. Harris paraded in. I guess I did a pretty bad job, because as she scrutinized the room, her eyes rested on me. She smiled,  an unpleasant sight, because with her bright red lipsticks and thin, tight lips she reminded me of a snake. She marched up to my desk and leaned over.
"How was detention today Heather?" she asked. Scarlet blush covered my entire face as i stuttered: "I-it was fine ma'am." Ms. Harris frowned, and for a moment she reminded me of Libby.
"Detention, my dear," she said matter-of-factly, "Is not suppost to be "fine." Or would you like another?"
"No ma'am." For some reason I felt obligated to call her "ma'am", even though i never heard anyone call her that. I looked at Tracy for help, but she was rigid and facing forward, with an occasional glance towards me without moving her head. She bit her lip, which was the only sign she wasnt a statue aside from her eyes. I had expected worse, but Ms. Harris just narrowed her eyes at me and sat back calmly at her desk. I gulped. Tracy breathed a small sigh and smiled nervously at me.
"For today's lesson, we are going..." I blocked Ms. Harris's voice out of my head as I thought about how bad I had started my new school.